Chapter 2827: Chapter 2828: Favoring the Concubine and Abandoning the Wife
Bai Ruomei angrily shook off his hand, "I’m being unreasonable? Who’s really scheming here? This is harming Donghai!"
"Xianghong isn’t that kind of person, she’s just concerned for the child," Lu Ming said awkwardly.
"Concerned? My own son isn’t my concern, but hers?" Bai Ruomei grew more furious as she thought more about it. No wonder Donghai’s illness didn’t improve; it was all because of the tricks of that concubine behind the scenes.
No wonder Donghai wasn’t close to her, but rather to the concubine, because the family didn’t give him dimsum, and only the concubine secretly ate with him. Naturally, he became close to her.
Also, those words, who knows what insidious things that woman said to Donghai!
She angrily reached for the concubine, who dodged while crying out, "Husband, save me!"
Lu Ming couldn’t bear it, quickly stepping in front of the concubine, and then Bai Ruomei, unable to stop herself, slapped him on the face.
"How dare you hit me?" Lu Ming was furious, returning the slap onto Bai Ruomei’s face.
"Impertinent!" Bai Ruozhu rushed over and slapped Lu Ming several times, making him see stars and fall to the ground on his backside.
"Murder! This is bullying! I can’t live!" Lu’s old woman wailed, grabbing and messing up her hair, pretending to smash her head against a nearby pillar, while two doctors hurried over to stop her.
Bai Ruozhu glared, "Let her go! Let me see if she dares to die!"
The doctors, respecting Bai Ruozhu greatly, immediately released their holds and stepped aside, leaving Lu’s old woman exposed.
"Go on, smash your head! As long as you don’t break it, I can save you, but you’ll be the one to suffer," Bai Ruozhu said through gritted teeth.
"You, you, you...," Lu’s old woman didn’t know what to do for a moment and simply pretended to faint by rolling her eyes.
Bai Ruozhu sneered. She had seen this act many times from Old Lady Bai in the Mountain Village and had dealt with it all.
"Oh, fainted, have we? Better save her quickly." As she spoke, she pulled out a silver needle and swiftly pricked Lu’s old woman.
A scream like a pig being slaughtered resounded, and Lu’s old woman jumped directly off the ground, moving faster than a young person.
She shuddered from the pain and quickly retreated with Lu Ming and the others.
Bai Ruozhu, unhurriedly collecting the silver needle, walked over to pull back Lu Donghai and continued to ask, "What else does the concubine usually say to you?"
The concubine wanted to speak up to stop it, but Jianqi slapped her across the face. The concubine screamed and dared not speak again.
Lu Donghai was so frightened that he started crying.
"She said my mom’s dad is a fake scholar, causing others to look down on me. With a mom like mine, I’ll suffer in the future."
"What else?" Bai Ruozhu glared.
Lu Donghai, shivering, continued, "She said my dad will eventually divorce my mom, and she will become my real mom."
Someone nearby couldn’t stand it, pointed at Lu Ming, and cursed, "Favoring the concubine over the wife, indeed!"
Bai Ruozhu looked at Lu Ming, "You dare not divorce my cousin because you’re afraid my second brother is an officer, right? Are you really unaware of what your concubine is doing?"
"I don’t know, I really don’t know!" Lu Ming said eagerly.
"Then why take in a concubine?" Bai Ruozhu swept her gaze like a knife, "Favoring the concubine over the wife, you’ll get at least twenty floggings at court. Let’s see if you can still talk then."
"If I hadn’t met my cousin today, wouldn’t she have ended up being harmed by you eventually? And about your son, with your concubine’s schemes, your son won’t live long either."
Dr. Li shook his head nearby, "I knew something was off when there was no improvement. When asked, they all said they were watching the diet, yet secretly eating dimsum and drinking sugary water—simply no desire to live!"
At this moment, Bai Ruomei, who had fallen to the ground, staggered up, pointed at Lu Ming, and said, "I will sue him for favoring the concubine over the wife, and his concubine for plotting against his legitimate heir. I want a divorce!"
Bai Ruozhu felt somewhat relieved that Bai Ruomei finally dared to speak up.
"So many witnesses here, the charge of favoring the concubine over the wife won’t escape him. Moreover, striving for child custody after the divorce should allow the child to be with the mother," she said.
"Impossible! Donghai belongs to the Lu Family, how can he be given to others?" Lu’s old woman cried out.
"We can always test it out," Bai Ruozhu turned to Bai Ruomei, "Cousin, go beat the drum and file a complaint."
Lu Ming, enduring the pain, looked at Bai Ruomei and said, "Ruomei, we’ve been husband and wife, do we really have to go to court? Even if you take Donghai, how can a woman like you raise a child? Don’t forget Donghai’s medicine isn’t cheap."
Bai Ruomei hesitated, and Bai Ruozhu didn’t speak. Whether or not to divorce and leave that whirlpool depends on Bai Ruomei’s own determination.
With the situation turned to this point, Lu Ming hadn’t reprimanded the concubine once. Once things calm down, won’t the concubine dare to act recklessly again?
And even without this concubine, given Lu Ming’s lustful nature, there would be more. How could a life with such a man and in-laws be lived happily ever after?
"I’ve served your whole family for years, what hardship haven’t I endured? I can always raise the child by embroidering for others and doing laundry!" Bai Ruomei finally made up her mind. She was the sharpest among the Bai family’s girls; what Bai Ruozhu could think of, she mightily had thought of too, but she just hadn’t wanted to let go.
But what is there to cling to in such a family now?
"Do you want us to report to the Government Office by beating the drum to file a complaint about the Lu Family favoring the concubine and mistreating the wife, and then my cousin divorcing and taking Donghai, or will you amicably divorce and sign a contract allowing my cousin to take Donghai?" Bai Ruozhu asked slowly.
"No way! Donghai is the grandson of our family!" Lu’s old woman cried out.
Lu Ming reached to pull Bai Ruomei, "Ruomei, we’re husband and wife, can you really bear to sue me?"
Bai Ruomei slapped his hand away, "You know we’re husband and wife too? I won’t be soft-hearted this time. If I stay in your house any longer, it’ll harm the child eventually!"
What finally made her make up her mind was not only despair toward Lu Ming but also concern for her child’s future.
"You, you... the most venomous is a woman’s heart!" Lu Ming pointed at Bai Ruomei and then at Bai Ruozhu.
At this point, the doctors from the Medical Alliance couldn’t take it and started cursing.
"What a thing, a commoner taking a concubine? Shameless."
"Clearly a lecher, even took in a brothel girl as a concubine."
"Even harmed a child. Who’s really venomous? Why don’t you just divorce the concubine?"
"..."
Bai Ruozhu raised her hand to stop the cursing, "Okay, don’t waste time; go beat the drum to file the complaint."
"Alright, I’m going now," Bai Ruomei picked up Lu Donghai and headed outside.
Lu Ming panicked and quickly chased after them, "Don’t go, I promise you!"