Chapter 79
Chapter 79
As soon as Old Madam finished speaking, Madam Lin’s expression darkened, and her hands clenched tight.
Old Madam Gu regarded her coldly. “I won’t waste my breath. Today, Hanyi will take her belongings and leave. If you refuse, I’ll make sure everyone hears exactly how the Xie Family broke its word and took a concubine into the household.
“And I’ll also tell everyone how Xie Yuheng carried on with his cousin at his own grandmother’s birthday banquet.
“I had hoped we could settle this amicably, but you’ve said every ugly thing there is to say, as though marrying into the Xie Family were some incredible blessing for Hanyi.
“So let me ask you this: what wealth or luxury has she enjoyed since coming here?”
Old Madam Gu turned a cold gaze on Xie Yuheng. “She has been married into the Xie Family for three years. How well have you treated her?
“When have you ever taken care of her?”
Old Madam Gu might have hailed from the south and not grown up in the capital, and her father might only have been a Registrar of the Provincial Administration Commission, but she had still been raised as a young lady of a respectable family. Though mild-tempered by nature, when truly angered, she possessed an authority that could silence an entire room.
The heated chamber fell still as soon as she finished speaking.
Old Madam Xie shot Madam Lin a frosty glare.
There might not have been much hope of salvaging the situation to begin with, but after Madam Lin’s outburst, all pretense of cordiality had been torn away.
Old Madam Gu was undeniably in the right. The Xie Family had indeed broken its promise. Old Madam Xie knew that better than anyone, for she had been the one to make her son put the pledge in writing.
At the time, she had wanted, first, to repay the debt of gratitude they owed and treat the Ji Family’s daughter well after she married in. Second, Ji Jing had gained the Chief Grand Secretary’s favor and was rising rapidly through the official ranks. She could tell that Ji Jing was destined for great things, especially with the Former Chief Grand Secretary backing him. By arranging a marriage between the Xie Family and the Ji Family, they had secured an excellent match early on.
Who could have imagined it would come to this?
She drew a deep breath and said to Old Madam Gu, “Heng’er has wronged Hanyi this time. It is indeed disgraceful for things to have reached this point over a mere concubine. I will make the decision today and drive that concubine out. Whether she lives or dies from then on will have nothing to do with the Xie Family.
“As the saying goes, better to demolish ten temples than destroy a single marriage. There is still room to discuss this matter.”
Old Madam Gu had never intended to agree. Whether the concubine stayed or not, Xie Yuheng had already taken her into the household. If Mingrou were driven out now, would that not make Girl Yi look like the villain?
But before Old Madam Gu could speak, Xie Yuheng blurted out anxiously, “Grandmother, I can’t betray Mingrou.”
Old Madam Xie stared silently at Xie Yuheng, her eyes filled with disappointment. “How would you be betraying her?
“She has no sense of decency and harbors such malicious intentions, yet you’re still pleading on her behalf.
“You’ve truly lost your mind. Do you even understand what sort of situation this is?
“I’ll ask you one last time. Who do you truly care about?”
Xie Yuheng hunched over dejectedly, his face twisted with pain.
He had long since come to understand his own heart. The person he cared about was Ji Hanyi, and she was the one he loved.
But Mingrou had always been frail, and she had given herself to him. If she were expelled from the Xie Residence, it would undoubtedly be a death sentence. He could not simply abandon her.
All he wanted was to give Mingrou somewhere to live.
What pained him even more was that Ji Hanyi did not understand him and was now relentlessly forcing his hand.
Xie Yuheng turned toward Ji Hanyi, his voice trembling. “Hanyi, must you force me like this?
“Must you refuse to tolerate Mingrou?”
Ji Hanyi frowned. Her usually gentle, quiet face showed a rare trace of coldness, and her voice was just as cool. “Eldest Master, must you always be so unreasonable?”
The cool impatience in her tone made Xie Yuheng’s entire frame sag. His severely injured body could no longer support him, and he collapsed to the floor. The servants in the room hurried forward in a fluster to help him up.
Xie Yuheng’s fall threw the entire room into chaos once more.
Ji Hanyi lowered her head and met Xie Yuheng’s gaze from where he lay on the floor. His eyes were filled with disappointment and blame — disappointment in her, disappointment that she refused to submit to him.
And yet, his face was arranged in an expression of tender anguish.
It was truly sickening to behold.
Ji Hanyi looked away and rose to her feet. She walked to her maternal grandmother’s side, then turned and gave Old Madam Xie another solemn curtsy.
“Old Madam, you saw what happened just now. The Eldest Master made his choice long ago, and you know better than anyone that this marriage was a mistake from the very beginning.”
“No matter what, I will leave the Xie Family today.”
Old Madam Xie sighed as she studied Ji Hanyi’s face. By now, she knew there was no salvaging the situation.
She let out a long sigh. She did not want matters to erupt into a full-blown scandal either.
If the Gu Family, in order to secure the divorce, made public how the Xie Family had broken its word, Xie Yuheng’s career in officialdom would likely suffer.
She ordered someone to bring brush and ink, then placed the already-drafted Divorce Agreement on the low table. At her command, several servants forcibly seized Xie Yuheng’s hand to make him sign and press his fingerprint onto it.
Xie Yuheng trembled all over, his eyes completely bloodshot.
He stared at the woman standing quietly to the side. She stood before the window, bathed in light, her hands folded before her and her bearing perfectly composed. He had never known that those picturesque features of hers could look so cold — or that she could truly stop looking at him altogether…
He gritted his teeth. He had said so much to make her stay, yet he had never known Ji Hanyi could be so heartless.
His vision gradually blurred. That day in the snow, it seemed he had never properly said he was sorry.
Xie Yuheng refused to sign his name. But he was gravely injured, and his strength could not match that of the servants pinning him down. They gripped his hand and forced it into the red ink paste.
No sooner had the red fingerprint been pressed onto the paper than a hot tear fell with a soft patter, smudging the writing. Then Xie Yuheng suddenly coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, splattering it all over the Divorce Agreement.
The older serving women restraining him were so frightened by the sight that they released him at once.
By then, Xie Yuheng had lost every last ounce of strength. The instant their grip loosened, his entire body collapsed limply to the floor.
His struggles had torn open his wounds, and blood soaked through his clothes, staining his blue robes red. Bright blood lingered at the corner of his lips as he curled into himself in agony.
The warm, fragrant room was suddenly permeated by the thick stench of blood.
Madam Lin screamed and threw herself beside Xie Yuheng. Cradling the barely conscious man on the floor, she sobbed and shouted for someone to hurry and carry him to a bed, then send for a physician at once.
Old Madam Xie was also shocked by Xie Yuheng’s reaction. She had never imagined that he would cough up blood. Flustered, she clutched her chest, her eyes burning as she groaned, “What a terrible sin…”
Xie Yuheng no longer had the strength to struggle. Even as he was carried out, his bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Ji Hanyi.
Ji Hanyi did not look at him. Despite the chaos filling the room, despite the smell of blood, she did not look at him.
She merely lowered her gaze to the Divorce Agreement on the table, now stained red with blood.
Three years of her life. She had spent countless nights tossing and turning, tormented by doubt and insecurity. Now that she had fought with everything she had, why had it still ended in such a wretched, desperate mess?
What more was she supposed to do?
In all those three years, how had she ever wronged Xie Yuheng?