In the first month of winter of the twenty-first year of the Qinglong era, snow fell on the capital for seven consecutive days.
The cold wind slipped through the seams of her clothes and into her body, a chill that made one’s bones tremble.
On the day of the divorce, the capital was blessed with a rare, bright sun.
The hem of Su Tan’s skirt was stained with melted snow. Holding an umbrella, she walked alone out of the General’s Residence.
A large hand seized her wrist. A sharp pain shot through her wound, and the bandaged injury began to seep blood again, soaking the cloth strip. Yet, the man gripping her wrist was completely oblivious.
Song Tingchen’s gaze was icy, his jawline taut. His black robes stood out, stark and cold against the snow.
“Su Tan, are you truly going to be this unreasonable and abandon your husband and son?”
Su Tan stared at him, the sour, metallic taste of rust filling her throat.
Was she the one abandoning her husband and son?
It was clearly he and their son who had chosen Liu Qingyin over her.
“Tan’er, stop this nonsense. It’s freezing cold; where could you possibly go? Even if you’re unhappy about A-Chen taking a Second Wife, don’t take it out on yourself!”
Song Mother came chasing after them, bringing along Song Xiao, the son Su Tan had carried for ten months.
She pushed Song Xiao forward. “Tan’er, Xiao’er is only four. Can you bear to see him without a mother?”
“It’s just a Second Wife. All of us women face this day eventually. In any case, that Qingyin girl can’t surpass you in status, so why must you be so difficult about it!”
“Su Tan, don’t make things difficult for me.”
Song Tingchen’s brows were knitted tightly. In his memory, Su Tan was not an unreasonable woman. She had made him promise never to take a concubine in his lifetime, and he had kept that promise; to this day, she was the only woman in his rear courtyard.
So many people had tried to push women on him, and he had refused them all.
Now, he just wanted to give Qingyin a way to live. Why was she unwilling to agree to even this?
“A Qing’s father died saving me. By both sentiment and reason, I must bear the responsibility of caring for A Qing.”
“Mother, please stop throwing a tantrum at Father. Auntie Qing is very nice. She buys me candy and makes shoes for Father. Please don’t refuse to accept her. She will be very good to you in the future too.”
Four-year-old Song Xiao stood in the snow, still wearing the clothes Su Tan had made for him, stitch by stitch.
The embroidery on his cloak was exquisite and lifelike. In the beginning, Su Tan’s hands were skilled in divination and drawing talismans, but she knew nothing of embroidery and needlework.
The small, cherubic boy wrinkled his nose, looking unhappily at his mother. “Mother, I want Auntie Qing to be my second mother anyway.”
“If you don’t like Auntie Qing, then I don’t like you either!”
The four-year-old was brazen, confident that his mother would agree to whatever he wanted. If all else failed, a bout of crying, fussing, and threatening would always make his mother compromise.
He didn’t know what it meant for his mother that his father was taking a Second Wife.
He only knew that Auntie Qing was very nice. She was good to his father, good to him, and good to his grandmother and grandfather.
Su Tan closed her eyes, her heart feeling as if it were being seared by a blazing fire, a dull, aching pain.
She looked dazedly at her son, a final glimmer of hope still hidden in her eyes.
“Xiao’er, a person cannot have two mothers. You can only have one mother.”
Song Xiao snorted loudly and shoved Su Tan away. “You just can’t stand seeing someone be nice to me! You changed after Grandfather and Grandmother passed away. You became a bad woman!”
“You bully Father and Auntie Qing, you won’t let Auntie Qing be nice to me! You’re a bad woman, I don’t want you! I want Auntie Qing!”
Su Tan stumbled back several steps, her body nearly collapsing into the snow.
Song Tingchen frowned. “Xiao’er, you can’t push people like that. Apologize to your mother.”
Song Xiao stubbornly turned his head away. “I won’t! She’s not my mother! She’s a bad woman! I want Auntie Qing to be my mother!”
“Tan’er, A-Chen is still protecting you even now. How long are you going to keep acting willful? Must you force Qingyin to her death? What are your intentions?”
Song Mother’s gaze was accusatory, her patience now gone. “A woman’s husband is her heaven. Besides, your family is all dead, and your dowry is spent. If you throw a tantrum and run away from home, where can you even go!”
