Zhao Xun instinctively looked toward his mother.
Zhao Wu’s expression was utterly calm as she looked at Gu Yunxiao, her husband, with unfamiliar eyes.
But Zhao Xun knew his mother must be heartbroken at that moment.
The slight trembling of her hands was proof enough.
“Yunxiao! What nonsense are you talking about!? A Wu hasn’t committed any of the Seven Grounds for Divorce, and she even bore you a son. While you were away these past few years, she did everything she could to serve your elderly parents and take care of your two younger sisters. You can’t be so heartless!” Gu Dashan sprang to his feet with a sharp “whoosh,” pointing at his son as he shouted.
“That’s right. You may not have seen how hard A Wu has worked all these years, but your mother and I have. She’s shouldered this entire family on her own and suffered so much. You can’t treat her like this!” Wang Shi’s deeply wrinkled face was full of disapproval.
She was quite satisfied with this Daughter-in-law. A capable woman who had always treated them well, she had never once thought of leaving the Gu Family and remarrying during the five years her husband was presumed to have died in battle. She had worked hard to raise Shuanzi.
That alone was enough to move them.
How could their son become successful and then abandon his first wife? That wasn’t how the Old Gu Family did things!
The two younger sisters had always been a little afraid of their Eldest Brother. Now that he seemed like a completely different person, so imposing and formidable, they were even more afraid to approach him. Still, after hearing his words, they summoned their courage and timidly stepped forward to speak up for their Sister-in-law.
“Eldest Brother, Sister-in-law is so good to you. Don’t treat her like this,” Gu Chun said softly, summoning all her courage.
“That’s right, Eldest Brother. Without Sister-in-law, there’s no telling if we’d even be here in one piece today. She’s had such a hard time all these years.” Gu Xia looked at her Eldest Brother with a complicated expression.
She hadn’t expected that the first thing her Eldest Brother would do after returning home in glory was ask Eldest Sister-in-law for a Divorce.
He had become so unfamiliar, almost like a completely different person from the Eldest Brother she used to know.
At their words, Zhao Wu glanced at the people speaking up for her and thought that at least all her efforts over the years hadn’t been for nothing. At the very least, they were willing to say a few words on her behalf.
That was enough.
Zhao Wu was shocked when Gu Yunxiao asked for a Divorce. Then came an overwhelming sadness she couldn’t suppress.
After all, she had truly loved Gu Yunxiao. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have married him and borne his child.
Remembering all the moments they had shared, Zhao Wu’s eyes reddened, and she even felt an urge to cry.
But it was simply not in her nature to shed tears easily in front of others—especially not in front of the husband who had asked her for a Divorce.
She forced down the anger and sadness in her heart.
Since her parents and younger sisters had all spoken up, she wanted to see what kind of expression this man would make.
The instant she turned around, Zhao Wu froze.
Mother and Son’s eyes met abruptly.
Zhao Wu even stopped breathing.
Shuanzi!?
Why was Shuanzi back!?
He had heard.
Zhao Wu was sure of it.
In an instant, a sudden fear spread through her whole body as she realized what it meant, and Zhao Wu began to tremble uncontrollably.
Judging by what she knew of Gu Yunxiao, since he had asked for a Divorce, the matter was surely already settled.
He wouldn’t change his mind.
Then if they really divorced, what would happen to Shuanzi?
Would Shuanzi be left behind?
No!
She wouldn’t allow it!!!
This was her child. She would kill anyone who tried to take him away!
Zhao Wu’s heart surged with murderous intent, but her face remained perfectly calm.
She forced a smile. “...Son, you’re back.”
At her words, everyone in the room abruptly looked toward Zhao Xun at the doorway, including Gu Yunxiao, who stood in fitted clothes, his presence powerful and his expression stern.
The little boy was exquisitely beautiful, but even more striking than his looks was the cool, composed air about him.
At that moment, his peach-blossom eyes were fixed on Zhao Wu, full of concern.
“Mother.”
Zhao Wu moved faster than ever. Only after pulling her son into her arms did the unease in her heart ease a little.
“Weren’t you at the Academy? Why did you come back?”
As she stroked her son’s slightly mussed hair, Zhao Wu’s voice was exceptionally gentle.
“Shuanzi!”
When Gu Dashan and Wang Shi saw Shuanzi, their hearts lurched.
Their grandson had surely heard the outrageous things their son had just said.
Thinking this, they hurried over and gathered around him.
Gu Chun and Gu Xia quickly followed.
Gu Yunxiao instinctively started to step forward, then stopped.
He looked at the little boy a short distance away.
So this was his son!
It was their first meeting in the truest sense, and Gu Yunxiao couldn’t say what he felt.
He was happy, yes, but even more worried.
Watching the little boy surrounded by everyone, Gu Yunxiao found himself unusually distracted.
The boy really did look like A Wu!
His eyes, his brows, and nearly everything else looked just like A Wu.
If A Wu didn’t have that scar on her face, he would look even more like her.
He had always known A Wu was beautiful, even with the fairly large scar on her face.
Without the scar, A Wu’s beauty would surely be breathtaking.
“Shuanzi, don’t listen to your father’s nonsense. Your grandparents won’t let him do this,” Gu Dashan hurriedly told his grandson.
Wang Shi immediately chimed in. “That’s right. Your father may be muddleheaded, but your grandparents aren’t. Don’t be afraid; we’re here.”
The old couple knew exactly how deep the bond between their grandson and Daughter-in-law was.
If their son went through with this, he would truly break Mother and Son’s hearts!
What a fool!
