Chapter 30 Despair: The Only Thing She Didn’t Calculate Was Her Own Heart

Chapter 30: Dead Heart, The Only Thing She Didn't Calculate Was Her Own Heart

Feng Shi had Xing An lead the way, while she and Jiang Yueyi took separate carriages, clearly unwilling to share one with Jiang Yueyi. Jiang Yueyi, for her part, felt slightly more at ease.

Just now, facing Qi Hao, she'd been wound up so tight, like a bowstring about to snap.

Snow had fallen that day; the streets were crowded, and the spring snow did not pile up easily, leaving the ground slippery and muddy. The carriage struggled along, and Jiang Yueyi felt quite uncomfortable sitting inside.

How could she not understand that her body was not fit for travel at this time? This trip would likely make her fall ill.

Qing Lan and Cui Mei accompanied her, carefully warming her knees and ankles with hand warmers. Jiang Yueyi told them to stop.

"I'll just get Zhou Congshen to prescribe some meds when we get back," she said with a smile.

Seeing her still smiling, Qing Lan and the others started crying softly.

Jiang Yueyi did not comfort them; she simply let them cry.

This trip today, Feng Shi had insisted she come along. It wasn't just that Feng Shi blamed her for not watching over her husband properly and angering him; more importantly, Feng Shi had already lost her son once and didn't want Qi Hao to leave again.

Qi Hao was so angry just now only because Su Hengniang had gone into premature labor on the way back due to shock, and he was heartbroken that Su Hengniang had suffered. So what Feng Shi thought was probably to make Jiang Yueyi suffer as well, to balance out the anger in Qi Hao's heart.

She wanted to punish Jiang Yueyi for Qi Hao and use this to persuade her son to come back.

That was just the surface. Going deeper... Jiang Yueyi closed her eyes and leaned back, exhausted.

After who knows how long, the carriage finally slowed to a stop. Cui Mei wiped her tears, peeked outside, then ducked back in and said to Jiang Yueyi, "Madam, this is the residence south of the city."

Jiang Yueyi nodded. Just then, someone from Feng Shi's carriage came to invite her to alight. Jiang Yueyi got off the carriage. Feng Shi was still outside waiting for her, but she just glanced at her and immediately had someone go knock on the door.

The door was answered quickly by a young maid, red-eyed and sniffling. Seeing the crowd, she asked, "Who're you?"

Xing An had learned his lesson; he pushed the maid aside and led Feng Shi and the others in.

As Jiang Yueyi entered, she swept her gaze around. The place wasn't big, just a two-courtyard compound, even smaller than Xingyun Courtyard. The second gate was open, so you could see straight through, and it looked a bit desolate, with few people coming and going.

Feng Shi took Jiang Yueyi's hand and led her inside. Qi Hao heard the commotion and came out from the main room. Seeing the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, he did not speak.

Hearing sounds from inside, Feng Shi knew the baby hadn't been born yet, but she only said to Qi Hao, "Hao'er, mother has brought Yueyi to apologize."

Qi Hao's already pale face took on a bluish tinge in the dim light. Seeing him silent, Feng Shi felt even more distressed. Her confusion and the faint resentment she felt toward her son dissolved instantly. She grabbed Jiang Yueyi's arm, yanking her forward so she stumbled, and shoved her right in front of Qi Hao.

Jiang Yueyi, however, reached up to brush the stray hair off her forehead, keeping her head low so no one could see her expression.

"Apologize to Hao'er, now," Feng Shi hissed in Jiang Yueyi's ear. "You messed up; beg him to come back."

Whether from cold or nerves, Jiang Yueyi's legs were shaking violently. But with nothing to lean on, she didn't want to show weakness in front of Qi Hao, so she could only slightly bend her body, which to others looked like she was accepting punishment.

Feng Shi was about to push again, but Qi Hao said, "No need. Whether I go back or not has nothing to do with her."

At that, Feng Shi stepped back, covered her face with her silk handkerchief, and burst into sobs.

Qi Hao, however, ignored Feng Shi. He was somewhat calmer than when he had burst into the Chengping Baron's mansion to scold Jiang Yueyi earlier, but his gaze at her was still like a poisoned arrow, as if it would shatter her jade-like skin and bones.

Qi Hao said to Jiang Yueyi, "I've said what I needed to say. Since my second brother thinks I can't punish you privately, let's call the clan elders to the mansion. I was wrong to fake my death to get away; as for your fault, we can sort it all out one by one."

Only then did Jiang Yueyi look up at him. To Qi Hao's surprise, even though she had clearly been crying earlier, now there was no trace of sadness on her face, as if she had just popped over for a casual visit.

Qi Hao was momentarily stunned. He heard Jiang Yueyi laugh and say, "So at this point, you really won't forgive me, Master."

"You and mother go back first," Qi Hao said. "You are not needed here."

Feng Shi cried out, "Hao'er, as long as you are willing to come home, mother will agree to whatever you want. If you want to marry Su Hengniang, then do it. I'll never stop you again!"

Qi Hao shook his head. "If anything happens to her, I won't go on living either."

Feng Shi's eyes went dim. Her lips trembled, and she couldn't say another word.

