After much questioning, not only did I fail to find anything out, but I even managed to anger Lord Jie.
Having received a cold reception from Lord Jie, I had no choice but to leave dejectedly.
Once back home, Lord Jie summoned Xie Qinyun and said, "Go to Jinxiu City and see if that ungrateful son is dead or not. If he’s not, bind him and bring him back; if he is, buy a coffin there and carry it back here."
"What’s gotten into Father? With so much happening at home, my older brother has been in a bad mood these past few days; just let him be."
Lord Jie glared at her with a cold look and snapped angrily, "You’ve grown up and got tough wings now, too? Even you won’t listen to me?"
Xie Qinyun felt so wronged that she trembled at her father’s scolding, hurriedly responding, "Alright, alright, Father, don’t be angry. Your daughter will go now."
Xie Qinyun called for a few skilled house servants to escort her, and they quickly set off for Jinxiu City by carriage.
There, she saw her older brother standing by the window, continuously sighing as he stared at the building opposite, the Manxiu Building.
"Older brother, what’s the point of this? You two are already divorced, and Father has filed the documents. It’s better if you come back with me," she said.
The second son of the Jie family remained unmoved, feeling an icy chill in his heart.
The woman he had always wanted to get rid of had finally left.
He should have been happy, but why did it feel like a piece of his heart was missing, leaving him with an emptiness and discomfort?
Xie Qinyun approached the window and followed her older brother’s gaze downwards. There, opposite, was the front door to Miss Du’s Manxiu Building.
Every now and then, one could see Miss Du bustling about inside the building.
She was born a daughter of an official and could have lived her life without ever having to show her face and do such things. Amongst the circle of official’s daughters, someone like her would be looked down upon. From the scholarly class she fell, becoming the most despised merchant.
But looking at her now, she didn’t seem unhappy in the slightest, much happier compared to her days in the Jie Residence with the empty title of the second young mistress.
The current Du Xintong was like a living, breathing person with flesh and blood.
Xie Qinyun sighed, "Older brother, look how happy she is now. Isn’t this quite good? Although she shows her face and is busy, it’s still better than when she was in our house, right? Back then, she didn’t dare to light the lamps too brightly for fear of running out of oil, which she had to ask the Concubine for. That Concubine would make things difficult for her, and she might not even get what she needed."
The second son of the Jie family took a step back, his heart suddenly trembling, "She couldn’t afford lamp oil?"
Thinking carefully, it seemed that on the night he visited her, her room indeed had only a dim lamplight.
Xie Qinyun said, "You already know what kind of person your favorite concubine is, right? With such a malicious woman in charge of the household, what couldn’t she do? Older brother, you didn’t know it, but Sister Du suffered a lot behind your back. Since you feel sorry for her now, staying far away from her is the kindness she needs."
The second son of the Jie family felt his heart grow colder and colder, like a pool of lifeless, temperatureless water.
This was all caused by him; he made her suffer so much.
But what had he done back then? He had never trusted her, always thought it was merely her schemes, and he detested her.
His eyes welled up with a mist he didn’t know where from, clouding his vision, preventing him from seeing the figure on the opposite side clearly.
"Ayun!" The second son of the Jie family opened his mouth, his voice hoarse and choked.
"Ayun, do you think I deserve to die?"
Xie Qinyun was startled by his words and said, "Older brother, what are you saying? Don’t scare me."