“Good for you, you foul-mouthed, despicable wretch, pretending to be sick in the past, now you bite back!”
“My son has graduated, and I’ve divorced you, the fallen merchant’s daughter. My son even returned the family money, and I’ve been more than reasonable!”
“Yet, you take advantage of my old age, beating and smashing in retaliation!”
“You want to destroy my house! Give me back the money! You worthless, eggless hen! How unlucky!”
“Pah!”
“With your poor dowry trunk, a few rotten wooden boxes, I wouldn’t even look at it! Just take it all away, so I don’t have to find someone to throw away these poor, dirty, smelly things!”
The gentle spring light filtered through the swaying willow branches, and the wild hawthorn trees along the Qinhuai River had also begun to bloom in the spring breeze.
It was a pleasant and fragrant time of year, but no one around had the heart to appreciate the beautiful scenery.
Only the narrow alley was filled with onlookers, as the shrill, angry curses of a woman echoed, and a donkey cart, packed to the brim, struggled to squeeze its way through the crowd.
Shen Miao sat on the donkey cart, holding a small blue package in her arms, just in time to hear the endless curses coming from behind her.
She noticed the crowd was growing larger, so she deliberately shook out a handkerchief, her delicate peach blossom eyes immediately welling up with tears.
The original owner had a naturally pitiful appearance, and having just recovered from a serious illness, she looked even more fragile, like a willow swaying in the wind.
Many of the onlookers were just curious passersby.
Seeing her dressed in a pale, faded flower robe with a rough blue headscarf and a single wooden hairpin, with a few strands of hair falling on her thin, pale cheeks, tears streaming down, and not daring to retort as the elderly woman continued to scold her, they couldn’t help but feel pity.
Some even went out of their way to ask the neighbors, who were already nearby, “This woman looks so kind-hearted, what’s going on?”
A neighbor, already munching on sunflower seeds in her sleeve, immediately spoke with excitement when asked, “Let me tell you, this Old Lady Rong is a widow, with only a son who is studying.”
He recently passed the imperial exam and became a scholar, but he started to look down on his wife, Shen.
He didn’t like that Shen’s parents were both dead, that she was weak and sickly, and that she didn’t look like she would bear many children.
He often mistreated her, and now that Old Rong’s son is away to study, she took it upon herself to divorce her!
Shen was a meek woman, and when she found out she was being divorced, she cried and begged every day.
A few days ago, she fell seriously ill, but Old Lady Rong didn’t even send for a doctor, afraid she wouldn’t die.
“But Shen’s life was strong, and she managed to survive! Guess what happened next?”
The neighbor, speaking excitedly, didn’t wait for a response but eagerly continued:
“After Shen had a brush with death, she stopped crying and begging. She didn’t lash out but quietly rested for a few days until she was able to walk again. Then, she went to the government office, found a lawyer, and demanded her dowry be returned and accounted for.”
Old Lady Rong, miserly as she is, wouldn’t agree. Just when she was about to throw a tantrum, Shen beat her to it, crying and shouting, and even threw herself on the ground, smashing Old Lady Rong’s pots and pans to pieces!”
Old Lady Rong was known for her harshness and her tendency to take advantage of the neighbors, and she had a bad reputation in the alley.
Now, whenever anything about the Rong family was brought up, everyone was eager to chime in.
Someone laughingly remarked, “Old Lady Rong always says Shen didn’t produce any children in three years of marriage, so that’s why she’s divorcing her.
“It’s a big joke! Old Master Rong spends all his time at the academy in Mingzhou and rarely comes back, just a day or two at the end of the year.”
“Even when he does return, Old Lady Rong is constantly watching him, and the two of them sleep in separate rooms! We all guess that Shen is probably still a virgin!”
Another person shook their head and said, “That’s one thing, but most of the money for Old Master Rong’s studies came from Shen’s dowry.
“Now that he’s passed the imperial exam and become a scholar, he wants to divorce his poor wife and refuses to return her dowry.”
“He’s in the wrong from the start, and luckily, Shen hired a sharp-tongued lawyer who’s well-versed in the law.”
“The lawyer managed to get the remaining dowry back for her, otherwise, that wicked mother-in-law wouldn’t be so furious.”
“Now it makes sense, truly pitiful.”
The official watched as the donkey cart gradually moved away, nodding repeatedly.
He glanced at the fat old woman still standing at the alley entrance, hands on her hips, shouting abuse, and looked on with contempt.
The clamor was long forgotten by Shen Miao.
After leaving the alley, she leaned back on the donkey cart.
The dark, round eyes showed no trace of tears.
She turned her slightly sickly face and quietly looked at the flower boats gliding along the Qinhuai River, with the faint sounds of silk and bamboo in the air.
The willow branches hung low over the water, and along the banks, the wine shops and teahouses stood in a row, crowded with guests.
It truly showcased the bustling, picturesque scene.
It was the last time she would look at it; after all, this was the place where the original owner had spent her whole life.
“Madam Shen, the South Jin Ferry is just ahead. Please stay seated in the cart while I go find a porter to carry your luggage,” the cart driver said as he stopped the donkey.
Such evil mothers-in-law like Old Lady Rong, who schemed to take her daughter-in-law’s dowry, were rare even in the Song Dynasty, before Confucianism had truly become ingrained.
