Chapter 64 (Revised)

(Two-in-one) This life is still so long, yet he speaks of the afterlife.

In the evening, the setting sun casts its rays.

After seeing off the calligraphy tutor, Hao Jingshi stood in front of the door for a long time before finally dragging his heavy steps back into the mansion.

He slowly folded the paper he had used for practicing calligraphy that day and stuffed it into an envelope. Xuan Lan wanted to help, but was refused. He could only remind him from the side, "Young Master, it's almost time. You promised the Young Madam that you would pick her up."

Upon hearing this, Hao Jingshi looked up at the sky. Spring days were getting longer, and it was still bright with brilliant clouds.

He asked Xuan Lan, "Xuan Lan, do you think Madam will be angry if I don't go?"

Xuan Lan didn't understand why he asked that, but still thought about it seriously and said, "This servant doesn't think so. Madam isn't that kind of person."

After hearing this, Hao Jingshi said nothing more and sent him away.

Xuan Lan, not understanding what was going on, had no choice but to retreat.

The sound of a fire being lit came from the kitchen, and wisps of white smoke rose from the eaves against the darkening sky.

The servants began frying and cooking the ingredients, which Lu Qin had prepared early in the morning. Before leaving, she happily said that she would have a drink with him when she returned.

Hao Jingshi sat at the table, lost in thought, facing the window, seemingly frozen in place by the wind, almost motionless.

Indeed, Lu Qin is not that kind of person.

Since their marriage, they have always been considerate of each other and rarely had any disputes.

Even if he doesn't pick her up, she'll probably just ask why, complain a little, and that'll be the end of it. At most, she'll throw a tantrum and be done with it once she gets an apology.

He imagined what it would be like if Lu Qin returned to the manor, and felt as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat. He thought and thought, but he couldn't find any excuse to send her away.

After this ordeal, they all thought things would get better, but little did they know, new bad news was on their way...

Hao Jingshi gazed at his house from afar.

After a long while, the curtain of night quietly fell, and the lights in each house lit up one by one, one after another.

The air was filled with the sweet aroma of steamed rice, the fresh smell of soup, and the intoxicating fragrance of wine.

He felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, and gradually lowered his head.

Finally, the door opened wide, and before anyone could be seen, their voice was heard.

"Wow, it smells so good!"

As soon as Lu Qin entered the room, she smelled the aroma of food and couldn't help but take a deep sniff. Her stomach also started rumbling.

She couldn't resist running to the kitchen, grabbing a piece of roasted pork, and stuffing it into her mouth. She ate it with relish, not forgetting to shout, "Since my husband has broken his promise, there's no need to put salt in this meat, otherwise it'll be too salty!"

The servants laughed helplessly at the sight, and Lu Qin took the opportunity to stuff another piece into her mouth, waving her hand to signal them to bring the dishes to the table.

She deliberately made a loud noise, chewing as she peeked outside, but after waiting for a long time, Hao Jingshi still didn't come to find her.

strangeness.

He had been hiding at home for the past few days, and every time she returned to the mansion, he would come out to greet her, never neglecting her even when he was in the worst mood. What was wrong with him today?

Lu Qin walked out of the kitchen in confusion and called out "Husband" twice, but Hao Jingshi did not respond.

She searched around and finally found the room. There she saw Hao Jingshi sitting calmly at his desk. She couldn't help but rush toward him aggressively.

"Hey, are you mute? I called you several times and you didn't say a word. I thought something was wrong with you!" She put her hands on her hips. "You promised to pick me up early, not only did you forget, but you also dared to..."

"I haven't forgotten."

Hao Jingshi stared at the mess of papers on the table and suddenly said, "I just don't want to go."

"..." His unusual attitude startled Lu Qin. She tilted her head to look at his expression and suddenly realized, "Oh, is it because you didn't write well today and felt useless again?"

"It's not a big deal, take your time writing. I understand you're upset, but you still have to pay for breaking your promise. I'll punish you by making you eat two pieces of meat less."

As Lu Qin spoke, she took a few steps closer. Seeing that he remained silent, she reached out and pulled the piece of paper that was under his arm.

"Don't be so downcast. This is what you wrote today, right? Let me see..."

The moment the paper was pulled away, Hao Jingshi subconsciously raised his hand to snatch it, but he froze for a moment and then silently lowered his arm back down.

