Chapter 300: Nipping Every Unstable Factor in the Bud
In the end, Xie Yushan was driven away in disgrace. Manager Lu even shouted instructions loudly to the workers right at the main entrance, stating that from now on, anyone from the Xie family would no longer be welcome.
Only now did the dining guests downstairs begin whispering among themselves. Wasn’t this Zui Xian Tower owned by the Xie family? Why were they no longer allowing members of the Xie family inside?
Turning around slowly, Manager Lu cupped his hands to the crowd and said, “Everyone, this Zui Xian Tower was part of my young mistress’s dowry. Today, my young mistress and Master Xie have divorced, so from now on, this Zui Xian Tower bears only the surname Qiu.
“Today is a joyful day for my young mistress. As I mentioned earlier, today’s entire meal is free of charge. If anyone feels they haven’t eaten to their heart’s content, each table can even have the kitchen pack two dishes to take home.”
This…
There was actually such a good thing—not only eating for free, but even packing food to go?
Not knowing who among them was bold enough, someone actually let out a shout: “Then congratulations to Boss Qiu on making a fresh start!”
With the first person speaking up, others chimed in one after another to offer their congratulations.
His face beaming with joy, Manager Lu thanked them one by one.
All of this was taken in by Xie Yushan, who had been driven to the entrance. Gritting his teeth, he wished he could rush back inside and tear those people to shreds. Yet he didn’t dare. Nowadays, whenever anyone glanced at him in passing, Xie Yushan felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles, so he could only take his attendants and run back home in disgrace.
Upstairs, with Xie Yushan’s departure, the atmosphere finally returned to normal.
“You ought to have spoken up about such a matter sooner. Although I am not your biological uncle, since I have accepted you as my niece, I would naturally uphold justice on your behalf.” Master Qiu adopted a full elder’s tone, continuing to lecture Qiu Rongrong.
Qiu Rongrong displayed not a shred of impatience, listening obediently. Only after he finished speaking did she stand up and offer a solemn bow: “I won’t keep things to myself in the future.”
Master Qiu said no more, merely nodding his head: “Take Xie Anyi with you from now on and live a good life. Also, for a major affair like a divorce, you had best inform your parents.”
Qiu Rongrong’s face trembled slightly, and she nodded: “I will.”
She truly didn’t know how furious her grandmother, parents, and eldest brother would be when they learned of this matter.
If anyone was completely free of worries, it was the group of children.
Xie Anyi was still looking on with a face full of confusion. Although he didn’t quite understand, he still knew he no longer had a father and only had a mother now. Yet it seemed whether he had a father or not didn’t matter much anyway, as he didn’t live at home regardless.
After coaxing himself into feeling better, Xie Anyi went back to playing together with his little companions.
Before the banquet concluded, Qiu Rongrong had Manager Lu fetch one hundred taels of silver to give to Wang Zhao as a thank-you gift for bringing Xie Anyi back.
Wang Zhao naturally couldn’t accept it. In the end, under Qiu Rongrong’s insistent persuasion, he accepted the bank note, only to be immediately pestered by the youngsters to treat them and take them out to buy things.
Wang Zhao felt a headache coming from the noise, never having felt that looking after children was so exhausting, yet he obediently took the bank note and led them out to stroll the streets.
Later, Qiu Rongrong returned to the Xie estate to pack her belongings. Since she had divorced, she would naturally no longer live at the Xie house, preparing to move to the estate instead, guarding those new high-yield crops that had brought her honor and a new life.
A few interludes occurred along the way. Old Mistress Xie had gone to report to the yamen only to find no one there, so she had no choice but to return home to seek out Xie Yushan. Only then did she learn that so many things had transpired—never mind failing to keep Qiu Rongrong under his thumb, the two had even divorced, and her youngest grandson was gone as well.
Regardless, Xie Anyi was someone she had cared for for so long, and he was a grandson of the Xie family after all. Old Mistress Xie threw quite a massive tantrum. When Qiu Rongrong returned to move her things, the old woman even threw herself on the ground, rolling about and throwing a wild scene, clamoring that Qiu Rongrong, having married into the Xie family, was a person of the Xie family. Seeing Qiu Rongrong about to carry away her dowry, she even brought up the matter of the betrothal gifts, demanding that the Qiu family return them.
