“Old woman, try saying another word.”
He Hua's mother was a bully who only acted tough at home. Seeing that Gu Qingyun was even fiercer than her, she immediately softened.
“Hero, I was wrong! I'll never try to hit you again! Let go, this old woman can't breathe!”
Gu Qingyun glanced at her with disgust, released her grip with a sharp shove, and walked over to Gu Qingyu.
“Sister Qingyu, I came late.”
Gu Qingyu, her eyes brimming with tears, threw herself into Gu Qingyun's arms, crying and laughing at the same time.
“Qingyun, you're here! I'm so happy.”
“Have Grandmother and Mother forgiven me? I've let down Father and Mother, and I've let down my uncles and aunts. I shouldn't have been so disobedient and married so far away. I want to go home. I want a divorce... sob, sob...”
Gu Qingyun wrapped her arms around her and gently patted her back.
“All right, it's fine now. As soon as I got your letter, I came looking for you. Go pack up your things, and I'll take you two home.”
At that moment, Nu Jiaojiao slowly emerged from inside the house, cradling her swollen belly with one hand and supporting her waist with the other.
“Husband, has Sister not made breakfast yet? Your son is hungry.”
Seeing Gu Qingyun standing in the courtyard and then looking at He Hua and his mother lying on the ground, she took a few frightened steps back.
“Who are you? Why have you come into my house?”
Gu Qingyun gave her a disgusted look.
“So you're He Hua's mistress? You aren't much to look at. Is that kid in your belly even He Hua's seed?”
Gu Qingyun's words nearly drove all three people in the courtyard out of their minds.
“Mother, the child in my belly is truly Husband's son! This person is smearing me—I don't want to live anymore!” Nu Jiaojiao sobbed with her face in her hands, her eyes secretly peeking out to gauge the others' reactions.
He Hua's mother pointed at Gu Qingyun and unleashed a torrent of curses.
“Bah! What's in her belly is naturally my He family's eldest grandson! Do you think she's like your sister, that hen that can't lay eggs? Married for years and all she gave us was a useless little girl!”
Gu Qingyun clenched her fist tight, then released it, closed her eyes, and finally took a deep breath. She looked directly at He Hua and said:
“Sign the divorce letter and pay thirty taels of silver in compensation. From now on, my sister and niece will be taken care of by our Gu family.”
He Hua felt as though he had been slapped across the face, experiencing an unprecedented humiliation. Gritting his teeth, he said:
“Impossible! She, Gu Qingyu, married into my family. She's ours in life, and her ghost is ours in death! She stays right here to wash my clothes and cook my meals, and when she dies, she'll be buried in the He family ancestral grave!”
“Oh? Then what about her?” Gu Qingyun slammed her foot down onto him and sneered.
“Is the mother of your He family's eldest grandson going to remain just a mistress? He Hua, as a commoner, you don't even have the right to take a concubine! In our Dazhao Kingdom, one must be forty without a son before taking a concubine.
“Tell me, if I, as your wife's maiden family, lodge a formal complaint against you at the county yamen, will you still be able to keep your grocery store running? Will you be able to keep that child in your mistress's belly safe?”
“No! We can't go to the county yamen! Son, sign it quickly! We have to save the child in Jiaojiao's belly! We'll pay the thirty taels!”
Hearing that Gu Qingyun was going to report them to the county yamen, Old Lady He forgot her fear and immediately urged He Hua to sign and press his thumbprint.
Holding the divorce letter, He Hua watched Gu Qingyu walk out of the room holding Xiao Guai in her arms. Veins bulged on his hands, and his voice was hoarse.
“There's no brush or inkpad here. I can't sign.”
Gu Qingyun sneered, pulling out an inkpad and a writing brush from her pack.
“I have them right here. What, reluctant to give up my sister working like a horse for your family? My patience is limited. If you don't sign now, we'll see each other at the yamen.”
Nu Jiaojiao's eyes darted around, and she dropped directly to her knees in front of Gu Qingyu, bursting into tears.
