When Zhan Xinjia got home, she was exhausted.
As soon as the door opened, she collapsed into the person who opened it, her knees buckling and she fell to her knees until a pair of warm hands held her tightly, supporting her numb and exhausted body.
"Ah Zhi?!"
In my ears was Master Shen's anxious and worried voice, but it was muffled, as if through a veil, and I couldn't hear it clearly.
In a daze, Zhan Xinjia looked up at him. Her eyelashes were lowered, and her lifeless eyes were shrouded in gloom. There was not a glimmer of light in her dark pupils, like a pair of lifeless glass beads.
Mr. Xiao Shen…
Zhan Xinjia twitched her fingertips, trying her best to bring a smile to her lips so as not to worry him.
She knew she must look terrible; her clothes were filthy from rolling in the mud and ash, her body and face were covered in blood and grime, and she reeked of an unpleasant stench of smoke and decay.
Even though Xiao Shen is known for being very clean, why is he hugging her so tightly?
Because this is Lord Shen...
Thinking this, Zhan Xinjia forced a smile.
But the smile on her pale, thin face was more painful than tears. She stared blankly, tears streaming down her cheeks like broken beads, her vision blurred by the tears, turning into a mist.
She covered her face with her hands in despair, lowered her head, and cried uncontrollably.
As if all her strength had been suddenly drained, she remained kneeling in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Even though she clenched her teeth tightly, soft sobs still escaped her lips.
Shen Suqing, who was kneeling down, hurriedly and helplessly hugged her.
He wanted to ask her what had happened, but looking at the little girl sobbing uncontrollably on his shoulder, he felt a lump in his throat, his throat dry and sore, and he couldn't say a word.
His heart was about to break.
Hearing her cries, Shen Suqing's heart trembled.
He suddenly felt a deep disgust and hatred for the world he had lived in for twenty-two years.
Why are there always so many storms coming her way?
Why can't his son always be carefree and happy?
Why is all the pain and despair weighing on her alone?
What does she want? What does she want? What can he do to ease her pain, even if it falls on him a thousand times more? He would gladly accept it, at least to stop her from crying anymore…
Shen Suqing hugged her tightly, one hand protecting her head, and the other hand patiently patting her trembling back again and again.
"It's alright, it's alright..."
His own voice was trembling.
His heart throbbed with pain, and Shen Suqing pressed his lips tightly together, his sinister eyes revealing an unprecedented ruthlessness.
No matter what it is or who it is, he will never let those unimportant people get close to Ah Zhi again.
Nanjun? Lanjiang?
He made concessions time and again, just to preserve a peace that might not last. Now, even this most mundane and ordinary daily routine is being taken away; how could he not feel resentment?
She cried for a long time, and he comforted her for a long time as well.
Even after Ah Zhi cried herself to sleep, in her dream, she was still clutching his sleeve, occasionally letting out a sob, her brow furrowed tightly.
With his fingers he gently smoothed her furrowed brows, Shen Suqing changed her into a clean outer dress, tucked her in, and then took a warm water-wrung-out handkerchief to wipe her dirty face clean again.
He gripped her fingers tightly and leaned down to rub his nose against her face.
"Go to sleep, I'll always be here."
He only breathed a sigh of relief and staggered to his feet once her breathing had calmed and she had fallen into a deep sleep.
In order to protect her, he had to do something.
——
This was the most vivid dream Zhan Xinjia had ever had.
In my dream, I saw the old general's mansion, both familiar and strange. The mountains were fresh after the rain, and the spring day in April was bright and beautiful.
The sunlight was like scattered gold foil, and the pear blossoms were like snowflakes, fluttering down. She sat on her father's shoulders and reached out to reach the kite stuck on the treetop. Under the tree, her mother was lying in a rocking chair reading a storybook.
In the distance, Yan Hui and A Yue chased and played around the pond.
The brother, annoyed by the constant interruptions to his sword practice by the two siblings, threw down his sword, rolled up his sleeves, and chased after them. A-Yue was immediately terrified and screamed.
She couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Hearing her laughter, her brother stopped and walked to the flowerbed, picking a few sprigs of forsythia in full bloom. With a swift movement, he folded a beautiful wreath and carried it over.
"Little Sister".
This time, Zhan Xinjia saw his face clearly.
She lowered her head and let him place the flower crown on her head. When she looked up again, the young boy in front of her was smiling broadly, his peach blossom eyes, just like hers, shimmering with warm light, like a gentle spring breeze.
Zhan Xinjia smiled foolishly at him, her voice clear and crisp.
"elder brother!"
Hearing her call out like that, the boy's expression softened even more.
He bent down and gently stroked her hair with his warm hand, his expression unchanged.
"good."
It was still that brilliant spring day when the pear blossoms were in full bloom. In her consciousness, the voice that called itself "Jide" kept chattering, calling her "host" incessantly, urging her to do the main quest.
Zhan Xinjia remembered that she was the one who had been born with the system.
However, when she was seven years old, this guy with the particularly strange name disappeared completely from her consciousness after spending all his points.
It valued winning and losing so much, cared so much about the progress of the mission, and counted those points back and forth several times a day as if they were precious treasures. In the end, however, it was willing to be forcibly unbound because its points were cleared in order to save her.
It says that we decent people shouldn't be villainous supporting characters.
Yes, even being a kitten is happier than waking up every day and having to go to work.
Zhan Xinjia finally understood the strange, almost dead look on his master's face when they first met.
She really should be dead.
The person who kept trying to deceive her with lies was her master, and the person who deliberately sealed her memories was also her master, because her master knew long ago that she should not have lived past the age of seven, which is why he kept her by his side with great interest and observed her influence on the plot.
Although it was hard to accept, Zhan Xinjia knew very well that everything was more or less related to her master.
That's why she absolutely cannot reveal that she has regained her memories; only in this way can she get closer to the truth more easily.
Even though Yan Shuang is dead, the person who gave the order back then must still be alive. Perhaps it's Wu Lanlian, or another member of the royal family in Nanjun. In any case, she will not give up.
When I opened my eyes, it was dusk outside the window, and the fading red glow of the sunset gave off a desolate and lonely feeling.
Zhan Xinjia turned her head to the side, and the fluffy orange cat was curled up next to her pillow, purring softly. She reached out and scooped it into her arms, pinching its paw pads and burying her face deeply in its fluffy cheeks.
"Meow—"
The sleepy-eyed chicken leg gave her hair a perfunctory lick, curled up into a ball, and fell asleep again.
How come I never noticed before how attached this orange tabby pig was to her, guarding her like she was its own child... It even thoughtfully found her a long-term meal ticket long ago.
Master Shen can be considered a reliable and good person personally certified by Ji De.
Zhan Xinjia almost laughed.
Just as she was about to get up, the door was pushed open from the outside.
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