chapter 6

I don’t believe it, so I want to persuade Sister-in-law not to believe it either.

Elder Brother must have his reasons.

I composed my words in my heart, intending to find Sister-in-law in the courtyard. But as I reached the door, I heard Elder Brother’s voice.

They had set a table of wine under the moonlight. Elder Brother hung his head low, while Sister-in-law held his hand and gently said, “Husband, don’t be afraid. I won’t be harsh with you this time. Just tell me honestly, that Yaoniang is a fake, you brought her here to anger me as a bet with your friends, or you sympathized with her because she’s unmarried and pregnant, or perhaps you’re helping a friend. In any case, you haven’t really done anything with her, right?”

Bathed in moonlight, Sister-in-law’s face was full of tenderness-her trust in Elder Brother.

But Elder Brother bowed his head even lower, choking as he said, “Wife, if only you had been this gentle sooner. I am a man, I have my pride. If I hadn’t been mocked for fearing my wife and gotten drunk, how would I have made my first mistake with Yaoniang? But after the first time, I finally understood what a gentle haven is, and I can’t let her go. It’s easy to deceive you tonight, but if I do, I’ll have to send her away. Now she’s carrying my child, she treats me as her world, and I must act like a man.

Wife, I bow to you, I apologize to you. Even if you break my legs with this Rolling Pin, I won’t fight back. But I beg you, please accept Yaoniang, don’t make things hard for her and the child.

You know, in my heart you’ll always be first. I’m only giving her a tiny corner, I swear, I’ll never let her surpass you.”

Elder Brother didn’t dare look at Sister-in-law. He bent low, bowing, his mouth full of another woman’s name, so he didn’t see how pale Sister-in-law’s face had become. So Sister-in-law smiled and agreed, smiled and told him to go back and take care of the pregnant woman, and he fled as if escaping.

But I stayed where I was, and I saw clearly: the moment Elder Brother left the courtyard, Sister-in-law’s face was covered in tears. She collapsed to the ground like a madwoman, crying and laughing, then clung to a tree and slapped herself hard across the face.

Afterward, she smiled at the tree and said, “Father, Mother, don’t think me useless, crying like this for a heartless man. Three years of deep marriage, after Father passed, it was he who pulled me back. I have to ask clearly, does he have his reasons?

Now the doctor says that woman is truly pregnant, and Feng Jixuan himself admits he can’t let her go. Since that’s the case, this will be the last tear I shed for him. With you watching from above, this husband-I, Qin Zhiyue, do not want him anymore.”

Sister-in-law bowed deeply to the tree, then stood up and wiped away the last tear from the corner of her eye.

That tree was planted by her parents the year she was born. When she married, Elder Brother and Sister-in-law transplanted it back together-it is the embodiment of her parents.