Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Inside the Xie Residence, First Madam Lin’s main quarters remained as lively as ever.
Xie Jin had yet to leave, and Li Mingrou was also present.
Xie Yuheng sat in a chair with one hand propping up his forehead, faint weariness in his eyes. Rubbing his brow, he said to Xie Jin, “Don’t worry, Eldest Sister. I said I wouldn’t help her, and I won’t.”
Only after receiving his firm assurance did Xie Jin relax. “Remember what you just said. No matter what she does to beg you, you mustn’t soften your heart.”
“I’m not telling you to stand by and watch someone die, but look at what the Gu Family has become. If you make an exception for them this once, won’t every mess they create in the future end up on your shoulders?”
“Your brother-in-law said it himself. Gu Xun’s sentence depends on what the Ministry of Punishments decides. The Northern Pacification Office is only responsible for the interrogation. Whether the charge is serious or minor has nothing to do with the Pacification Office, much less with us.”
“Besides, what real connection does the Gu Family have to our Xie Family? They’re only Hanyi’s maternal relatives. Now that she’s married into the Xie Family, she shouldn’t constantly be worrying about her maternal family. Doesn’t that prove her heart isn’t truly with you?”
Xie Yuheng frowned, inexplicably irritated. He recalled Ji Hanyi asking him for a divorce last night. She had not returned to their quarters all night, and he had not seen her before leaving that morning either.
He knew her temperament well enough. She had always been gentle and compliant. Even when he reprimanded her, she would at most argue with him for a few sentences, then never mention the matter again once it had passed.
Most of the time, she went along with his wishes. She had never caused such a scene before.
He remembered the look in Ji Hanyi’s eyes when she asked for a divorce last night. There had been a rare determination in them. She had not seemed to be speaking out of anger.
It suddenly occurred to him that in the three years she had been married to him, he had never once visited her mother. An unexpected desire to make it up to her stirred in him. Perhaps if he helped her this time, she would stop making a fuss.
Their life had been peaceful enough. He did not like her acting this way.
Seeing that Xie Yuheng remained silent after everything she had said, Xie Jin could not help adding, “She still hasn’t returned. Did the two of you have a serious quarrel?”
“You have no idea what happened today. Her aunt came here and made a terrible scene in front of Mother. The Gu Family has no manners whatsoever, so don’t you dare go soft on them.”
“If Hanyi wants to make a fuss, let her. It’s not as though she can turn the world upside down.”
Madam Lin, seated at the head of the room, spoke as well. “Your eldest sister is right. Let her carry on, or she’ll only cause you even greater trouble in the future.”
Li Mingrou put on a worried expression. “But if we don’t help her family, what if Cousin-in-law gets angry with Yuheng? What if she starts resenting you too, Aunt?”
Madam Lin’s expression darkened. “What right does she have to resent anyone? She hasn’t conceived a single child in three years. She should be grateful Yuheng hasn’t cast her out already.”
Just then, an older maidservant entered to report that Ji Hanyi had returned.
Madam Lin turned a cold look on Xie Yuheng. “It seems to me that she’s becoming more unruly by the day.”
“Because she was ill, I excused her from coming here to pay her respects and allowed her to recuperate. Yet she went out instead and only returned at this hour. She didn’t even think to come back earlier now that you’re home so she could attend to you.”
Li Mingrou listened with secret satisfaction. She was still brooding over what Ji Hanyi had said to her last time.
What gave Ji Hanyi the right to pity her? Ji Hanyi was clearly the pitiful one.
She might be the eldest branch’s daughter-in-law, but aside from Old Madam, who in the Xie Family even liked her?
Xie Yuheng abruptly rose, cutting off whatever else Madam Lin was about to say.
“I’ll head back first,” he said quietly.
When Madam Lin saw that Xie Yuheng wanted to leave as soon as he heard Ji Hanyi had returned, she said, “That’s fine. Go back and explain everything to her properly. Make sure she gives up on the idea for good.”
Xie Yuheng pressed his lips together without answering. For once, Ji Hanyi’s affairs had left him troubled and tense. He turned and walked out.
The snow was especially heavy tonight, seemingly even heavier than it had been that night.
The bitter wind cut to the bone.
An attendant held an umbrella over Xie Yuheng as he stepped into the snow. Unbidden, he recalled Ji Hanyi trapped inside the carriage that night.
The truth was, she had not wanted to go that day.
And it seemed that everything strange about her had begun after she returned that night.
Xie Yuheng sighed. If Ji Hanyi truly still blamed him for what had happened that night, then having his brother-in-law help her cousin this time could count as repaying what he owed her.
Meanwhile, when Ji Hanyi returned to her courtyard, the matron stationed by the gate followed her inside and reported that Xie Yuheng had come back, only to be summoned to Madam Lin’s quarters.
She also mentioned that Xie Jin had yet to leave and asked whether Ji Hanyi wished to go see her.
In the past, whenever Xie Jin visited, Ji Hanyi would always go keep her company so as not to neglect the proper courtesies.
Ji Hanyi knew what Xie Yuheng had been summoned to discuss. It could only be about her aunt’s visit today. Whenever the Xie Family discussed important matters, they never called her in. Although they never showed anything openly, she could still clearly feel the invisible barrier that marked her as an outsider.
After hearing the report, Ji Hanyi merely nodded, showing no intention of going over. After a brief pause, she asked the matron, “Did you deliver the item I asked you to take to the Eldest Master’s study this afternoon?”
The matron hurriedly replied, “I handed it to Laishun, who was stationed at the door. He said he would place it on the Eldest Master’s desk.”
Laishun was the servant assigned specifically to Xie Yuheng’s study in the front courtyard. If it had been handed to him, it would reach Xie Yuheng.
As usual, with the end of the year approaching, the yamen had to review its case files, so Xie Yuheng would be busier than normal. More than likely, he would spend over half a month sleeping in his study again, just as he had in previous years.
Reassured, Ji Hanyi nodded and told the matron to have the maids prepare hot water for her bath before heading to the main room.
She thought she only needed to wait a few more days. Everything would be settled once Xie Yuheng wrote the Divorce Agreement.
As she soaked in the hot water and warmth seeped into her body, Ji Hanyi closed her eyes. She wondered when her cousin would be released, but she still needed to write to her aunt and tell her not to make any more arrangements at the Northern Pacification Office for the time being. Otherwise, something might go wrong.
Steam curled through the air. As she leaned against the rim of the bathing tub, Shen Si’s cold, detached eyes suddenly surfaced in her mind for no apparent reason. She hastily opened her eyes again.
She did not know why she had suddenly thought of Shen Si. Seeing him again after so many years had only made Ji Hanyi understand even more clearly that they were worlds apart.
Perhaps their paths had never truly crossed to begin with.
In truth, Shen Si’s coldness was entirely different from Xie Yuheng’s.
Shen Si’s coldness came from standing high above everyone else and looking down upon them without emotion. It was the coldness of someone distant and unapproachable, noble and utterly beyond reach.
Xie Yuheng’s coldness was one of reserve. He was a man of few words by nature, but he was gentle and courteous in his dealings with others.
Ji Hanyi told herself to stop thinking about it. Yet when she finished dressing and stepped out of the bathing room, she found Xie Yuheng there.
A warm charcoal fire had long since been lit in the inner chamber. Xie Yuheng sat on the chaise longue, his cool, reserved gaze fixed on her.