Chapter 25 Elopement: “Eloping makes you a concubine; a dowry makes you a wife.”

Chapter 25: Elopement: "To elope is to be a concubine; to be properly wed is to be a wife."

For a split second, Tian Qin doubted her own ears.

In disbelief, hesitating, she lifted her head, only to meet his eyes—as calm as misty mountain peaks, like a bird caught in a windblown net, unable to break free. She frowned and said, "What did you say, Brother-in-law?"

Xie Tanwei repeated himself, his tone wasn't a joke, his cold detachment, like he was talking about someone else: "Your brother-in-law's been exiled to the old kingdom, probably never coming back to the capital in this lifetime. And you're being forced into marriage by the Yu family, married off to some loser. Since they're tearing us apart, why don't we elope?"

Tian Qin's vision went dark, her mind like a jumbled lute, rhythm chaotic, like a wad of cotton stuck in her throat.

How could he even say the word "elope"?

"Scared of getting caught?"

"No matter. With me here, they won't drag us back."

Seeing she was startled, he softened his tone, explaining calmly, "We'll go to some paradise, far from the world's noise. Make wine from pine blossoms, brew tea with spring water. Hand in hand, day after day, from black hair to gray, growing old together."

"I may be a failure, stripped of my rank and demoted, but I've saved enough over the years to take care of you, little sister, for the rest of your carefree life."

Tian Qin felt like she'd been struck by lightning, thunder boomed in her ears. The wind and rain wildly tousled her hair, her heart clenched. She cut him off sharply, "What the hell are you talking about? What about my sister?"

"I'll divorce her, and it'll be amicable."

Xie Tanwei's tone was totally flat, just like the day he casually talked about killing Xu Junzheng, as he offered her his final olive branch.

"You don't want to be a concubine, little sister? Then don't. You'll be the real wife. As for your sister, I'll take care of the rest. We'll slip away and leave all the world's grudges behind."

He took her hand and kissed the back of it, like rain wetting flowers, his long lashes lowered, almost reverently: "You never see my sincerity. This time, I want you to see it for yourself. If you have other conditions, just name them. I'll go through hell and high water for you."

He'd laid out nearly all his cards, hoping she'd change her mind. He was different from his previous life—deeply sorry, reborn, and would never treat her as he had before.

In that moment, Tian Qin finally got his real intent behind willingly admitting to fraud, ruining his career, and swallowing his pride—

To trick her into turning back, to lure her with sweet talk, to make her fall into the sweet but dangerous trap of elopement, blinded by her own greed. Then, drifting with no roots, she'd be at his mercy, twisted and shaped like a dodder vine, drawing only from him for nourishment.

For this, he could end his marriage in name only to Xian Qiu, and even offer her the "unworthy" title of legitimate wife.

No wonder he'd been begging for her forgiveness all this time.

In that instant, Tian Qin saw his selfishness, ruthlessness, coldness, and venomous cruelty, the inhuman chill in his bones—turning people into disposable chess pieces.

She had once naively believed Xie Tanwei loved Xian Qiu, protecting her tirelessly in the past life, caring for her for decades.

Now, she realized Xie Tanwei did everything from his own perspective, weighing only profit and loss on a cold scale. There was no such thing as "feelings" or "favoritism."

He could discard his wife of many years without a second thought. His cold-blooded actions toward her in the past life were nothing out of the ordinary.

Truly a terrifying, inhuman opponent.

"So, Brother-in-law gave up his career... for me?"

Tian Qin's nose stung with bitterness, her disgust deep, her posture defensive, afraid he might say something even more outrageous.

Xie Tanwei said, "To some extent, yes."

"No. You've always thrived in the court, rising step by step. Why be so foolish as to destroy yourself for romantic feelings?"

She looked at him as if he were a monster.

Xie Tanwei smiled, both gentle and cold. "Foolish, yes. Life is rarely foolish, and I don't regret it."

He lightly breathed in the scent of orchids from her collar, like rain soaking one's clothes. "Your brother-in-law was too shrewd in the past life. You died young, leaving me widowed with two children. In this life, I don't want to regret again."

Tian Qin was dizzy from the faint scent of soap on him. He was mad—he had always been this kind of madman.

