Chapter Twenty: The Last Red Candle
That late autumn, the summons from the Jiangcheng Court arrived once again, accompanied by the judgment.
Qiao Yuan remained silent after receiving the judgment from Uncle Chen.
Uncle Chen said, "Master Qiao, do you know what's going on behind this..." He sighed deeply, unable to continue.
The court ruled on his divorce from Lin Tang and divided their property, awarding the land and part of the shopping mall to Lin Tang.
Qiao Yuan had already received word of the situation and knew that the British, American, Japanese, and Nanjing governments had all become involved in his divorce. Although he knew it was the result of a multi-party negotiation, he still felt a pang of sadness when he saw the gold lettering.
He stared at the gilded lettering granting the dissolution of the marriage, and in his anger, crumpled the summons into a ball and threw it into a copper spittoon.
Qiao Yuan stood up and called to A Chen outside the door, "Let's go!"
Ah Chen was taken aback, "Where to?"
"Of course, it's at Madam's!"
He told Ah Chen to drive directly to Lin Tang's old house in Hongkou.
Ah Chen couldn't help but feel excited when he heard this, after all, he hadn't seen Ah Xiu for a long time.
...
Ah Chen's car drove past the old house.
The two got off the car.
Qiao Yuan easily climbed over the garden fence and arrived at the old house, gently knocking on the wooden door.
The vermilion-lacquered door of the old house in Hongkou creaked.
Ah Xiu peeked out from the gatehouse with a kerosene lamp in hand, and was both surprised and delighted to see Qiao Yuan and Ah Chen.
"Master Qiao?" Ah Xiu's lamp flickered, splattering oil onto the bluestone slab. "Why have you come? Madam, she..."
"Is she asleep?"
“Madam just went to bed,” Ah Xiu whispered. “People from the court came this afternoon and delivered the judgment…”
Qiao Yuan looked up at the second floor and saw that there were still lights on. He said, "I'll go up and take a look."
Ah Xiu's face immediately paled, and she said hesitantly, "Master Qiao, Madam said last time that you shouldn't..."
Qiao Yuan said softly, "Just this once. Ah Chen, you keep Ah T company and catch up."
Ah Xiu's heart was practically torn apart. Of course, she wanted to talk to Ah Chen for a while, but she also felt that letting Qiao Yuan go up in the middle of the night was really disrespectful to the Madam.
While her child was hesitating, Qiao Yuan had already slipped up like a cat.
"Master!" Ah Xiu called out in a hurry, then stamped her foot.
Ah Chen hurriedly grabbed her, biting her ear and whispering, "Master Qiao is going to see Madam. Wouldn't you like to talk to me for a while?"
...
When Qiao Yuan pushed open the door, Lin Tang was sitting in front of her dressing table. Moonlight streamed in through the lattice window, illuminating her silhouette in a moon-white nightgown. Her pale face was reflected in the mirror, and the beauty mark at the corner of her eye resembled a congealed bead of blood.
"Ah Xiu, didn't you say I was asleep and not to come in?" Hearing the sound, she thought it was Ah Xiu and didn't answer.
Qiao Yuan walked in slowly.
She stood up abruptly, turned around, leaned on the dressing table, and glared at Qiao Yuan.
How did you get in?
Qiao Yuan shrugged and smiled, with a hint of roguishness, "Ah Xiu and Ah Chen have something to say, so naturally I came up to see you."
Lin Tang quickly calmed down and said coldly, "Mr. Qiao, is your late-night visit because you are dissatisfied with the verdict, and after your failed murder attempt last time, are you going to try to silence me again?"
Qiao Yuan closed the door behind him, the hem of his black robe sweeping across the copper brazier on the ground, sparks splashing onto his gleaming black cloth shoes.
He suddenly moved closer, placing his hands on the dressing table and trapping her in his arms. "After five years of marriage, do you really think I would be so heartless as to kill you?"
Lin Tang's nails dug into the carvings of the dressing table, her voice trembling like a candle in the wind: "Affection? Qiao Yuan, when you killed Bai Mu and then calmly accepted my repayment, did you ever think of affection? A selfish person like you would naturally use every trick in the book to get me. Since you're capable of murder, now that I'm a withered flower, and I still want to take advantage of you and share your things, why don't you kill me? Could it be that what Old Zhou at the Shiliupu Wharf said was all a lie, and those bombs were fake too?"
"That's a trap!" Qiao Yuan suddenly grabbed her wrist, his knuckles turning white. "That hypocrite Chen Kan, I came to him that day hoping you would leave together, but I didn't expect him to be unwilling to give up the wealth and glory of Jiangcheng. He wanted to use you to take more from me, so he set up this scheme to slander me!"
