Chapter 13 — The Husband and Little Uncle Fake the Disaster, My Sister and I Clean Up the Marquis' Palace

He suddenly raised his head to look at me. I do not explain further the two words resurrection. Because it's not necessary.

"Only later did I understand that what I was waiting for was not you. What I was waiting for was just a reason. Why could you be so cruel, why could you treat us as cannon fodder, why could you laugh and talk in Jiangnan while I died in the Marquis Palace."

Tieu Thua Duc's lips trembled.

“What about now?”

“I don't need it anymore.”

I pushed the peace book towards him.

"Because what we need to know, we already know. The answer is no longer important."

Tieu Thua Duc finally opened the envelope. Writing on paper is very simple. No resentment. No crime included. Just saying that the relationship between husband and wife ended, from now on they are separated, the man marries the woman, each person is unrelated. He looked at the words "each person has nothing to do with" for a long time. It took so long that the ink on the paper seemed like it was about to stab his eyes. Finally, he picked up the pen. His hand shook so much that the first stroke of his handwriting was almost askew. I sat across from him and watched him sign his name. Don't urge. Also no advice. The moment he put down his pen, Tieu Ngoc Xu came out of the room, carrying a small wooden box. Inside is the marriage certificate that I still kept that year. She placed the box in front of me.

“Burn it, it's an eyesore.”

I took out the marriage letter. The red paper is very old, the gold letters on it are still clearly visible. In the twelfth year of Vinh Xuong, March, Tieu Thua Duc married Tham Tri Vi. I looked at it for a moment, then brought it to the fire in the small furnace next to it. The fire ignited very quickly. The red paper rolled up, the yellow letters turned black, finally becoming a handful of thin ash. Tieu Thua Duc looked at the marriage certificate turned into ash, his face was so white that there was almost no blood left. Perhaps it wasn't until this moment that he truly understood. The Marquis collapsed, but he could still live. His father went to prison, he could still live. Tieu Thua Trach was exiled, he could still live. But the person who stood behind him for three years, from today onwards, really no longer belongs to him. I collected the signed letter of separation and stood up.

“Tieu Thua Duc, from now on, you and I will no longer have any relationship.”

He sat under the pipa tree, not moving for a long time. I don't see him off. Don't turn around to look any further. Because this time, the one who should leave is him. After signing the peace agreement, Tieu Thua Duc left Giang Nam. He went early in the morning, when the mist was still white on the river surface. No one saw him off, no one asked where he was going. Tieu Ngoc Xu woke up late that morning. When she heard me say he was gone, she was just sitting in front of the table eating white porridge and pickles. After listening, she didn't even raise her head. She just said one sentence and then it was good to go, so it wouldn't block her eyes. I don't answer. Not because of sadness. It's because I really don't know what to say. There are some people who leave your life. If it was a previous life, it would probably be so painful that it would tear your heart and soul apart. But in this life, I discovered that when a person is truly mentally dead, even separation becomes very light. As light as a leaf falling on the yard, sweep it away and you're done. The days and months then return to the same. There was no sound of Tieu family's horse hooves. There was no correspondence from the capital. There was no one standing outside the door looking into the yard anymore. The rainy season in Jiangnan is coming very quickly. At first it was just a light rain, then it gradually turned into a long, endless rain. There is always a small sound of water on the tile roof Cup, the pipa tree in the yard was washed by the rain until it was green, the young fruit hanging on the branch was not yet yellow, but was much larger than last season. Our business is also better than we thought. Two original small shops, one selling fabrics, one selling dried medicinal herbs. At first, Tieu Ngoc Xu often made mistakes when calculating accounts, but later it seemed like he had found a new joy, holding the abacus every day without letting go. She used to be the eldest daughter of the Marquis. From a young age she studied chess, calligraphy, and etiquette, but no one ever taught her how to look at the prices of goods, how to choose people, how to negotiate with merchants, how to earn money herself and hold it securely in her hand. When she earned her first profit, she held the silver box and stood in the room for a long time. I asked her what she was looking at. She said: “I am looking at something no one can take away.” After hearing this, I burst out laughing, but after laughing, I felt a bit sour inside. Because I understand that feeling. In the Marquis Palace, from the brooches on our heads to the clothes on our bodies, everything seems to belong to us, but as long as the Tieu family wants to take it, we can take it away at any time. Until now, when every penny is earned by our own hands, we really feel like our lives have a little weight. Half a year later, we bought another cottage at the end of the alley.