Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Madam Zhang stood to the side listening to Madam Lin, her expression turning livid, then pale. But she could not afford to clash openly with the Xie Family.
Madam Lin still had anger to vent and had been about to unleash another tirade at Madam Zhang when she spotted Ji Hanyi approaching from behind her.
Xie Yuheng saw Ji Hanyi as well and hurried toward her. They had only been apart for a few days, and she looked just as he remembered. Even with her face bare of makeup and only a single hairpin in her hair, the cool glance she cast his way made his eyes burn.
No one knew how he had endured these past few days without her. Even though Li Mingrou had stayed by his side every day, his thoughts had been filled with Ji Hanyi.
Li Mingrou had wanted to replace everything in the courtyard. He had thought he would stop thinking of Ji Hanyi once it was all gone, but after everything had been changed, he only grew more anxious and unsettled. It felt as though not even a trace of her remained in his rooms.
He had taken to sleeping on the bamboo couch in her study. Only that familiar scent could put his heart at ease.
Only then did he realize that she had always been the one who mattered most.
He had been waiting only to see her and speak to her. Now, he could no longer hold himself back.
As if afraid Ji Hanyi would leave again, Xie Yuheng ignored the crowd gathered outside the main gate. He bent down and pulled her tightly into his arms. Pressing both hands firmly against her back, he held her too tightly for her to struggle free and spoke in a hurried, trembling voice. “Hanyi, I finally understand now. I love you. It has always been you.”
“I never loved Mingrou, not in the slightest. Please come home with me. I’ll send Mingrou to the countryside — or I’ll cast her aside and make her leave. She’ll never appear before us again.”
“I will never neglect you the way I did before. I’ll treat you well…”
By the end, Xie Yuheng’s voice had grown faintly choked. “Hanyi, please…”
Ji Hanyi’s entire body recoiled in revulsion, but she could not push him away. She raised her head to speak, only to see him trying to kiss her in front of everyone, without the slightest regard for her dignity. Shocked, she hurriedly turned her face away and called for help.
Gu Yan frowned deeply at the scene and strode over to pull Xie Yuheng away. But Xie Yuheng had brought plenty of men with him, and the moment they saw Gu Yan approach, they stepped forward to block him.
Seeing this, Gu Yan ordered the Gu Family servants behind him to come forward and separate them.
Madam Lin was afraid Xie Yuheng would be hurt. He had secretly slipped out of his sickbed before his injuries had even healed. How could his body withstand such a commotion? She shrieked for the servants to protect him, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.
Ji Hanyi had not expected things to spiral this far. She tried to reason with Xie Yuheng, but his hands remained locked around her waist. Her voice was drowned out by the uproar, so she could only turn her head and try to tell Gu Yan to have everyone back away first.
But it seemed to be too late. Men from the Patrol Inspection Office suddenly arrived carrying torches, intending to arrest everyone causing trouble after dark.
Not far away, Li Mingrou had remained silent the entire time. Tears filled her eyes as she stared blankly at the scene — at Brother Xie, who had doted on her since childhood, holding Ji Hanyi so tightly, and at Brother Xie saying he would send her away.
She had already given herself to him, yet for Ji Hanyi’s sake, he wanted to cast her aside.
Huge tears rolled down Li Mingrou’s cheeks. In a daze, she collapsed onto the ground and stared despairingly at Xie Yuheng, who still refused to release Ji Hanyi amid the crowd.
Meanwhile, inside a carriage concealed in the darkness, Shen Si lifted one corner of the curtain with a long, slender finger and looked toward the farce unfolding outside the Gu Residence.
The bright torchlight by the main gate cast a faint gleam across his eyes. He watched as the men from the Patrol Inspection Office surrounded the Gu Family with raised torches, then looked at Xie Yuheng holding Ji Hanyi tightly. A chilling coldness surfaced beneath his aloof brows.
He lowered the curtain and tapped lightly against the carriage wall. The Patrolling Censor waiting outside immediately understood. With a wave of his hand, the men from the Military Patrol Office moved in and surrounded the scene.
The men from the Patrol Inspection Office clearly recognized the Xie Family and treated them with particular courtesy. They showed no such consideration to the Gu Family.
Even the Patrol Inspector was exceedingly polite when he approached Madam Lin.
A Patrol Inspector was merely a minor official of the Lower Ninth Rank and naturally did not dare offend the Xie Family. The Patrol Inspection Office fell under the jurisdiction of the Shuntian Prefectural Office, and the Xie Family’s Second Master was the Assistant Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture. He was not someone they could afford to antagonize.
Madam Lin looked openly smug as she addressed the visibly flustered First Madam Gu standing nearby. “First Madam Gu, the Xie Family is a respected household in the capital. We don’t wish to make a spectacle of this either. If you agree to return my daughter-in-law today, we can let the matter end here. Peace is best for everyone. None of us wants to cause trouble for no reason, do we?”
Xie Yuheng stood to one side without speaking, his hand still clamped firmly around Ji Hanyi’s wrist.
He did not object to his mother’s words. If this could make Ji Hanyi return with him, he was more than willing to resort to such means.
As long as Ji Hanyi went back with him, he was certain he could win back her heart.
Gu Yan gritted his teeth. The Xie Family was clearly using its power to bully them.
