Chapter 19: The Ultimatum

“Mother is right...” Meng Boji still smiled warmly at Xia Qingfei but turned cold when looking at Nanyan.

“Since your health is poor and Qingfei is already pregnant, giving her the status of a secondary wife would make it easier for her to share your burdens.”

Xia Qingfei looked pitiful and said, “Sister, please rest assured. I will always put you first and help ease your worries, but I will never overstep my bounds!”

The matriarch nodded approvingly, “Such a sensible child!”

But Nanyan felt only disgust. “Who do you think you are—my sister?”

“You seduced my husband and now want equal standing after entering the household? Such nonsense has no place in this world—”

“I am the rightful mistress of the Meng family. As long as I am here, Xia Qingfei will never be accepted!”

The faces of the Meng family members all changed.

The old lady snorted coldly, “A mere woman of the inner quarters really thinks highly of herself?”

“Boji is the head of the household. If he wants to accept someone or make her a secondary wife, why would he need your approval?!”

Meng Lishi tried to mediate, “Yan’er, it seems you didn’t listen to a word I said before!”

“As a wife, you must be magnanimous. Do you really want to be a jealous and poisonous woman?!”

Meng Boji was even more biased, “A few days ago, you slandered Qingfei so badly, yet Qingfei was magnanimous and didn’t pursue it, enduring it all!”

Xia Qingfei wiped her tears softly, and Meng Boji grew angrier.

“Now you still won’t relent. What exactly do you want?! Do you really want me to divorce you?!”

Nanyan felt as if struck by a thunderbolt.

Indeed, this was the real him, the true intent of the entire Meng family!

Even though she knew it all along, Nanyan couldn’t help but feel a sharp pain in her heart, as if a blade was slowly carving through her flesh.

“You... Meng Boji, you want to divorce me for a shameless entertainer?”

“She’s been immoral, conceiving a child whose father is uncertain—”

As soon as Xia Qingfei heard that, she burst into tears again. The old lady and Meng Lishi grew angry too.

The old lady slammed the table hard, “This is lawlessness—”

“You are so disrespectful, unfilial, and disobedient to your elders!”

“Slandering Qingfei is to commit verbal offense!”

“You have been married for three years with no child, that is childlessness!”

“Refusing to let your husband remarry is jealousy!”

“You faint at the slightest provocation, your health is so weak it’s practically a chronic illness!”

“You have already violated five out of the seven grounds for divorce. That’s enough to divorce you five times over!”

Meng Lishi also turned to Xia Qingfei.

“If you can’t provide evidence, you’re slandering. Qingfei is pregnant now, but you? Have you ever even laid an egg?!”

“If you don’t agree today to let Qingfei enter as a secondary wife, Boji will divorce you!”

“You all...”

Nanyan took a deep breath, her nails digging into her palm until they bled.

Her reddened eyes brimmed with tears, sparkling like stars as she looked at Meng Boji.

Even at this moment, she still harbored a sliver of hope that Meng Boji wouldn’t truly treat her without mercy or loyalty.

After all, it was he who knelt in the heavy rain for three days just to marry her back then.

Now, on a similarly rainy day, Nanyan, her eyes red, asked him, “If I don’t agree... will you really divorce me?”

Meng Boji seemed to hesitate, lowering his eyes and quietly biting his lip, offering no immediate answer.

Xia Qingfei cried and clung to his arm, “Boji... you must stand up for me...”

“You can’t let our child be branded with such disgrace before it’s even born!”

“You also promised... you would take good care of us, cherish us both...”

Tears streamed down Xia Qingfei’s face, but Nanyan stubbornly swallowed back her own tears.

Meng Boji softened at Qingfei’s tears, holding her closely and doting on her.

“All right, all right! Don’t cry! I remember it all. I will stand up for you and our child!”

Seeing him tenderly wipe Xia Qingfei’s tears, the last thread of hope in Nanyan’s heart shattered amid the booming thunder.

He remembered what he said to Xia Qingfei, made promises to her, yet could cast them aside so easily.

Nanyan no longer needed his answer. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, took a deep breath, and lifted her head high.

“Fine. I will make myself clear today. Don’t even talk about letting Xia Qingfei enter as a secondary wife...”

“Even if it’s just as a concubine, I absolutely will not agree—”

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, rain pouring down in torrents. Nanyan’s eyes gleamed with sharp resolve as she raised her hand to point directly at Meng Boji and Xia Qingfei.

“If you, Meng Boji, dare to divorce me and take another wife today, I will never let this go! Our Nan family will not back down either!”

“Even if it means appealing to the emperor, I will see to it that you are charged with adultery!”

After all, she was the legitimate daughter of the Duke’s household, a family deeply favored by the emperor, who had watched her grow up and doted on her especially.

Meng Boji’s family had risen to their current wealth and status precisely because they married her!

Yet the entire Meng family was unmoved.

“You threaten with your natal family? Don’t forget, your father and brothers are traitors who colluded with the enemy. The Duke’s household is no longer what it once was!”

“Besides, do you think the Meng family fears power and influence?!”

“Who do you think you are, some noble lady? Once you marry into the Meng family, you belong to the Meng family!”

The family finally dropped their pretense, revealing their true faces.

Nanyan’s face turned pale, almost breaking the skin on her palm.

Meng Boji showed no regard for their three years of marriage. He approached Nanyan, grabbed her chin, and forced her head up.

“If you’re smart, you’ll obediently agree to let Qingfei enter the household!”

“Now, everyone avoids the Nan family. No one will stand up for you anymore!”

“You wouldn’t want the old Duke to see you cast out and sent back to your family in disgrace, would you? That would kill him!”

The cruelty in his eyes had wiped away all traces of the false tenderness he once feigned!

At this moment, Nanyan no longer held any hope for him.

She shook off Meng Boji’s hand, her eyes sharp as blades as she stared at him.

“Meng Boji, did you really fall in love with me at first sight?”

Meng Boji’s expression suddenly changed. With a sigh full of regret, he brushed his finger along Nanyan’s cheek.

His eyes again displayed the feigned tenderness of days past.

“Of course it was real, but unfortunately... you’ve changed!”

“Yan’er, you’re no longer as pleasing as before.”

“Men having multiple wives and concubines is nothing unusual—especially for an outstanding scholar like me, a top-ranking imperial scholar—”

“I only want to marry Qingfei. Isn’t having no more than three or four wives already enough?”

“Do you know your father and brothers’ crimes could implicate the Meng family anytime? I made Qingfei a secondary wife and kept her close for your own good!”

“If the emperor wants to punish your grandfather, I can still speak up for the old Duke, can’t I?”

“Why are you so stubborn? Why won’t you relent and let Qingfei enter the household—”

Suddenly, Meng Boji gripped Nanyan’s throat tightly, showing no mercy whatsoever.