My Dearest Sister-In-Law, I've Been Waiting For You To Get A Divorce For A Long Time - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

◎ “It’s been a long time, Ayao.” ◎

“Go… go back to the Mo family? My lady, I…” Mama Liu’s face was filled with panic and dismay. She never expected Mo Shuqing to send her away over this matter and almost knelt before her.

She was one of the maids who had come with Mo Shuqing as part of her dowry. If she were sent back to the Mo family, how could she ever show her face again?

“This was actually all the First Madam’s idea. You know how protective she is and how much she dotes on you. All these years, her heart has been hurt by Miss Yao, so she’s never liked her. That’s why she rejected her invitations and didn’t let you know, saying she was afraid it would ruin your mood before your wedding,” Mama Liu explained softly.

The “First Madam” Mama Liu referred to was Mo Shuqing’s mother, Madam Zhou.

Mo Shuqing frowned, her voice full of displeasure. “This is a matter between Ayao and me. My mother shouldn’t have gotten involved.”

Whether she should have or not, she already had. Mo Shuqing’s anger now was pointless.

She asked again, “What about the letters?”

Mama Liu had never seen the letters, but she knew something about them. “When you first left the capital, Miss Yao really didn’t send you any letters. It was after about two or three years, when the court’s attitude toward demoted officials softened, that the First Madam received a letter from Miss Yao.”

It was easy to imagine how angry Madam Zhou must have been.

When the Mo family first got into trouble, that Gu Wenyao couldn’t wait to cut ties with her daughter. Now that the political winds were shifting, she was rushing to send letters again. Even a fence-sitter wasn’t as opportunistic as her!

A senior like Madam Zhou shouldn’t have held a grudge against a junior, but…

Mama Liu said in a low voice, “You risked everything to travel a thousand miles back to the capital to find her. The worry and joy you felt when you left were matched only by the disappointment and dejection you felt when you returned. The First Madam was heartbroken to see how she had mistreated your good heart.”

Madam Zhou had witnessed firsthand how kind Mo Shuqing was to Gu Wenyao. After Gu Wenyao’s mother passed away, Mo Shuqing was willing to live in the Marquis manor and take care of Gu Wenyao, despite what others might say.

But because the Mo family ran into trouble, Gu Wenyao’s attitude changed just like that. What mother wouldn’t be heartbroken? So, every letter Gu Wenyao sent to Lingnan was intercepted by Madam Zhou.

“The letters must be with my mother,” Mo Shuqing said, her fingers trembling as she stood up. She instinctively started to walk away. “I’m going home to get them.”

She had always been a steady and deliberate person, rarely acting with such recklessness and urgency.

Mama Liu quickly went forward and took hold of Mo Shuqing’s arm, trying to reason with her. “My lady, you are now a new bride in the Gu family. How can you just go back to the Mo family like this? If others saw you, they would surely gossip about both families.”

Especially since the marriage hadn’t been consummated last night. If Mo Shuqing went back to the Mo family tonight, it would be a huge embarrassment for both sides.

Mo Shuqing stopped and turned to look at Mama Liu, her eyes clear. “Then you go back and get them.”

“You know the First Madam’s temper. If I went back now, she might beat me with a stick and throw me out,” Mama Liu said, unwilling to go. “Besides, since the First Madam intercepted the letters to keep them from you, she certainly won’t give them to you easily now.”

“I say, it’s better to wait. You can ask the First Madam for the letters when you go back for your home visit the day after tomorrow.” Mama Liu saw that Mo Shuqing had calmed down and let go of her arm.

“You’re right. I was too impatient.” Mo Shuqing placed her hand on the stone table next to her and slowly sat back down. Even now, her heart was still pounding like a drum, unable to calm down.

She turned and reached out to hold Mama Liu’s fingers. She looked up at her and said softly, “Mama, Ayao said she sent me over 1,400 letters, and the postage alone cost a fortune. She never looked down on me or wanted to cut ties with me because of the Mo family’s situation.”

