Chapter 70 Xiao Zhen's Night Raid
The thunder was so loud that Xie Jianing couldn't sleep. Just like when she was a child, she wrapped herself in a blanket and went to her mother's bedroom.
Zhenniang opened the door for her and peeked in to see Mengmin lying on her side on the couch reading a book. The candlelight was quiet and warm. Mengmin looked up at her, her eyes full of gentle smiles, and beckoned to her, saying, "Can't you sleep? Come here, come to your mother."
Xie Jianing's nose suddenly stung with tears. She remembered that when she was little, she would stay in her mother's room almost every night to sleep with her. Her mother would beckon to her, wrap her in a warm blanket, and gently pat her back to lull her to sleep.
At that moment, she felt as if she had truly returned to her childhood, walking over and lying down in her mother's bed, smelling the medicinal scent on her mother's body, feeling her mother's gentle fingers lightly stroking her cheek, treating her like a precious treasure.
"Are you still like when you were a child, unable to sleep when it thunders?" Meng Min asked her softly.
Xie Jianing gently shook her head: "Actually, I was faking it when I was little. I pretended to be scared and wanted to sleep with you."
Meng Min's gaze softened. "Mother knows, how could Mother not see through your little tricks?" She smiled and smoothed Xie Jianing's fluffy hair. "Then why can't you sleep tonight? Were you frightened at the palace banquet?"
Xie Jianing shook her head again: "I've seen too many scenes like that, I'm not afraid of them anymore."
One sentence made Meng Min feel sad.
She nestled into Meng Min's arms, her eyes slightly red, and said, "I just keep thinking about the night I was kidnapped by bandits... Mother, do you know? It rained so hard that night too. I escaped from the bandits' den and ran for a very long time in the rain, crossing very high mountains. My palms and feet were all blistered, but I didn't dare to stop because I was afraid that if I stopped, I would be caught and taken back to the bandits' den... Thinking about it now, that was truly the most terrifying night of my life. The thunder was deafening, and I didn't know where I was going, I just ran for my life until I was exhausted and fell off a cliff into a lake. I thought I was going to die then. If it weren't for the merchant caravan from the prefecture, I would have definitely died in that lake..."
Meng Min's heart shattered instantly. She hugged her daughter tightly, tears streaming down her face before her daughter could even speak: "Don't be afraid anymore, Ningning. No one can bully you or hurt you anymore. Mother will definitely protect you."
Xie Jianing looked up at Meng Min, her eyes filled with glistening tears: "Mother, I know you all think I've changed since I came back, but please don't blame me... I'm just so scared, scared that you don't love me anymore..."
Meng Min couldn't help but cry. She held her daughter's face and said to her as if making a vow, "Jianing, in this world, I can give up everything, even my life, but I will definitely find you and bring you home. I can never stop loving my Jianing."
"Really?" Xie Jianing also shed tears, asking insecurely, "Even if I hate Xie Yushu, and I don't want Mother and Father to be separated, will Mother still love me?"
Meng Min was stunned for a moment, knowing that she had to make Jia Ning understand some things at this moment, so she said to her with tears in her eyes, "Mother will not separate from your father, but that does not mean that Mother has forgiven your father. It is only because Mother wants to protect everything of the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion for you. What your father has now will be yours in the future. Mother will never let other women's children take away everything from you, the eldest daughter of the Yong'an Marquis. That's all. Mother will never forgive your father."
Xie Jianing's nose turned red: "Father knows he was wrong..."
“He doesn’t know he was wrong. He’s just afraid I’ll make a scene and that our Meng family will break ties with him.” Meng Min held her daughter’s young and innocent face in her hands. “If I weren’t Meng Min today, if I weren’t a princess, if my sister weren’t so strong and supportive of me, he wouldn’t know he was wrong. He would only force me to swallow my anger and acknowledge that illegitimate child. Jia Ning, your mother has always hoped that you could understand that Qiao Bao’er and Xie Yushu are just another version of me without power or influence, deceived by your father and ruined their lives. They are not your enemies; they are just pitiful people who were harmed by your father.”
