Cui Shi was devastated to realize that what she had missed years ago was her senior sister's final letter. She felt an overwhelming urge to kill that old hag, Madam Fan.
The year Cui Shi got married, her senior sister was still unmarried and observing mourning for her father. On the day Cui Shi left home, her senior sister saw her off by the riverbank, breaking a willow branch.
Later, her senior sister returned to Longxi with Li Yianian. After two years of back and forth, they exchanged letters again. Due to the rebellion of the Guo family in Longxi, their correspondence was interrupted for another two years. By then, both women were mothers, and in their letters, they agreed to arrange a marriage between their young children.
The last letter Cui Shi received from Madam Zeng was when Madam Zeng stated she would take her daughter back to her maternal clan to pay respects, and would detour through the capital.
Cui Shi waited and longed, only to receive news of her death, and from the Cui family's correspondence at that.
Her senior sister's father was her own esteemed teacher. She and her senior sister were as close as sisters. If not for that old hag's machinations, how could she have missed her senior sister's letters?
Cui Shi had been married to Yu Zeyan for eighteen years, and this was the first time she had ever seen him weep so heartbrokenly.
Yu Zeyan had read the letter the previous night and knew the grave mistake had been made, and it was too late to rectify. This was precisely why he was more determined than ever to send the old madam to the separate courtyard.
The old madam, having grown up in the countryside, was uneducated and lacked understanding of grand principles. Later, with her husband's prosperity came her own status, and she developed a bit of the nouveau riche's ostentatiousness. However, she had endured hardship alongside her father.
Before his death, her father had instructed him to take good care of his mother. He felt guilty for placing his mother in the separate courtyard, but given his mother's actions, if he didn't provide an explanation to his wife and daughter, he would be unworthy of being a husband and father.
"I know you resent me, Madam. I was foolish. As long as you can forgive me, I will do anything."
"It's not worth it for you to be so angered by me and harm your health. I am here today to beg for your forgiveness. Hit me!"
...
Cui Shi lay on the couch and cried for a long time before lifting her head, her eyes red and swollen.
Yu Zeyan was filled with heartache. He immediately said, "My heart belongs only to you, Madam. I have no concubines in the household not for show; it is my own will. If anyone dares to speak ill of this in the future, I will not forgive them lightly."
Cui Shi sat there, silent.
In truth, she knew Yu Zeyan was not a malicious person. While he might be somewhat filial to a fault, he could certainly be called a gentleman.
However, in the past two years, the couple had experienced one misunderstanding after another, leading to years of cold war.
"It was my excessive jealousy that caused me to misunderstand you and your senior brother, leading to Madam only seeing your senior sister's letter today. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will compensate you doubly."
Yu Zeyan was genuinely apologizing.
He always felt Cui Shi was too proud and stubborn, never giving him any face. Yet, he had never considered that his own biased actions, coupled with the insult to her reputation, had deeply wounded her.
If it weren't for Yue'er's incident, he feared he might still not have realized his own mistakes.
Hearing him describe her as excessively jealous, Cui Shi's expression was a mixture of amusement and disbelief. It was the first time she had heard a grown man describe himself in such a way.
Yu Zeyan noticed a flicker of emotion on his wife's face and quickly knelt, stepping forward. "Madam, you are merciful and benevolent. Give your husband a chance to correct his mistakes."
Cui Shi turned her face away, not looking at him. It wasn't that she harbored deep hatred, but the knot in her heart was difficult to untangle.
Yu Zeyan was truly repentant today. Seeing Cui Shi ignore him, he did not rise.
As the couple stood in confrontation, a small head peeked in through the door. She giggled behind her hand for a moment, and when Cui Shi looked her way, she ran over.
She tugged at Cui Shi's hand and shook it. "Mama, can you give Papa another chance? Papa knows he was wrong. Look, Papa is even kneeling to beg for forgiveness. Mama, please forgive Papa..."
Cui Shi's head ached upon hearing her daughter say "kneeling to beg for forgiveness." It seemed this father and daughter had the same teacher for idioms.
Fortunately, a letter had already been written back to Cui Shi to select a teacher for their daughter.