My Dearest Sister-In-Law, I've Been Waiting For You To Get A Divorce For A Long Time - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

◎ “There’s nothing about me that Ayao would want.” ◎

“A home visit is one thing, but why bring so many gifts?” Madam Zhou moved her gaze away from Gu Wenyao and looked at the servants carrying boxes off the carriage. Since the neighbors were listening, she added, “The Marquis manor is too polite. We don’t need these. You should take them back later.”

It wasn’t convenient for Gu Wenyao to speak, so Yi Yun stepped forward, bowed, and said for her, “This is the intention of our manor’s madam. There is no reason to take them back. If the First Madam does not accept them, our madam may have to personally bring them over again.”

Madam Zhou sighed then, a slight frown on her face. With feigned reluctance, she said, “Then just take them inside for now. The two of you shouldn’t stand at the door anymore. Since you’re home, go inside.”

With a simple exchange, she diffused the ridiculous rumors about the wedding night that had been swirling for the past two days and showed outsiders the two families’ attitudes.

The gifts in the carriages ranged from large jade coral vases to small pieces of jewelry. Servants carried them and moved them from the back gate into the manor, coming and going more than a dozen times before they were done.

Madam Zhou walked ahead, and seeing Mo Shuqing behind her, she glanced to the side and gave her a look. “Husband, you accompany our guest to the main hall for tea. Shuqing’s hair is a mess. I’ll tidy it up for her before we go.”

Her words revealed a sense of cold distance toward Gu Wenyao.

Lord Mo was still dazed but had a destination set for him. He could only nod. “That works.”

He looked at Gu Wenyao, and Gu Wenyao looked at Mo Shuqing.

“You go sit down. I’ll be there in a moment,” Mo Shuqing said, taking Gu Wenyao’s hand and pushing her forward. “This is also your second home from now on. If there’s anything you want to eat or drink, just say so. Don’t be shy.”

She noticed that ever since they got out of the carriage, Gu Wenyao had become even more well-behaved, just like she was when she was a child, hiding behind her whenever she saw her parents.

Gu Wenyao barely managed to keep the smile on her face. Under Madam Zhou’s gaze, she didn’t even dare to pull Mo Shuqing’s fingers back.

And when Madam Zhou saw Mo Shuqing voluntarily take Gu Wenyao’s wrist, her eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Her already grim face turned even more sour. Unable to hold back, she walked ahead.

Mo Shuqing followed her. “Mother, what’s wrong?”

What’s wrong? How could she even ask?

After walking for a bit, Madam Zhou grabbed Mo Shuqing’s wrist. She stared into her eyes as if she were interrogating her. “What’s going on with you and Gu Wenyao? Didn’t you two cut ties a long time ago? What is happening with you and her—”

“We’ve made up,” Mo Shuqing said, about to tell Madam Zhou herself. “The things that happened between Ayao and me eight years ago were all a misunderstanding. There were a lot of twists and turns and misunderstandings during that time that can’t be explained in just a word or two. In any case, it wasn’t Ayao’s fault.”

Madam Zhou was speechless.

Mo Shuqing frowned. “And how could you secretly keep the letters Ayao sent me? If I had known she was still sending me letters, why would I have been angry and kept my distance?”

Hearing Mo Shuqing’s tone, Madam Zhou was secretly relieved.

The more open Mo Shuqing was, the more it proved there was nothing between them. It seemed that Mo Shuqing’s new identity as Gu Wenyao’s sister-in-law would make her behave.

Madam Zhou let go of Mo Shuqing, her tone still disapproving. “You and she are not on the same path. Why bother making up? While you’ve married into the Marquis manor and will see her every day, I told you to focus on your household authority. Once she gets married, it’ll all be settled, and it won’t be too late to see each other then.”

Once Gu Wenyao was married and everything was settled, she might lose her desire to pursue a relationship with Mo Shuqing.

To be honest, Madam Zhou hadn’t expected Gu Wenyao to have this kind of affection for Mo Shuqing.

