Chapter 1 – Caught Having An Affair
The snowflakes fell on the body in a moment and then melted away, leaving only a deep chill.
With this kind of weather, unless there is something particularly important, the villagers will not go out, and the village will be extremely quiet, but today except for the Wang family, it was particularly lively. The villagers who are not afraid of the cold are gathered at the end of the village in front of Widow Xie’s house.
Xie Zurong’s wife, Wang Xiushu, was found in bed with another man in Xie Zurong’s house and was caught by the villagers.
“On weekdays, I’ve seen Xie Zurong’s house is silent. She looked like she was an honest person. I didn’t think that…” Those who came first gathered outside Widow Xie’s house. After all, it was a scandal in someone else’s house. They were all peering from outside to watch the excitement.
“I see that Zu Rong’s wife doesn’t seem to be that kind of person. Could it be that there is some misunderstanding among them?” The kinder old woman who followed and listened to Widow Xie screaming at Wang Xiushu and shook her head.
“Auntie, you can’t let Widow Xie hear you say these words.” A young woman who was closer to the old woman heard the old woman’s words, advised her in a low voice, and hurriedly went to Widow Xie’s house.
That’s just the way it is. The people around her that were listening nodded their heads and shook their heads when it was over. They don’t say whether the person in Xie Zurong’s house really had an affair or not. To have Widow Xie as a mother-in-law meant that you had a bad fortune.
Normally when something bad happens in someone’s family, they try to cover it up and keep it inside their own family, but Widow Xie was self-proclaimed and arrogant because her son Xie Zurong was going to become an official and have a higher position after passing the imperial examination, but who knew if he was actually going to pass the exam and become an official? This Widow Xie is really getting older and more muddled.
After a while, people who wanted to watch the excitement but didn’t want to go towards the Xie’s house listened to the ruthless screams of Widow Xie inside and were looking inside curiously. Within a while, Widow Xie and her daughter Xie Yuxiang could be seen exiting the house. Together the mother and daughter grabbed a woman with disheveled clothes and messy hair and dragged the woman out. They threw the woman out of the Xie’s house as if they were throwing out trash.
Widow Xie looked coldly at Wang Xiushu who had been thrown out by her and Xie Yuxiang and hadn’t recovered from the shock. Widow Xie was full of disgust and spit on Wang Xiushu’s body.
“A shameless slut who dared to sleep with another man in her own house. Could it be that she hasn’t seen a man in her whole life and spread her legs wide open when she saw a man? Today I want the villagers to take a look at you. What a good thing she is! I ask the Wang family to take a look. This kind of daughter, perhaps all of you from the Wang family are like this?”
Needless to say that Wang Xiushu was stunned at the moment when she was scolded, and even the people listening nearby were also embarrassed by Widow Xie’s scolding.
“Mother, tell this slut what’s going on like this. This kind of stuff is not worthy of my brother. Why don’t you ask the big brother to come out and write a divorce book, and give up on this scumbag? I don’t want my reputation to become bad because of this slut.” Xie Yuxiang looked at Wang Xiushu who was lying on the ground in a mess with disgust.
If it wasn’t for her father’s death and the family’s failures in the past few years and they couldn’t afford her older brother’s tuition fees, how could Wang Xiushu be able to enter her family? Wang Xiushu used the wealth of her dowry from her family to subsidize her family. Otherwise, how could Wang Xiushu, this village girl, marry into her house? The toad really wants to eat swan meat, and he doesn’t weigh how many catties he weighs! (Chinese idiom)
“This rotten b*tch, condemned by the gods, is a thing that thousands of people ride on.” (I think she’s trying to say that she’s “used” because she slept with another man.)
Widow Xie became more and more angry and resentful when she heard Xie Yuxiang’s words. Maybe Wang Xiushu still hadn’t recovered from the shock or she was too afraid to raise her head in fear while XieYuxiang kept swearing at Wang Xiushu.
On the contrary, a Xie family uncle standing nearby listened to Widow Xie and became more and more uncomfortable, and the crutch in his hand banged on the ground.