Lu Qin glanced at it and said, "Isn't this well-written? It's so neat and tidy, I can even recognize it—'With his wife, Lu, their hearts are not aligned, and they cannot be of one mind...'"

Difficult to get back together?

As she read, the meaning of the words popped into Lu Qin's mind, her mouth froze, and she gradually fell silent.

She realized something, and incredulously flipped back to look at it again, her eyes scanning back and forth over the lines of words that had been crossed out and rewritten.

My wife, Lady Lu, and I are of different minds and cannot be of one mind. Therefore, I seek a separation. I have chosen a place to write this document, and we shall each return to our own paths. After our separation, let us resolve our grievances and release our grudges, and no longer hate each other. Let us part ways peacefully and each find our own happiness. Fearing that there may be no evidence later, I hereby establish this agreement as a record. (1)

It means... that they couldn't get along and couldn't continue living together, so he wrote this divorce letter, and the two of them parted amicably from now on.

"You...I..."

Lu Qin stared at the divorce papers for a long time, then tossed them back in front of Hao Jingshi and pointed at them with a finger.

"Don't tell me that the calligraphy teacher came for a day and taught you to write this."

"No, I wrote it myself." Hao Jingshi looked at her fingertips and calmly took out the envelope containing the letter.

He moved it in front of her. "The divorce papers are clearly written on them. You should understand what they mean."

Lu Qin straightened up blankly and stared at Hao Jingshi for a moment.

He practiced calligraphy with his left hand all afternoon and spent the whole afternoon drafting, just to write her a proper divorce agreement.

He was possessed, or perhaps she traveled through time again... In any case, this sudden change felt so unreal and disjointed.

Mingming said before she left that they would take a walk together that evening.

She couldn't understand it.

"Tell me, why do you want a divorce all of a sudden?" Lu Qin followed his gaze. "If it's because of your injured right hand, I've already told you that I won't abandon you, that I'll take care of you for the rest of my life..."

"No need, my mind is made up." Hao Jingshi avoided her gaze and said decisively, "Pack your bags tonight, and tomorrow morning, I will have Xuan Lan send you back to the Lu family."

He stood up abruptly, took a step, as if trying to escape from there.

He anticipated that Lu Qin would press him for answers, so he kept a cold face to prevent himself from being unable to withstand the question and telling the truth.

Seeing his reaction, Lu Qin knew he was hiding something from her. Unable to bear it any longer, she suddenly grabbed him.

"Do you know how annoying this is? You always hide it from me. What's the point? Can't you just tell me directly?"

"No matter what happens, we can find a solution together and face it together. Do you really enjoy playing the hero? Or do you not believe in my sincerity?"

As Lu Qin spoke, she forcibly turned Hao Jingshi's body so that he would face her.

Hao Jingshi suddenly met her gaze and saw her face, which was flushed with anxiety, and her eyes, which were gradually becoming moist.

He raised his hand and slowly pried open her fingers that were gripping his clothes. With each inch he pried open, his heart ached abruptly.

He knew perfectly well that she was sincere.

Knowing this, he was determined to let her go.

She is exceptionally intelligent and always finds ways to solve problems, but this time is different; the matter has already involved the royal family.

The journey ahead is fraught with peril, and he would rather remove her from his life than see her racking her brains, running around for him, or even risking her life for him.

"Don't get agitated. Not everything can be resolved, and I don't need you to face it with me... You'll understand sooner or later."

Hao Jingshi said coldly, raising his hand to take out a sachet from his bosom, which he then picked up along with the book on the table and handed to Lu Qin.

"From now on, you have nothing to do with me or the Hao family."

"Leave this place and never come back."

"..."

Lu Qin took it with trembling hands.

She recognized it at a glance as the sachet she had made for him by hand. He usually wore it on his waist and cherished it dearly because it contained a few jasmine petals and a note she had written for him.

"Lu Qin will grant Hao Jingshi one wish: no defaulting on the debt, and it will be effective for life."

Lu Qin chuckled and silently held the sachet.

Hao Jingshi wore this sachet every day for two years, and he couldn't even bear to give it to her when he most wanted a child. But today, he simply took it off.

With mixed feelings, she said, "Is this the wish you wanted me to fulfill?"

The question was answered without hesitation.

"Yes. You may leave."

Lu Qin was speechless. She looked up and saw Hao Jingshi had already turned around resolutely and strode towards the door.

Lu Qin gazed at his figure, opened her mouth with difficulty, and uttered a few incomplete and barely audible syllables. Just as he was about to walk out the door, she finally spoke softly.

