My Dearest Sister-In-Law, I've Been Waiting For You To Get A Divorce For A Long Time - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

◎ “Sister, I miss you so much. ◎

“It’s been too long.” Gu Wenyao’s eyes were wet with tears, her gaze fixed on Mo Shuqing as if she couldn’t get enough of looking at her.

Mo Shuqing sat on the edge of the bed, holding the handkerchief and wiping the tears from Gu Wenyao’s face. Seeing her pale lips, she asked softly, “What happened to you all these years in the capital? Why is your health so poor?”

Gu Wenyao took a low armrest from the foot of the bed and leaned against it. She said in a relaxed tone, “It was nothing, really. I just had a strange episode of somnolence and sleepwalking one afternoon and absentmindedly fell into the lotus pond in the dead of winter.”

Her eyes were clean and bright from her crying, and her long hair was draped over her shoulders. She leaned against the armrest, looking at Mo Shuqing innocently and harmlessly. Her soft voice said, “I’ve missed you so much, sister.”

Mo Shuqing immediately smiled. She held the handkerchief and leaned back slightly, looking Gu Wenyao up and down. She slowly nodded. “Mm, this is the Ayao I know.”

She was teasing herself.

Gu Wenyao pursed her lips, pretending to be unhappy. She reached out and pulled Mo Shuqing’s arm, drawing her back. She took the handkerchief from Mo Shuqing’s hand and held it close to her chest. “My tears have dirtied my sister’s handkerchief. How about you punish me by letting me wash it clean and return it to you?”

It was just a handkerchief.

“Alright,” Mo Shuqing said, almost touching Gu Wenyao. She frowned and asked, “But how could you have suddenly become somnolent and sleepwalk, and even fall into the lotus pond?”

Even though Gu Wenyao spoke lightly of it, the lingering illness she still carried showed just how dangerous the incident was.

Gu Wenyao tucked the handkerchief under her pillow before she could say anything. She heard footsteps from the outer room. Mama Liu stood behind the folding screen and called out, “My lady.”

“I asked Mama Liu to call Uncle Li,” Mo Shuqing said to Gu Wenyao and then looked at Mama Liu. “Come in.”

Mama Liu’s expression was a little grim. She glanced at Gu Wenyao before replying, “Yes.”

Gu Wenyao straightened her pillow and leaned back languidly against the armrest. If it weren’t for her pale, sickly complexion, her relaxed and comfortable demeanor would make it impossible to tell that she was ill.

Even with Mama Liu in the room, Gu Wenyao secretly hooked her fingers around Mo Shuqing’s hand that was resting on the bed and pulled it into her own palm to compare their sizes.

Mo Shuqing turned to look at her and smiled, then gently squeezed her hand to stop her fingers from scratching. “Go ahead, Mama.”

Mama Liu lowered her head and began her report. “I’ve inquired around the manor. They said that the former doorman, Old Li, was sent back to the Marquis’s ancestral home to work as a laborer. Not only him, but all the old servants in the manor were replaced.”

“Why?” Mo Shuqing asked, looking bewildered.

Mama Liu glanced at Gu Wenyao again before continuing. “Because Miss Yao’s fall was suspicious. They said that at the time, Miss Yao came out of her room in her undergarments, but none of the servants in the courtyard stopped her. They just let her fall into the pond. If it weren’t for the Eldest Miss of the Bian family, Bian Yue, coming to play, she would have… drowned.”

Although she was talking about Gu Wenyao’s past, she seemed to be listening to someone else’s story. Her eyes were fixed on the back of Mo Shuqing’s hand that was holding hers.

The veins were visible under Mo Shuqing’s fair skin, and even the tendons in her slender hand were so beautiful they were almost alluring. If such a hand were to rest on her face…

It wasn’t until the other person’s fingers suddenly tightened and she looked up at her that Gu Wenyao blinked rapidly and looked away, feeling a little guilty. Her eyes were slightly dazed.

Mo Shuqing gently stroked the top of her head in a comforting gesture, her voice much softer. “Don’t be afraid. It’s all in the past.”