“Sister, it's all my fault! Please, can you ask your sister not to report Husband to the yamen? From now on, you will be the principal wife and I will be the concubine. We'll serve Husband together. If you're still angry, you can give me a beating!”
As she spoke, she made as if to kowtow. Seeing this, He Hua immediately signed his name and pressed his thumbprint onto the divorce letter, then pulled her up from the ground, his eyes filled with distress for her.
“Jiaojiao, you're heavily pregnant! How could you kneel to her? She's just an abandoned divorced woman. Who else besides me would want her? The Gu family won't support her forever either. Even if she wants to come back in the future, there won't be a place for her here anymore!”
Saying that, he looked at Gu Qingyu.
“If you can't survive at the Gu family in the future, you can always come back. Though I can't give you a formal status, I can let you serve Jiaojiao and me at home, and I won't let you starve.”
Listening to this, Gu Qingyun found it utterly boggling. Did this man have no self-awareness about how he had treated her sister? How did he have the gall to utter such words?
Gu Qingyu said, “He Hua, even if I have to go begging with Xiao Guai, I will never return to this man-eating hellhole.”
He Hua choked with rage.
“Fine! Fine! I'll just wait and see how your life turns out from now on!”
Gu Qingyun rolled her eyes at the side.
“You don't need to worry about our Gu family. Hurry up and bring out the money. Don't waste our time.”
“You...” He Hua's face turned livid, and he turned to his mother.
“Mother, go get the money.”
Gu Qingyun counted it—neither a coin short nor a coin extra, exactly thirty taels. She took the child from Gu Qingyu's arms.
“Sister Qingyu, keep that money safe. This will be your savings for you and the child from now on.”
Gu Qingyu nodded, tears spilling from her eyes drop by drop—this time, tears of joy.
“Thank you, Qingyun. I never thought I'd get any money back.”
“Let's go, I'll take you home.” Gu Qingyun glanced at the bundle in her hand, which was just a tiny cloth wrap. Looking at it, it held a few old clothes at most. Her brows knitted as she glared at He Hua.
“What is this? My sister was married to you for five years and bore you a daughter, and this is all she has? Although my family didn't approve of her marrying you, we still provided a dowry. Convert those items to silver—you need to pay five taels to make up for it.”
Before He Hua could even speak, Old Lady He jumped in anger.
“What? Five taels? Why don't you just rob us! Just a broken silver hairpin, a silver bracelet, two changes of clothes, and a quilt—how could that be worth five taels of silver?”
Gu Qingyun sneered.
“Are you giving it or not?”
Thoroughly annoyed, He Hua pulled out five taels of silver directly from his pocket and threw it at Gu Qingyu.
“I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to marry you! Back then, I only went along because you were really good-looking. Who knew that after bringing you home, you'd turn out to be so boring, and your maiden family so poor!”
Gu Qingyu caught the money and stepped to Gu Qingyun's side. Gu Qingyun held Xiao Guai with one arm while wrapping the other around Gu Qingyu, taking step after step out the front gate of the He family home.
Dawn was just breaking. To Gu Qingyu, this was the most beautiful sight she had seen in three years.
Gu Qingyun led Gu Qingyu in a quick march along the bumpy path out of the alley. Seeing them emerge, Old Ma quickly got down from the carriage to help.
“Uncle Ma, help me support my sister as she gets in.”
Old Ma hastily helped Gu Qingyu into the carriage, and Gu Qingyun followed right behind her.
“Uncle Ma, let's go. We'll head to the county yamen first to register this divorce. Once that's settled, we can head back.”
Old Ma called out, “Alright! Hold tight, Boss!”
“Giddy-up!” With a crack of Old Ma's whip, the carriage sped toward the county yamen. Gu Qingyun didn't let Gu Qingyu step down this time; she paid out of pocket to grease some palms, quickly securing the divorce certificate. This time, the carriage headed straight out of town.
Inside the carriage, Gu Qingyun and Gu Qingyu looked at each other in silence.
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