CH 37

Chapter 37: Separation Letter

After an afternoon of heart-to-heart talk, Second Aunt Gu finally understood Tao Xinhe’s decision, why she wanted to separate and even divorce.

She solemnly agreed to come down, and go against her own belief that “It is better to demolish ten temples than destroy a marriage“, and came to Gu Ningxi to re-declare Tao Xinhe’s resolute attitude.

The original words that Tao Xinhe entrusted to Aunt Gu to pass on did not contain any offensive words, but they were very mean, and every word and every sentence were heart-wrenching. Second Aunt Gu didn’t follow the script, but just told Gu Ningxi in a stumbling and unbearable tone that, “He Niang is determined, you might as well help her.” In fact, Second Aunt Gu had Tao Xinhe’s rewritten separation letter in her sleeve pocket. She was ready to hand it over as soon as Gu Ningxi agreed.

From the beginning to the end, Gu Ningxi was as quiet as if he didn’t exist, and his breathing was barely audible. After listening to Second Aunt Gu’s words, he fell into silence for a long time. He was motionless like a puppet.

Only he knows, his heart hurts like it was about to break. There is a saying in medical books that if a heart breaks, people will die. So why is he still sitting here? Why didn’t he die at the moment when he was still Tao Xinhe’s beloved husband?

Gu Ningxi has never had such a sober insight. He had been enjoying the benefits of this marriage all the time, so that he had nothing to worry about, even taking a concubine is a convenience, and he didn’t even realize how deep the cut was on He Niang’s heart.

Even if he had no other intentions for her, he still regarded Mo Qiqi as a younger sister. He had absolutely no love for her like a man does for a woman. He only wanted to save the person from suffering, and prevent her from committing suicide, but so what? The damage to the lady has already been done.

“It’s the unintentional mistakes that make people hate the most, because when you criticize the other party, it actually becomes the opposite? It’s selfish.” He Niang once said such words, and Gu Ningxi corresponded to her words very accurately.

He was the person in the world who didn’t want to hurt He Niang the most, but he made a huge mistake. Now the lady wanted to leave him, but he didn’t even have the position to keep her.

There is also a villain that’s against the woman surrounding him. He didn’t know who that evil villain was. He was like a shadow in the sky, who may move at any moment and pounce on someone to hurt him. He was worried, he only felt that there were risks everywhere, and he didn’t have the confidence to protect his wife from any injuries.

Should he wait? Wait to find the “Villain” who poses hidden dangers. He had to figure out himself better, to know his enemies. This is so he can take measures accordingly, to eradicate them and clean them up. Only then can he calmly tell his wife that there was such a disgusting danger around him, right?

As for now, he had to let her be free as she wishes, and find another path. Gu Ningxi persuaded himself, but his heart still ached.

❖

“Brother Xi? Brother Xi? What on earth are you thinking? Tell second Aunt something clearly first.” After waiting for a long while, Second Aunt Gu finally urged.

Gu Ningxi felt that the words he was going to say next seemed to be stuck inside his internal organs, and it was extremely difficult, but he had to say it, “Please, I have to trouble the second aunt, I… I accept He Niang’s decision. And… and separate.” The ending sound weakened, almost not audible.

He really wanted to hide, go to a place where no one was there, and lick his wound quietly.

Gu Ningxi was about to see off the guests regardless of face, he staggered, stood up, and tried hard to think about the words and excuses.

Before he could speak, a light letter, sealed with fire wax, was handed over to him.

Gu Ningxi took a look at it, and on the cover was the familiar small script with hairpin flowers, it was He Niang’s handwriting, neatly written with the words- Gu Sicheng.

“Separation Letter.” Second, Aunt Gu explained with some anxiety, while shaking the letter to Gu Ningxi again.

His hands were trembling, his knuckles were raised, his fingertips were stretched, he then breathed out slowly, and took over the “Separation Letter” which weighed more than a thousand catties for him.

He subconsciously said, “Thank you, Second Aunt”, while he sat back in the armchair behind him as if he had been knocked down. The letter was hanging from his fingertips, which was trembling slightly in the air. He was gathering courage to open it.

