Chapter 13

“And back then, he mistook me for someone else. After we got married, he realized it was wrong. He always thought I deliberately schemed to marry him, so he has been cold and indifferent to me all these years. Now, Lu Mingxi is ill. The doctor said it’s a heart disease, incurable by medicine. If she wants to live, the best way is to fulfill her wish,” Lu Minghua ignored Wei Yuntai’s attempts to stop her and finished speaking.

“So he wants to divorce me,” Lu Minghua smiled at Madam Sun, her eyes filled with a dignified and proper smile, and said, “And I naturally have to agree.”

But at this moment, her demeanor seemed particularly subtle.

As she spoke, Madam Sun’s eyebrows gradually furrowed, and when she heard the last sentence, she looked up at her.

“So, you’re doing this today just for Lu Mingxi? You’re confused. She’s your sister-in-law. Have you thought about how others will view you and our Marquis’ residence?”

“No, I absolutely disagree,” Madam Sun was almost furious. She could barely accept Lu Minghua, but what was Lu Mingxi?

Sickly, with an uncertain gaze and complicated thoughts. She had seen many like her who could act when she was young. She didn’t expect her son to fall for such a person.

“Mother, Mingxi, she—” Wei Yuntai wanted to say a good word for Lu Mingxi, but Madam Sun wouldn’t listen.

“If you want to marry her, you must disown me as your mother,” she said, waving her sleeve.

Lu Minghua watched this scene with a smile, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

“These are the family matters of the Ningguo Marquis’ residence. Madam, Heir, I should go back now. Goodbye,” she said, lighting this fire, nodding lightly, and then looking at Mama Li, signaling her to call the people in.

“I don’t care about your matters with Yuntai, but remember, don’t let me hear what shouldn’t be said,” Madam Sun didn’t intend to stop her. Now, not only Lu Mingxi but also Lu Minghua had become detestable to her.

If it weren’t for these two sisters, how could today’s events have happened? Her good son was about to become a laughingstock.

“Don’t worry, Madam. I have a long life ahead of me. I won’t ruin myself for these two people,” Lu Minghua said with a light smile, slightly disdainful.

Madam Sun felt extremely uncomfortable hearing this. Even if she was angry, her son couldn’t be spoken of like this by others.

“Indeed, life is long,” she said, staring at Lu Minghua.

“Madam, won’t you wish me well in the future, for everything to go smoothly, and for peace and happiness?” Lu Minghua adjusted her cloak, looked up at her with a smile, her eyebrows raised slightly, and said meaningfully, “After all, when life is not going well, people tend to get confused. Don’t you think?”

Scaring people, who couldn’t? It’s just a matter of who dares to go further. And how could the jade vase of the Ningguo Marquis’ residence clash with her, Lu Minghua, the rubble?

Hearing this, Madam Sun paused, then slowly smiled and said, “You’re right. I was negligent. Good child, you will surely have everything go smoothly and be happy. If you have any problems, just come to me.”

Lu Minghua also smiled.

Soon, the carriage arrived. Lu Minghua took a step back, slightly curtsied, said goodbye, and turned to leave.

Taking a step out, she suddenly remembered something and turned back.

“Heir, tell me, all these years, what you couldn’t forget, was it the person you missed, or the unwillingness and anger of being deceived?” she said with a smile.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Wei Yuntai, who was already troubled and thinking about how to make his mother accept Mingxi, frowned upon hearing this.

“Nothing, just a question I’ve always had. But it seems you don’t know either, so forget it,” Lu Minghua said, turning around. Her crimson cloak quickly disappeared behind the carriage door, no longer visible.

“Before, I underestimated her,” Madam Sun said thoughtfully, watching the carriage gradually disappear.

On a snowy night, a line of carriages slowly moved forward, disappearing after passing through the main gate. The lights in the carriage flickered, the coldness pervasive. Lu Minghua lifted the curtain, watching as she left the Ningguo Marquis’ residence behind, took a deep breath, and smiled.

The carriage slowly moved forward, turning through streets and getting closer to the Wen’an Earl’s residence.

On a cold snowy day, the gatekeeper of the Wen’an Earl’s residence closed the main gate on time and snuggled into his bed. Just as he was about to fall asleep, the door was suddenly knocked on loudly. Reluctantly, he got up and asked who it was. Upon learning that the third young lady, who had married into the Marquis’ residence, had returned, he was startled and quickly opened the door.

Seeing a line of carriages, the gatekeeper was jolted awake. Something big had happened, he thought, and hurriedly called someone to report inside. The carriages entered the residence through the side gate and headed towards the second house.

In the night, lights were lit one by one, and as the door of the Sixian Courtyard opened, Lu Chengsong hurried to the main hall, where the current Earl Wen’an, Lu Chengwen, and his wife, Madam Yuan, had already arrived.

“Minghua, what’s going on? Why did you come back with luggage?” Lu Chengsong, not knowing what had happened, heard his sister-in-law, Madam Yuan, ask as soon as he entered, and his heart skipped a beat.

“With luggage? Did you have a fight with Yuntai? Nonsense!” he immediately scolded.

“Father, it’s not a fight,” Lu Minghua put down the teacup she was holding, stood up to greet them, and then slowly sat down, adding a sentence.

