Wait?
Chu Zhao looked up at Xie Yanlai.
Zhong Changrong was her father’s most trusted person. Given her father’s current condition, and with Zhong Changrong shouting for guards—
Any reasonable person would rush frantically to Chu Li’s side.
Yet Xie Yanlai was stopping her!
Stopping her—
Chu Zhao grabbed Xie Yanlai’s arm. “What are you hiding from me? You’re deceiving me!”
All that talk about wanting her rabbit, about having her make soup!
Chu Zhao shook him frantically, tears blurring her vision. “You’re deceiving me! Why are you deceiving me too? Why are you also deceiving me?”
Xie Yanlai looked at the girl’s unprecedented frenzy, and hearing these words—what did she mean by “you too”? Was it so surprising that he would deceive her? Why shouldn’t he deceive her?
Xie Yanlai gritted his teeth and restrained the girl.
“Chu Zhao, listen to me,” he called out.
The rabbit seized the opportunity to escape. A-Le had also been about to run toward Chu Li’s room, but was unsure whether she should leave her young mistress behind—
“Did my father die? You’re deceiving me, deceiving me,” Chu Zhao cried out, struggling to break free.
Hearing this, A-Le hesitated no longer and raced away at full speed. She was the young mistress’s eyes—she would see the General one more time on her mistress’s behalf!
“No!” said Xie Yanlai, holding down the struggling Chu Zhao and making her look into his eyes. “No, your father wants to meet someone. He doesn’t want you to know about it. He’s fine.”
Chu Zhao looked at him. In the half-light, the young man’s gaze was solemn.
Her father wanted to meet someone and didn’t want her to know? So he had Xie Yanlai trick her away—
“Who?” Chu Zhao asked. “Who is it that my father doesn’t want me to see?”
Xie Yanlai looked at her without speaking.
“Xie Yanlai!” Chu Zhao grabbed him. “You never lie to me. You’re the only one who doesn’t lie to me. I know it, and you know it too. My father is doing this for my good, but I’ve already lived in confusion my whole life. I can’t continue living in ignorance. I died and came back to life just to understand what all this is really about—”
The girl’s eyes were full of tears, and her words seemed jumbled. Xie Yanlai couldn’t bear to look at her.
But Chu Zhao wouldn’t let him look away. She simply reached out and cupped his face in her hands.
“Xie Yanlai, I know, and you know too. Which is better—to live as a confused fool, or to live clearly and even if it brings pain?”
“If you were me, you would want to know. If I were you, I wouldn’t keep it from you either.”
He didn’t even need to tell her—she had guessed, yet was too afraid to say it aloud, insisting that someone else confirm it. This showed how important the word “mother” was to her—
In life, it’s impossible not to get hurt.
Xie Yanlai pressed the girl’s hands and pulled them down. “Your mother is here,” he said.
Chu Zhao gave him a long, deep look, then turned and ran outside.
“Wait,” Xie Yanlai called again, grabbing her. But this time, instead of restraining the girl, he pulled her forward. “Come with me.”
Chu Zhao no longer struggled and allowed him to hold her hand as they hurried away.
…
…
Xie Yanlai led Chu Zhao over the wall on the other side to reach Chu Li’s quarters. As they climbed over, Chu Zhao saw A-Le being blocked at the door.
“—I need to see the master!” A-Le stamped her foot.
The guard remained unmoved. “Deputy Commander Zhong has ordered that no one may enter.”
She felt her body lighten as Xie Yanlai carried her down. Even with an additional person, Xie Yanlai landed quietly and soundlessly.
Outside, a lockdown had been imposed, and the surroundings had been cleared. The courtyard was empty. Xie Yanlai pulled Chu Zhao silently toward the window.
Zhong Changrong was no longer roaring, but even through the window, they could feel the excitement in his voice.
“—Mu Mian Hong, what face do you have to come here! What are you trying to do?”
