Old dreams are like a yellowed letter.
Many minor details only slowly came to mind when I revisited them.
Jiang Yue suddenly remembered something so trivial: she used to visit that little courtyard in Yanzhou every few days, partly to avoid the people her mother and brother sent from the capital to arrest her, and partly to check on the unfortunate man she had rescued.
At that time, the princess encountered a lot of unpleasant things.
I'm never really happy.
At that time, she had just come of age and should have been carefree, but she watched helplessly as her cousin, with whom she had always been close, was married off to a vassal state, and she also heard the news of her aunt's death, who had been married off to a distant land for political reasons.
I felt both pained and angry.
She didn't know what she was angry about—was she angry at her useless father, or at herself for being so useless?
She still remembered when she was little, her aunt would often sneak her out of the palace to play, dress her in a thick cloak, put on a hood, and carry her into a carriage.
It was snowing outside, and there were still vendors selling candied hawthorns.
She sat in the carriage, stretching out her chubby little hands, straining with all her might to try and squeeze out of the window, as if that would allow her to reach the candied hawthorns she wanted.
Her aunt smiled and patted her head, then pulled her back, but also had the servants outside the carriage buy her candied hawthorns.
Every time her aunt secretly took her out of the palace, she would be scolded by her father.
She didn't mind being scolded, and just smiled and said, "Our A-Yue is at the age where she is lively and fun. It's not good to keep her cooped up in the palace all day."
In Jiang Yue's memory, her aunt was always smiling, even when she was being scolded.
Such a good person, yet she wept uncontrollably on her wedding day, and was ultimately driven to suicide.
Jiang Yue learned about her cousin's marriage that day. Zhou Fuwei probably noticed her unhappiness and asked her what was wrong.
I can't quite remember what she said.
After having a few drinks, I said whatever came to mind.
Ultimately, it's the men who are useless, so they have to send women to marry into other families and protect their land.
She seemed to be crying again, saying through tears that she never wanted to see any woman forced into marriage again.
When Jiang Yue recalled these events, it was as if they were stories from a past life.
She felt that she was just being presumptuous. Did Zhou Fuwei think he would be so kind as to help her out of a predicament just because of something he had said before?
Even though she and he were complete strangers at that time.
She felt it was impossible, yet it also seemed to be true.
There are so many unfortunate coincidences in this world, and she only found out about them after she died.
Jiang Yue woke up from her dream and couldn't fall back asleep. Just then, it was dawn, so she got up, washed her face, and brushed her teeth, slowly coming back to her senses.
She cheered herself up and went to the guest room next door.
The child fell into a deep sleep after taking the medicine last night and hasn't woken up yet.
She lay on the quilt, her fair face flushed with sleep.
Jiang Yue touched his forehead with her hand. Finally, the medicine was working. His forehead didn't feel so hot anymore, so his fever must have gone down.
However, children are physically weak.
Even after the fever subsides, we must not let our guard down.
Thankfully, it's Sunday today, so I don't have to go to kindergarten and can have a good rest.
Seemingly sensing his mother's presence, the little boy on the bed trembled, and half-asleep, he lifted his eyelids, his dark, moist eyes staring blankly at her, his voice still sounding a bit childish: "Mommy."
Jiang Yue mistakenly thought she had woken him up and felt a little guilty.
She clumsily dressed him, and fearing he would catch a cold, she found one of her own scarves and wrapped it tightly around his neck.
After going downstairs, Qin Zhao was already sitting at the dining table. He probably didn't have work today, so he wasn't dressed so formally. He wore a loose and comfortable light gray cashmere sweater and long trousers with a great drape. He had shed some of his shrewdness and calculation, and he was much more easygoing.
"Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
Jiang Yue shook her head: "I'm not sleepy anymore."
The maid brought over the prepared breakfast, but Jiang Yue had little appetite and seemed somewhat lost.
Qin Zhao pursed his lips, a few guesses forming in his mind. Could it be that she didn't actually want to divorce Zhou Ji? Was she so distraught because he was urging her to sign the divorce papers?
Qin Zhao had heard many rumors, the most widespread being how devoted his sister was to Zhou Ji, to the point that she would do anything to achieve her goals.
Zhou Ji is too cunning and not a good match for her.
Moreover, men are unreliable, and a shrewd man can easily cause someone to gamble away everything if they are not careful.
The Qin family can protect her as a person, but they can't protect her heart.