At first, she had held on to Gu Wenyao’s letters because she was angry. She didn’t want her daughter to play with someone who knew how to climb up the social ladder so well.

But when she saw Gu Wenyao send letters day after day for years, she was moved. And as the Mo family had a chance to return to the capital, she thought about telling Mo Shuqing and letting the two of them reconcile once they were back.

But as fate would have it, just as Madam Zhou had that thought, a servant accidentally spilled tea on one of the envelopes, getting it wet.

Madam Zhou was afraid the ink would smear, so she opened the letter to let it dry.

Who knew what was written in that letter!

Madam Zhou was shocked and was so scared that she opened all the past letters to read them. Fortunately, the letters from the early years were just filled with longing, complaints, and grievances. But in the last two years, the letters had slowly changed. By the time the Mo family was about to return to the capital, the contents of the letters were already morbidly explicit.

As a result, Madam Zhou kept her distance from Gu Wenyao and didn’t even dare to let her visit after they returned to the capital.

She had thought that once Mo Shuqing was married and became Gu Wenyao’s sister-in-law, she would give up on these feelings.

But now, the two of them had reconnected.

The worry that had hung over Madam Zhou ever since she heard that Gu Wenyao had performed the wedding ceremony for her brother completely disappeared when she saw her get off the carriage in men’s clothing.

Madam Zhou lifted her chin, gesturing to Mo Shuqing to look at the servants who were coming in and out carrying things. “Did she say something to you? Otherwise, why would she be so eager, performing the wedding ceremony for her brother, dressing as a man to accompany you on your home visit, and those two carriages of gifts… are they really from your mother-in-law, Madam Yu?”

Madam Zhou gave a cold laugh. “With your mother-in-law’s temperament, you can’t even beat a fart out of her with three strikes. Could she have thought of bringing so many fine things to give you face on your home visit? I’m afraid it was all Gu Wenyao’s idea. She’s the only one in the entire Marquis manor who has the Ming family from Jiangnan behind her and can give away so many valuables like water.”

Mo Shuqing smiled. “Mother, be careful with your words, or Father will get a headache again. Besides, there’s nothing about me that Ayao would want. Why would she be so eager to please me? She’s just being kind to me.”

Madam Zhou was speechless.

In just a few words, Mo Shuqing had made Madam Zhou’s chest feel tight and uncomfortable. She was always outspoken and said what she meant, but this was a matter she had to hide, which made her feel suffocated.

“You… you’ve been bewitched by her,” Madam Zhou sighed. “The inner quarters of the Marquis manor are full of people and complicated matters. The fact that she was able to tear household authority from that murky water shows that she is not a simple person. If she’s being good to you, she must want something. Whether it’s power, or money, or… something else.”

Madam Zhou looked up and down at her daughter, at her, at her.

Her clear and cold appearance, her tall and slender figure. When she was distant and aloof, she was like a lotus on a mountain, untouched by the world, which made others want to conquer and possess her.

Seeing Mo Shuqing’s confused gaze, Madam Zhou tried to steer the conversation back to the main point. “You are the new bride of the Marquis manor. The way she’s casting a spell on you, she might not want to hand over the household authority to you. You… hey, I’m talking to you, where are you going?”

Madam Zhou hadn’t finished her sentence when Mo Shuqing walked away.

Mo Shuqing didn’t look back. “I don’t want to stand here and listen to you talk badly about Ayao. You’re my mother, and I can’t defy you, but I can choose not to listen.”

“The letters must be in your room. If you don’t give them to me, I’ll go look for them myself. There are nearly 1,500 letters, which contain Ayao’s longing for me for eight years. How could you bear to keep them from me?” Mo Shuqing’s face was wooden, and her tone sounded firm.

How could Madam Zhou let her go through the letters herself? “You stop right there. I’ll get them for you.”

The mother and daughter were gone for half an hour. During this time, Gu Wenyao could only sit in the main hall and stare at Lord Mo.