Gu Wenyao’s long lashes fluttered. She placed one hand on her chest, lifted her teary eyes to look at Mo Shuqing in a pitiable manner, and said in a low voice, “I’m still a little scared, even when it’s brought up again.”

Even her heartbeat was a little faster than usual.

She was so endearing in this state that Mo Shuqing was tempted to reach out and hug her.

Mama Liu continued, “Afterward, although the Marquis found traces of a mind-altering drug in Miss Yao’s room, he couldn’t find the culprit. They planned to just punish a few servants and let the matter go. But then the Ming family from Jiangnan, Miss Yao’s mother’s family, came. They made a fuss, saying that if they didn’t get to the bottom of this, they would use all their wealth to bring the matter before the Emperor.”

The Ming family’s attitude was clear. They only had one daughter, and after she passed away, they only had one granddaughter left. Now their granddaughter had almost inexplicably drowned in the Marquis manor. If they didn’t get to the bottom of this, how could they rest easy leaving the child in the capital?

The Ming family was the richest in Jiangnan. If they were to make a big fuss, the court couldn’t ignore it. The Marquis manor would then get a reputation for plundering the inheritance of a dead family and harming a woman. And there was also an irrefutable witness—the Eldest Miss of the General Bian family, Bian Yue.

So, the Marquis was forced to handle the matter ruthlessly. First, he dealt with all the servants in Gu Wenyao’s courtyard, only leaving Yi Yun, the maid who had been assigned to chop wood at the time. Then he sent all the old servants in the entire manor back to their ancestral homes in the northwest to work as laborers. Finally, he yanked away the Elder Gu-shi’s authority over the household and temporarily placed the power in Madam Yu’s hands.

All this took a year to resolve, and it was nearly a year before Gu Wenyao could walk and move about like a normal person again.

“When did this happen?” Mo Shuqing’s voice was hoarse as she asked slowly.

Mama Liu said, “It happened just after our Mo family left the capital.”

Now everything made sense.

“That’s why when I came to see you then, I was turned away,” Mo Shuqing said softly. “They had planned to handle this behind closed doors, so they wouldn’t let me in or let me know. And the letters I sent were simply disposed of during their scheming against you.”

Mo Shuqing didn’t dare to think about it. At that time, she had been standing just outside the door, while everyone inside was plotting how to swallow up Gu Wenyao, who was burdened with a fortune.

Just a door separated them, and it almost became a permanent separation.

Mo Shuqing tightly held Gu Wenyao’s hands, her fingers feeling cold. “Who was it?”

Seeing her calm tone, Gu Wenyao didn’t dare to be perfunctory.

“It must have been the Elder Gu-shi’s doing. The Mo family left the capital and took you away, so I had no one left to protect me. That’s when she dared to make her move.” Gu Wenyao pulled the blanket over Mo Shuqing’s hands, covering them.

Her eyes were shining as she looked at Mo Shuqing. Under the covers, her thumb gently rubbed the back of Mo Shuqing’s hand in a comforting gesture. “Don’t be afraid, sister. I’ve grown up. No matter how dangerous it was, it’s all in the past.”

Thankfully, she had already sensed that something was wrong. She would send up a kite as a signal to Bian Yue every morning and evening to let her know she was safe. That’s how she managed to survive. Otherwise, the Elder Gu-shi would have succeeded.

All the evidence from back then had disappeared. In the years that followed, the Elder Gu-shi had been on her best behavior. Now that a new bride had entered the family and her own daughter needed a good marriage, she had a change of heart and was hoping to use Mo Shuqing’s hand to bring Gu Wenyao down.

Gu Wenyao held Mo Shuqing’s hand, her breathing light. The emotions welling up in her chest made her throat feel itchy. She turned her face away and coughed twice.

Mo Shuqing pulled her hand from under the covers and gently patted Gu Wenyao’s back. The emotions on her face were gone, replaced by a warm expression. She said softly, “You just focus on getting better. Leave the rest to me.”

The letters Mo Shuqing had sent were probably long gone, but thankfully, the ones Gu Wenyao had sent to her were likely kept safe by her mother.

