Miao region concludes
Outside the window, wind and snow raged, while inside, sparks flew from the charcoal in the oven. Sui Zhixu's eyelashes trembled slightly, and more than the light, she felt the dampness on the side of her neck.
She slowly opened her eyes and saw a fluffy head buried against the side of her neck, blocking her view.
"Fan Zirong, you're going to crush me to death."
"Ah Ling! You're finally awake! Waaah, you scared me to death."
Fan Lingzhang hugged Sui Zhixu tightly and rubbed against her like a cat.
Sui Zhixu sat up, pushed his face away, and said calmly, "Don't use so much force, or I'll be crushed to death by you sooner or later."
Fan Lingzhang loosened his grip slightly, quietly embracing her and pressing his forehead against hers. She leaned against his arm in return.
"How many days have I slept?"
"Eight or nine days."
She estimated the time before focusing her attention on her surroundings.
"This is... the Ming family?"
Her gaze fell on the snow outside the window, each flake falling, and only then could she distinguish between emptiness and reality.
She woke up.
“Yes, the cold on the mountain is not good for healing.” Fan Lingzhang rubbed her cheek again. “Sui Langjun is very worried about you. He is worried about Miao Jiang.”
His warm, soft cheek pressed against hers, real and touching.
Speaking of which, Sui Zhixu reached out and pinched his ear hard, "Who told you to run to the back mountain by yourself?"
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, it hurts so much!" Fan Lingzhang covered his reddened ears, looking aggrieved.
I'm worried about you.
Sui Zhixu turned her head and snorted, "If your small body hadn't been hiding in A-Niang's secluded cave, it would have been riddled with holes by them long ago."
"Hehe, I'm good at archery."
“I just said something to you, and you’re praising me?” Sui Zhixu looked up and pinched his cheek.
"This gives me a better understanding of myself, which helps me make better judgments in business." Fan Lingzhang was not ashamed at all; on the contrary, he praised himself even more enthusiastically.
Sui Zhixu blinked, her eyes smiling.
"Shameless." She sat up and got out of bed.
Her long, flowing hair was smooth and silky, hanging obediently behind her.
She slowly walked to the dressing mirror. The white silk nightgown of her wife in the mirror made her skin look fair and radiant. The neckline was slightly loose, revealing her slender collarbone. The person behind her rested his chin on her neck.
"I'll braid A-Ling's hair."
A touch of red at the corner of her peach blossom eyes, her gaze revealing a lingering affection. She smiled, her tender love like a flower quietly blooming under the moonlight.
"Like when we first got married."
“It’s different.” Fan Lingzhang gently lifted a strand of her hair and carefully combed it.
His words always carried a sense of grievance, making people feel sorry for him.
Knowing that Xu had been caught off guard and had been manipulated, she laughed helplessly at him, "You, that was so long ago."
Fan Lingzhang silently tied her hair up, then held her shoulders. "You have a strong personality, so I'll be gentler. You don't like to talk, so I'll talk more. From the moment you appeared, I couldn't control my heart. No matter what you are like, I love you. I want to be with you every moment, to live and die with you, and to be buried together with you after a hundred years. If something unexpected happens, it doesn't matter. I will always come to find you."
"Why are you suddenly bringing this up again?"
Fan Lingzhang smiled and said, "I've come with you, my lord."
"Sui Zhixu! Ahhhhh! You're finally alive! You scared me to death! If you hadn't woken up, how could I have explained this to the elders and people of Jingzhou? Damn it, I shouldn't have let you come to the village. You're the young master of the Sui family! Young master! If something happened to you, the Sui family would be finished! Didn't you know to call for help? You only come to me when you're about to die. If I had been any later, if Fan Lingzhang had been any later, would you really have wanted to die with them?"
"Who are they! Who are they to deserve that the young master of the Sui family should die with them!"
Sui Chuke slammed the door open and stood in front of Sui Zhixu, shouting. She silently covered her ears. Fan Lingzhang noticed her agitation and covered her ears with his hands.
"Alright, follow my lead. Ah Ling has just woken up; you'll disturb her."
