Cui Shi, unable to bear it any longer, relented and allowed Yu Zeyan to enter. Madam Qin also breathed a sigh of relief and personally ushered him in.
Upon hearing Cui Shi's permission, Yu Zeyan was overjoyed. He rose without Madam Qin's assistance and strode into the room.
He was, after all, a military man. An ordinary scholar would likely have fainted long ago from kneeling for so long.
Yu Zeyan wore only a single shirt, and it appeared his wound had reopened, staining it with scattered bloodstains.
He entered the room and immediately knelt on the floor, holding a bundle of thorns in his hands. "Madam, I have come to beg for your forgiveness."
That letter from years ago was indeed full of flaws, but he had been blinded by foolishness and believed it to be true.
He was jealous of Li Yannian's childhood bond with Cui Shi, and of his scholarship, being a highly respected great scholar of the time.
Whereas he had merely benefited from his father's legacy. His father had served the late emperor with merit, thus earning this noble title. He was a rough man, truly inferior to Li Yannian.
Therefore, he felt that Cui Shi still harbored feelings for Li Yannian.
Although he had ordered that the matter not be spread at the time, it had still hurt Cui Shi.
"This concubine dares not blame you, Duke. Back then, you insisted on wearing a cuckold's hat yourself; what could I do?"
"I was rash back then. Seeing that letter, I was consumed by rage and lost my reason. I deeply feared you harbored feelings for another, and out of inferiority, I dared not confront you. Madam, it was all my fault. Today, I have come to give you the true letter from that time."
During his recent investigation of the old madam's attendants, Madam Zhang had confessed everything. Fortunately, that letter had not been destroyed.
Yu Zeyan took out the letter and handed it to Cui Shi.
The letter was written by Madam Zeng, Li Yannian's wife. Li Yannian had passed through the capital and intended to deliver the letter to Cui Shi in person, but he was stopped by the gatekeeper. By chance, the old madam passed by, and to his surprise, she interfered, causing this immense misunderstanding.
The reason he had believed his mother's forged letter was because Li Yannian had indeed waited for Cui Shi at Wangjiang Tower for five days before leaving the capital.
Cui Shi had been under house arrest during those days, and his heart filled with resentment, he would not tell her.
After reading the letter from that year, he finally understood that Li Yannian's meeting with Cui Shi was Madam Zeng's dying wish.
Madam Zeng was Cui Shi's senior apprentice sister. They had been very close during their maiden years and, on her deathbed, she had written this letter, unable to forget Cui Shi.
My dear sister Manman:
Greetings. Time flies, and I never imagined our parting by the Huai River would be a final farewell.
I write this letter to bid you eternal farewell! As I write this, I am still a person in this world; when you read this, I will have become a ghost in the underworld.
As I write this letter, tears mingle with ink, and I can barely hold my brush. Yet, I fear I may not have the chance tomorrow, so I force myself to speak through my sorrow.
Do you remember? When I caught crickets, you would bravely reach in. In the cold of winter, the insects would freeze, and we would visit their burrows together. We recited poetry, composed music, and painted, inseparable. Thinking of those times, the memories flood back.
I once made a wish at the Weaver Girl temple, not to be born on the same day, but to die on the same day. Now I have broken my promise and gone before you, which is truly my fault.
Manman, do not be sad. This is fate. In my lifetime, I was doted on by my parents, had a harmonious marriage, was blessed with a daughter, and had a friend like you. I have no regrets.
Recalling the past, we once said that if we ever reached the capital, we would arrange a marriage between our children. Now, lying on my sickbed, all those words have become mere jest.
The marriage of children is a matter of fate. If there is fate, they can meet even if separated by a thousand miles; if there is no fate, it cannot be forced.
I inform you, my dear sister Manman, do not try to force anything because of me. Let nature take its course.
The paper is short, but the feelings are long. What is unsaid is countless, but you can infer it.
Susu, written in final farewell.