Chapter 530 - 521: Separation of Family
The Second Master was livid. Mrs. Li’s appetite was getting out of hand, as if a fifth-rank official was some sort of nobility. He did not hold back, lashing out at her with harsh slaps across her face.
His assault on Mrs. Li was propelled by her attempt to sabotage the marriage between Chu Zhen and the Fourth Young Master of Liu family. She had slandered the Liu family, causing them to reconsider the marriage. It was eventually the Second Master, who pleaded with the Third Madam to apologize on Mrs. Li’s behalf, that managed to appease the Liu family. This incident had not yet been addressed when she dared to bring another matter, even suggesting that his eldest brother was selfish. Now, even Second Master was aware of the suspicion the Emperor held for his older brother, yet Mrs. Li had the audacity to make such demands.
Mrs. Li had been feeling perpetually unsettled. She thought that Chu Zhen, as the legitimate daughter of Marquis’ Mansion, and Chu Ling’an, as the legitimate son, were both underperforming, one failing to secure a good marriage, the other unable to secure a good future. She felt they were falling way short compared to the legitimate children of the first and third families, they weren’t even as accomplished as their own illegitimate child.
When Second Master laid hands on her, all the pent-up rage Mrs. Li had been repressing within her exploded, and she retaliated. Second Master, who had already lost an arm and was further weakened by his indulgence in sexual pleasure could not stand a chance against Mrs. Li’s wrath. In a few rounds, she had left deep bloody scratches across his face.
Enraged beyond belief, Second Master roared, "Get out, go back to your mother’s house, I want a divorce!"
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Li was petrified. She immediately ceased her attack, pleading tearfully for Second Master’s forgiveness. She even offered to give him 2,000 taels of silver, to buy the girl, Small Wushaung, whom he had long fancied at Yihong Pavilion, and also to purchase a house for her. Neither Marquis Chu nor Marquis Chu Jr. would ever allow a prostitute to enter their residence as a concubine.
Throughout the decade or more Mrs. Li had been managing Marquis’ Mansion, she had embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver, which she stashed away as part of her own dowry. Previously, Second Master had squandered over ten thousand taels, and as she progressively invested in assets for herself and her children, she was left with over thirty thousand taels.
Upon hearing this, Second Master abandoned his earlier threats of divorcing Mrs. Li. Most of the money she had embezzled had been spent by him, which was why, no matter how much she infuriated him, she had managed to stay.