Chapter 933 – The Divorce Affair

To ensure the physical and mental health of the "Second Generation," Zheng Shangjie had established the Third Outpatient Department specifically to handle maternal and child health care—at present, primarily serving transmigrators. Pregnant maids and female transmigrators alike registered there, receiving prenatal guidance and checkups.

For the sake of the next generation's health, Liu San of course wanted Xuanchun to go there. As a medical professional, he was all too clear on modern maternal and child health care's role in drastically reducing maternal mortality and infant death rates.

And so it was at this stage that a slip-up occurred. The General Hospital was a place with many eyes, and now that it had become a frequent destination for maids from various households, any whisper was immediately amplified and spread rapidly throughout Bai Ren New Town.

Within a few days, Liu San had become known among the transmigrators as a "rich dog burning oil on the fire." Of course, this was merely a jest. But for certain parties involved, it was no jest at all.

When Wuyun Hua received confirmed news, she calmly returned to her apartment, opened a cabinet, took out the Glock 17 issued to her for self-defense, placed it in her bag, then pulled down from the wall the ornamental sword Liu San used for show on his herb-gathering and medical missions. She stormed out the door.

She had just walked out of Bai Ren New Town's gate when Ye Mengyan, sent by the General Office with four squad members, intercepted her.

At Ye Mengyan's signal, she obediently handed over the sword. Just as Ye Mengyan reached out to take it, Wuyun Hua exploded—a left hook, followed by a sweeping leg, then a flying kick. If not for Ye Mengyan's continual training with the Special Reconnaissance Team since D-Day, which had honed his fighting skills, this former stick-thin high schooler really wouldn't have been her match. Ye Mengyan dodged her three-hit combo and subdued her with a reverse armlock. Two female squad members immediately flanked her and restrained her.

Ye Mengyan picked up the bag on the ground and formally announced: "In the name of the Senate, on orders from the General Office, I—"

Before he could finish, a gob of spit flew at him. Ye Mengyan dodged agilely.

"Comrade Wuyun Hua, please maintain your dignity as a transmigrator. Your current emotional state is unsuitable for going anywhere else. I am now under orders to take you to the General Office's First Guest House."

He then opened Wuyun Hua's handbag and found the pistol and scattered bullets, placing them in a special paper bag. Upon subsequent inspection, it was found that Wuyun Hua's pistol wasn't loaded, and the gun hadn't even been properly oiled. The bullets had obviously been grabbed randomly from the ammunition box.

She was taken to the General Office's First Guest House at Bopu. Female transmigrators had already been arranged there to calm her down. Dong Weiwei, who had some acquaintance with her in normal times, was seven months pregnant. With her belly showing, she stayed at the guest house doing psychological work with her.

Xiao Zishan ordered Ye Mengyan's squad to take over security at the guest house and gave strict instructions: Du Wen was not to enter until Wuyun Hua's emotions had stabilized. He then made calls to several female transmigrators, asking them to go to the guest house to "stabilize the situation."

Afterward, he called the Lingao Garrison Command and had Li Yayang immediately deploy an infantry platoon to cordon off the area around Run Shi Tang. Liu San had originally been at the Run Shi Tang Drug Factory in the Industrial Zone providing guidance. Soon afterward, Xue Ziliang and his men escorted him into "protective custody"—he was sent to Wu Nanhai's farm.

The matter of Liu San's maid became a hot topic in the Senate by the next day. The nature of the affair, methods of handling, human rights involved, legal issues, sociological significance, and relations with natives—all were debated at length for over ten days in Senate BBS forums and meetings.

No male transmigrator denied harboring hopes of having multiple wives and concubines. The problem was that Liu San was a married transmigrator. If they were allowed to carry on with multiple women, that would violate the rights and status of female transmigrators and undermine the fundamental position of equal rights among all transmigrators. If not allowed, then single transmigrators could while married ones couldn't—which would also appear to violate the principle.

This tricky paradox was not something no one in the Senate had anticipated. Because it touched on transmigrators' "sexual rights"—a matter far too sensitive—it had always been avoided. The General Office used a slippery answer to deflect transmigrators' questions: "The General Office is only responsible for training and assigning life secretaries. How to use them is a transmigrator's personal affair."

On the question of female transmigrators' rights, the General Office's answer was equally evasive: the maid subsidy was distributed to every transmigrator regardless of gender or age, so female transmigrators could likewise purchase maids or male servants.

This answer had barely sufficed under normal circumstances. But in a situation like this one, there was no avoiding the issue.

