Cui Anhua was really at a loss and had to look at Liu Shichu. Liu Shichu sneered and would not step forward to persuade Cui's mother. It was he who was in a hurry to divorce, and she would soon no longer be a member of Cui's family. Why should she help him out
Cui Anhua had no choice but to say, "Mom, I didn't let Liu down. This is what we had discussed."
Then he said with finality: "It is settled now. Liu and I must divorce. You just need to know this."
His concubines and illegitimate children were all confused and didn't know what to say. How could they persuade them not to divorce? However, the interests of concubines, illegitimate children and the legal wife were naturally contradictory. If Liu Shichu wanted to divorce Cui Anhua, they would only gloat over the misfortune, so it was impossible to persuade them.
But if they agreed to divorce, what if after Liu Shichu left, Cui Anhua's new wife was worse than Liu Shichu? At least Liu Shichu would not deliberately treat them harshly, but the remarriage was not certain, so the concubines and illegitimate children were very uneasy, and they looked at each other for a while, not knowing how to deal with the situation at this time.
However, Liu Shichu didn't need them to respond at all, and directly said to Cui Anhua: "Before writing the divorce letter, let's separate the family first. You won't regret it, right? If you regret it, then I will regret it too."
Cui Anhua really wanted to regret it, but after hearing what she said, he had to suppress the thought in his heart and asked, "Then how do you want to divide it?"
Liu Shichu turned to the group of concubines and illegitimate children and said frankly: "Cui Anhua and I are getting divorced, and he will marry a new wife soon. In order to protect my son's vital interests, I ask him to divide the family property now to avoid fighting over it in the future. Are you willing to share it with us, or not?"
When the concubines and illegitimate children heard this, they were immediately excited. This was related to their interests, and they immediately lost their composure.
Aunt Zhou asked hurriedly, "How do we divide it?"
Liu Shichu said: "Just divide it like a normal family, 60% for the legitimate son and 40% for the other illegitimate sons. Of course, the dowry for the illegitimate daughters should be reserved first. But because the elders are still alive, a portion should also be reserved for them.
In addition, I think that in the past 20 years in the Cui family, I have conscientiously fulfilled my duties as a mistress, serving my mother-in-law, raising children, and managing the family business. I have done nothing wrong. Under such circumstances, Cui Anhua insisted on divorcing me, so I asked for compensation to compensate for the time and energy I have spent in the past 20 years. "
"How can this be?" Aunt Chen blurted out when she heard that Liu Shichu wanted compensation, "Since you are the mistress of the Cui family, isn't it your duty to do those things? Why do you want compensation?"
Liu Shichu glanced at her coldly and said, "It is indeed the duty of the Cui family's mistress to do these things, but I will soon no longer be one, so I will naturally ask him to compensate me for the twenty years I have wasted."
Then she stared at Cui Anhua and said, "Don't you think I shouldn't ask for compensation?"
Liu Shichu stared at him closely, making an implicit threat that as soon as he denied it, she would immediately refuse to divorce him and would drag him down to prevent him from marrying his old love.
Cui Anhua understood the meaning in her eyes and nodded quickly, "No, no, you are right. It is right to compensate you. I have no objection."
Since the male owner had spoken, the concubines and illegitimate children did not dare to raise any objections even if they had any.
"Then I ask for 20% of the Cui family's assets as compensation. I have been in charge of the Cui family's assets for the past 20 years, and the family assets have doubled during this period. Is it not too much for me to ask for 20%?" Liu Shichu looked at Cui Anhua and said.
Cui Anhua knew nothing about his family's business, so naturally he believed whatever Liu Shichu said: "It's not too much."
"Okay then. Now, I will divide the Cui family's property into fourteen equal parts. Two of them will be my compensation, two will be left for mother and Cui Anhua's daily needs, six will be given to the legitimate son Cui Ying, one will be given to the eldest concubine's son Cui Wu, one will be given to the third concubine's son Cui Yun, one will be given to the fourth concubine's son Cui Le, and the remaining one will be left for the concubine's daughter as a dowry. That's it. What do you think?" Liu Shichu told the others his arrangements.
Cui Anhua immediately said in dissatisfaction: "How come Cui Ying gets six shares, but my mother and I only get two? Isn't this too little? It's not fair!"
Liu Shichu said, "Cui Ying is the legitimate son and grandson of the Cui family. He is the one who will carry on the Cui family. In the future, he will be the legitimate branch of the Cui family. Why can't he take six shares? I even think it's too little. It is a family taboo to not distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate children. Cui Anhua, you are not so confused as to favor the illegitimate child and destroy the legitimate one, right?"
Cui Anhua was choked by her words and was speechless. How could he refute her after she said so? If he continued to refute her, wouldn't it prove that he really wanted to bring disaster to the family and didn't distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate children
So he just shut up.
Liu Shichu was satisfied when he saw that he didn't say anything. The family clan system of this era had one advantage, which was that it could guarantee the status of the direct line. Therefore, even if Cui Anhua disliked Cui Ying, he could not blatantly oppose the system of dividing the family established by the ancestral rules.
The other concubines were not convinced. Aunt Zhou tentatively said, "Mother and Master only have two portions. Isn't that a little too little?"
Liu Shichu glanced at her and said, "Why don't you give your son's share to them? Just think of it as your son being filial to them."
When Aunt Zhou heard this, her face flushed red immediately. She didn't care about anything else and hurriedly shook her head and said, "No, no... Madam, you are joking. My son has no ability. If he loses even a share of the family business, will he be left to starve to death..."
Liu Shichu sneered, and seeing that no one raised any objections, he said to Cui Anhua, "Since everyone agrees, let's divide it according to this method. You signed the deed of separation, and you can sign the divorce agreement for me."
After saying that, Liu Shichu handed him the deed of division of the family, which was made in triplicate. One copy was given to the clan leader for safekeeping, one was kept by Cui Ying, and the other was kept by Liu Shichu himself just in case.
Cui Anhua took the contract, glanced at it, saw that it was all what Liu Shichu had said, and signed it one by one.
Liu Shichu also readily signed the divorce agreement, and from then on, she was no longer a member of the Cui family.
Cui Ying looked at her with some concern, but Liu Shichu waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine. Just live a good life with your wife and children in the future, and don't worry about your father's affairs."
"Oh, yes, there is one more thing." Liu Shichu suddenly remembered something and said to Cui Anhua, "Since we are dividing the family, let's do it thoroughly. Cui Ying will start his own business and take care of his own affairs. The east courtyard where he lives now and my main courtyard will be given to him. Do you have any objection?"
Cui Anhua was very happy after the divorce was successful. This little thing naturally didn't matter to him, so he replied: "No problem, he will set up a new family in the future. Of course, Cui Wu and Cui Yun will also do the same and cook their own meals!"
Of course, he was happy to live in a sweet world of two with Jiang Wenyue in the future, without anyone else getting in the way. The farther away his son, concubine, and so on were, the better.