Passing this separation letter was Like a hot potato. So second Aunt Gu was obviously relieved, and kept talking to relieve the deep depression in the atmosphere,

“Brother Xi can figure things out on his own, and it’s great. Twisted melons are not sweet, He Niang has made up her mind to leave, if you insist on staying, the yamen will open the seal tomorrow, and He Niang will really go to court, then you will feel uncomfortable.”

“Besides, going to court is not only bad for the both of you, but also for the Gu Family and Tao Family. Ning Niang and He Niang’s younger sister, Qiangniang, have become good friends. If you two go to court, it will be inconvenient for the two of them to exchange handkerchiefs. Not to mention that you and Tao Yuanwailang are officials in the same court, you have to save some face after all, don’t you?”

Without paying attention, Second Aunt Gu still prepared the words in her heart to persuade Gu Ningxi not to go to court with her mouth.

Gu Ningxi didn’t know these truths. He still put the letter on the high table at hand, and gently pushed it away, and then replied in a low voice, “Second Aunt is troubled, I understand. You… Can you tell me the details? You saw He Niang yesterday. How was her body and mood? What did she tell you specifically?”

In his mushy mind, a sudden flash came up, and Gu Ningxi hurriedly added, “Second Aunt, He Niang has an upset stomach before, did you ask her about it? Has she seen a doctor? Do you know anything about this?”

Second Aunt Gu sighed, unable to bear any more words to urge Gu Ningxi to respond to the “Separation Letter” at this moment, and then told the details of Tao Xinhe’s visit yesterday.

Seeing that Gu Ningxi listened very intently and clearly missed Tao Xinhe, she felt something in her heart. ‘It’s a pity.’ These two have always had such a good relationship, not only her own daughter, Ningniang envied them, but she would often praise the two.

Why so suddenly? Why the hell was that Mo Qiqi involved in it? Brother Xi is like possessed by a ghost, he would even go to private meetings and take a concubine, no, it’s getting out of hand.

Thinking of this, Second Aunt Gu became a little annoyed at her nephew again, and blamed him for not cherishing himself. He would even break He Niang’s sincerity with his own hands, and her words immediately changed, “He Niang eats and sleeps properly, she’s very good. She didn’t mention anything when I asked if she was not feeling well, so I naturally didn’t pry further. You know that she has a stomachache, so why didn’t you care more when she was by your side? What’s the use of being so empathetic to this old lady now? He Niang can’t see it.” Gu Ningxi was reprimanded and so he lowered his head in rebuke, but he didn’t say anything after his lips muttered twice.

“The most important thing right now is that you quickly read the separation letter, and if you have no objections, then sign and seal it. The elders of our two parties will get together to testify for you, and you will separate happily and neatly. As for the future, you should go to whomever you want, isn’t that settled?”

Seeing that her nephew was slumped, Second Aunt Gu sighed and got up, walked over a few steps, picked up the letter herself, gently opened the seal, picked up the long and narrow paper folded in three, and turned her face away to ignore her nephew’s reaction. In order to avoid suspicion, she also took a few steps back, so she couldn’t see the contents of the letter. “Look quickly, if you think there is something wrong, Second Aunt will run errands for you, and go talk to He Niang.” Gu Ningxi didn’t know if he was scared by someone else’s touch and jumped, he was still startled by the sudden touch and the letter, and almost couldn’t hold it, his fingers spread out like a spasm. Fortunately, before the letter slipped into his palm, he grabbed it again and saved it. He just squeezed the document that had only creases and wrinkles in it.

While holding his breath, he looked carefully in a daze, only to feel that the words in the letter were like sharp knives, piercing his eyelids and piercing into his brain. Gu Ningxi kept nodding his head unconsciously, and murmured, “I’ll listen to her, He Niang wrote it, and I have no objection.”

Second Aunt Gu waited for this sentence, clapped her hands and said alright, and left the mansion.

Gu Ningxi moved a little slower, and chased after her, his voice hoarse and earnest, “Second Aunt, are you going to see He Niang? Tell her, it’s all my own fault, she wrote in the separation letter that she was jealous and is not virtuous. So she decided to separate. it is not true, so please beg her to write a new one. Ah…no…Second Aunt, wait for me for a while, I will rewrite it, you can bring it to He Niang for me, and ask her opinion, is it okay?”

