“Who was that?” Lü Bo asked in surprise. “It’s so late. Why is there still an unrelated man in the inner residence?”
Before she could get a closer look, however, the figure had already turned into the passageway between two courtyards and disappeared.
“Perhaps he’s a servant making the rounds at night.” Yun Shuangxu was preoccupied and could not be bothered to concern herself with it.
Master and servant made their way to Spring Splendor Courtyard, sinking one foot deep and the other shallow into the snow. The hems of their trousers and their shoes and socks were soaked through.
Two servant women stood beneath the corridor of the main room. When they saw Yun Shuangxu approaching, they lifted the door curtain and invited her inside.
Yun Shuangxu took off her snow-covered cloak and handed it to Lü Bo, telling her to wait outside, then entered the room alone.
The room was filled with the fragrance of fine sandalwood. In the brazier, red-hot silver-thread charcoal glowed. Duchess Wei of Zhenguo was reclining with her eyes narrowed on a square couch, while two maids kneaded her shoulders and pounded her legs.
She had recently celebrated her forty-second birthday. Thanks to her careful maintenance of her appearance, few traces of age could be seen on her face. After being the Duchess of Zhenguo for so many years, she had acquired an imposing air between her brows that was more than capable of intimidating others.
With her eyes lowered, Yun Shuangxu walked over and gave her a curtsy. “Your daughter-in-law pays her respects to Mother. May I ask why Mother summoned me here?”
Wei slowly opened her eyes, her sharp gaze sweeping over Yun Shuangxu from head to toe. The moment she opened her mouth, she launched into an unreserved interrogation—
“You’re only changing courtyards. It’s not as though you’re being replaced as the principal wife. What exactly are you being so difficult about?
“Jingbai, a grown man, discussed it with you civilly and courteously, yet not only did you refuse to show him any respect, you even used marital separation to threaten him.
“Is this how your mother taught you to be a wife?
“Where did all the lessons from your Women’s Admonitions and Women’s Precepts go?”
Before coming, Yun Shuangxu had already guessed what Wei would say. She simply had not expected her to be so impatient, so sharp-tongued and cruel.
It seemed that for the sake of having a grandchild, she truly cared about nothing else.
“Does Mother not think this matter is absurd?” She clasped her hands before her and did her utmost to restrain her emotions. “Although your daughter-in-law is young and has little experience, I have never heard of a concubine becoming pregnant and requiring the principal wife to give up her place. If word got out, I’m afraid the person ridiculed would not be me alone.”
Wei’s expression changed. She pushed away the maid who had been pounding her legs and sat upright.
“Ridiculed for what? Rules are dead, but people are alive. You cannot bear children yourself, so what harm is there in accommodating Yun-niang? Once the child is born, you will be the child’s legitimate mother. If you will not yield to an adult, surely you can at least yield to a child?”
The same old argument again.
Yun Shuangxu thought that it was no wonder Xie Jingbai could say such things too. Like mother, like son.
“Mother gives me too much credit. I am still an unmarried maiden. How could I possibly be worthy of being someone’s mother?” she could not help retorting.
“You…”
Wei was rendered speechless. Furious, she slapped the kang table repeatedly. “Stop being so sarcastic here! Back then, it was you who pretended to be drunk at Commandery Princess Anyang’s birthday banquet and barged into the side room where Jingbai was resting.
“Your mother wanted to climb into our family so badly that she threatened to kill herself unless Jingbai took responsibility for you.
“Jingbai was forced to marry you. Although he was unwilling to consummate the marriage with you, he still gave you more than enough dignity in front of others. On the first and fifteenth days of every month, he went to your place to eat and rest. He even persuaded me to hand the household authority over to you. What more do you want?”
At the height of her fury, she pointed at Yun Shuangxu and ordered harshly, “Go kneel in the snow and reflect on yourself! You may come back only when you have thought it through and are willing to give up your courtyard!”
The scar she had buried in the depths of her heart, the one she had never dared touch, was ruthlessly exposed in front of the servants.
A sharp pain pierced Yun Shuangxu’s heart. Embarrassment, shame, grievance, and cold disappointment surged up all at once, making her eyes sting and swell until tears nearly spilled over.
That incident back then had not been intentional on her part. To this day, she still did not understand how she had ended up in Xie Jingbai’s side room and lying on the same bed as him.
Xie Jingbai had been willing to marry her, preserving her reputation. She had indeed been deeply grateful to him, regarding him as a god and wishing she could work like an ox or horse to repay him.
Precisely because of that, even when Xie Jingbai brought a concubine into the household on their wedding day and continued to dote exclusively on his concubine while neglecting her, his principal wife, she had not voiced a single complaint.
When Xie Jingbai stayed at her place on the first and fifteenth days of the month, he slept in a separate room from her. He had given her charge of the household because Wei’s health was poor and she could not be overburdened.
And the reason Wei had relinquished that authority was that she wanted to catch Yun Shuangxu making a mistake—to see whether she would secretly provide aid to her maternal family, so that Wei could use it to control her.
Yun Shuangxu said nothing aloud, but she understood everything in her heart. Every day, she had proceeded cautiously, observed her proper place, and devoted herself to doing every task well, never daring to make the slightest mistake.