Qin Zhao hesitated, realizing that he wasn't very good at breaking up marriages.
After a while, having probably come up with a reason to smear him, he put down his cutlery and looked at her, saying, "Zhou Ji is a cunning man. If you need to talk to him about something, come to me first, and I'll speak to him on your behalf."
So that she wouldn't be fooled by Zhou Ji's few words again.
Jiang Yue said casually, "I've already made things very clear with him."
Qin Zhao: "?"
With the child present, Jiang Yue couldn't be too blunt. She had to be considerate of the child's fragile heart. She thought for a moment and said, "I can handle it today."
Qin Zhao paused for a moment, then nodded: "Perfect timing, I'm off today."
Zhou Ji sent her a message before he came to see her.
Jiang Yue had already prepared a pen. She bit the pen while typing with her free hand: "You can come over now, I'm home."
When Zhou Ji arrived at the Qin family's residence, the butler politely invited him into the living room.
Qin Zhao sat casually on the sofa, recalling his sister's smug words that morning, and it wasn't hard to guess what they had agreed on today.
"Once you've signed, get out of here."
Zhou Ji remained calm and composed, as if he were not the resentful husband about to become a divorcee. He looked at Qin Zhao, his gaze lingering for a moment, his pupils dark, and then suddenly a smile curled his lips. "Big brother."
Qin Zhao: "..."
The man felt disgusted and got goosebumps, his expression suddenly becoming noble and aloof.
You bastard, barking like a dog here.
Qin Zhao lifted his eyelids slightly: "You can get lost now."
Zhou Ji ignored him and shamelessly stayed as a guest.
Jiang Yue clutched the divorce agreement and ran downstairs. She eagerly pushed it in front of Zhou Ji, along with a black fountain pen: "I've already signed it, you just need to sign your name."
Zhou Ji knew the contents of the agreement by heart.
He knew perfectly well that she was upright and fearless, and that going back on his word with her would only annoy her. This man, who was always confident and capable of doing anything, was now filled with uncertainty and unease.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zhou Ji caught a glimpse of her signature, each stroke of her pen seeming to etch not onto the paper, but into his heart.
The pain of mutual destruction and the agony of being boiled alive in a raging fire are beyond compare.
He pressed down on the divorce papers, took a deep breath, his eyes clear and dark, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Do you really want a divorce?"
Has it really come to the point where separation is absolutely necessary?
There was clearly no reason why they had to get a divorce.
Even when Zhou Ji felt heartbroken, he could still calmly weigh the pros and cons for her. He was like a patient and persuasive teacher, seemingly thinking only of her best interests: "No marriage in this world is perfect. It's good to have love, but even without love, at least you can have a lot of money."
"I won't interfere with your work, and I won't force you to like me."
"Didn't we get along very well before? Why don't you reconsider?"
Zhou Ji had already made a concession that he would almost never have made, a concession that was unusual for him: "You think I'm not good enough."
"Perhaps others are even worse."
These words offer a way out.
That sounds plausible.
Qin Zhao sneered repeatedly from the side, knowing that Zhou Ji, this male vixen, was not so easy to deal with. He interrupted coldly, "Zhou Ji, if there is no fate, there is no fate. What were you doing before? It's no use saying these nice words now."
Jiang Yue was momentarily stunned when she met Zhou Ji's beautiful eyes, and she actually felt that what he said was not wrong.
It seems that the charm of handsome men should not be underestimated.
Jiang Yue looked at Zhou Ji: "But I don't want to spend my life with someone I don't like."
She urged him softly, "Hurry up and sign the papers. Marrying me wasn't what you wanted in the first place. We'll both be free if we separate, right?"
The original owner of this body forced a marriage with her child.
At first, Zhou Ji was also a victim of this ill-fated relationship.
The man remained silent for a long time. Jiang Yue raised her face and met his somber expression. Why was he still unhappy even though he was free?
He paused for a moment.
So the princess kindly whispered to him, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have drugged you back then."
She regretted it.
She actually regretted it.
Zhou Ji's heart was numb. Her unintentional words always turned into sharp weapons that pierced him, becoming the sharpest blade in the world, carving into his chest, causing blood to flow like a river.
A few seconds later, Zhou Ji took the pen and signed his name on the divorce agreement without saying a word.
Now, he is always willing to grant her wish.
I can never bear to disappoint her.
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