“That brother of yours…” Lord Mo had already prepared at least 3,000 words in his head to scold Gu Shufeng. But now, facing the well-behaved and smiling Gu Wenyao, he had to swallow his words. In the end, he just waved his hand. “…I don’t even want to talk about it.”

But it was hard to hold back. Lord Mo spoke again. “And your First Madam, your legitimate mother… oh, never mind. Just have some tea.”

Gu Wenyao kept a smile on her face and raised her teacup to share a drink with Lord Mo.

She rubbed her thumb against the warm teacup, quietly reminiscing with Lord Mo. “It’s been a long time. You and Aunt Zhou are still the same as I remember you from back then.”

Lord Mo finally smiled. “Yes, it’s been a long time. Eight years have passed in a flash. You’ve grown into a young lady, just like Shuqing. …And you’ve gotten so much taller. I remember you were a little shorter than Shuqing when you were little. You only came up to here on me.”

Lord Mo gestured to a height while sitting. He seemed a little surprised that Gu Wenyao had grown so tall. She had always been so gentle and timid as a child. Because she had lost her birth mother early, she didn’t know how to act around her elders. Every time she saw him and his wife, she would hide behind Mo Shuqing like a little quail.

Lord Mo smiled and said, “You and Shuqing were the closest when you were little. It’s a shame that the distance caused you to drift apart. It’s a good thing you’re in the same manor now. You should be as close as you were when you were little.”

Gu Wenyao nodded in agreement. “Of course.”

It seemed that Lord Mo didn’t know about the letters or that Mo Shuqing had once come back to the capital to look for her.

Gu Wenyao took a sip of tea and glanced out of the corner of her eye. Her face didn’t show it, but she was feeling anxious.

She didn’t know what Madam Zhou would say to Mo Shuqing. At the same time, she didn’t want Mo Shuqing to see her letters right now.

Gu Wenyao felt like a snake in human skin. On the outside, she looked like a decent person, but inside, she had been soaking in the murky water of the inner manor for years and had long since become dark, twisted, and rotten.

Even so, she still wanted Mo Shuqing to see her beautiful side first. Like a carnivorous plant luring humans, she had to pretend first before she could get her prey into her mouth.

Once she had her prey, it would be too late for them to regret it. She could lock Mo Shuqing away, with the manor as her prison, and keep her on her bed for the rest of her life.

But Madam Zhou was an unexpected variable, making Gu Wenyao, the hunter, feel uneasy. She was afraid that Madam Zhou would scare away her prey, leaving her with no choice but to show her ugly side to her sister-in-law and use underhanded methods to keep her.

After three cups of tea, Mo Shuqing finally returned with Madam Zhou.

Gu Wenyao’s breath unconsciously lightened. She gripped the teacup and looked at Mo Shuqing’s face.

Mo Shuqing was holding two letters in her hand. There was no extra emotion on her face, but she could still feel that she was in a bad mood, as if she were angry with someone.

Gu Wenyao lowered her eyes, not daring to make eye contact with Mo Shuqing. She only looked down.

The embroidered shoes on Mo Shuqing’s feet—with their purple silk surface and pink lotus design—stepped over the threshold. Her purple skirt swayed as she walked toward her, one step at a time.

Now that she was moving, Gu Wenyao felt like every step Mo Shuqing took was a step on her heart, making it pound like a drum. Her breathing tightened inch by inch, and her spine tensed like a bowstring about to snap.

“Ayao.” Mo Shuqing stopped in front of Gu Wenyao.

The voice was like a string being plucked, making Gu Wenyao’s eyes tremble. She felt as if she was about to lose her disguise. She was nervous and scared, but also excited, waiting for Mo Shuqing to expose her for the most authentic and ugliest version of herself.

Gu Wenyao’s eyes fell on Mo Shuqing’s skirt. Her heart, like the tea in the cup she held, rippled without any wind.

She rubbed her thumb against the raised pattern on the teacup. Her voice was soft and gentle as she replied, “Sister-in-law, I’m here.”