Although it was an unexpected event, Second Aunt Gu thought it over and agreed, and returned to the flower hall to sit down, and the servants served tea and snacks without mentioning it.

Gu Ningxi seemed to have found the next direction he wanted to take, so his steps were firm and sonorous. He called the housekeeper and several other old servants, went to the study, compared Tao Xinhe’s separation letter, and re-drafted it himself.

The separation letter first reviewed the simple journey of the two from their engagement to the present.

The lady blamed herself too much, saying that she had been a wife for three years and had done nothing to him? ‘No, he had to change it!’

Gu Ningxi wrote, 「According to the law Tao Xinhe sending off her mother-in-law is a great contribution in its own.」

The lady described the life of the couple, saying that she was not gentle enough, forcing the husband to dare not speak until he fell seriously ill.

‘Not like this. I had to change it!’

Gu Ningxi wrote, 「Gu Ningxi was like a snake and a rat at both ends, both loves flowers and plants, but can’t be self-consistent. After his illness, his wife Tao was exhausted and took good care of him. It’s really his own fault.」

The second paragraph of the letter explains the reason for their separation and their future positioning.

Tao Xinhe wrote that she was jealous and could not tolerate others, so she asked him to separate. ‘How can I let the lady take the blame for herself?’

Gu Ningxi picked up a pen and wrote it in one stroke, 「Gu Ningxi, broke his promise, he was a despicable character, a vile person between heaven and man, really unfit for a virtuous woman, a shame for her appearance, ugly in mind, no longer fit to stand by Tao Xinhe’s side.」

Tao Xinhe wrote that from now on, one will be separated from the other, and each will be safe, and the two parties will not disturb each other. Thinking about this scene, Gu Ningxi almost bit his lower lip with a heartache. After thinking for a moment, he wrote, 「May the spirit ‘loosen her temples and sweep her crescent eyebrows beautifully’. After she leaves Gu Ningxi’s shackles, he only had this wish. If he doesn’t obey this letter, then he will be driven away, and his lifespan will not last longer.」

The third paragraph of the letter is about the business division of property.

For this part, Gu Ningxi was at a loss, so he could only ask the housekeeper. Knowing that the lady just wanted to leave her dowry back then, he felt even more regretful, and added a lot of Gu’s own property to be distributed to He Niang.

Gu Ningxi was afraid that He Niang would not accept it, so he added an extra line of small characters, 「All thanks to Lady Tao’s good housekeeping. Gold and silver were able to produce pearls, so she should take them away.」

After he finished writing, he looked at the letter that he wrote with his own hand again. It was like the sound of “Judgment” made at the end of the trial of a felon by the criminal department’s yamen. Gu Ningxi understood that the matter was a foregone conclusion, and so he threw the pen heavily into the distance, covering his face and walking around the desk. He went to the window and took a deep breath of the suddenly thin air.

When the ink was completely dry, Gu Ningxi carefully folded it, sealed it in an envelope, and handed it over to Second Aunt Gu.

Second Aunt Gu took the letter out of his hand with some difficulty, and reassured him that she would send it to the Tao Mansion.

Gu Ningxi really wanted to turn into that piece of paper in Second Aunt’s hand. He wanted to follow her to see He Niang, but he said differently, “Second Aunt is troubled. Your nephew still wants to trouble you, please ask He Niang to see a doctor. She was in the mansion the day before yesterday. And I saw her throw up, I don’t know if it’s all over or not.”

Second Aunt Gu just heard that Tao Xinhe had an upset stomach and didn’t take it seriously, but now she listened to her nephew’s instructions and suddenly became sensitive, she didn’t care that the other party was a male junior. She grabbed Gu Ningxi and asked, “Did she vomit recently? Could it be… Morning sickness?”

Gu Ningxi was stunned when he heard the words, is He Niang pregnant?

The author has something to say:

Loosen the temples again, sweep the crescent eyebrows beautifully – Ported from the Internet.