Mo Shuqing’s fingers trembled. Her long lashes slowly lowered, and her always-straight shoulders began to slump. She held Mama Liu’s hand and rested her forehead on her forearm. “So when I went to find her back then, there must have been some inside story in the Gu family… How could I have been so sad that I didn’t think about it more carefully afterward?”

Seeing the look of self-reproach on Mo Shuqing’s face, Mama Liu couldn’t help but reach out and gently cup her shoulder. Her face was filled with a mixture of heartache and worry as she bent down and spoke.

“But, my lady, you also sent her hundreds of letters and came all the way to the capital to find her. You only gave up after she had someone tell you not to contact her. Even so, after reuniting with Miss Yao and facing her provocation and difficulties, you didn’t have a single word of complaint or ill will. You have done nothing wrong by her.”

Miss Yao made such a scene on the wedding night under the pretense of following traditions. A normal bride would have flipped the table and turned on the Gu family. But her lady, out of old feelings, went along with the act and accompanied her through the entire ceremony.

Even if she had found out tonight that Miss Yao hadn’t looked down on her, her lady had still been completely benevolent and had never mistreated her.

Mo Shuqing understood all of this, but, “Mama, you know, Ayao lost her mother at a young age. She was very dependent on me. When she didn’t get a reply from me for so long and I even refused her when she came to visit, it’s a miracle she didn’t come at me with a knife. She was already so restrained.”

Mo Shuqing pulled herself away from Mama Liu’s arms and turned to look at the tightly closed door. Her heart had already gone over to the other side.

Mama Liu was speechless.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Mama Liu was the first to realize. “The letters you received were intercepted by the First Madam, so where did the letters you sent to the Gu family go? Miss Yao shouldn’t have received a single one.”

Mo Shuqing gripped the fabric of her skirt tightly on her lap, forcing herself to calm down. She recalled, “The doorman who opened the door back then was a familiar person, Uncle Li. He was always very kind to Ayao and me, so I didn’t suspect anything. Mama, go ask. Is Uncle Li still in the manor?”

Mama Liu replied, “Yes.”

Mo Shuqing pursed her lips, her eyebrows furrowed.

If something had happened in the Marquis manor back then, it would have been in the months after she had left the capital for Lingnan. That would explain why the letters she sent to the Gu family were intercepted by someone in the Gu family, and Ayao never received them.

Mo Shuqing had been curious since noon about what Gu Wenyao had experienced to have her personality change so much. Now she wanted to figure it out more than ever.

“Doctor Hu, please come in.” Yi Yun was practically dragging Doctor Hu into the room.

The door opened. Mo Shuqing quickly stood up, steadying herself on the stone table. She walked inside with them.

Seeing Gu Wenyao’s thin, frail body lying sideways on the bed, her back to the door, Mo Shuqing’s breathing grew tight. She clenched her fingers, wanting to take a few steps forward but stopping herself.

She heard footsteps enter. Gu Wenyao, who had just slowly laid flat, caught a glimpse of a purple skirt from the corner of her eye.

She lowered her eyes and didn’t look over, only reaching out to place her wrist on the pulse pillow by the bed.

The exposed part of her forearm was as white as a lotus root, but it was heartbreakingly thin.

Doctor Hu first used needles to stop Gu Wenyao’s coughing. As the needles went in and out, Gu Wenyao’s complexion improved.

“I told you to calm down and take care of yourself. You must avoid extreme emotions, but you never listen,” Doctor Hu said, taking his hand back. He scolded Gu Wenyao with a helpless tone. “Your health is already poor, and it got worse after you fell in the water. If you keep treating yourself like this, how can you live a long life?”

Gu Wenyao pulled her needled forearm back to her chest and smiled. She said softly, “Then I won’t have a long life. So many people are hoping I’ll die anyway. This will just grant their wish.”

As she spoke, she glanced at the purple skirt from the corner of her eye. The skirt seemed to ripple as if blown by the wind, stirring waves and moving a half step forward.

Gu Wenyao’s chest felt sour and tight. She turned her face away, not daring to look at her anymore.