But just then, a brighter wash of torchlight approached. At the head of the procession, the Deputy Commander of the Military Patrol Office slammed the staff in his hand against the ground and boomed, “Who is causing this disturbance? If you don’t stop at once, I’ll have every last one of you dragged back to the office and put to the leg clamps!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers around him closed in. They were far more imposing than the men from the Patrol Inspection Office. The two sides, who had been tangled together moments ago, sprang apart as though scalded and automatically divided into two groups.
The Patrol Inspector flinched when he saw the Deputy Commander of the Military Patrol Office.
Patrolling the streets and maintaining public order were not actually among the Patrol Inspection Office’s primary duties. They were mainly responsible for the checkpoints along the canal transport and trade routes, as well as overseeing the surrounding inns and taverns. When it came to street patrols, they merely provided assistance.
Moreover, they answered to Shuntian Prefecture, while the Military Patrol Office fell under the Censorate. Who outranked whom was obvious at a glance.
The Patrol Inspector had never expected to run into officers from the Military Patrol Office. He hurried forward to explain that a dispute had broken out between the Xie Family and the Gu Family. Someone from Xie Residence had reported it to the authorities, and since he happened to be nearby, he had come over to mediate.
Ma Renkan, the Deputy Commander of the Military Patrol Office, gave the Patrol Inspector a cold sneer. “If there is a grievance, they can report it to the office and explain the matter there. Who gave you the right to throw your weight around out here?”
With that, Ma Renkan turned to Madam Lin and Madam Zhang. Wearing a stern expression, he gestured for them to come along. “We are responsible for patrolling the streets and maintaining order. Everyone present will accompany me back to the office. Once the dispute between the two families has been explained clearly, you may all return home.
“If it cannot be resolved, then we can take the matter to the Censorate Office and let the proper authorities pass judgment.”
Madam Lin’s expression shifted slightly.
She had never expected officers from the Military Patrol Office to appear at a time like this.
But this was ultimately a family affair, one entangled with certain matters from the past. Her threat to report it to the authorities had only been meant to frighten the Gu Family. She had never truly intended to make such a spectacle of it.
She turned to Ji Hanyi with a cold sneer. “Will you only be satisfied once this becomes a huge scandal? Even if this goes before the Censorate, we are the ones in the right. If you have any sense of propriety, go back with Yuheng for now. We can discuss everything else later.”
It was not that Madam Lin particularly cared whether Ji Hanyi returned. She simply could not bear to see Xie Yuheng so dejected these past two days. Besides, Ji Hanyi had sent Old Madam a letter like that. Was that not an outright threat against Xie Residence?
She wanted to bring Ji Hanyi back first for the sake of Yuheng’s reputation. If Ji Hanyi was willing to stay, Madam Lin would resign herself to accepting her.
But Ji Hanyi was not even looking at her. Madam Lin called her name several times, yet she did not respond.
Ji Hanyi’s gaze was fixed on someone emerging from the darkness.
It was Shen Si.
Xie Yuheng still had her wrist in a tight grip, but the instant she saw Shen Si approach, countless emotions surged through her heart.
She knew she could finally be at ease.
As long as he was here.
Ma Renkan was the first to notice Shen Si. The sight startled him so badly that he immediately dropped to his knees.
The Patrol Inspector rarely, if ever, encountered an official of such rank. He hastily followed suit, and in the blink of an eye, a dark mass of people was kneeling on the ground.
The flickering torchlight played across Shen Si’s cold, austere features, making his emotions impossible to read. The silent, commanding pressure of one accustomed to power descended upon the kneeling crowd, leaving the surroundings deathly still. Even Madam Lin no longer dared to speak and retreated two steps.
Shen Si remained impassive. He glanced at Xie Yuheng’s hand around Ji Hanyi’s wrist, then looked at Ji Hanyi herself.
At last, he stopped several paces away from them, his lips curving into a cool, indifferent smile. “Court Director Xie, things are certainly lively here.”
Xie Yuheng’s expression stiffened. He immediately released Ji Hanyi’s wrist and cupped his hands toward Shen Si. “I did not expect this disturbance to alarm Lord Shen. The fault is mine.
“There was merely a misunderstanding between my wife and me today, and matters got somewhat out of hand. I hope my lord will forgive us.”
Shen Si paid no attention to Xie Yuheng’s deferential manner. His dark gaze settled on Ji Hanyi.
She wore only thin clothes, now wrinkled and disheveled. Her eyes were rimmed red, yet they shone with resolve beneath the wavering torchlight. Loose strands of hair brushed softly against her cheeks.
He said nothing, silently waiting to hear what she would say next.
Ji Hanyi knew Shen Si was watching her. Once again, he was seeing her at her most wretched, every vulnerability laid bare before him.
She had no way back and no other choice.
Drawing a tense, deep breath, she dropped to her knees before Shen Si. “I humbly beg Lord Shen to uphold justice and grant me a divorce from my husband.”
The instant those words left Ji Hanyi’s lips, Xie Yuheng’s pupils contracted. He turned toward her, his eyes filled with shock.
His voice trembled as he called to her softly in disbelief, “Hanyi…”
He could not believe Ji Hanyi could truly be so heartless as to take things this far.
The firelight illuminated half of Shen Si’s face. He lowered his gaze to the woman kneeling before him. Her clothes were covered in creases, and the silver hairpin in her hair sat slightly askew. Finally, his eyes came to rest on her exposed wrist and the conspicuous red mark around it.
Shen Si’s gaze was fathomless. Beneath his lowered lashes, dark currents surged, but his answer was quiet and even.
“Very well.”