Qiu Rongrong wasn’t afraid of her, directly telling Old Mistress Xie that she had already notified her parents to come. At that time, they would bring along the inventory list of betrothal gifts, and every single item given by the Xie family would be returned to them without a single piece missing.
Old Mistress Xie had not expected her to agree so easily, leaving her momentarily unable to find an excuse to make trouble or act shameless. She could only watch helplessly as the people brought by Manager Lu—under Qiaoyan’s direction and holding the dowry list—searched through the entire estate, carrying away a vast amount of items, most of which were moved right out of her own room.
When Qiu Rongrong married into the Xie family, she had brought a substantial dowry, and the finest items had been seized and claimed by Old Mistress Xie. Now that they were being carried away, Old Mistress Xie’s room was left looking quite bare. When she checked the storeroom, only a few of their original old items remained. At this, Old Mistress Xie burst into tears and threw another wild tantrum.
None of this was Qiu Rongrong’s concern anymore. Hauling her dowry, she moved happily to her estate. As for how that mother and son were going to throw their tantrums, that was their own affair. From this day forward, she was her own person, no longer an appendage to anyone else.
Wen Yao was the last to learn about these events. She was utterly annoyed, regretting that she hadn’t tagged along to back Qiu Rongrong up. Had she been there, she would surely have beaten Xie Yushan until he scrambled across the floor looking for his teeth.
“Alright, alright. This matter happened so suddenly, no one expected that fellow named Xie to be so utterly shameless as to kidnap his own biological son! Pah, dog creature!” Wen Xiuyi couldn’t help cursing a line.
Old Madam Luo was deeply moved, sighing with emotion: “It’s good this way too. From now on, once Rongrong leaves the Xie family, she can take Yi’er and live her life properly. The days ahead for the two of them will only get better and better.”
The rest of the Wen family nodded in agreement.
Pouting in anger, Wen Yao sat back down. Recalling the funniest part of it all, she couldn’t help saying, “Though Magistrate Chen was truly something! He actually carried his official seal on his person! Hahaha, I reckon Xie Yushan was completely dumbfounded when he pulled that seal out!”
The moment these words were spoken, everyone broke into laughter. Lying on the reclining chair and swaying gently back and forth, Master Qiu spoke up: “This Magistrate Chen is quite a fascinating character as well.”
“No, I have to go to the estate to see Sister Qiu!” Wen Yao couldn’t sit still, wanting to leave right now.
Looking at the sky, Old Madam Luo saw that night had already fallen, and stopped her: “Night has already fallen, so don’t go over and add to the chaos. I’ll go with you early tomorrow morning.”
Wen Yao had no choice but to drop the idea.
After swaying on the chair for a moment, Master Qiu suddenly remarked, “Now that Rongrong has divorced that fellow named Xie, she’ll be all on her own here in the future. All her businesses are currently in Yunwu Town, so she likely won’t bring herself to sell them off and return to Jiangnan. Since she addresses me as Uncle, and seeing how close she is with Yao Yao, why don’t you, Old Wen, take her as your goddaughter? That way, Yao Yao will have an elder sister, which would be quite nice.”
“Ah?” Wen Xiuyi looked thoroughly surprised, having no idea why Master Qiu would suddenly bring this up out of nowhere.
Master Qiu then asked Wen Yao, “Yao Yao, what do you think?”
“Dad, Uncle Qiu’s idea is wonderful! If you adopt Sister Qiu as your goddaughter, then she and I will be proper, genuine sisters from now on!” In this era, godfathers and goddaughters were entirely different from those messy concepts in later times. If someone adopted a godson or goddaughter, they became genuine, legitimate relatives—hardly any different from biological ones. Just like Master Qiu taking Datou as his godson, Datou would be qualified to see him off at his life’s end in the future.
Swaying in the rocking chair, a subtle smile curled at the corners of Master Qiu’s lips.
Rather than waiting for rumors to spread far and wide, it was better to nip them in the bud as early as possible. That fellow named Xie was no good creature—what if he went crazy and started biting wildly? This was merely his way of taking precautions against any mishap.
