Divorce
The night was quiet and still, with only the rustling wind all around.
Dou Yanxun, draped in a black cloak, stood solemnly behind dozens of highly skilled guards, fully armed and ready for action. In the unseen darkness, countless soldiers borrowed from the Prefect of the Capital were hidden in various corners, clinging to the eaves and shrouded in shadows, awaiting his command for a surprise attack.
Dou Yanxun sat on his horse, looking at the small, square courtyard before him. It was ancient and dilapidated, the most secluded and inconspicuous place in the old city of Mujing. His eyes were dark as ink. As the distant bells began to ring, he finally said in a deep voice, "Kill."
In an instant, the black-clad figures marched towards the house. Behind Dou Yanxun, torches blazed brightly, while his deputy, Guard Jiang, shouted sharply at the tightly closed door:
"Your Excellency the Censor is here! How dare this audacious traitor Zhou harbor a lady of the court! Surrender immediately and hand over Lady Zhao'en!"
"—Otherwise, the house will be sealed off and the people searched, and the crime will be compounded!"
Dou Yanxun had exhausted all his resources over the past few days to finally find this inconspicuous house among Zhou Weikan's many properties. Now he was extremely anxious and could not wait any longer.
Despite two loud shouts, the door remained unresponsive. Dou Yanxun frowned, about to step forward himself, when he heard a creak in the quiet night.
Then, the half-broken door slowly opened.
Zhou Weikan stood tall and elegant in the night, with an empty courtyard behind him. His features remained as clear and bright as ever, but a disdainful smile played on his lips.
"It is only right to welcome Your Excellency, the Imperial Censor, who has come so late at night. However, such a grand gesture may be too much for my humble abode."
Dou Yanxun tightened the reins, his eyes burning with rage. This man dared to covet his wife, his only love, the object of his heart's desire. He wanted nothing more than to rush forward and tear off Zhou Weikan's hypocritical mask, and even more so, to tear him to pieces.
"Zhou Weikan. And her?"
It was rare to see someone so gentle and refined display such a fierce expression. Zhou Weikan smiled, his eyes filled with even more mockery:
"Imperial Censor Dou, you've lost your mind. Who in the capital doesn't know that Lady Zhao'en is your lawfully wedded wife, a noblewoman personally appointed by the court, and the adopted daughter of the Princess? Lady Zhao'en has vanished without a trace, so why are you searching for her here? Could it be that Your Excellency can't even protect your own wife?"
Jiang, the guard, had been following Dou Yanxun since Lai Ning and had also shared life and death with Lin Xu. He could no longer tolerate it. With a "whoosh," a long arrow in his hand pierced the night and landed on the wooden door next to Zhou Weikan's broad shoulder.
"You audacious traitor Zhou! Lady Zhao'en is blessed with good health and happiness; how dare you covet her so unjustly? Hand over Lady Zhao'en unharmed at once, or my arrow will not miss by even a fraction!"
Seeing that the situation was about to become tense, Zhou Weikan suddenly burst into laughter.
His gaze was piercing, fixed on Dou Yanxun, and he said with a mixture of disdain and pity:
"When she finally married you, I had the chance to shoot you dead on horseback. If I had been ruthless then, she would have been mine. But the arrow had barely touched your chest when I remembered how much she loved you and how terrified she would be. It was then that I hesitated, which led to this disaster. Dou Yanxun, ask yourself honestly, have you done right by her?"
Dou Yanxun's eyes darkened, indistinguishable from the dark night behind him. He said coldly, "Enough nonsense. What happens between Xuxu and me is none of your business."
He realized that Zhou Weikan was merely stalling for time, meaning that Lin Xu was currently hiding in the courtyard behind him. He had no further intention of getting entangled with Zhou Weikan, so he dismounted and strode inside.
Guard Jiang glanced around suspiciously, then reached out to stop him, saying, "Sir, be careful, this thief might be up to no good."
Dou Yanxun, however, had no time to spare and had already stepped into the completely empty courtyard. In an instant, the wind howled, but Guard Jiang swiftly blocked Dou Yanxun's path. A scimitar gleaming with white light flew out from a dark corner, slicing across Dou Yanxun's cheek before falling to the ground with a clatter.
The blade was incredibly sharp. When Guard Jiang pushed Dou Yanxun, he barely managed to avoid the blade shoving his cheek, but a strand of his hair, which was tied high at the back of his head, was cut off by the blade and slowly drifted down in the wind.
Dou Yanxun snorted coldly and cursed, "Shameless scoundrel."
Zhou Weikan's hearty laughter rang out behind him, "When did I say I wasn't a petty person?"
Even so, having learned from past mistakes, countless guards surged up from all directions to protect Dou Yanxun.
The group quickly captured the small, thin servant hiding in the corner, but after a thorough search, apart from a few servants, there was no sign of Lin Xu anywhere!
She really wasn't here...
Dou Yanxun's vision went black, and his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. She really wasn't here. All his efforts in searching for her had been in vain, and even his last glimmer of hope had been shattered.
