Chapter 4 - The Cold Truth
By nightfall, the magnificent mansion looked like an abandoned ruin.
The grand carpets were gone, leaving cold, bare stone floors that echoed with every footstep. The heavy velvet curtains had been stripped from the tall windows, allowing the freezing autumn wind to rattle through the frames. The grand chandeliers sat unlit because there was no oil left in the storerooms.
Qui Song sat on a single, rough wooden stool in the middle of the dark reception hall, holding a flickering candle.
Beside him sat Dong Lani, wearing a thin coat, her eyes swollen from crying after three different merchant collectors had visited the estate earlier that afternoon, threatening to take her to the debtor's prison if her eight-hundred-tael debt wasn't cleared by the end of the week.
Yuan and Mei sat on the cold stairs, shivering, their bellies rumbling with hunger.
"Father," Yuan whimpered, rubbing his arms. "I'm cold. Where is the head chef? Why hasn't dinner been served?"
"The chef left, young master," the one remaining old servant mumbled from the kitchen doorway. "There is no meat, no vegetables, and no firewood in the kitchen. Lady Wei took the pantry keys when she departed."
"This is outrageous!" Qui Song screamed, slamming his fist onto his knee. "She is my wife! The law obliges her to support her household!"
"The law obliges a wife to obey her husband, Master Qui," a stern, authoritative voice sounded from the open front doors.
My aunt, the Dowager Matriarch of the Wei family, stepped into the dark hall, surrounded by four tall guards carrying lantern poles. Behind her walked two official scribes from the City Magistrate's Court.
Qui Song stood up immediately, trying to adjust his wrinkled robe. "Aunt Wei! Thank goodness you are here! You must speak to Ling! She has lost her mind! She has left her own children to freeze in this house!"
The Dowager Matriarch stopped at the center of the hall, her golden cane striking the stone floor with a sharp, echoing CLANG.
"My niece has not lost her mind, Qui Song," my aunt declared, her voice echoing off the bare walls like a sentence from an emperor. "She has simply regained her sight."
She gestured to the court scribes, who stepped forward and unrolled an official legal scroll stamped with the Magistrate’s golden seal.
"This is a formal petition for legal separation and asset division," the scribe read aloud. "Filed by Lady Wei Ling against Qui Song on the grounds of gross financial negligence, breach of marital contract, and the unauthorized introduction of a concubine into the primary marital estate without the consent of the primary line."
Qui Song gasped. "Separation?! No! I do not consent! I am the head of this family!"
"You were the head of a household supported by Wei gold," my aunt said with deep disdain. "Tomorrow morning, the Magistrate will sign the decree. Every asset bearing the Wei seal has been reclaimed. Furthermore, my niece is suing you for the recovery of three hundred thousand silver taels used to fund your political campaigns over the last five years."
Qui Song staggered back, collapsing against the stone wall. "Three hundred thousand... I don't have three hundred copper coins!"
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Dong Lani looked at Qui Song in pure terror. "Song... you told me you were wealthy! You told me you owned the silk trade routes!"
"He owned nothing!" my aunt barked, turning her piercing eyes onto Dong Lani. "He was a beggar in silk clothes! And you, girl, were foolish enough to think you were stealing a kingdom, when all you were stealing was a servant's tray!"
