The entire city was abuzz the day Gu Yanzhi returned to the capital.
He returned home with merits from his southern inspection tour, his heart often lingering on a warm and gentle shadow.
His wife, Shen Weiyang, who always quietly waited for his return.
During these three months, he would inexplicably think of her quiet presence by his side during his inspection breaks.
Once, seeing a local official's household in turmoil with wives and concubines fighting for favor, he secretly rejoiced, "Weiyang never makes such a fuss."
Gu Yanzhi sat in the carriage, his palm resting on the purple sandalwood brocade box, its interior lined with velvet, holding a red coral no bigger than his palm.
He remembered Shen Weiyang seemed to prefer simplicity, with few bright colors in her cosmetic box. But last month, while inspecting the port of Quanzhou, he saw a splash of red in a jewelry shop and inexplicably stopped.
Perhaps... wearing some bright colors would make her happier.
The carriage stopped before the Marquis Wei Yuan's Manor gate, "Welcome back, Heir!" the servants called out in unison.
Gu Yanzhi nodded, his gaze subconsciously sweeping over the welcoming crowd, but she wasn't there. A sense of loss he had never felt before arose in his heart.
As he stepped into Guiwu Courtyard, the sky had completely darkened. The dining hall door was open, brightly lit, and a figure in water blue could be vaguely seen sitting by the table, waiting for him.
His steps involuntarily quickened, and he even raised his hand to smooth his unwrinkled sleeves.
"Weiyang," he called out, his voice gentler than he had expected.
Upon hearing him, Shen Weiyang immediately rose to bow, her head lowered, showing no joy at her husband's return. The solemn atmosphere made Gu Yanzhi's heart skip a beat. What was wrong?
"Heir?" Shen Weiyang called him softly, then picked up the serving chopsticks and began to serve him food.
Gu Yanzhi withdrew his thoughts, coughed lightly, and tapped the brocade box with his fingertip. "I passed by the East Sea and saw this coral hairpin; it suits you very well. You... play with it."
She put down her silver chopsticks and glanced at the brocade box. Gu Yanzhi eagerly awaited a ripple of emotion in her eyes, even just a polite joy.
But she merely looked at it, not reaching for it. Her gaze fell on the bright red, and her complexion seemed to turn paler than before, so much so that even the faint rouge on her lips couldn't hide it.
Shen Weiyang said coldly, "If the Heir wishes to admire it, you may keep it. I have never liked such gaudy items."
She quietly pushed the box gently to the corner of the table, away from herself.
Shen Weiyang's action was like a basin of ice water poured over Gu Yanzhi's flicker of hope. He picked up his teacup and changed the subject, "You don't look well. Are you ill?"
Shen Weiyang finally looked up and met his gaze. "Thank you for your concern, Heir. It's just that lately... I haven't been sleeping well, but it's nothing serious."
Since the topic had been brought up, Shen Weiyang no longer wanted to pretend.
She reached into her sleeve and took out a letter. She stood up, deliberately walked around half the table, came before him, and handed it to him with both hands.
Seeing her so solemn, Gu Yanzhi felt extremely uneasy. He reached out and took it.
The words "Divorce Letter" emblazoned on the cover pierced his eyes. Disbelieving what he saw, he quickly pulled it out and unfolded it.
"May we part in peace and find happiness separately. I wish you a boundless future and a good match, a harmonious marriage, and a house full of children. With this letter, I sever our ill-fated bond. Please take care, and we shall not meet again."
At the end was Shen Weiyang's signature, written with forceful strokes.
Gu Yanzhi held the thin paper, his brows furrowed, his fingertips trembling. He couldn't understand why his obedient wife of three years would suddenly be so resolute.
He slowly raised his head and looked at her, frowning and forcing a bitter smile. "Weiyang? This... what kind of joke is this?"
His voice was slightly nervous as he tried to find any trace of a joke on her face. "Did someone mistreat you these past three months? Was it Cousin? Or someone from the staff..."
"Heir," she interrupted him softly, her voice still steady. "Please sign."
"What do you want me to sign?" Gu Yanzhi acted as if he didn't understand her meaning, then his voice suddenly rose, with a hint of panic and anger he himself hadn't noticed. "Shen Weiyang! What are you trying to do? If I neglected you because I was away for so long, I..."