“Take my advice and don’t make things too ugly, lest you can’t clean up the mess in the end. The one who loses face will be you!”
Su Tan lowered her eyes, meeting Song Mother’s murky gaze. “So you’ve finally said what’s on your mind?”
Song Xiao had been in poor health since birth.
Even with the protection of her golden light and merits, he still needed to be nourished with large quantities of expensive medicinal herbs.
“Over the years, the gold and silver from my family’s dowry, aside from maintaining Song Tingchen’s necessary social connections in the court, were mostly used to buy medicine for Father, Mother, and Xiao’er.”
After being raised this way, Song Xiao’s health was finally comparable to that of an ordinary child.
Old Madam Song’s constitution had also gradually improved.
Although Old Master Song was still mentally impaired, he could now eat and sleep normally. As long as he wasn’t allowed to leave the residence, he no longer needed constant supervision.
Everything was heading in a good direction.
Su Tan had thought that things between her and Song Tingchen would also get better and better.
Unfortunately, the Song family did not think so.
Su Tan’s tone was calm, having now seen through the Song family’s heartlessness.
“You all figured that since I’ve lost my protection and have no money to my name, and it just so happens that Liu Qingyin is willing to marry in with a great fortune, you could just kick me aside.”
“Isn’t my divorce what you all wished for?”
“Or should I say, a divorce is a disgrace to the General’s Residence, so you would prefer I die of a quiet illness?”
Although Su Tan’s tone was not particularly aggressive, Song Mother felt a lump of anger stuck in her chest, choking her into silence.
Song Tingchen’s patience was also nearly exhausted. “Su Tan!”
“Can you not speculate about others with such a malicious heart!”
Ever since the entire Su clan had died on the battlefield, her personality had become exceptionally extreme.
He had been patiently trying to counsel her, wanting her to walk out of this dark shadow.
Who knew she would be so beyond saving.
A chill emanated from Song Tingchen as he looked at her, bewildered. “You yourself know best that once a woman loses her parents, she loses her support and can only rely on her husband. Why are you unwilling to give A Qing a way to live?”
“Or is it that you want to see all women in the world in the same situation as you be trampled and humiliated until not even their bones remain? Would that make you happy? Would that make you feel like you’re not the most pitiful person in the world?”
“Song Tingchen!”
Su Tan’s eyes were red, her entire body trembling with rage.
After five years of marriage, this was how he saw her!
If she had held onto any hope before, at this moment, her heart died completely.
She had let out blood just three days ago, and the weather was frigid. Su Tan was physically and mentally exhausted, and right now, she didn’t even have the strength to raise a hand to slap him.
She met Song Tingchen’s gaze, her eyes clear. “I’m telling you, I insist on this divorce because you broke your promise to me and to my parents. I have no objection to you taking care of Liu Qingyin, but for you to marry her, to have my son call her second mother—that is not acceptable!”
Song Tingchen laughed in anger, no longer bothering to deal with her extremism.
He reached out and tore off the talisman she had drawn with her own blood, which he wore close to his body.
“Fine. Since you want to leave, take this thing with you. I’m afraid something reeking of your blood will frighten A Qing.”
Song Xiao followed his father’s example, yanking the talisman from his own neck, balling it up, and stomping it into the mud.
He glared at Su Tan. “I don’t want your things! This stupid talisman drawn with your blood stinks! I don’t like it at all!”
“I like the scented pouch Auntie Qing made for me!”
Su Tan stared fixedly at the father and son.
Ever since her entire family had died on the battlefield, she had nightmares every night, afraid that something would happen to Song Tingchen and Song Xiao.
So, once every month, she would let out her blood to draw talismans for the two of them.
These talismans could ward off evil spirits and, in critical moments, save their lives.
Now, they were treated like trash, stomped into the snow.
The dried bloodstains were melted by the ice and snow, dyeing that patch of snow red before being quickly covered by a fresh layer of white. Only the black cord left behind proved it had ever existed.
Su Tan’s fingers dug deep into her palm, suppressing the sorrow and disappointment in her heart. Without another look back, she turned and left the General’s Residence.