"Where is the child?"

"Does the child have nothing to do with you anymore?"

"..." Hao Jingshi's steps faltered.

After a moment of reaction, he turned around and looked at her in surprise: "What?"

Seeing him turn around, Lu Qin choked up: "Hao Jingshi, I'm pregnant. I was planning to tell you this good news at dinner."

As she spoke, she slowly walked towards him, took his left hand, and placed it on her pulse.

It was indeed a sign of pregnancy. Hao Jingshi's pupils dilated, and he became visibly flustered, his fingertips trembling slightly.

“After more than a month, you’ll definitely be able to diagnose it,” Lu Qin said, her voice a mix of tears and laughter. “I don’t believe you’ve lost your feelings for me, and I don’t want to know the truth later. Divorce is fine, but please tell me what happened properly, don’t leave me confused, okay…”

"I..." Hao Jingshi withdrew his hand, his eyes suddenly reddening.

Their child was so unlucky, arriving at the worst possible time.

He was very conflicted and wanted to tell her that he was about to enter the palace, and that he might never return and would never see her again in this life.

He also wanted to say that he had never believed in an afterlife before, but now he hoped that there really would be an afterlife, because the days he spent with her in this life were just too short.

After struggling for a while, Hao Jingshi still swallowed hard: "I'm sorry, I let you down... You're pregnant and can't take any stress, so don't overthink it... I owe you, and I will repay you in the next life."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qin lowered her head and looked at the purse, then sniffed.

This life is still so long, yet he speaks of the next.

She couldn't understand what terrible thing had happened that made him not even care about his child.

"I understand." Lu Qin stopped pressing and slowly closed her eyes.

"Since you have your reasons, it's fine not to say them. I don't want to put you in a difficult position. It's late at night, and it's easy to speak impulsively. Let's both calm down."

"If my husband still insists on this tomorrow morning, I will not force him. Then, as you wish, we will part ways and never see each other again."

Upon hearing "never to see each other again," Hao Jingshi finally couldn't help but raise his eyes and look deeply at Lu Qin.

Lu Qin did not hysterically accuse, did not pry, and did not pester him. She simply silently stuffed the divorce papers and the sachet into her bosom.

His eyes welled up with tears, and he wanted to keep her image firmly in his heart so that perhaps he could recognize her when they met again in the next life.

"What, why are you looking at me like that?"

After being stared at by him for a while, Lu Qin smiled defiantly and said, "You'd better back out as soon as possible, or the child will recognize someone else as his father."

"The child..." Hao Jingshi opened his mouth, but his words were dry and he changed the subject, "The child doesn't have to take Hao's surname."

"..."

Lu Qin was speechless for a moment, and then she heard him say something else.

"If you wish to entrust your child to someone else, just say that I am seriously injured and disabled, have given up on myself, and quarrel with you every day, so as to avoid speculation from others and delay your remarriage. If you find children a burden, I will prepare a medicine for you to relieve your suffering..."

Upon hearing the words "remarry," Lu Qin gave a bitter, dry laugh. Through her clothes, the sachet in her arms began to feel uncomfortable.

"So you've thought this through too," she said resentfully. "Fine, don't worry, I'll raise the child well."

"If it were a daughter, I would tell her not to marry a man like her father."

“If it were a son, I would tell him not to be a bastard like his father.”

After saying that, she could no longer bear his gaze, and hurried out the door, bumping into his shoulder as she left.

Hao Jingshi's body swayed heavily backward, and he subconsciously raised his hand to hug her, but he found nothing.

A cool fragrance wafted past him. He stood still, uttered a trembling "okay," and his breath dispelled any trace of her.

He didn't know if she heard him, but after saying goodbye, he felt a sense of relief.

"Okay, you and the child, take good care of yourselves."

...

After fleeing back to her dormitory, Lu Qin slumped onto the soft couch, took a deep breath, and suppressed the urge to gag.

Even before the old man had made that divination, she had anxiously imagined the scenario of losing Hao Jingshi, but she forcibly suppressed the bad thoughts.

Only now does she understand how painful it is to be separated from the lover she has been with day and night; it is like her heart is being torn apart, a hundred times more painful than she had imagined.

Large tears fell down her cheeks. Lu Qin clutched her chest and inadvertently touched the sachet in her bosom.

She casually pulled it out, stared at it blankly for a moment, and then vaguely remembered...

