Have You Written Your Will Today?
Chapter 89: After So Many Years, Still Impatient

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: After So Many Years, Still Impatient

You Qing clutched the handle of her bamboo basket tightly, then quickly relaxed her grip.

Shen Hua didn’t even glance at You Qing, lips moving almost indifferently.

"After Mama passed, no one taught me how to behave properly anymore. However, seven years ago, aside from Mama, there was another person who taught me how to conduct myself in the world. She was patient and considerate, treating me like a daughter of her own, yet she turned out to be ungrateful and heartless, leaving without a second glance."

Upon hearing this, You Qing’s face showed not a hint of emotion.

Such heart-wrenching words seemed to not have wounded her at all.

She, as composed as ever, placed the cabbages into the bamboo basket and paid with Silver Coin, then turned to the next stall to buy eggs, passing by Shen Hua.

She said, "If you are determined to leave, I won’t stop you. Over the years, you’ve become estranged to me, and I feel the same. If you wish to reminisce, there’s a teahouse up ahead."

She’s really so rampant!

"Are we still going, Madam?" Yicui asked softly.

Provoked, Shen Hua changed her mind: "Go? Why should I go?"

"The traitor stands before my eyes; I want to see for myself what gives her the nerve to talk to me."

Shen Hua stood motionless, staring intently at You Qing.

You Qing went on to buy pork after getting her eggs.

Shen Hua’s hands trembled with emotion as she turned to Yicui and said, "Look, look, she’s doing it on purpose!"

Yicui bowed her head slightly, saying nothing more.

"With such shopping skills, why not just buy the whole street."

Shen Hua’s tone was filled with contempt: "Right, she has to wash her cotton clothes until they turn white. Where would she get the money?"

Shen Hua murmured as if to herself, yet loud enough for You Qing to hear on purpose.

Yet, You Qing showed no reaction. It was as if a punch had landed on cotton.

The teahouse was small and even spartan.

Shen Hua, full of airs, waited for Yicui to wipe clean the stools before slowly taking a seat. She glanced at the tea and pastries on the table. Meh, there was nothing special about them, not even worth a second look, let alone a taste.

You Qing, seeing that she wasn’t eating, instead took out a handkerchief and wrapped up the pastries. The tea and pastries in the room had been paid for with Silver.

Since she wasn’t eating, she might as well take them with her.

Shen Hua scoffed, "What a petty mindset."

"You really have fallen on hard times now."

You Qing frowned as she recalled a scene from the street, her eyes deep and serious, without a trace of concern or intimacy in her tone: "Shengjing is unlike Fengzhou. Under the Emperor’s feet, high-ranking officials abound. Restrain your temper; if you offend someone you shouldn’t, you could be stripped to the bone. If you get into trouble, nobody will save you."

Shen Hua blinked.

Back in the day, Ms. Shen Chun was always busy with work at the embroidery workshop, and after Shen Zhi started school, he had less time for Shen Hua, so You Qing spent the most time with her.

When embroidering, she would always let Shen Hua sit by her side, teaching while stitching.

"Even stitch consists of straight, horizontal, and diagonal wrapping, which should not overlap in their arrangement. The edges must be neat during horizontal wrapping. Look, the tension in the embroidery thread must be consistent."

"That’s wrong, you should start your stitch following the pattern outline and bring the needle up from the opposite side, without revealing the underlying fabric."

After so many years, Shen Hua thought she had forgotten, but upon meeting You Qing again, she realized she had not.

You Qing suddenly left. For this reason, Shen Hua had asked Ms. Shen Chun why.

Mama would always stroke her head, her expression distant with dark, thick ink swirling in her eyes, she said, "Yangyang doesn’t understand. Don’t blame her."

Mama told her not to blame her.

But how could she not?

From that day on, Shen Hua never heard from You Qing again, as if You Qing had never existed and her traces had been completely erased.

Now, the two sat facing each other, Shen Hua suddenly fell silent, leaving You Qing somewhat unaccustomed.

