Spilled water cannot be gathered up again
Furthermore, in the past few months, Madam Wen's condition had been fluctuating, causing Xuanji great anxiety. She shuttled back and forth between the Li and Wen households, and had become somewhat haggard. Fortunately, Xiang'er had heard the news and rushed back from Hangzhou. That day, Xuanji felt a deep sense of unease and remembered several volumes of travelogues from the previous dynasty in Li Yi's study, so she went to retrieve them herself.
The study was furnished as usual. Xuanji walked towards the bookshelf on the west wall, his gaze sweeping over the rows of book spines. Just as he was about to look for the copy of "Travels in Canglang," he noticed an inconspicuous corner with what appeared to be a hidden compartment—the compartment was ajar, as if it had been hastily opened but not properly closed.
Xuanji curiously touched the hidden compartment with his fingertip. Inside, besides a few ordinary letters, there was also a document... bearing a scarlet fingerprint.
It was a letter of divorce. Xuanji's heart trembled slightly as she took it out and examined it closely. "Liu is unworthy, bringing disaster upon herself and implicating her husband's family. From this day forward, we part ways and have nothing to do with each other." Every word was like a knife, piercing her heart.
Just as she was wondering what was going on, she suddenly heard Pei Shi and her maid talking outside the door: "...Yesterday, my husband was saying that he had finally settled things with Vice Minister Xu. Who would have thought that Liu Shi would be so clueless and lose her life for nothing." The voices faded into the distance, as if they were heading towards the courtyard.
Her past, like fragments, exploded in her mind. "Li Yi is a cunning man, you must be careful," Liu Qianqian's dying words echoed repeatedly, finally piecing together a cold and ugly truth.
It turns out he wasn't just a bystander, weighing the pros and cons! He was actually the one who stirred up the waves, the mastermind behind completely severing Sister Qianqian's last chance at survival!
She recalled his solemn and "helpless" analysis that day, his "heart-to-heart" advice that she persuade Qianqian to do so, calling it a "stopgap measure." She remembered how he casually attributed Qianqian's death to "foolishness" and "vigilante revenge"...
A bone-chilling cold shot up her spine, instantly freezing her limbs. She leaned against the bookshelf to barely keep her balance. Xuanji stood there for a long time, and in a daze, she realized that it was already dark outside the window, and evening had arrived.
Upon returning home, Li Yi went straight to Qiwu Pavilion. He seemed to be in a good mood. Seeing Xuanji sitting silently by the window, her back to him aloof, he asked gently, "Are you tired today? I heard you went to the study. Did you find the poetry you wanted to read?"
Xuanji slowly turned around, her face expressionless, her eyes dark and deep, like frozen pools. Without a word, she threw the letter of divorce, which she had been clutching tightly in her hand, onto the table in front of him.
The papers were scattered, and the words "letter of divorce" caught Li Yi's eye.
The smile on his face froze instantly, his pupils contracted, and he instinctively reached out to snatch it.
“No need to take it.” Xuanji’s voice was eerily calm. “I’ve already seen it.”
Li Yi paused, a rare hint of panic flashing across his face, but it was quickly replaced by his usual composure. He took a deep breath and said, "Youwei, this matter is not as you think..."
“Not at all?” Xuanji interrupted him, her voice suddenly rising. “Not that you secretly facilitated this divorce? Not that you knowingly pushed Sister Qianqian into a pit of fire.”
Her question was like an icicle, sharp and cold. Li Yi's expression changed several times, his brows furrowed, and his tone turned serious: "Calm down! The officialdom is a complex web, and many things are not simply black and white! Vice Minister Xu is powerful; how could I confront him head-on? What I did was after careful consideration, to minimize the damage! At least I saved Manager Zhou's life, didn't I?"
"Save Manager Zhou's life?" Xuanji seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. "Exchange his wife's dignity and life for it? Li Yi, ask yourself honestly, are you really just trying to 'minimize the damage'? Or are you trying to curry favor with Minister Xu and consolidate your own position!"
"Xuanji!" Li Yi shouted sharply, his face finally showing anger. "Didn't I consider you in everything I did? Liu Qianqian came to you time and time again. If things escalated and Minister Xu took his anger out on you, how could you remain unscathed? I protected you and kept you away from this vortex of trouble. Was that wrong?"
Xuanji stared at him, as if she were truly seeing this person for the first time: "Li Zian, look at me! Sister Qianqian is a benefactor who helped me in my time of need, a sister who shared my hardships! You took advantage of her suffering, trampled on her life, yet you keep saying it's for my sake? How is your behavior any different from placing me in an unjust and unrighteous position? How can I ever face remembering her again?"
Li Yi felt a chill run down his spine from the utter disappointment and coldness in her eyes. The frustration and anger that he had been suppressing due to the complete loss of control over the situation instantly overwhelmed his reason.
He lunged forward, closing in on her with an almost ferocious air. He grabbed her arms, his voice sharp and venomous: "I've devoted myself to you so much, and in your eyes I'm so worthless? Fine, so loyal and devoted Yu Xuanji! And what about you? Are you truly so innocent and pure?!"
"When Liu Qianqian went to jail, who did you think of! Who was the person you secretly and desperately went to beg for help from behind my back? It was Mr. Wen! Your good man! In your heart, I, Li Yi, will never be as good as him, is that it!"
This sudden question, like the sharpest dagger, pierced Xuanji precisely. Her whole body stiffened abruptly, her eyes widening in disbelief. He had actually hired someone to follow her! This anger of being spied on and twisted, intertwined with the cold despair from before, almost suffocated her.
Li Yi's words, however, were like venom, unleashing all the long-held suspicions and resentment:
"Do you think I'm blind? Those years at the Wen residence, the way you looked at Mr. Wen! Was that the look a disciple gives his master?"
He paused deliberately before continuing, "And then there's Jing County! For months, you were with him day and night, inseparable! If it weren't for Mr. Wen's aloofness, you, Yu Xuanji, would have already given yourself to him. There wouldn't be a chance for me!"
"Shut up!" Xuanji interrupted him sharply, her voice trembling violently with extreme anger and humiliation. "Li Yi! You're despicable! Shameless! If you see me this way, why did you marry me in the first place?"
"Why did I marry you? It's because I was blind! I thought I had found a soulmate who was both beautiful and talented, but it turns out that I married a heart that can never be warmed!"
Having reached this point, Xuanji felt a profound stillness in her heart. She slowly said, "Li Yi, from this day forward, our ties are severed, as absolute as this hairpin!"
Before she finished speaking, she pulled out the jade hairpin and threw her wrist downwards!
With a crisp "crack," the jade hairpin struck the cold, hard ground and shattered into several pieces instantly.
All the tenderness and affection that once surrounded it were shattered in that one sound, leaving no trace.
Li Yi stood frozen, staring at her resolute and cold gaze. His face was ashen, his chest heaving violently, and finally he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! What a clean break! Yu Xuanji, you'll regret this!"
After saying that, he turned around abruptly, kicked open the door, and strode away.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