Doctor Hu’s beard bristled. He glared at her. “Bah, bah, bah! Don’t say such inauspicious things at such a young age. I’ll go get you some medicine. You just drink it obediently later.”

“Oh,” Doctor Hu said, picking up his medicine box and walking out. He remembered something and turned back to look at Gu Wenyao. “Don’t take medicine on an empty stomach. No matter how busy you are, you must eat first. Why are you on a hunger strike?”

Gu Wenyao’s current weakness was half due to her emotional turmoil and half due to starvation.

Hearing him mention this, Mo Shuqing turned her head to look at the bed again. Her lips moved, wanting to say something, but she didn’t.

This remark was a public shaming to Gu Wenyao. She was already embarrassed. Now, it was as if she had been stripped naked and was standing in front of Mo Shuqing. Her eyelids were too heavy to even lift, and she didn’t dare to look at her.

Yi Yun saw Doctor Hu out. There were only the two of them in the room.

Mo Shuqing wasn’t the type to speak first, especially in such an atmosphere. She didn’t know what to say.

Gu Wenyao also didn’t speak. She just lay there with her eyes lowered, as if she were asleep. It wasn’t until she saw Mo Shuqing’s skirt move as if she were about to leave that she spoke up. “Sister-in-law.”

Mo Shuqing’s movement to grab a stool paused. She turned to look over.

Gu Wenyao despised herself, but she still pinched her palms and slowly opened her eyes. “Are you staying here to see how pathetic I am, sister-in-law?”

“No,” Mo Shuqing said, standing a short distance from the bed. Her voice was a little hoarse. “Mama Liu just told me that you came to find me after I returned to the capital.”

Mo Shuqing took another half step forward and looked at Gu Wenyao. “Ayao, I didn’t know.”

Hearing those words, Gu Wenyao’s eyes flickered, and her heart trembled. It was as if she had been hit with a hammer, a dull ache spreading through her chest.

She turned her face to the side, facing inward, not wanting the tears to fall. Her voice was muffled and emotionless. “Is that so?”

Seeing her like this, Mo Shuqing felt helpless. She could only explain softly. “I didn’t receive those 1,500 letters, and I didn’t see the invitations you sent. When I first left the capital, I sent you so many letters. When I didn’t hear back, I worried that something had happened to you and the Gu family, so I came back to the capital to find you, but Uncle Li passed on a message that you wanted to cut ties with me.”

The hardships of returning to the capital, being rejected at the door, and being harassed by Gu Shufeng were all glossed over by Mo Shuqing in a single sentence. To her, returning to the capital just to find Ayao was so simple, and she didn’t need to speak of the difficulties and bitterness of it all.

“You… you came back to the capital to find me? And you sent me letters?” Gu Wenyao’s face suddenly turned back. For a moment, she felt dizzy.

She paused, then forced herself to sit up, staring blankly at Mo Shuqing. She pulled at the corners of her mouth, her voice a light whisper. “Is that true?”

“Of course, it’s true,” Mo Shuqing said, raising a hand as if to swear an oath. Her voice was serious and slightly hoarse. “Uncle Li can be my witness.”

“Uncle Li, he…” Gu Wenyao pursed her lips and didn’t continue.

She looked up at Mo Shuqing, it was the first time since their reunion that she had been able to look at her so openly.

The Mo Shuqing she had first seen last night was wearing a red dress and was as clean and cold as a red plum in the snow, making her seem unreachable. But the Mo Shuqing standing two steps from the bed now was quietly watching her with red eyes, not daring to step forward.

Gu Wenyao’s face was expressionless, but her tears wouldn’t stop falling, as if all the grievances that had accumulated over eight years had finally been released.

She cried so hard that Mo Shuqing took out a handkerchief and gently wiped her tears.

They looked at each other through a watery haze. Not a single word was spoken, but the barrier of eight years melted away with the warmth in their eyes and the tears that flowed down.

Mo Shuqing’s voice was a little muffled from her nose, and a smile appeared in her eyes. She greeted her again. “It’s been a long time, Ayao.”