The driver, having clearly heard her tragic story, seemed to pity her deeply and took it upon himself to help her.
Shen Miao’s eyes curved slightly as she softly thanked him, “Thank you, sir.”
“Ah, no need to thank me. You’re a pitiful person yourself.”
Shen Miao didn’t plan to stay long in Jinling.
Ever since arriving, she had decided to quickly leave the original owner’s family.
Moreover, the Rong family was no golden nest; it was merely a fire pit!
So, the Rong family’s decision to divorce her played right into her hands!
During the few days she spent “nursing her illness” in the woodshed, Shen Miao went over the original owner’s memories again and again and confirmed that this era, the Song Dynasty, was somewhat different from what she had known.
During the reign of Emperor Taizu, the court had used gold and silver to buy back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, and succession was not by brotherly inheritance.
Emperor Taizong was actually the eldest grandson of Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Weizheng.
Thus, this great and prosperous Song Dynasty, though facing external threats, had neither the shame of Jingkang nor the bloodshed of ‘Man Jiang Hong.’
In the original owner’s memory, Jinling was the most prosperous place in Jiangnan, with thriving trade and frequent dealings in land and loans.
Legal disputes were common, and lawyers were as common as teahouses and restaurants.
Jinling even had private schools specifically for teaching litigation, called “Lawsuit Studies,” which is why Shen Miao was able to easily hire a lawyer when Old Lady Rong went out to play cards.
Moreover, according to the Song legal code, if a woman is divorced and does not initiate the divorce, she doesn’t face punishment or imprisonment, and she won’t be blamed for reclaiming her dowry.
In fact, the husband’s family, if they wrongfully took the dowry, would be scorned by society, and even if it went to court, it would be hard for such a greedy family to be favored.
With this in mind, Shen Miao would not act like the original owner.
She was determined to make the Rong family pay for what they had done!
Young Master Rong was a mama’s boy who let his mother abuse his wife.
According to the original owner’s memories, Young Master Rong even used to sleep in his mother’s room!
He didn’t work, and if he hadn’t married the original owner, he wouldn’t have had such an easy life.
The Song Dynasty had a tradition of generous dowries, and even though the original owner came from a small merchant family, her dowry was still worth a hundred guan.
But this fool, not understanding the importance of the dowry, allowed the Rong family to use it for his education and to support the household, while also dutifully caring for his domineering mother!
Now she was only able to retrieve about one-tenth of it, but there was still twenty-three guan left, enough for her to return to Bianjing—yes, the original owner was from Bianjing.
The original owner’s parents ran a “soup pancake shop” in Bianjing, which was successful.
Three years ago, Young Master Rong, having failed the imperial exams, came to Bianjing to gain fame with poetry.
While having breakfast at Shen’s soup pancake shop, he saw the original owner and, struck by her beauty despite her plain attire, became infatuated with her.
Young Master Rong, handsome and persuasive, deceived the Shen family into believing he was an unfortunate scholar, the reincarnation of the God of Literature.
They really married their daughter to him.
However, after the original owner married and moved to Jinling, her parents were tragically killed by a nobleman’s horse.
The original owner hurried back to Bianjing to handle the funeral and care for her two young siblings.
Three years ago, her younger brother was only six, and her younger sister was three, both still children, suddenly losing their parents’ protection.
She had planned to bring them to Jinling, but the Rong family refused to take them in.
Her mother-in-law treated her harshly, and Young Master Rong remained silent.
Later, the original owner gave herself many excuses.
Since her younger brother had already started school in Bianjing, it was hard to move him.
She decided to send her siblings to her uncle’s house and rented out the soup pancake shop.
The rent money was given to her uncle for her siblings’ support.
But things didn’t go well.
Two months ago, her uncle wrote, saying that the merchant who rented the shop had caused a fire and fled, leaving the shop destroyed.
Now, no one wanted to rent it, and her uncle kept asking her to send money.
The original owner had considered bringing her siblings to Jinling, which was why Old Lady Rong wanted to get rid of her.
Her dowry was almost gone, and with two more children coming, it would be better to remarry someone with a large dowry.
Young Master Rong had reportedly caught the attention of a scholar named Zheng from the Mingzhou academy.
Zheng also had a daughter of marriageable age.
Young Master Rong had been flattering the Zheng family so much that he hadn’t come home for nearly half a year.
It seemed he was just waiting for the original owner to die so he could marry a new, wealthier wife.
Shen Miao, while handling the dowry issues with the lawyer, quickly figured out what to do after escaping the Rong family.
She thought that leaving Jinling for Bianjing to make a living would be a viable option.
After all, the original owner’s family ran a restaurant, which suited Shen Miao’s expertise from her past life.
What luck!
Her family had been in the restaurant business for three generations!
Moreover, the original owner’s two younger siblings were still living under her uncle’s roof in Bianjing.
Shen Miao was not as naive as the original owner.
From the letter, it was clear that her aunt was not easy to deal with.
Bianjing was an expensive city, and rent must have been high.
After three years of rent, it was obvious that her aunt was demanding money.
She had no idea how her siblings were faring.
Since she had taken over the original owner’s body, she would at least take care of her remaining family.
She couldn’t abandon them.
As she was deep in thought, the cart driver finally returned with a porter and even helped her negotiate the price.
She was finally ready to board the boat and head north.