This piece was clearly not played by Zhou Chen; it was played by Zhou Li on his flute!
Zhou Lin also taught the same piece to Zhou Li, who had practiced since childhood and played it much better than Zhou Chen.
"Ah Li!"
Zhou Lin seemed to realize something, so he quickly walked out of the tent, bypassed the heavy guards, and left the military camp.
The flute music came from the mountain. Zhou Lin quickly flew up the mountain and ran wildly following the sound.
An oil lamp illuminated two carriages and several people in the mountain valley.
Zhou Lin spotted Zhou Li and Wang Shuyi immediately. He rushed to them and hugged them, saying, "Thank goodness, you're alright."
Zhou Li cried and hugged Zhou Lin's neck, "Daddy, they said if I played the flute, you would come. And you really came. I missed you so much."
Wang Shuyi stood straight, without hugging Zhou Lin back, her expression indifferent.
Zhou Lin hadn't noticed anything amiss yet. He held Zhou Li up and looked her over from left to right to make sure she wasn't hurt at all.
Zhou Chen stood beside Su Jinxia, his head slightly lowered, clearly disliking the scene.
He played the flute, but his brother remained unmoved; the reason was self-evident.
Ultimately, Zhou Lin never trusted Zhou Chen in the slightest!
"Shuyi, how are you feeling? Have you had a relapse?" Zhou Lin held Wang Shuyi's hand, checking its temperature, a very considerate gesture.
But Wang Shuyi looked at Zhou Lin coldly, without the slightest touch of emotion, and instead calmly withdrew her hand.
Zhou Lin then realized something was wrong, "What's wrong with you?"
Wang Shuyi remained silent.
Zhou Lin shifted his gaze to Su Jin and the others, his eyes filled with undisguised suspicion.
Su Jin smiled softly. He loved seeing these stubborn people finally break down in despair!
Su Jin gave Yue Ziqi a look, and Yue Ziqi stepped forward to Zhou Li and picked her up.
Zhou Lin immediately grabbed Yue Ziqi's shoulder and said sternly, "What do you want to do? Put the child down!"
Su Jinxia said calmly, "Third Prince, since I have brought the child to see you safely, I will not harm her."
"I let the child go because I felt there were some things I shouldn't say to them. Of course, if you don't care, I'll..."
"Take him away!" Wang Shuyi suddenly spoke up.
Zhou Lin stared at Wang Shuyi in surprise, momentarily bewildered, unable to understand what these people were thinking.
Even his wife has become a stranger to him!
With Wang Shuyi speaking up, Zhou Lin stopped stopping them, and Yue Ziqi took the child to a more distant place.
Zhou Li was a very sensible child. He looked at his father and mother with his big, innocent eyes, filled with doubt and worry, but he neither cried nor made a fuss.
The child left, and the surroundings became quiet.
After a long silence, Wang Shuyi remained silent. Su Jin kindly suggested, "If Your Highness is unable to speak, why don't I start for you?"
Wang Shuyi straightened her back, raised her head, and stared directly at Zhou Lin, her gaze revealing a hint of hidden madness.
"There's nothing I can't say. Now that things have come to this, there's no need to hide it anymore."
"What are you talking about?" Zhou Lin frowned deeply, never having spoken to Wang Shuyi in such a manner.
Wang Shuyi chuckled lightly, then scolded angrily, "Don't look at me with that affectionate gaze, I find it utterly repulsive!"
Zhou Lin felt as if he had been struck by lightning...
Wang Shuyi glanced at Zhou Lin with disgust and said, "I am not Wang Shuyi at all. My real name is Wang Lingshan. My family is from the Central Plains. I have a very distant relationship with the Empress Dowager. My family suffered a disaster and my entire family was killed. It was the Empress Dowager's people who rescued me, carefully trained me, and sent me to your side as a spy!"
Wang Shuyi spoke quickly and casually, showing little gratitude towards the Empress Dowager.
Zhou Lin shook his head in disbelief. "I don't believe it! Don't talk nonsense! We've been through so much together, don't I know what kind of person you are?"
"Hahaha..." Wang Shuyi suddenly burst into laughter, but her laughter was full of sorrow. "Yes, I used my life and my passion to gain your trust. I succeeded. I successfully deceived you and won your love..."
Wang Shuyi sniffed, somewhat emotionally, "I once truly loved you too, and even thought of escaping the Empress Dowager's control for you, to spend the rest of my life with you in this remote frontier... But what did you do!"
Wang Shuyi suddenly questioned loudly, her anger bursting forth!
Zhou Lin was stunned for a moment by the shout, "What did I do?"
Zhou Lin didn't know what he had done to make her hate him. He loved her and gave her everything he could!
Wang Shuyi raised her hand to her chest, slid to her knees, and cried out in despair.
"I'm ten months pregnant and about to give birth, but you ran back to the Central Plains for your brother who kills without hesitation and does all sorts of bad things, and haven't returned for a long time! Do you know that the enemy army is attacking, the whole town is filled with the sound of drums and shouts of battle, and I'm terrified, but the child is about to be born, and I just can't give birth!"
"I'm in so much pain, so scared... I wish you were here with me, but you're not!"
Zhou Lin knelt before Wang Shuyi, feeling heartbroken and wanting to hug her.
"I know I'm sorry for what I did, that I caused you to get sick and be bedridden..." Zhou Lin felt extremely guilty.
But then, Wang Shuyi shoved Zhou Lin away violently, like a wolf protecting its cub, wanting to pounce and tear him apart, shouting, "What do you know? What do you know! She's dead! She was born dead!"
Zhou Lin was pushed to the ground and couldn't react for a moment, wondering who had died.
Their child? Zhou Li, live well!
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Zhou Lin thought Wang Shuyi must have gone mad.
Wang Shuyi covered her face and wept bitterly, “I had a difficult childbirth, I was in labor for a day and a night, and I finally gave birth, but it was stillborn. She suffocated to death in my womb, she died… My heart aches so much, I hate you so much, you killed her, you and your brother killed her!”
Zhou Lin sat on the ground, completely lost in thought, muttering to himself, "What about Zhou Li?"
"That was just a child brought by the Empress Dowager's people. They just needed a child to better control you..." Wang Shuyi also collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted and extremely weak.
These past events weighed heavily on her heart, like a large, heavy stone, making her carry this burden every day.
Now that I've said it, I feel completely empty, as if it has no meaning at all.
Zhou Lin frowned deeply. "So when I came back and tried to hold the people in charge of the production accountable, they were all dead. It wasn't because they didn't take good care of you, but because they couldn't tell me about the child."
"So the reason you've been so hot and cold towards Zhou Li all these years is because she's not your biological child."
"So, you always speak up for the Empress Dowager not because you care about us, but because you are following orders."
"So, your capture by Jiang Long was entirely voluntary..."
“That’s right!” Wang Shuyi admitted frankly, “If you weren’t useful to the Empress Dowager, I would have ended things with a single blow while you were asleep, so that our family of three could be reunited…”
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