“To see the General’s miserable state before he dies!”
“Oh, no, that’s not right. You, Mu Mian Hong, cunning as a fox, so skilled at bewitching people—how could you do something so stupid?”
“Once the General dies, you’ll come to shed a few tears, reminisce about past feelings, twist right and wrong, and trick A-Zhao into recognizing you as her mother.”
When Zhong Changrong’s words reached this point, a woman’s voice sounded from within.
“Elder Brother Changrong, that’s not my intention.”
…
…
The girl leaning against the window trembled violently and was about to spring up, but fortunately, the person beside her pressed her down in time, holding her firmly.
Xie Yanlai watched as the girl’s face flushed red in an instant, filled with disbelief, her breathing almost stopped. He knew she had recognized the voice.
Having traveled together all this way, although Madam Ding rarely appeared before Chu Zhao, there were only three women in their group. Chu Zhao couldn’t fail to recognize such a distinctive woman.
She must have guessed that Madam Ding’s identity was not simple, that she had some ulterior motive—for wealth or power.
He had gone further and guessed that Madam Ding also had designs on Chu Li—perhaps a spy recruited by some faction, the King of Zhongshan, or even the Western Liang people.
But no matter how they guessed, neither of them had imagined that this was Chu Zhao’s mother, Chu Li’s supposedly deceased wife.
…
…
“Ha!”
Zhong Changrong seemed to have heard something ridiculous.
“That’s not your intention? Then what could your intention be? Mu Mian Hong—”
“Don’t think I don’t know. All these years, you’ve been watching A-Zhao every day. Which gathering hasn’t had you present?”
“Except for Luo City, which you didn’t dare visit, where haven’t you gone?”
“You watch her day after day, just waiting for the General to die so you can happily acknowledge your daughter and enjoy family bliss.”
“Tell me with your hand on your heart, don’t you want that?”
Mu Mian Hong looked at Zhong Changrong. She remained kneeling beside the bed. Facing Zhong Changrong’s frenzied state, regardless of his cursing, scolding, or questioning, she maintained a calm expression—not crying, not angry, not shouting, only occasionally offering a word in her defense.
She placed her hand over her heart and said candidly, “With my hand on my heart, what mother in the world doesn’t want to recognize her daughter?”
Zhong Changrong sneered, “But there’s no mother in the world who would hang her newborn daughter over a knife’s edge and threaten to drop her!”
“Changrong!” Chu Li, who had been silent until now, raised his voice in rebuke.
But this did nothing to stop the furious Zhong Changrong.
“General, I truly cannot forget that scene,” he said, pounding his chest. “Never in my life did I imagine I would witness such a thing.”
“She held such a tiny infant, shouting that if you, Chu Li, didn’t listen to her, she would drop the infant to its death on the spot—”
“Such a tiny infant, coldly suspended over a knife’s edge—”
“This woman—she first pretended to be a person in distress, bewitching the General. When you were deeply in love, not caring about her mysterious background, you told your family and even reported to the Emperor, intending to marry her. And then what happened? She disappeared without a trace.”
“After vanishing for so long, she reappeared as the bandit leader Mu Mian Hong.”
“Not only did she refuse to surrender and admit her guilt, but she used your foolish relationship to threaten you.”
“Seeing that you weren’t intimidated by her threats, she produced an infant.”
“It’s truly laughable—how could it possibly be the General’s daughter? She wasn’t even married to you. Who knows where that child came from—”
Chu Li sat up in his bed. “Zhong Changrong! Be silent!—A-Zhao!”
A-Zhao?
Zhong Changrong was stunned. Mu Mian Hong, kneeling on the ground, turned pale, her supple yet strong willow waist suddenly broken—
Outside the window, Xie Yanlai held Chu Zhao tightly, but still couldn’t stop her trembling.
She was shaking so violently she could barely stand—
How could this infant possibly be the General’s daughter? They weren’t even married. Who knew where the child had come from—