Zhou Weikan, who had already been captured by two tall guards, chuckled upon seeing this: "What? You, Censor, have broken into my private residence at night without any evidence, and even your pretext is just a fabrication? How can a dignified Censor explain yourself to a commoner like me with such behavior?"
Dou Yanxun was not giving up and searched every room one by one. He found the small courtyard to be completely silent, except for a hidden room next to the main house.
But when he pushed open the door, the dark room was empty. Just as he was about to despair, he saw a bookshelf in the corner of the dark room, and there were obvious signs of dust being moved at the bottom of the shelf.
There is a hidden door here.
He could almost smell the unique, familiar scent of her that still lingered in the air, the scent that had been with him day and night.
Upon seeing this, Guard Jiang quickly led his group of guards to move the bookshelf aside and then went deeper into the hidden door.
A moment later, Guard Jiang leaned back, looking dejected.
"My lord, this secret door leads to an abandoned street in the old city. Further ahead lies a bustling marketplace... but the lady has long since vanished..."
Dou Yanxun cursed under his breath, then strode away. In the bustling city… and she left so hastily; she must have heard rumors of his arrival, knowing he was coming, which is why she left alone in such a rush.
Does she really not want to see him?
His long, slender fingers had turned white, and Dou Yanxun's expression was as dark as a collapsing mountain, his whole being shrouded in a terrifying gloom. He mounted his horse, but then heard Zhou Weikan chuckle softly, "By the way, Lin Xu asked me to pass on a message to you before he left."
Dou Yanxun gripped the reins tightly, unmoved, but then saw Zhou Weikan take out a thin piece of paper from his pocket.
They fluttered in the night like large snowflakes.
She said, "I realize that the past cannot be changed. Please take care, Your Excellency."
After he finished speaking, the page flew towards him in the wind, light and airy, as if deliberately teasing him, circling around him before landing in his palm.
It was a font that was all too familiar.
It was written by her own hand. It was a handwriting completely different from the one that Bai Shi and Aunt Guo had forged to set up the scheme.
He could see it clearly at a glance. He had watched her practice calligraphy every day and knew it by heart. Every stroke of the brush carried her shadow and her fragrance.
His and her names were written on it, side by side. The ink was not even dry yet.
It was, however, a letter of divorce.
"Our marriage is doomed, our bond is broken. I know I am cold-hearted and have disgraced my husband's family... Today I request a divorce, hoping we can part ways peacefully and never trouble each other again..."
Let's part ways amicably and never bother each other again.
The night wind, seeping through his wide sleeves, seemed to pierce his heart. Wherever it passed, only a chill remained.
Silence fell all around; no one seemed to know what to say. But in an instant, the sound of horses' hooves thundered through the night.
But a gust of wind swept by, and there was Dou Yanxun, who hadn't uttered a word, galloping away on his horse. In an instant, he disappeared into the boundless darkness.
The wind swept across the face like a knife, instantly scattering the originally crowded people on the long street. People scattered in panic, and no one dared to step forward to stop that angry, surging black figure.
Dou Yanxun felt a burning rage within him, and he was almost driven mad, frantically searching for her in the bustling market.
Even if hope is as fleeting as duckweed. She is so intelligent; if she truly wanted to avoid him completely, she would never see him again in this lifetime.
Countless people flashed past him, some with profiles like hers, some with backs like hers, some holding their bellies, and even their walking postures were just like hers.
But none of them were her.
Of all the people in this world, countless people are like her, yet there is no one else who stands beside him with smiling eyes and a gentle smile like before.
They were a couple who spent every day together, the closest of friends and family, yet when it came time to part, he didn't even get to see her one last time. The house was still filled with the tiger-head hats, baby shoes, and even her favorite snowballs and parrots that she had painstakingly embroidered every day, but none of them could make her linger even for a moment.
Dou Yanxun's heart was breaking. He could only search aimlessly, repeatedly pulling on the reins. The horse's hooves came to a halt with a thunderous roar, raising clouds of dust, but each time he was filled with utter disappointment. His heart felt like parched earth, crumbling little by little.
He desperately tried to scream and shout, but no sound came out. Fear overwhelmed him, making it hard to breathe. The wind howled, the crowd thronged, everyone wore a joyful expression, but he alone was left behind by her.
She didn't want him anymore.
Dou Yanxun suddenly tightened the reins. Amidst the starry sky and the bustling crowd, he felt as if he had fallen into a silent snowfield, utterly isolated between heaven and earth. His mind replayed past events. He had been abandoned time and time again. He could no longer even see his own flesh and blood.
He didn't even know what the little one would be named...
Forgotten by his own mother, his own younger brother, his beloved father, his uncles and cousins, by the boundless desert, the ice field, and the wild grass... washed coldly again and again by the lone boat on the river, the towering waves, and the ink-black sea.
He was slammed onto the shore, buried by sand. He was enveloped in endless fear and loneliness.
He closed his eyes in despair until he could no longer breathe.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
