tallest building

Chapter 152 Proposing Divorce

The new snow has begun to fall, and the sky and earth are clear.

Gong Xu was on leave today and listened with great interest to Yun Ying playing the pipa.

Liu'er, a maid in Wen Mingqian's room, came over to Gong Xu and said, "Master, Madam has something to discuss with you and requests your presence."

Gong Xu was somewhat surprised, but still replied, "Okay, I'll go right away."

Yunying took his coat and draped it over him, gently reminding him, "The road outside is slippery, sir, please be careful."

Gong Xu arrived at Wen Mingqian's room and saw her sitting there with several trunks and baskets beside her.

"What do you want from me?" Gong Xu asked.

“I know that you are off today, so there is something I would like to discuss with you.” Wen Mingqian said, taking out a piece of paper. “This is the divorce agreement I have drafted. Please take a look at it and sign it.”

"What did you say?!" Gong Xu hadn't even settled in his seat when he heard this and jumped up, looking at Wen Mingqian in disbelief.

"I want a divorce." Wen Mingqian looked at him quietly, his expression calm and even indifferent.

"You want a divorce? You want a divorce?" Gong Xu kept repeating this sentence, as if he were having a nightmare.

Wen Mingqian stopped talking and waited for him to calm down.

"Are you joking?" Gong Xu finally sat down again, scrutinizing Wen Mingqian. "Speak, what exactly do you want?"

“I only want a divorce,” Wen Mingqian said calmly. “The accounts of the manor are very clear. I will not touch any of the money or valuables in the manor. I will only take my belongings. From now on, we will part ways peacefully and have no further interference.”

"Ha!" Gong Xu was furious and embarrassed. "A clean break? So you never intended to grow old with me from the very beginning."

"Before leaving the capital, I had thought of growing old together, but fate has played a cruel trick on me. Rather than being together in name only, it's better to end things cleanly. You are in your prime, and your family is prominent; you have no trouble finding a suitable partner."

"My heart is already as withered as wood, so why force me to stay in the Gong family? It will do no good for anyone," Wen Mingqian sighed.

"You hate me? You want to take revenge on me in this way?" Gong Xu asked obsessively. "I have already apologized to you, and your innocence has been cleared. Chang'an is so capable, why do you still want to leave?"

“I don’t hate you,” Wen Mingqian said, looking at Gong Xu. “I just gave up on you a long time ago. How can a dead heart be revived? Some things are destined to be beyond our control.”

"Why did things turn out like this?" Gong Xu's expression suddenly turned ashen. He didn't even have the strength to question Wen Mingqian anymore. "Can't I even make it up to you?"

“There’s no need for reconciliation. I just feel that we’ve already settled things at this point.” Wen Mingqian didn’t want to say anything harsh, not out of fear, but because he felt there was no need to continue the entanglement. “You want to rekindle our relationship, but that’s only for the sake of a happy marriage. Even if we mend a broken mirror, the cracks will still remain. But as long as you treat the person who comes after you well, you can find fulfillment elsewhere. Why insist on clinging to the broken pieces and torturing each other?”

"Heh, torture. So being with me has become torture." Gong Xu wiped his face hard. "Wen Mingqian, you've been hiding it well! But no matter how well you hide it, you're still the same you, stubborn and incorrigible, unwilling to turn back!" "Yes! Since you know this, you should understand that spilled water cannot be gathered up again. You're just unwilling to accept it, but no matter how unwilling you are, it's ultimately useless." Wen Mingqian knew that Gong Xu wasn't unaware that the two of them could never go back to what they were before.

He was simply unwilling to accept it; unwilling to accept that he was the one who proposed the divorce; unwilling to accept that it would end in parting ways; unwilling to accept that something unpleasant happened just when he was feeling triumphant.

Ultimately, Gong Xu was a very selfish person.

Seven years ago, she also felt deeply resentful, but seven years have made her realize that resentment can only make her suffer more.

True liberation comes only from letting go and moving forward.

"Wen Mingqian, why are you so heartless? Is it because you were wronged back then? But I was kept in the dark too!" Gong Xu remained obstinate. "I was the one who was hurt the most by Song Xiulian. She also caused me to become estranged from my wife and not see my own flesh and blood for seven years!"
Do you think I'm not in pain? If I had known you were innocent and still driven you away, and now you resent and hate me, wanting a divorce, I wouldn't have said a word! These past few days I've tried my best to be nice to you, to make amends, but you've ignored me. Don't you think that's incredibly unfair to me?!" Gong Xu almost roared as he spoke.

“I didn’t want to bring up those past grievances and right and wrong again, but since you’re so insistent on it, I don’t mind bringing up the old stories.” Wen Mingqian could tell that he was unwilling to let it go and insisted on tearing off the mask of civility. “You were deceived by the Song family because you couldn’t judge people properly. Based on just one side of the story, you concluded that I poisoned my illegitimate son, and you wouldn’t allow me to defend myself or report it to the authorities.”

At that time, did you ever have any sense of marital affection?! You favored your concubine over your wife, disregarded the old master's dying words, and made my son and I suffer in this bitter and cold place for seven years.

You have ignored us completely, discarded us like trash, failing to fulfill your duties as a husband to support us, and as a father to raise us. What kindness have you ever shown us, mother and child?
Moreover, going back to the source, before a legitimate son was even born, you had already been having an affair with another woman and fathered a son out of wedlock. You were already ungrateful to me from that time on, let alone what happened afterward!
During my seven years in Shuangxi, I never asked you for a single thing. After returning to the capital, I fulfilled my duties and devoted myself to managing the household.

"I've rescued you from your wrongful imprisonment, rid you of that parasitic steward and venomous concubine, and even acted as matchmaker for Jing'an's marriage. That's more than enough!"

Wen Mingqian's words left Gong Xu speechless. In fact, he was not unaware that he was in the wrong, but he was just being stubborn.

"As the sage said, a gentleman does not speak ill of his friends after a breakup. I also hope that even if the friendship has ended, we can still leave each other some dignity."

I can give you three days to consider, but no matter what, I swear I will leave the Gong family, leave you, and never look back.

Gong Xu didn't know how he left Lingyue Pavilion; he was completely distraught the whole way.

His mind was in complete turmoil. One moment he was thinking about the time when he and Wen Mingqian had just gotten married, and the next he was thinking about the awkwardness of bringing Song Shi into the house.

One moment she was thinking about how she forced Wenwen Mingqian to leave while heavily pregnant, and the next she was thinking about seeing her and Gong Chang'an again under the Wen Guan tree.

Wen Mingqian smiled beautifully under the flowering tree that time, but only now does she realize that at that moment, Wen Mingqian's gaze was cold and distant, without a trace of warmth.

At that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his chest that made it hard to breathe, as if seven years ago he had shot a cold arrow at Wen Mingqian, and now that arrow had turned a corner and pierced his own chest.

He walked like a ghost, then tripped and fell with a thud, his already injured right ankle suddenly throbbing with excruciating pain.

But no pain can compare to heartache.

He had never really accomplished anything from childhood to adulthood; it seemed that he always put in a lot of effort but still messed everything up.