Jiang Yueyi's whole body ached terribly. She stepped forward and lightly took Feng Shi's arm, letting out a soft sigh that only she could hear. Then she turned to Qi Hao and said, "Zhou Congshen is a skilled doctor. He saved me before. If you call him, maybe he can help."

"How can she compare to you?" Qi Hao said coldly. "Zhou Congshen revealed my whereabouts to you. Who knows if you two haven't been having an affair? Otherwise, why would he, my longtime friend, come to help you?"

Hearing Qi Hao's insulting words, Jiang Yueyi was not very angry. From the moment she married into the baron's mansion and schemed for her future, she had already lost her innocence. The only bad thing was implicating Zhou Congshen.

Coming with Feng Shi to see Qi Hao was also her last attempt to finally let go.

Jiang Yueyi smiled and said, "Suit yourself."

Then she actually let go of Feng Shi and stepped into the wind and snow, her steps showing no hesitation at all.

From the very beginning, what she did was wrong. Maybe when Qi Hao gave her the divorce papers and told her to leave, she should have gotten out early, rather than gambling her whole life to continue sinking. She had calculated so much, but the one thing she hadn't counted on was her own heart.

She was unwilling to continue living like this.

The first step was to use drastic measures to force Qi Hao to show up. She didn't want to keep creating an illusion that she could go on. Better to just shatter it. Originally, she just wanted to make Qi Hao completely unable to stand her; she didn't have the courage to let go herself, so she'd force him to do it. Jiang Yueyi hadn't expected to cause Su Hengniang's premature labor. If Qi Hao really wanted her to pay with her life, she'd have to accept it.

Now was the final step: a complete break with Qi Hao, no going back.

Everything today was her own doing; she couldn't blame anyone.

***

The Qi clan elders were soon summoned to the Chengping Baron's mansion. Afterwards, the main gate was tightly shut, and even the side gate was locked.

Since Qi Yuan was there, he quickly gave the Qi clan an overview of Qi Hao's fake death. The elders were shocked and angry, but since the deed was already done, there was no point in discussing it further. They could only try to find a way out and avoid being accused of deceiving the emperor.

Qi Yuan then proposed that they announce externally that Qi Hao was gravely ill and had met a Taoist who said that to escape this calamity, he must hold a funeral that would fool everyone's eyes. Since Qi Hao only held an honorary title without actual office, this explanation would not cause too much trouble. However, actually carrying it out was no simple matter; they could only temporarily keep it from the outside world.

Next came the matter between Qi Hao, Jiang Yueyi, and Su Hengniang.

Qi Hao still hadn't shown up; only Jiang Yueyi was kneeling in the hall.

While waiting for Qi Hao, Zhou Congshen also explained to everyone the whole story of Qi Hao and Su Hengniang, including how the fake death was arranged and how he left.

One of the clan elders spoke up: "Divorcing his wife is not proper. She is Lady Chengping. How can she just be divorced? The Qi family has no such precedent!"

The others all nodded. After all, Qi Hao was in the wrong first, running off with a widow and trying to fool everyone. Jiang Yueyi's fault, if you downplay it, was just a matter of disciplining a concubine.

But with Feng Shi present, no one dared to enumerate Qi Hao's faults in detail.

They waited until late into the night, but Qi Hao still did not appear. Qi Yuan sent someone to inquire and was about to arrange for the clan elders to rest in the mansion when Xing An came rushing in from outside.

Feng Shi stood up first and asked him, "Where is Hao'er?"

Xing An shook his head, but handed a letter to Qi Yuan, saying, "There are still matters over there. The elder master is not coming. He said to let the second master and the clan elders decide."

Qi Yuan took the letter and saw that indeed the handwriting was Qi Hao's.

After a moment's thought, Qi Yuan did not open the letter. Meanwhile, Feng Shi, upon hearing that Qi Hao was not coming, was staring intently at Qi Yuan. Qi Yuan simply handed the letter to the eldest clan elder.

The elder's eyesight was failing. By the candle flame flickering in the wind and snow, he read the letter for a long time before finishing it. At the end, his hand almost couldn't hold it; he slapped the letter directly onto the table and began to cough violently. It took a long while before he could catch his breath.

The crowd did not know what the clan elder had seen, and fearing that his coughing would cause him to choke, no one dared to be the first to ask; for a moment, they all just looked at each other in confusion.

Feng Shi was the first to lose patience. Earlier, when she saw that Qi Hao hadn't come and had only sent a letter, she had a bad feeling. If Qi Hao had come in person, she could have tried to intervene in what he wanted to say, but the letter was delivered directly—she had no chance to stop it.

Just now, Qi Hao's attitude toward Jiang Yueyi was so cold, and he was no better toward her, his own mother. Now, facing this entire room of clan elders, Feng Shi was truly afraid.

What if Qi Hao's letter revealed everything? He had never consummated his marriage with Jiang Yueyi, and the daughter Jiang Yueyi gave birth to was also Qi Yuan's. That would inevitably drag her, the dowager, into it!

Feng Shi also felt dizzy in waves, but she read faster than the clan elder. The clan elder's hands trembled more and more as he read, but Feng Shi was the opposite—the more she read, the more her brows relaxed. By the end, she actually let out a sigh of relief.

She placed the letter back on the table, then walked over to Jiang Yueyi, who was kneeling there, raised her hand, and slapped her across the face.