The Senate Standing Committee convened two closed-door meetings, and the full Senate held one general session. Over thirty articles were published in the Lingao Tribune Internal Edition and the BBS. Almost everyone in the Law Club wrote on the subject, and various societies rallied to the cause. Not only did the Law Club, the Native Rights Protection Association, the Great Harmony Society, and the Women's Federation each write articles and join the debate, but even groups with little relevance—the Otaku Party, the Scale Model Club, the Steampunk Society—all issued statements. It seemed anyone who didn't weigh in was behind the times.

The hot-button issues in the discussion were questions the Senate and Executive Committee had been avoiding: Was there inequality in sexual rights between male and female transmigrators? Additionally, did the personal inequality between transmigrators and natives stipulated in the Basic Law make killing each other's maids and life secretaries a safe form of retaliation? If Wuyun Hua had really killed Xuanchun, how should the law deal with it? According to the Common Program, there was personal inequality between transmigrators and natives; if a transmigrator killed a native, they needn't pay with their life, only face financial penalties. Such punishment seemed pitifully light.

These questions provoked fierce debate from all sides. Every faction had different views and opinions. The most active was Du Wen. She used this affair to launch a fierce attack on the "maid–life secretary" system—she had always strongly disapproved of this "disguised concubine" system, and now she pounced on the opportunity. Not only did she fiercely criticize "feudal remnants and reactionary backsliding," but she ran about trying to collect signatures from all female transmigrators, demanding the complete abolition of the life secretary system, the establishment of a clear monogamous system, and a prohibition on any form of "concubinage"—whether through explicit policy or private "unspoken rules."

Yet the attitude of female transmigrators toward this was ambiguous. Though they emotionally sympathized with Wuyun Hua, most were unwilling to take a clear position. Old-timers like Li Mei, who had long since seen through the ways of the world, privately told Mu Min:

"If you want to support Wuyun Hua, that's fine, but whatever you do, don't follow Du Wen in sticking your neck out. Think about it: how many people in the Senate want to take a second or third wife, and how few don't? If this really blows up and comes to an open vote at a general meeting, Du Wen is definitely going to lose badly—and if things go wrong, she'll get herself caught up in it."

Despite fervent discussions, all sides remained restrained. Everyone realized the sensitive issues behind this matter, and under the Senate's structure, these issues were unsolvable.

It was the two parties directly involved who remained relatively calm. As if they had vented all their anger that first day. After staying at the guest house for two or three days, Wuyun Hua formally submitted a divorce application to the General Office. Xiao Zishan made a show of "studying" it for a few days, then privately spoke with Liu San. After this drama, Liu San held no more hope for his relationship with Wuyun Hua. Their mutual divorce application was submitted from the General Office to the Transmigrator Honor Court.

Ma Jia handled the case personally. He was drafting a Marriage Law for naturalized citizens and hadn't expected the first divorce case to occur among transmigrators. While reading the materials, he discovered a problem: Liu San and Wuyun Hua hadn't actually been legally married in the old timeline, so no marriage existed between them. However, considering they had been cohabiting since D-Day, this could be recognized as a de facto marriage.

In the end, both parties reached an agreement: Liu San and Wuyun Hua would dissolve their civil relationship effective immediately; Liu San would compensate Wuyun Hua in installments from his stock dividends for 1631 to 1633; private property they had purchased in Lingao would be divided equally; property brought from D-Day would be returned to its original owners.

Though the matter was settled, the many questions left by the case remained of concern to the transmigrators. How to define rights between transmigrators, naturalized citizens, and natives? What were the legal relationships between them? How to prevent someone from exploiting loopholes in the current Common Program to do things that harmed other transmigrators' interests?

After settling this incident, Xiao Zishan feared aftershocks and specifically advised Liu San that it would be best to "get away for a while." So Liu San boarded the Haitian reconnaissance ship, preparing to participate in the entire Operation Engine.

Liu San stood on deck, his thoughts drifting to Xuanchun. The incident had frightened her badly—not just her, but the entire Yang family. Dozens of armed soldiers had suddenly surrounded Run Shi Tang, and though they later learned the purpose was protection, it had scared the wits out of Grandmother Yang and all the womenfolk in the household.

Xuanchun had been startled badly enough to disturb her pregnancy. Fortunately, the Yang household was a pharmacy with ready-made pregnancy-safeguarding medicines, which she immediately took. Yang Shixiang also prescribed formulas for careful care, and she finally stabilized. For her safety, the General Office had considered moving her to the farm or Gaoshan Ridge, but Liu San requested she remain at the Yang household—the Yangs now had no choice but to take painstaking care of Xuanchun. At the farm or Gaoshan Ridge, there would actually be no one suitable to look after her.