Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 915: Divorcing Granny Gu

Good Brother Cheng was more straightforward than she, saying, "Second Sister, what’s there to be embarrassed about? This is a good thing."

It’s not like they’re meeting for the first time; the two families live next to each other, and Brother San Lang has always openly cared for Second Sister. The adults from both families have long approved of their marriage, just waiting for Second Sister to come of age, for the Qin family to officially propose.

Gu Jinli glared at him, saying, "You don’t understand. You’ll know when you find a girl you like in the future."

Originally, she thought she had thick skin, but after meeting Qin San Lang, she realized she could blush too. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Good Brother Cheng had his studies to tend to and didn’t have time to linger with Gu Jinli. After informing her, he ran off to study.

Gu Jinli sat in the room with her face flushed for a while, and then she was called away by Mrs. Cui.

Mrs. Cui talked about the Qin family’s proposal and asked her what she thought. Should they agree?

Gu Jinli dared not look directly at Mrs. Cui, simply saying, "Whatever my parents decide is fine."

"Oh, you." Mrs. Cui laughed, tapping her forehead lightly, "You clearly like San Lang, but you’re pretending otherwise. Fine, Mother understands. When the Qin family formally proposes, I’ll agree."

Both daughters were settled, and even the temperamental second daughter was loved by her future husband. Mrs. Cui was overjoyed, feeling like two big burdens had been lifted from her heart.

That evening, Qin San Lang came again, bringing her fruit to eat, and told her he had already informed Gu Dashan and Mrs. Cui of his intent to marry her: "Xiao Yu, don’t be mad. I know I should’ve waited until I returned, but I thought it would be better to make it clear as soon as possible."

He didn’t want to sneak around. He wished to see her openly, in the role of a fiancé.

Gu Jinli glared at him, saying, "You’ve already said it, so what’s the use of me getting mad?"

Fearing he might overthink it, she added, "I’m not angry. Saying it sooner or later doesn’t matter."

Qin San Lang smiled, knowing that Xiao Yu wouldn’t blame him; she also wanted to be with him.

Seeing his broad smile, Gu Jinli feigned anger, saying, "What are you grinning at? Where’s the fruit? Give it all to me."

"No way," Qin San Lang refused, "The fruit is already portioned, two a day. I’ll bring them to you every evening."

Gu Jinli squinted, "Are you using this as an excuse to see me?"

Qin San Lang didn’t deny it and nodded, "Yes, so I can’t give you all the fruit now."

Gu Jinli got angry, "You’re just using my love for fruit to trick me!"

Qin San Lang continued to smile, nodding, "Yes, Xiao Yu guessed right."

He was indeed using fruit as an excuse to see her.

...

These past few days had been very happy for Gu Jinli, but over at the Old Gu Family, things were a mess.

Ms. Zhang felt that her family had been dragged down by Granny Gu and Lord Lai, angrily going to scold Gu Dagu and Mrs. Gu, Ms. Zheng, but was scolded back by the three: "Peh, do you think your side is innocent? Isn’t your Gu Youfu born of Liu Shiliu? It was made clear that Liu Shiliu’s offspring and grandchildren would suffer as well. Your Gu Youfu popped out of Liu Shiliu’s belly, so how dare you scold us!"

Ms. Zhang was alone and couldn’t out-argue Gu Dagu and the others. Not only did she not win the argument, but she was also beaten up by them.

Ms. Zhang returned to her yard, crying and looking at Gu Youfu, who lay half-dead on the bed, cursing him: "You wretched fool, look at what your mother did! You’ve never enjoyed her blessings yet are burdened by her misdeeds. Our family is ruined, and soon we will be exiled and die on the way!"

Ms. Zhang cried bitterly, frightening Gu Youfu as well. He wanted to speak, but after the mule cart accident, his tongue was cut, and he could only speak a few words clearly.

"Go find Dad... Dad has a way."

Ms. Zhang cursed back, "Peh, your dad is a useless old bastard, wearing a green hat all his life, now paralyzed. What use is he?"

Ms. Zhang kept cursing, not treating Gu Youfu as a person, scolding him in any way that pleased her.

Tired of cursing, she went to curse Elder Gu.

Elder Gu had been unconscious for a day, waking up last night, immediately calling out: "Son, my son... Carry me to see Dashan."

He kept insisting Gu Chengli carry him to see Gu Dashan. Only by clinging to Gu Dashan could he continue to live a good life.

It was a huge opportunity: the family had wealth, and Good Brother An was promising. Not recognizing such a son would make him die unfulfilled!

But because of Granny Gu’s scheme against Yuan Jiaman, he and Gu Youfu’s household were trapped in the residence, unable to go anywhere.

Ms. Zhang came to curse him: "You old bastard, bullied by Liu Shiliu your whole life without daring to fart, watching her shield the Lai Family bastards while we suffered. Why didn’t you divorce her!"

Divorce her!

Elder Gu had an epiphany, suddenly thinking if he divorced Granny Gu, could they be spared from guilt?

Elder Gu was thrilled, calling out: "Divorce her... Call the officials... Divorce her!"

Ms. Zhang, not too bright, didn’t understand Elder Gu’s meaning and continued cursing. After she was tired, reminded by Gu Chengli, she was startled: "Dad, you mean to divorce Liu Shiliu to clear our family of guilt?!"

Oh wow, the old bastard could come up with this trick.

Elder Gu grunted, saying, "Divorce, clear guilt... Find Dashan, reconcile, enjoy life together!"

Ms. Zhang listened word by word, finally understanding, grinning widely: "Oh wow, Father, you have a way. If we divorce Liu Shiliu, we can clear our guilt and leave here to find Elder Brother’s family. Elder Brother is kind and used to listen to us, and with their wealth, seeing us in trouble, wouldn’t they give us a few tens of thousands of taels to help us?"

Ms. Zhang dreamed of Gu Dashan’s family giving them houses, shops, and silver, bustling her way to find the government officials, saying Elder Gu wanted to divorce Granny Gu and asking them to hurry to see him.

The officials didn’t want to deal with Ms. Zhang, but she insisted, crying and threatening to jump into the pond. They had no choice but to inform Zhang Sanjin.

Zhang Sanjin frowned upon hearing this and went to see Elder Gu. After learning that Elder Gu indeed wanted to divorce Granny Gu, he returned to the government office to see Magistrate Gu and report this matter.

Magistrate Gu was quite dismayed upon hearing this: "I never expected Elder Gu to be foolish all his life, only to be clever once before dying."

Zhang Sanjin asked, "By what you mean, sir, can Elder Gu really avoid collective punishment by divorcing Granny Gu?"

Magistrate Gu nodded, "Yes, according to the criminal law, if the husband’s family is implicated by a guilty woman, they can divorce her to avoid collective guilt."

Traditionally, men were revered; if a man committed a crime, the woman’s family could use separation to avoid punishment. Naturally, a man could also divorce a guilty woman to exempt the family from collective guilt.