To please Xie Jingbai, she had honored her parents-in-law as though they were her own father and mother. She had treated everyone in the residence with courtesy and humility, and even when the concubine leaped about causing trouble all day long, she had endured it.
Was all that still not enough?
Did she really have to give up her own courtyard and raise a concubine who had become pregnant before her, the principal wife, as though she were some revered ancestor, before it would be enough?
She clenched her fists until her nails pierced her flesh, but even the sharp pain could not suppress the bitterness and grief churning within her.
She drew a deep breath and met Wei’s aggressive gaze. “I will not kneel. What happened back then was not my doing. Whether you believe me or not, my conscience is clear. If you want me to give my courtyard to Lin Qingyun, there is only one path—marital separation. There is nothing else to discuss!”
Wei’s eyes widened in shock. She could hardly believe that this daughter-in-law, who had always been meek and submissive, actually dared to speak to her like this.
“You insolent wretch! Have you gone mad?”
She snatched up a teacup and smashed it at Yun Shuangxu’s feet. “You refuse to kneel, do you? I’ll have someone summon your mother right now and ask her how she taught her daughter!”
“…”
The words “Do whatever you want” reached Yun Shuangxu’s lips, but when she remembered the way her mother always humbled herself before Wei, she forcibly swallowed them back.
What if Wei truly summoned her mother? Given her mother’s temperament, not only would she fail to stand up for Yun Shuangxu, she might even personally supervise her move to another courtyard.
No.
She absolutely could not let her mother become involved in this matter.
At least until Xie Jingbai agreed to marital separation, she could not let her mother discover anything amiss.
She gritted her teeth, forced back the tears that were about to fall, and turned to walk out.
The snow was falling harder and harder, drifting down from the murky sky like torn cotton. When Yun Shuangxu reached the courtyard, she knelt rigidly on the thick accumulation of snow.
Lü Bo followed her out and draped the cloak over her shoulders. Her voice was choked with tears. “In this freezing weather, how could Madam be so heartless? I’ll go find the Old Madam right now and ask her to uphold justice for you…”
“Don’t go.” Yun Shuangxu stopped her. “I’m fine. Don’t do anything. Let me think things through properly here.”
“Think about what?” Lü Bo asked.
“Think about how I should walk the road ahead.” Yun Shuangxu’s voice was calm yet resolute.
Lü Bo seemed to understand and yet not understand. She knelt down beside her. “This servant will accompany Young Madam.”
The courtyard was utterly silent, with only the soft rustle of falling snow.
The servants in the courtyard secretly gathered together and whispered among themselves, casting Yun Shuangxu looks ranging from sympathy to schadenfreude.
Yun Shuangxu remained completely unmoved. She knelt motionless on the ground, allowing snowflakes to settle over her entire body and head.
Her knees had long since been soaked through by the ice and snow, and the chill pierced to the bone.
Silently, she told herself: Yun Shuangxu, remember the cold and humiliation of tonight. You must find a way to leave this place. Do not forgive. Do not retreat. Do not turn back!
The snow falling above her head suddenly stopped, and a large shadow descended over her.
Yun Shuangxu raised her head and discovered that Xie Jingbai had appeared beside her at some point, holding an oil-paper umbrella.
His already slender, tall figure appeared even more upright from below, like a green pine standing amid the snow.
But so what?
Now that she had decided to leave, even if he were an immortal banished from heaven, she would no longer have him.
“Why are you so stubborn?”
Xie Jingbai bent down and pulled her to her feet. There was even a faint trace of pity in his eyes. “Come on. I’ll take you back first. I’ll speak with Mother about this. Once you’re back, reflect on yourself properly, too. Don’t say such things out of pique again. Since I decided to marry you back then, I will never cast you off…”
“Not casting me off. Marital separation.”
Yun Shuangxu pulled her hand free and stepped back. “I am not acting out of pique. I am serious. Fourth Master and Concubine Lin are deeply devoted to each other. All these years, I have been the one delaying the two of you. Marital separation is the best fulfillment we can offer each other.”
Xie Jingbai’s hand froze in place, and his brows furrowed involuntarily. “What exactly do you want? It’s only a courtyard. Do you really have to make such a fuss until everything becomes irreparable?”
Who was making a fuss, exactly?
Yun Shuangxu had already given up on arguing, but there were some things she truly could not keep from saying. “The Duke of Zhenguo's Residence was originally a blessed site selected by the best feng shui master. What difference in feng shui could there possibly be between one courtyard and another? Fourth Young Master Xie, you are quick-witted and the most talented man in the capital. Have you really never considered that there might be something wrong with that Daoist?”
He was startled when she suddenly addressed him with such icy formality. Looking at her reddened eyes, Xie Jingbai could not help falling into a daze.
“What do you mean? You suspect that Daoist was bribed by Yun-niang?”
Yun Shuangxu met his gaze, and a faint glimmer of hope rose in her heart.
Had he finally realized that something was wrong?
Was he finally willing to listen to her?
She did not ask him to believe her completely. Even if he developed the slightest suspicion and investigated the matter, that would be enough.
She was certain that this entire matter had been orchestrated by Lin Qingyun alone.