Only then did she have the chance to take a good look at Shen Hua.

"Is your health still good? There are many skilled doctors in Shengjing."

Shen Hua leaned back, her posture slack as if boneless: "You needn’t worry about me."

"Forget it. I don’t really want to know anyway. By the way, I live in Qingtong Alley, if you ever have..."

Before she could finish, Shen Hua cut her off.

"I didn’t come here to listen to this."

"Before I saw you, I actually thought about a lot, how Mama supported you for so many years, without her you would have died at the hands of refugees long ago. I wanted to ask if you ever felt any guilt, she passed away suddenly, and even though you didn’t come back, did you secretly burn paper money for her?"

"But after seeing you, suddenly I didn’t want to ask anymore, it seems so pointless, why should I be the only one holding on to the past?"

Seeing You Qing remain silent,

Shen Hua abruptly stood up, unwilling to stay any longer. She offered a cold, lonely smile.

"I guess the toughest days are behind me now. There is no need for you and me to meet again."

Leaving these words behind, Shen Hua walked away.

Yicui had an indiscernible expression, glanced at You Qing, and hurriedly followed after her.

Once the person left, the private room became empty. You Qing’s indifferent expression seemed hollow as she picked up the teacup and gently took a sip.

After a while, she said, "After so many years, still so impetuous."

————

the prison of the Ministry of Justice

The prison was devoid of sunlight, gloomy and dark.

Jiang Zhao put down the blood-stained torture instrument, and took a basin of clean water to wash the viscous substance from his hands.

The Chief Clerk finished recording on the dossier and set down his pen: "This Zhou Mi killed his elder brother and buried the body under the camphor tree, violating his sister-in-law for years; he finally confessed, you do indeed have your ways. With the Prison Officer absent, the interrogating Prison Officers are really not up to par."

Jiang Zhao looked at the Prison Officer: "Zhou Mi is a tough nut to crack, but as long as he isn’t dead, we can pry his mouth open."

"To deal with someone who is extremely wicked, we have to be tougher than them. The Ministry of Justice does not wrong a good person, but we will never tolerate any evildoers; extracting a confession by torture isn’t a nice term, but it is useful after all. Remember that?"

"Thank you for your guidance, sir." The look in the Prison Officer’s eyes toward Jiang Zhao had both respect and fear.

Jiang Zhao’s methods were indeed too fierce.

The criminal was rampant and uncooperative, with an arrogance as if he was going to challenge the Ministry of Justice to the end. Even though his guilt was confirmed, he stubbornly refused to affix his thumbprint to the document.

He even cried out that the Ministry of Justice was wronging a good person.

Disgusting.

The moment Jiang Zhao arrived, he punched Zhou Mi without any nonsense and went straight to apply torture instruments.

He personally saw to it that Zhou Mi recounted the details of the murder and the crime.

"That’s enough, take him down."

"Yes."

Seeing this, the secretary shook his head: "This newcomer is really too green, he has a lot to learn. You’ve also scared their legs weak."

Jiang Zhao dismissed it with a laugh: "What are you on about, they just haven’t seen the boss. If they really witness the boss interrogating, that’s when their eyes will be truly opened."

The ’boss’ he referred to was Cui Yun.

His rank might be higher than the secretary, and having worked together for many years, their conversation had less reserve.

He reached out to the secretary: "Hand me the recorded dossier, I just happen to have something for the boss, I’ll deliver it along the way."

"Lucky for me, thanks to you I get to skip this trip."

Jiang Zhao paused.

"You’re so slick, no wonder the boss finds you annoying and can’t stand you."

Chief Clerk: ...

Looking around, the Chief Clerk whispered to Jiang Zhao.

"The boss at his age, with no girl by his side. It’s not that he can’t stand my babble; he’s clearly envious because I have more than a dozen concubines in my household."

Jiang Zhao’s breath hitched, and the look he gave the Chief Clerk was as if to say, are you out of your mind?

"Are you suggesting... that the boss is jealous of you?"