Extra 6: Meeting Xi Qingtong and Divorcing
After lunch, Qingwu asked Xi Qingtong how she was doing.
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became stagnant.
Xi Jianan sighed and said, "She... is still in her old yard. I didn't let her out."
Qing Wu nodded: "I'll go see her."
Four years passed in a flash, and all the previous hatreds were gradually worn away by new things. Qingwu felt that she could meet Xi Qingtong.
It's not to mock or show off, I just want to meet you.
Xi Jianan hesitated to speak, "She's not in good condition right now..."
Only after meeting Xi Qingtong did Qingwu understand what Xi Jianan meant.
In the bleak courtyard of early winter, Xi Qingtong was dancing alone in a faded and inappropriate thin dance dress.
She seemed to be trying hard to dance the graceful dance moves she remembered, trying to stand on tiptoe and stretch her arms. However, the broken leg had left obvious sequelae, and her dance moves became fragmented and no longer as agile as before.
Her hair was scattered and stuck to her sweaty forehead, but her face showed an almost crazy concentration, and she was still humming the discordant song.
Perhaps she heard the noise at the door, and she froze in her tracks. She slowly turned around.
When her eyes met Qingwu's, Qingwu could truly see what she looked like now.
Xi Qingtong was extremely thin. Her dress, which once fitted her well, now hung loosely on her body, making her look emaciated. Her hair was loose, she wore no makeup, and her face was an unhealthy sallow color.
When her gaze focused on Qingwu, an extremely strong light suddenly burst out from the bottom of her empty eyes.
She stared at Qingwu for a long time, then suddenly opened her mouth and made a creepy sound that sounded like crying and laughing:
"Haha...you're here...to laugh at my joke, right?"
She walked over, but she nearly fell because her steps were too big. The maid beside Qingwu immediately blocked Qingwu's way to prevent Xi Qingtong from approaching.
Xi Qingtong didn't rush over either. Qingwu's luxurious palace dress stung her eyes. She pointed at Qingwu tremblingly, "You're a phoenix now... flying to the sky... but what about me? I'm rotting here! Rotting in this yard!"
She became more and more excited as she spoke, her voice shrill. "Why? Why do you have everything? Status! Men! What do I have?! I have nothing left! My legs! My reputation! My life! It's all ruined! It's all ruined by you!"
Qing Wu stood there quietly, watching her, his heart devoid of emotion, neither pleasure nor pity. The Xi Qingtong before him had long been completely devoured by his own jealousy, greed, and narrow-mindedness, leaving only a hollow shell corroded by resentment.
"Say something! You are so proud!" Seeing Qingwu silent, Xi Qingtong could no longer hold back. She became crazy and tried to pounce on him, but was stopped by Qingwu's maid.
Qing Wu finally spoke, his voice calm and without a ripple: "Xi Qingtong, getting to where you are today is the result of your own choices over and over again. No one forced you."
This sentence seemed to have irritated Xi Qingtong's most sensitive nerve. She suddenly hugged her head and let out a shrill scream: "No! It's not my fault! It's you! You guys teamed up to harm me! It's fate that's unfair to me!"
She began to curse incoherently, sometimes cursing Qingwu, sometimes crying about her misfortune, and sometimes muttering to herself. It was obvious that her mind was no longer normal.
Before Qingwu could speak, Xi Qingtong suddenly quieted down again and asked like a normal person, "You should have a child, right? Is it a boy or a girl?"
Qing Wu frowned at her sudden change of attitude, but remained calm as he replied, "Girl."
"Girls... hehe... girls are good..." Xi Qingtong murmured, and a twisted, malicious smile appeared on his sallow face.
"...I curse you to give birth to daughters in the future...Hahaha...No matter how much Xiao Ji loves you, he will have to find other women to carry on his family line..."
Her eyes began to blur again, and her voice became erratic: "But... girls are also vulnerable... like me... these legs... this reputation... is ruined... all ruined..."
Qingwu frowned even more tightly as she listened to her vicious curses and chaotic mumblings. At this moment, Xi Qingtong no longer made her feel angry. She was obviously going crazy.
But even so, Qing Wu wanted to refute Xi Qingtong's words: "Xi Qingtong, don't you understand yet?"
Her calm gaze fell on Xi Qingtong's frantic face. "Before us there was Emperor Yang, and after us there is His Majesty. The Crown Prince and I stand shoulder to shoulder in the homage of the world. The inheritance of this country and state is no longer the stale rules you think it is."
"My daughter carries the most noble blood of both the Xiao and Yang families. Her future is her own to decide. Your Majesty, I, and the Crown Prince will pave the way for her. What does it matter whether she is a boy or a girl?"
"Your curse has no killing power on me."
These words, like a drenching cold water, brought Xi Qingtong's laughter to an abrupt halt. She stared blankly at Qingwu, seemingly unable to understand, yet also astonished by the unimaginable world described in the words.
Mrs. Wu, who had hurried over for fear of an accident, also heard these words. She paused, and something seemed to arise in her heart.
Qing Wu no longer looked at her, turned around and left, leaving behind one last clear sentence that drifted in the cold air: "Just stick to your ideas and slowly rot in this small place."
The gate closed gently behind him, isolating that self-satisfied soul. Qingwu looked up at the azure sky, his heart clear and resolute.
Her path, her daughter's path, will be new and expansive, never bound by the ghosts of the past.
Xi Qingtong, who was in the courtyard, stared blankly at the door for a while, then suddenly burst into tears. As she cried, she kept muttering to herself, "No, it's impossible... I'm waiting... I'm waiting for that day..."
Before Qingwu returned to the East Palace, the Xi family suddenly welcomed another guest.
"What are you doing here?"
Looking at Song Yunhe who was bowing in front of her, she asked lightly.
Song Yunhe was obviously embarrassed for a moment, but he soon found an excuse, "I'm here to divorce Xi Qingtong."
Xi Jianan had said at the beginning that he would be allowed to divorce Xi Qingtong in a few years. Now that four years have passed, it is time.
Xi Jianan had obviously anticipated this day a long time ago, and he ordered his servants to bring pen and ink.
Song Yunhe thought Qingwu would at least stay and watch him sign the divorce papers, but she didn't stop for a moment. After taking the lovely girl, she walked straight out.
Song Yunhe looked at Qingwu's departing back, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end all his words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't utter a single word.
He could only watch helplessly as the figure, now out of reach, boarded the magnificent carriage surrounded by attendants and slowly drove away from the gate of the Xi Mansion.
Soon two copies of the divorce agreement were written. The moment Song Yunhe signed and pressed his fingerprints, his shoulders slumped dejectedly.
He got the divorce letter he had been dreaming of and got rid of Xi Qingtong, but he did not feel relieved at all. Instead, he felt very empty.
From then on, Song Yunhe was just a distant relative of the Xi family.
Song Yunhe smiled bitterly. What difference does it make whether it is true or not?
In the past four years, all the newly-appointed Jinshi scholars of the same period as him have been promoted, not to mention Xu Zhuangyuan, who has become a favorite of the Shangshu Ling. However, he was transferred to compile history books and has been put on the shelf.
His life was like this, and he could never turn things around.
And he sowed the bitter fruit with his own hands.
Looking at the dejected man in front of him, Xi Jianan asked, "Are you going to see her one last time?"
Song Yunhe shook his head, bowed to Xi Jianan, then turned and left the Xi family.
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