Upon hearing this, the other three people in the room breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that it wasn’t a fight.

The Wen’an Earl residence had declined by Lu Chengwen’s generation, with no one in official positions, and was on the verge of downfall. However, since they had become relatives with the Marquis’ residence, the situation had greatly improved, and the younger generation had bright prospects. Last year, Lu Chengwen’s eldest son was appointed as a county magistrate with the help of the Marquis’ residence. Given all this, they dared not let Lu Minghua and Wei Yuntai have a falling out.

“It’s a divorce,” Lu Minghua said, looking at Madam Yuan and her father’s relieved expressions.

“What? Divorce?!” The three of them were shocked. Lu Chengsong was the first to react, shouting angrily at Lu Minghua, “Nonsense. How could you not inform the family about such a big matter?!”

“Divorce, what divorce? What’s going on?” Madam Qin, who arrived late and looked exhausted, asked subconsciously after hearing this.

“Wei Yuntai and I have divorced,” Lu Minghua explained.

“You—” Lu Chengsong, full of anger, was about to speak but was stopped by Lu Chengwen.

“Minghua, what’s going on? Tell me in detail. If you’ve been wronged, tell your uncle, and I’ll stand up for you,” Lu Chengwen, though initially shocked, was more puzzled than angry and looked at Lu Minghua with some concern.

“Uncle,” seeing this, Lu Minghua’s cold heart finally warmed a bit.

Everyone in this residence had different thoughts, but her uncle Lu Chengwen’s heart was the purest. He had loved literature since childhood and cared little for fame and fortune. Of course, this was also one of the reasons for the decline of the Earl’s residence.

“It’s nothing, just that Wei Yuntai and Mingxi are in love. Now Mingxi is seriously ill, and the doctor said it’s a heart disease. Wei Yuntai then proposed a divorce to me.” After the Wei family, Lu Minghua repeated this sentence again.

As her words fell, the large main hall fell silent for a moment.

After their initial shock, Madam Yuan and Madam Qin’s eyes showed joy, Lu Chengsong’s anger subsided, and his eyes flickered, clearly calculating something.

“Absurd, absurd!” Lu Chengwen was furious, scolding, and stood up abruptly, saying, “No, I must go and reason with Wei Yuntai.”

“Uncle, there’s no need. I’ve already accepted the divorce letter,” Lu Minghua said.

“What, you, you’re foolish,” Lu Chengwen was shocked and said helplessly.

“Master,” Madam Yuan was about to say something but was stopped by Lu Chengwen, “You don’t speak.”

“I ask you, when did you know about Wei Yuntai and Mingxi?” Lu Chengwen looked at Lu Chengsong and Madam Qin, asking sternly.

Now showing joy, Madam Qin glanced at Lu Minghua upon hearing this.

“Brother, this, Wei Yuntai originally wanted to marry Mingxi, but there was a mistake, so he married Minghua,” Lu Chengsong also glanced at Lu Minghua.

The couple was unusually in sync at this moment, almost directly saying that Lu Minghua was the one causing trouble.

“What, it’s you?!” Madam Yuan exclaimed, looking at Lu Minghua with surprise and disdain.

“Impossible!” Lu Chengwen asserted.

Lu Minghua looked at him, her eyes filled with an unknown hope.

“Minghua is upright and proper, and she would never do such a thing. How did you investigate? Tell me,” Lu Chengwen looked at his brother and sister-in-law, waiting for their answer.

Lu Chengsong and Qin Shi fell silent. They hadn’t investigated; they had just guessed.

“Without evidence, how dare you speak recklessly?!” Lu Chengwen was thoroughly disappointed. He had long known their bias, but he hadn’t expected that they wouldn’t investigate such a significant matter affecting Lu Minghua’s reputation.

“Master, since the second brother and his wife dared to say this, there must be a reason, right, Minghua?” Madam Yuan said with some schadenfreude. She had a daughter the same age as Lu Minghua, but while Lu Minghua married the Heir of the Marquis’ residence, her daughter could only marry the son of a minor fourth-rank official. Over the years, she had long been displeased with Lu Minghua.

“It wasn’t me. Before Wei Yuntai came to propose, I hadn’t even noticed him. These years, I’ve also been investigating what happened,” Lu Minghua said calmly, collecting the surprise in her eyes.

She looked at Lu Chengwen, unable to believe it. So, under this sky, there was still someone willing to believe her?

“Alright, Minghua, rest assured, your uncle will ensure justice for you,” Lu Chengwen promised.

“Thank you, uncle,” Lu Minghua couldn’t help but smile.

After saying this, Lu Chengwen, with a heavy heart, took Madam Yuan away, and Lu Chengsong, not knowing what he was thinking, glanced at Lu Minghua and left with Madam Qin.

Madam Qin looked at the back courtyard, called a servant to arrange things, and said to Lu Minghua, “Your courtyard before marriage is still there. I’ll have it cleaned up for you to stay. I don’t know when Mingxi will wake up, so Mother should go and check her first.”

What was she checking her for? Was she waiting for her to wake up so she could tell her the good news?

Lu Minghua’s heart was filled with sarcasm as she watched Madam Qin’s hurried departure. She glanced around and found herself alone in the main hall.

Outside, the wind and snow raged on, while inside, she sat alone in silence for a long time.