"Brother-in-law, stop saying offensive things. My marriage is set. Today's meeting was only to honor our past bond. You're crossing moral boundaries. This wrongs both my sister and me. Please leave."

She turned her face away, preferring to be drenched by rain than share the same eaves with him. Her expression was worse than livid—utter loathing, not a shred of goodwill.

Xie Tanwei was chilled by her attitude, touched by the cold, dim autumn light. His voice melted into the rain. After a moment, he said, "Won't you consider it? Your brother-in-law is sincere."

Tian Qin couldn't be bothered to answer. "Absolutely not."

"I swear, for the rest of my life, there will only be you—no other sisters or women." He bent low, his tone distant and soothing. "We love each other, yet outsiders tear us apart. Why not elope and leave no regrets?"

Tian Qin gritted her teeth and suddenly turned her head. "Mutual love? I think that's only in your imagination, Brother-in-law."

In this life and the past, when had she ever shared mutual love with him? Perhaps not even his one-sided affection counted. What he sought was never deep emotion, only control—suffocating control.

Xie Tanwei was silent for a moment, standing in the faint, swirling rain and mist. "You and Xu Junzheng share mutual love, don't you?"

"It has nothing to do with others."

She was indifferent, her control over her own fate etched into her bones. "I will never love you, Brother-in-law. That's an iron fact."

"But all you seek, little sister, is the position of a legitimate wife. Xu Junzheng can give it, and so can your brother-in-law."

He still tried to hold onto her.

Tian Qin sneered: "To elope is to be a concubine; to be properly wed is to be a wife. I dare not accept that. Sisters sharing one husband—where is human decency?"

Xie Tanwei's heart gradually cooled. With little emotion, he tapped the armrest, his silhouette as cold as rain. "To elope is to be a concubine; to be properly wed is to be a wife." Indeed, he couldn't refute that. What he offered was not a proper, public wedding in the worldly sense. No matter how sincere, it was useless.

Tian Qin stood up, resolutely opening her oil-paper umbrella. Words had failed. Ignoring the pouring rain, she prepared to leave this suffocating corridor, ending their last meeting in this life.

Raindrops pattered like beans scattered on the umbrella, magnified in the air. Xie Tanwei didn't stop her. Deep disappointment overflowed, immersed in the cold, violent rain tide. "Tian Qin."

"Your brother-in-law will only extend his hand to you once in this life. If you leave, our bond is severed, and I will erase all my true feelings. If we meet again in the future, neither of us will show mercy."

He was always so coldly clear-headed, placing his emotions in a container ready to be tipped, controlled by reason.

"I mean what I say."

Tian Qin paused in her steps but didn't turn back. Her silhouette said, "Mortal enemies who share no sky?"

Xie Tanwei shook his head. "Not quite mortal enemies, but your brother-in-law will no longer consider your feelings."

He would no longer indulge her willfulness, no longer shield her from her mistakes. They would become purely brother-in-law and sister-in-law, all compassion reset to zero, sweeping away every emotion.

Tian Qin said sternly, "Do as you wish, Brother-in-law. We likely won't see each other again in this life."

"You can accept Xu Junzheng's sincerity, yet discard your brother-in-law's like trash."

"Little sister, you are truly heartless."

Xie Tanwei's gentleness faded, replaced by the solemn arrogance of one who controls life and death, the coldest humanity, interrogating her: "Since to elope is to be a concubine and to be properly wed is to be a wife, if you don't elope with me today, you must never elope with anyone else. Remember that, little sister."

"What right do you have to control me?" she resisted.

He gave a faint smile, his white robes billowing lightly, said with a careless air, "Because I've got a stronger hand than you. If you don't believe me, just try."

Tian Qin's fists clenched tight.

He was a scoundrel, and he didn't bother hiding it one bit.

"What do you want, brother-in-law?"

"I took the fall for the exam fraud for you, got kicked out of the center of power, and I figure I've given enough. You asked me to promote Xu Junzheng, and I did it."

Xie Tanwei cut her off, sharp, "I thought this was a fair trade, heart for heart, but you won't give anything back. So there's nothing left to say."

"Go on, sister-in-law. Hope we never see each other again."

Tian Qin wouldn't make that deal, dead set on having nothing to do with Xie Tanwei ever again.