“Okay! Shut up, how should we solve this problem? This is Zu Rong’s house. Tell Zu Rong to come out. Let’s ask Zurong for his opinion before we make any decisions on what to do with Wang Xiushu.”
Even if Wang shi really slept with another man, Widow Xie shouldn’t be so public and blatant. She really is an ignorant shrew. Today’s event has made a lot of trouble for Xie Zurong’s reputation, and you didn’t even think about how Xie Zurong is going to pass the imperial examination and become an official. Widow Xie’s scolding was really unbearable, and everyone who listened to it felt flushed and panicked, not to mention Wang Xiushu.
“Mother?”
Wang Xiushu hurriedly put on the neckline of the clothes that had not yet been picked up, and her face was pale and weak. She looked at Widow Xie pleadingly, hoping that Widow Xie could look at her diligence in cleaning up the Xie’s house for many years and give her some face and allow her a chance to explain, “Mother, I want to see Zu Rong. I was wronged…”
Without waiting for Wang Xiushu’s words, Widow Xie pinched Wang Xiushu’s sullen face. Widow Xie’s dark, wrinkled old face twisted into a ball. Her loose mouth pressed tightly, wishing to choke Wang Xiushu to death.
“You were already caught in bed with another man. You shameless slut, you still dare to say that you were wronged. If my old woman had found out today, you little lady wouldn’t know how to put a green hat on my son (Green on my son means cheating on my son.) Well, the folks look at this. This woman dared to sleep with another man in her husband’s own house and still acted like she was wronged. Does that even make sense?
Wang Xiushu was in pain and took a deep breath, but was choked by the extremely cold air. She had a thin body and it was a very cold day. Widow Xie didn’t even put her coat on and threw her outside.
Lying on the ground, her face turned from pale gray to purple, and her lips trembled. If it was quieter, you would be able to hear her teeth chattering. Wang Xiushu muttered, “I didn’t sleep with someone else… I didn’t sleep with someone else…”
After murmuring for a few times, she suddenly remembered something, the godless and gloomy eyes seemed to flash a glimmer of light, climbed up and hugged Widow Xie’s feet and lay on Widow Xie’s feet while laughing and crying.
“Mother, I didn’t have an affair. I was cooking in the kitchen room. Little sister was with me, and Li Zhi, he and Zu Rong were having a drink in the hall. Everything was fine, but how could he have suddenly gone into the bedroom. There must be a misunderstanding. Mother, go ask Li Zhi to come out and ask about what happened. There must be a misunderstanding!”
“This…” Widow Xie was hesitating, feeling that what Wang Xiushu said seemed to make sense, but who knew that Xie Yuxiang who was following her would remind her.
“Mother, don’t be fooled by this shameless slut. I normally never cook in the kitchen. How could I have been with her? How could I do that kind of rough job on such a cold day? This shameless slut must have seduced Li Zhi while my older brother was not here. Older brother is going to be a high official in the future. How can Wang Xiushu, a rude woman in the village be worthy of my older brother!”
Widow Xie had hesitated, but after listening to Xie Yuxiang’s words, she felt that Wang Xiushu was lying, especially when Xie Yuxiang said the latter sentence about how Wang Xiushu wasn’t worthy of her eldest son, she had even more thoughts about driving Wang Xiushu out of the house.
Xie Yuxiang’s words didn’t just touch Widow Xie’s heart. Her family’s Xie Zurong is going to be a high official in the future. How can Wang Xiushu, a village woman be worthy of him? When Xie Zurong gets a top score in the future, let’s not talk about an official’s lady, even the princess in the imperial city could match with him.
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Translator’s Note: Um, isn’t this mother-in-law (Widow Xie) thinking way too far in the future?
Please comment if you would like me to continue translating this. This will help me decide if I want to continue translating this novel or not. I haven’t read the whole story yet so I don’t know if the book is good or not, but I’ll just read along the way as I translate the novel. I’m planning on translating about 10-15 chapters just to see how the novel is and to see the response.
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