"My wish is that no matter what I do, my husband will believe in me and protect me, okay?"

"That's quite a plan. It means that even if you cause a huge disaster, I'll still play the role of Nuwa and help you fill in the hole."

"Exactly. In return, I'll grant my husband a wish, how about that?"

"Then I need to think about it carefully... I can't think of anything for the time being. So, write it down in black and white. When I have a wish in the future, I'll ask you to fulfill it."

"Since we're really going to do it, shouldn't you wish to never be separated from me?"

"What's the use of saying such empty words? You are mine in life and in death, and we will never be apart. Even if you run to the ends of the earth, I have plenty of ways to find you."

She remembered again...

"My husband seems to be getting younger and younger. He's like a child now, so concerned about a piece of paper."

“You love to cheat. If I don’t keep this piece of paper safe, I’ll have nowhere to reason with you and end up getting nothing in return.”

"Since you're so worried, I'll just copy it a hundred times. You can put one on every piece of clothing, along with some on the bedside table, the desk, and under the vase. Is that alright?"

"That's too much trouble. How about you embroider a sachet for me? I can put this paper in the sachet and it will be safe."

"Okay, I'll go back and embroider them slowly. This time I'll embroider a pair, one for each of us."

...Lu Qin's thoughts were drawn out by the heavy tears falling down.

Looking back over the years, Hao Jingshi has always treated her the same. He is stubborn and always insists on his own opinions, and this is also true in matters of the heart. She doesn't believe that he has suddenly changed his mind.

She knew him too well; he was tough in his actions, but soft-hearted.

He was so angry at being deceived by her that he didn't even produce a divorce agreement.

So, the reason he made this decision today is because...

Lu Qin gradually squeezed the sachet until it was deformed, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly, she calmly realized that Hao Jingshi must have been driven to a dead end.

In his eyes, the two had reached a point where they absolutely had to separate.

Perhaps someone threatened him, or perhaps something required someone to be sacrificed, and he chose to protect her.

"What exactly happened? You absolutely refuse to tell me."

Lu Qin couldn't understand it and stared at the candlestick, muttering to herself.

At this moment, Ling'er walked in, not knowing what was going on. Seeing her strange expression, she stood still awkwardly.

"Madam, isn't dinner ready yet? The food is getting cold... Oh, I just saw the young master go out. He said you should eat first and not wait for him."

Lu Qin came to her senses and said calmly, "I'm not feeling well and don't want to go out. You can serve some and bring it inside, and keep the rest for your husband."

Ling'er said yes, glanced at her with concern, and went out to do as she was told.

She brought the food into the house and arranged it one by one. Lu Qin had long lost her appetite, but for the sake of the child in her womb, she endured the churning sensation in her throat and forced herself to finish a bowl of rice.

When the bowl and chopsticks were put down, they made a very crisp sound, and only then did Lu Qin realize that her hands had been trembling.

Ling'er returned and was clearing away the dishes when she saw this. She lowered her eyes and said in a low voice, "This servant noticed that you don't look well. Perhaps this servant should go and fetch the young master, or find a doctor to take a look."

"No need," Lu Qin said. "Go and ask the people in the manor carefully if anyone has come to the manor today."

Ling'er said, "Yes, this servant will go right away."

Ling'er went to ask for a while and came back to tell Lu Qin that two people from the palace had come today. They each spoke with Hao Jingshi for a while, but the servants had no idea what they talked about.

Lu Qin nodded, dismissed her, and sat alone on the bed, gazing at the window paper soaked with the night.

People from the palace?

Your Majesty, Consort Yi, Imperial Concubine, Consort Fang, Prince Pingfan, Princess?

Or perhaps the governor, or other officials? ...

Lu Qin stared blankly at the chaotic gray-black light until the candle went out, then she moved her stiff neck and looked back at the empty bed.

She knew Hao Jingshi wouldn't come back to the dorm to sleep with her tonight, so she was destined to stay in an empty room, suppressing her emotions and having a sleepless night.

She wrapped herself in the quilt, sleepily staring at the ceiling of the bed, lying on the large bed, and in a daze felt as if she had returned to the night of her wedding.

The same silence filled the room, and the same darkness enveloped the room.

Lu Qin laughed self-deprecatingly.

Hao Jingshi abandoned her again, not returning home all night, behaving like a scoundrel just like before.

It seems like everything has returned to square one.

[Author's Note]

(1) Refer to Baidu Encyclopedia