"Forget me too, brother-in-law. I'm really tired," she said, and with that, she dove into the misty rain and vanished.

Xie Tanwei stood in the corridor, the sky like pale green, translucent jade, foggy and rainy, the whole sky looking frozen.

No more meetings—if they did meet, there'd only be hate left.

...

The day he left the capital, it was still gloomy and rainy.

Xie Tanwei had always held himself to high moral standards, taking the moral high ground in politics and ethics, earning a great reputation among the people.

Now, loyal but slandered, trusted but doubted, the capital's people saw him off on their own, lining up all the way to the city gate, holding eggs and local treats from the capital, pressing them on him, everyone in tears.

The people wrapped his carriage wheels in rushes to cushion the bumpy ride, a treatment fit for a sage.

A loyal minister drifted off in the bleak autumn wind.

The Yu and Xie families were in-laws, so the Yu family came to say goodbye.

Yu Yuan figured Xie Tanwei's political career was over, kicked out of the power game in disgrace, and might soon die unknown in a foreign land, the usual fate of a failed politician.

So he didn't bring Ku Ju along, and he didn't want to bring Xian Qiu either, but Xian Qiu was set on it, and as the officially married Madam Xie, she had to accompany him to the foreign land.

He Shi was reluctant to let go, holding Xian Qiu and crying, unwilling to release her. How could things have turned out this way? Her poor daughter was already suffering from illness, and now her husband was demoted, forced to endure the pain of separation from her parents—truly a double blow.

Xian Qiu wept, "Mother, your daughter is unfilial, unable to serve you in this life."

He Shi grew even more sorrowful, "Xian'er, don't say such things."

Xie Tanwei politely put his arm around Xian Qiu's shoulder, supporting her fragile, swaying body, and sighed, "Madam, why must you do this? Following me into hardship."

Xian Qiu looked up with glistening eyes, "I am one with my husband. If he enjoys happiness, so do I; if he falls, I will accompany him."

Xie Tanwei said, "Thank you."

"I don't want to force you, Madam. Everyone has their own will. If you want a divorce, now is the last chance. You can still leave."

Xian Qiu gently shook her head, "Unless my husband divorces me, I will cling to you to the ends of the earth."

Xie Tanwei smiled helplessly and wiped her tears.

"Madam, you are truly foolish."

The sun rose from the distant black mountains, casting golden rays, the autumn air crisp and cool. The gray-green pines showed signs of withering from within, and a winding spring flowed down the mountainside.

Summer had ended, and the golden autumn brought a cool breeze, but it was shrouded in a bleak, somber atmosphere. Flocks of birds stretched their necks and cried as they flew south.

Tian Qin and Xu Junzheng stood side by side, also seeing him off.

Tian Qin, of course, didn't want to come, but her rationality prevailed. Only by seeing Xie Tanwei retreat in disgrace with no chance of a comeback could she feel at ease.

Xu Junzheng looked even worse than Tian Qin. He was truly guilty, having caused his teacher Xie to leave his hometown. He felt ashamed, like a rat crossing the street.

He had originally planned to confess to the exam fraud at the examination hall, but fearing it would implicate Tian Qin and land her in prison, he could only silently endure the grievance.

Xu Junzheng was deeply saddened.

The morning wind billowed as Xie Tanwei helped Xian Qiu into the carriage. He turned back quietly and glanced at Tian Qin.

Their eyes met in the air, an unspoken understanding, but it couldn't spark any warmth to ease the parting.

As he had said before leaving, they were now strangers.

Tian Qin was still staring intently at Xie Tanwei. Xu Junzheng draped a coat over her and whispered something.

She snapped out of it, coming back to her senses.

Xie Tanwei observed the tender silhouette of the couple, feeling no great sadness. Instead, a faint smile curled at the corners of his lips, carrying a strong, aggressive offense and a cold understanding.

They had agreed to elope, but in the end, only he had fled.

As a loser, he had no right to complain. Life was long, and who knew what the future held.

The carriage, carrying people and luggage, grew farther from the capital. Xie Tanwei and his wife stepped into the darkest days of their lives.

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Here we go! Because of the upcoming promotion, the next update will be on September 20th at 11:50 PM [rose][rose].