"You, you, you!" Sui Chu was furious. "Fan Zirong, stop pretending to be a good person over there."
"Alright, alright." Sui Zhixu touched his ear. "Have you taken care of your own business?"
Chu Ke left dejectedly, sullen and unhappy. "I gave her some money and sent her away. I was just being overly kind; I wasn't deceived emotionally."
Fan Lingzhang had heard a little about it. He said he didn't care about the unrestrained words he used to say with Chu Ke, and generously comforted him, "It's okay. Not everyone is like me and A Ling. Marriage is predestined. Maybe you're just a little short of fate with your husband. Maybe if you go to the temple and pray, it will come."
"Really?"
Su Zhixu facepalmed, while Chu Ke, completely oblivious to Su Zhixu's flattery, humbly asked him which temples were efficacious.
"The clan isn't pressuring you to get married. Your mother hopes you'll find a wife you love, so there's no need for you to be in such a hurry."
Sui Chu Ke was known for his fiery temper, easily exploding at the slightest provocation. Even within his own Jingzhou clan, his reputation wasn't good. But in reality, he was simply a sharp-tongued individual with an overflowing sense of justice.
"She's so pitiful..."
After thinking for a moment, Sui Zhixu said, "She is not good at music theory. Her clan can recommend her to study in Chang'an. It would be possible for her to go to the Taichang Temple in the future. With the Sui family's recommendation, Xun Wang would not dare to do anything wrong."
"Huh? I don't know many people in Chang'an."
"Mother can arrange it. Mother won't mind."
After all, following Chu Ke was just an act of kindness, not a genuine act of deception or being moved. Mother wouldn't stand idly by if things came to that.
"She shouldn't have gone far. I'll make the arrangements. Oh, by the way! A letter came from Chang'an."
Xu nodded casually, finally managing to get rid of the person.
As the man walked away, Fan Lingzhang laughed out loud, "I never expected him to actually do that."
“If we don’t keep this a secret in time, Mother and Father will not let her off easily.”
It is taboo for brothers to quarrel with each other in a large family.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Where's my Ah Niang?"
—
Miao Territory Back Mountain
Jiang Li poured a jar of wine for Xin Yi, saying, "This is top-quality San Dao Chun wine. I originally saved it for A Ling, but you're lucky to have it."
Two swords are stuck in the ground beside Xinyi's grave; they are her Peach Blossom Spring.
Sui Zhixu walked to her side, his face solemn.
"I never expected to be collecting her body. Her corpse lay in the snake pit. For some reason, those guys showed no interest in her body; it was still relatively intact. Her sword was stuck in the snow, broken in two..."
Sui Zhixu squatted down and stroked the broken edge of the sword. The cut was clean, as if it had been severed, which was definitely not something she had done by prying the sword open.
Perhaps it's just a coincidence.
Its owner had just passed away.
“Ah Niang, Master is long dead. The one who survived is not her; that thing merely possessed her body. The person I killed was not her.”
Sui Zhixu stood up and hugged Jiang Li. "Aniang, I need to end all of this. Thank you for choosing me, for choosing me so firmly."
Snow fell on Xin Yi's grave, and also on her and Jiang Li.
"Stop saying those mushy things. With your body that's so weak you could fall over in a couple of steps, I think you're trying to end your life."
Where can I find it?
Jiang Li took off her cloak and wrapped it around Sui Zhixu's body, leaving only half of her face exposed. She reached out and tapped Sui Zhixu's forehead, saying coldly, "Disobedient."
"Let's go. Her seven-day mourning period is over. She should be on her way to reincarnation now. Let's not delay her from having a good reincarnation."
Sui Zhixu glanced back at Xin Yi's tombstone and murmured, "Hmm."
Jiang Li's embrace was warm; it was the first time she had felt maternal love, a love different from her mother's.
Her mother is gentle and loving; she has loving relatives; every step she takes is a smooth road ahead.
But Ah Niang is different. She was born in the mud. In her eyes, people are no different from weeds. Life and death are just a thought away for her.