"Shut up!" Lin Tang suddenly screamed, waving her hand and knocking over the rouge box on the dressing table.
The vermilion rouge splattered on Qiao Yuan's black robe looked just like the blood that stained his shirt when she miscarried.
The kerosene lamp crackled and popped, its shadow distorting into a grotesque shape on the wall.
Looking into her red eyes, Qiao Yuan suddenly remembered picking her up at the prison gate six years ago. She was wearing a gray prison uniform, but she still had no less integrity and said, "Mr. Qiao, thank you for saving my father."
Lin Tang's body trembled violently, and the Buddhist beads scattered all over the floor, rolling to the bottom of the makeup box.
She suddenly laughed, her laughter tinged with tears: "Qiao Yuan, do you still think of me as that little girl who could be easily fooled back then?"
"That was all to protect you!" Qiao Yuan pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. "Chen Kan is no longer the Bai Mu of yesteryear. He's now just a plaything of the Chen family. He can't protect you. Chen Kan's mother was a courtesan in the Eight Great Hutongs of Beiping. He can't even get into the Chen family ancestral hall! He's getting close to you to use you as a bargaining chip to exchange for the central bank's funds with the Nanjing government!"
Lin Tang's fingernails dug deep into his back, and the smell of blood mixed with perfume filled the air.
"Let me go." Her voice was as soft as a sigh, yet it carried an undeniable coldness.
Qiao Yuan didn't let go of her. Instead, he grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest, where his heart was pounding so fast it felt like it was going to burst out: "Jintang, feel it. It's still beating here. I wasn't lying!"
Lin Tang's fingers suddenly curled up, her nails digging into his flesh.
He suddenly leaned down and kissed her lips, his kiss carrying the bitterness of those years and the love and hate that had never faded over the years.
Lin Tang was startled, then suddenly gripped the hairpin on the dressing table and forcefully plunged it into his back!
Blood splattered, staining her fingertips red!
But as soon as he opened his eyes in pain, he showed no intention of giving up on kissing her!
Lin Tang's hairpin was driven even deeper.
"To die beneath the crabapple blossoms, even as a ghost, is still romantic!" He still looked at her and smiled, without dodging the hairpin that pierced his back.
Lin Tang's tears suddenly fell down.
Qiao Yuan suddenly picked her up, turned around and threw her onto the carved bed.
The curtains fell, obscuring the moonlight and the tears in their eyes.
"Jintang..." His voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded, "I'm sorry..."
Lin Tang suddenly bit his shoulder, the taste of blood spreading on her tongue.
The wind outside the window rustled the sycamore leaves against the window frame, like someone gently knocking on the door.
Lin Tang's tears fell onto the back of his hand, burning his heart with pain.
"Don't touch me..." she was still resisting.
The clock outside the curtain struck twice, and the bronze candlestick suddenly tipped over, splashing scalding wax onto the back of his hand. He was oblivious, however, as he held the trembling person in his arms tightly, as if trying to melt their bones into one.
Lin Tang's hairpin was still stuck in Qiao Yuan's back, and blood dripped down the folds of his black robe onto the pale white bed sheet, leaving a dark brown stain.
"Qiao Yuan, what exactly do you want?" Her voice was choked with sobs, and her tears fell onto the back of his hand, burning his heart.
Qiao Yuan lowered his head and kissed the corner of her eye, swallowing her tears.
The candlelight flickered and finally went out.
Lin Tang's hand suddenly went limp, and the hairpin fell from Qiao Yuan's back, rolling to the ground with a crisp sound.
She hugged his neck, buried her face in his chest, and smelled the familiar tobacco scent on him.
The wind outside the window stopped, the sycamore leaves no longer tapped against the window, and the moonlight shone through the lattice window onto the rouge box on the dressing table.
The wax in the candlestick solidified into a hard shell, like a heart, containing the last embers of the flame.
"I'll leave before dawn." Qiao Yuan's voice was as cold as the winter night wind. "Take care of Chen Kan's situation."
Lin Tang didn't turn around, but just gripped the string of Buddhist beads tightly, her knuckles turning white.
The creaking of the door hinges came from outside the curtain, followed by the sound of footsteps fading into the distance, mixed with Ah Xiu's suppressed gasp: "Master Qiao, you're bleeding..."
As dawn approached, Lin Tang finally lifted the curtain.
She picked up the hairpin and suddenly noticed a note underneath, written in Qiao Yuan's vigorous handwriting: "If there is an afterlife, I will plant crabapple trees with you."
The first ray of sunlight shone in through the window, illuminating the note and the broken string of Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist.
The scent of agarwood mixed with the aroma of angelica spread, much like that afternoon ten years ago when we first met. He was just like that too, covered in the smell of blood, but when he saw her, sunlight filled his dark eyes.
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