At their words, Zhao Xun said nothing.
He simply held his mother’s hand and answered her earlier question seriously. “Auntie Qiu said you’d come back to the village with them. I was worried, so I came back.”
When he finished, he stepped out of his mother’s embrace, though he didn’t let go of her hand. He turned to look at Gu Yunxiao, who was watching him from a short distance away.
The moment their eyes met, Gu Yunxiao froze.
He hadn’t expected his first meeting with his son to be like this.
The little boy calmly gave him a glance, then ignored him completely.
“Mother, I’m hungry,” Zhao Xun said with his usual smile.
At that, Zhao Wu couldn’t concern herself with anything else. After all, nothing mattered more than her son.
She chided him, “Hungry? I told you to eat more porridge this morning, but you wouldn’t.”
“I couldn’t eat it then, Mother. I want to eat the noodles you make.”
“All right, I’ll make you some, but you have to finish every last bite.” Zhao Wu looked her son over. He seemed a little thinner and frailer than other children his age, so she had to make sure he ate well.
She was about to leave, but remembered Gu Yunxiao was there and couldn’t bring herself to relax.
“Son, come with me.” Zhao Wu’s voice always softened instinctively when she spoke to her son.
When she finished, she glanced coldly at Gu Yunxiao. “As for us, we’ll talk about it later.”
With that, she turned and headed to the kitchen without a moment’s hesitation.
Gu Yunxiao watched her go, his feelings in turmoil.
The child wouldn’t even acknowledge him, let alone call him Father.
That was only natural. He had just said he wanted to divorce the child’s birth mother; it was understandable that the child wouldn’t call him Father.
But he was sure A Wu resented him now.
Still, when he thought of his Beloved, his heart hardened again.
Gu Dashan and his wife had been holding their tongues, but once their Daughter-in-law and grandson had left, they hurried over and smacked Gu Yunxiao on the shoulders several times.
Gu Yunxiao endured it without fighting back.
Seeing him act as though nothing could touch him, the old couple’s joy at their son’s return instantly faded, leaving them full of helplessness and discontent.
“Look at this! Just look at what you’ve done! Shuanzi must have heard you just now. Otherwise, he would’ve called you. You fool!” Gu Dashan shouted furiously.
Gu Yunxiao remained silent.
“Now tell us, why do you want a Divorce!? Do you know how hard things have been for A Wu all these years!? Ever since you—”
...
In stark contrast to the commotion on the other side, the kitchen was completely silent.
Zhao Xun had been ordered by his mother not to go over there.
He could only sit quietly on a straw stool woven from rice straw, watching his mother bustle about as she cooked noodles for him.
He didn’t ask about what had just happened.
Zhao Wu likewise tactfully said nothing about Gu Yunxiao’s request for a Divorce.
Her thoughts were in chaos.
Gu Yunxiao asking for a Divorce was something she hadn’t expected. She had indeed been heartbroken for a moment, after all, he was someone she had once loved. But that was all.
After all, Gu Yunxiao had been “killed in battle” for five years. Five years was long enough for someone to forget another person.
If Zhao Wu had loved him to the extent of five parts out of ten when they married, now she had at most one part left—and that one part was only because they had a son together.
No matter how deep one’s feelings were, they would gradually fade with time. Zhao Wu was certain of it.
She felt that way about Gu Yunxiao, and assumed he felt the same way about her.
Thinking of the woman in Gu Yunxiao’s carriage, Zhao Wu knew that she was the main reason he wanted to divorce her.
As expected, her mother had been right: a woman could only rely on herself. Men were all the same.
Of course, none of that mattered.
What mattered was who would get the child after the Divorce.
She could never give up her son.
But Shuanzi was currently the only child in the Old Zhao Family, and he was a boy. Not only would Gu Father and Gu Mother refuse to let him go, Zhao Wu knew that Gu Yunxiao wouldn’t let their son go with her either.
But what right did a birth father who had never been by his side or taken part in his growth have to demand that his child go with him—especially when he had just returned and wanted to divorce the child’s mother for the sake of another woman?
She hadn’t remarried all these years, not because she loved Gu Yunxiao beyond all measure, nor because she couldn’t bear to leave his parents and two younger sisters. She simply hadn’t wanted to marry again. She only wanted to raise her son well.
This was the child she had risked her life to give birth to, the apple of her eye.
The most important reason she hadn’t left the Gu Family was that she had to do everything she could to earn Silver for her son’s treatment. That meant she often couldn’t be home, so someone had to look after him.
She simply couldn’t trust anyone else with him.
Only his paternal grandparents and paternal aunt could look after him without her worrying.
After all, Shuanzi was the only young generation in the Old Gu Family.
But now, Gu Yunxiao had returned.
He had disrupted their orderly life.
Zhao Wu bitterly thought that he should have really died on the battlefield back then. Why had he come back to disrupt her life?
“Son, the noodles are ready. Come eat them while they’re hot.”
Hearing this, Zhao Xun beamed sweetly. “All right, Mother.”
Looking at her son’s innocent, adorable smile, Zhao Wu’s anxiety and fear didn’t lessen; they only grew more intense.
Zhao Xun really was hungry. He hadn’t just been using it as an excuse.
He ate every last noodle, then contentedly patted his little belly.
“Good, you finished it all. You must have really been hungry.” Zhao Wu handed her son a handkerchief.
Zhao Xun took it naturally and wiped his mouth.
After wiping his mouth, he got straight to the point. “Mother, do you want a Divorce?”
Zhao Wu froze and looked at her son in surprise.