Her love was obsessive.
Although Xu knew she had no right to criticize her, she had given her all her love. She couldn't stand on high and mighty and point fingers at her mistakes.
During her decades in Miao territory, Jiang Li did not harm any innocent people. Why did Jiang Li take action after she left? It's all Sima Xian's fault and the system's.
But she couldn't help saying, "You should really remember how many kinds of Gu worms you've researched."
"Of course I remember."
Jiang Li couldn't accept this questioning of her Gu technique, but she was A Ling, and Jiang Li's temper vanished instantly, her voice becoming weak.
"Oh, no. If you remembered, you wouldn't forget what kind of Gu worm I had. You only thought it was interesting at the time, thinking that the Gu worm would be passed on to your child, that it was a new Gu worm that had never been recorded in the clan before, and then you forgot about it completely after you researched it. You never thought that this kind of Gu worm would actually be used on a mother, and that it would end up on me."
Sui Zhixu sighed and gripped Jiang Li's hand tightly, "I know everything."
Jiang Li lowered her head. "Will you hate me?"
"If I hated you, why would I be standing in front of you, Ah Niang?"
Sui Zhixu tucked a strand of hair that had been blown by the wind behind her ear. "Aniang, let's go to atone for our sins together. I will always be with you."
Regardless, the deaths of more than 300 people in Jingzhou are undeniable.
Most of them were innocent civilians.
"good."
As long as Zhixu is by her side, she's willing to do anything.
"Ah Ling." Jiang Li hugged Sui Zhixu tightly.
"It's so heavy."
"Not heavy at all."
"People outside are terrified of Gu worms, so you can't show them. Of course, they can't let you bully them, understand?"
“I know, Aling, I am not your child, you are the child.”
"I'm clearly concerned about you."
Jiang Li said "Oh," and added, "Ah Ling, I was wrong."
Halfway there, Sui Zhixu felt very tired. She stopped and stretched out her arms. "Do you want to carry me?"
Jiang Li naturally carried Sui Zhixu on her back, just like countless times before.
She frowned. "You're so thin. Chang'an hasn't taken good care of you at all."
Sui Zhixu poked her face, "Yes, yes, yes, A-Nian is the best, A-Nian is the most amazing."
"Of course."
After walking for quite a while, she suddenly said, "A letter has arrived from Chang'an."
Jiang Li paused for a moment, her tone natural.
"What does the letter say?"
"Sima Xian, together with the Prince of Wei, raised an army in rebellion, and the entire northern region was under their control. Gu Qingyi was stationed in Chang'an, and Chang'an fell."
"You're leaving," Jiang Li said firmly.
"But who is King Wei?"
"The descendants of the founding fathers were enfeoffed as kings of different surnames to guard the northern part of Youzhou."
Jiang Li muttered to herself, "Would someone like that cooperate with Sima Xian?"
Yes, if Sui Zhixu hadn't retained memories of her past life, she wouldn't have guessed it was the Prince of Wei.
"The Crown Prince of Wei is Gu Qingyi's child."
"Who? Gu Qingyi? Can she also bear children for others?"
Sui Zhixu rested her chin on Jiang Li's shoulder. Yes, even someone as proud as Gu Qingyi would give birth to a child for the sake of restoring her country.
This was something Fu Mingguang told her in her previous life.
Jiang Li reorganized the three Miao tribes. She was powerful, and no one dared to resist her just by having Xiao Qing around.
"Isn't Old Man Yue's mind more complicated than his white hair?"
He chuckled awkwardly, "How could that be? My loyalty to the Holy Maiden is as clear as heaven and earth..." and as borne as the sun and moon.
"Alright, I'm too lazy to listen to your explanation. I'm going out in a while, so you can still listen to Jiang Yun as usual."
She stepped down from her seat. "The Gu worms he planted on you haven't been dealt with yet, have they? Quiet down for a bit."
"Isn't that the person you brought back, Holy Maiden?"
Jiang Li shrugged. "Oh, I was fooled by him, and you were fooled too. You're so much older than me for nothing?"
Old Yue: "..."
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