“I’ll be able to see those letters when I go home for my visit the day after tomorrow.” Mo Shuqing changed the subject, not wanting Gu Wenyao’s emotions to dwell on the Elder Gu-shi.

“Cough, cough,” Gu Wenyao coughed again. She felt much better after drinking the tea Mama Liu offered her. “Since they’re with Aunt Zhou, you… can just leave them there for now.”

Mo Shuqing stared at Gu Wenyao with suspicion. She raised an eyebrow. “Is it because you said a lot of mean things about me in those letters, and you don’t want me to see them?”

“Not really,” Gu Wenyao said with a laugh, refusing to say more. Thankfully, Yi Yun came in with dinner and medicine.

Mo Shuqing didn’t leave until after Gu Wenyao had eaten and rinsed her mouth.

Gu Wenyao leaned back on the bed. When she was sure Mo Shuqing was far away, she pulled back the covers and sat up.

She sat in the spot where Mo Shuqing had been sitting, mimicking the gesture she had used to stroke her head. She patted the armrest, then lowered her head and smiled softly to herself, a look of satisfaction on her face.

Gu Wenyao’s shoulders hitched, and she coughed twice before reaching out to pull the handkerchief from under the pillow.

The silver-white handkerchief had a red plum embroidered on it. It seemed to carry Mo Shuqing’s cold scent and the traces of her own tears.

The door to the secret compartment was hidden behind the bed curtains. Gu Wenyao pushed it open and went inside. It revealed a large cabinet.

Each shelf held an old item that had once belonged to Mo Shuqing.

Because so much time had passed and they had not been exposed to light, some of the fabrics were slightly yellowed, and the lingering scents had long since faded, leaving only a faint musty smell.

Gu Wenyao held an oil lamp and went in. She slowly crouched down in front of the cabinet, placing the lamp at her feet. Her long hair was draped behind her, the ends piling on the floor.

From the second to last shelf, she picked up a handkerchief. This one also had a small red plum on it.

Gu Wenyao lowered her lashes and gently pressed the handkerchief against her face. She whispered, “Sister.”

Then she took out the new handkerchief she had just received and held it to her face, rubbing it. Her soft voice was a light complaint. “Sister-in-law.”

During the years they were apart, Gu Wenyao had often wondered what their reunion would be like. But when Mo Shuqing lifted her veil on their wedding night and looked at her, Gu Wenyao was so captivated that she didn’t dare to look for long.

She was afraid that if she looked too long, she wouldn’t be angry anymore. She was afraid that if she looked too long, she would just forgive her. She was even more afraid that if she looked too long and rushed to cling to her, she would only earn her disgust.

But sometimes, Gu Wenyao couldn’t stop her instinctive closeness. So she always found reasons and excuses to get near her.

Even when she pushed a strand of hair from Mo Shuqing’s lips, Gu Wenyao’s heart would tremble with excitement beneath her calm smile.

Gu Wenyao held both handkerchiefs.

Perhaps Mo Shuqing’s long silence had created a deep-seated obsession, causing her longing and affection for Mo Shuqing to become almost pathological.

In the letters she sent to Mo Shuqing all those years, Gu Wenyao had urged her more than once not to go through with her marriage to her brother, and she had said other things too.

There was a hint of desperate love and hatred that made her reckless.

Now that they had reconciled and Mo Shuqing still treated her like a sister, those letters were a little embarrassing.

Gu Wenyao felt a headache coming on. She hoped that Aunt Zhou hadn’t opened and read any of them.

When her legs started to feel numb from crouching, Gu Wenyao folded the handkerchiefs neatly and placed them together. She stood up and picked up the oil lamp to leave.

“You put the handkerchief away,” Yi Yun said with worry. “Where will we find an identical one to return?”

Gu Wenyao lowered her eyes. The candlelight flickered and brightened in them. “After sister-in-law goes home for her visit, she’ll need to have her measurements taken for her summer clothes. I’ll just give her a new one then. I’m sure she won’t mind.”

She placed the oil lamp down, took a silver pair of scissors, and lightly trimmed the wick so the flame wouldn’t burn too brightly and startle someone.

As for the home visit the day after tomorrow, since her brother was useless, she would take his place.