"Heir," she called him again. This time, there was a hint of impatience in her voice. "Please sign."
"Why?" he asked loudly. "Give me a reasonable explanation."
She stood there quietly, took a deep breath, suppressed the emotions about to collapse within her, and then said very softly, "Heir, I lost my child."
Gu Yanzhi's pupils contracted sharply.
"The day you left the capital, I had a miscarriage." Shen Weiyang touched the scar on the inside of her left wrist, left from when she tried to end it all during her miscarriage.
His body swayed, and he instinctively grabbed the edge of the table to steady himself. His ears buzzed, and he could barely hear what she said next.
"Right after you instructed them to take good care of Cousin, everyone was taking care of Cousin, and no one could help me keep that child!"
Every word Shen Weiyang spoke was an accusation against him. After she finished, she even let out a laugh, full of sarcasm.
Gu Yanzhi recalled the morning he left the capital. She seemed to be waiting in the corridor, her complexion not good, her lips so pale they were almost transparent. She seemed to want to say something to him, her eyes carrying a cautious look.
But at the time, his mind was filled with the official duties of his southern inspection tour, as well as his worries about his cousin Wanqing's health. He only nodded at her briefly and said, "You handle the affairs of the manor. Wanqing is frail; if you have time, go and look after her more."
Look after... look after...
What he meant was for her, as the Matriarch, to show some concern for their visiting cousin.
But how would the servants hear it, and how would it be interpreted by his cousin, whom he had always "cherished"?
"Is this reason real enough?" Shen Weiyang looked at his bloodless face, at the fear that instantly collapsed in his eyes. Her smile deepened.
"The document has been filed with the authorities. Once the Heir signs this divorce letter, I will leave the manor, and we will owe each other nothing from then on."
Shen Weiyang turned and left without hesitation. Gu Yanzhi's strength seemed to drain away, and he leaned against the table, barely standing.
The red coral in the brocade box was glaring under the candlelight. The feast Gu Yanzhi had arranged was now filled only with the greasy smell of fish.
Gu Yanzhi stood alone in the luxurious dining hall, holding the light, fluttering divorce letter in his hand.
A table of cold dishes, a gift, and a letter of farewell – this was the homecoming banquet he had long anticipated.
Back in her own courtyard, Shen Weiyang leaned by the window, her hand gently resting on her lower abdomen where a slight bulge had been, now only a hollow, dull ache remained.
"It's my fault for not protecting you," she whispered, her voice eerie in the silent night.
The moonlight outside was pale, falling on her bloodless face. She suddenly gave a very faint laugh, the smile not reaching her eyes, instead making her gaze appear deeper.
"But you must remember it wasn't that I was unlucky, but that this world is too dirty, and people's hearts are too poisonous. They... were not worthy of you."
Shen Weiyang closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the last trace of softness had vanished, leaving only a calm as dark as night.
The Marquis's Manor, which should have been bustling with activity, was thrown into a state of panic by the Heir Consort's actions, and everyone was afraid to speak.
Gu Yanzhi did not rush to his cousin's courtyard first. Instead, he spent the night poring over the manor's medical records and finally found a line of small text in an inconspicuous corner on one page: "Madam had a miscarriage, depleted of qi and blood, requires rest."
The date was the third day after he left the capital, with his cousin's annotation below: "Routine care, handled as per regulations."
Before the morning mist had even dispersed, Gu Yanzhi was standing outside Shen Weiyang's isolated courtyard.
They had lived in separate courtyards after their marriage, and he had never felt it was wrong. Now, seeing the locked courtyard gate, it felt like a stab to his heart.
The gray-blue brick walls, the faded wooden door, and the withered grass sprouting from the cracks in the stone steps before the door – it was hard to imagine this was within the opulent Marquis Wei Yuan's Manor. How blind he had been.
Behind him, two rough-handed servants were tightly gripping Rong Wanqing's arms. His cousin had been groggily pulled from her bed that morning, but now she was awake, her face filled with incredulous grievance.
"Cousin... you're hurting me! What are you doing? How can you treat me like this?" Rong Wanqing struggled, her voice sharp.
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