Xie Jianing frowned, looking at her incredulously, as if she had never imagined that she would say such a thing.
“Jianing, it was Xie Yushu who told me that as your daughter, you can also inherit everything from the Yong'an Marquis’s mansion.” Meng Min’s eyes were still filled with tears, but her resolve had hardened. “I don’t want you to follow in my footsteps. I want to fight for you and make you like your aunt. Whoever you like, you can marry into the mansion, and if you don’t like them, you can kick them out.”
Xie Jianing's heart trembled as if shaken by thunder. She couldn't process these words for a moment, and she questioned them in fear: "The person I like can never marry into the family..." She thought of Xiao Zhen. How could a prince marry into the family? Only useless men would do that.
Before she could say anything more, someone outside the door called softly, "Madam."
Zhenniang went out to meet the man, then came back in to report to Mengmin: "Madam, the person you sent has returned. Everything is fine at Yuqing Temple, and Miss Yushu and Yusu Nu Temple are both fine. Madam Jing said she will stay at Yuqing Temple tonight to keep Yusu Nu Temple company, so you can rest assured."
Meng Min wiped away her tears and nodded. She hadn't slept because she was worried about Yuqing Temple. Her sister had been gone for so long and hadn't returned, and she was afraid something had happened to her.
"Will Xie Yushu stay at Yuqing Temple as well?" Xie Jianing asked doubtfully. "What will she do there?" She instinctively disliked Xie Yushu's closeness to Yusu Nu Temple. In fact, she knew in her heart that she was afraid that even Yusu Nu Temple would prefer Xie Yushu.
She then asked, "What happened at the Jade Maiden Temple? Why is my aunt staying there with her?"
Zhenniang shook her head and said that the person who came did not explain in detail.
Xie Jianing thought for a moment, then sat up and said, "Then I'll go to Yuqing Temple to see Yusu Nu Temple."
Meng Min stopped her: "It's not safe for you to go to Yuqing Temple in such a heavy thunderstorm. Your aunt is here."
Xie Jianing looked at her mother and revealed her feelings to her for the first time: "Mother, I like the Fourth Prince." She was still a little embarrassed to say it, and her ears turned red. She didn't say many things, but just held Meng Min's hand and said: "You and Yu Su Nu Guan are so close, you have to help me."
Meng Min understood why Jia Ning wanted to go to Yuqing Temple in the rain. She didn't want Jia Ning to be with the Fourth Prince. Xiao Zhen was indeed a good boy, but he was a prince and would inevitably get involved in the struggle for the throne in the future. Therefore, the Meng family would have to take sides. This was not just a marriage.
Even if he became emperor, how could he possibly have only one woman, Jia Ning, for his entire life?
But when Jia Ning looked at her with that childlike demeanor, her heart softened. Jia Ning had already suffered so much, and she wanted Jia Ning to be happy.
"As long as you like it, I'll get it for you." Meng Min slowly took her daughter's hand.
#
Despite the rumbling thunder, the rain did not lessen at all; on the contrary, it poured down even harder.
Standing in the closed door of Suxin Hall, Jiang Hua told Consort Wan everything she knew.
Wan Susu sat there stiffly, her body ice-cold. If Meng Jingli hadn't been holding her hand the whole time, she would have thought she was dreaming, having a nightmare about the sky falling and the earth collapsing.
Her child is not her child.
She didn't realize she was crying until Meng Jing wiped her tears. Only then did she hear thunder as if possessed by a spirit, and see Meng Jing and Xie Yushu clearly in front of her. She heard herself ask, "Where is my child? Is my child... still alive?"
Meng Jing held her hand tightly and said softly, "Not only is he alive, but he also made meritorious contributions in battle and has grown into a good boy. If you meet him, you will definitely like him."
Wan Susu could no longer hold back and buried her face in Meng Jing's knees, sobbing: "It's too absurd! I've carried this child for ten months and never even seen him... I don't know what he looks like, what he says, or if he hates me, his mother... And the child I raised with such care is the one those who harmed me used to get revenge on me... They succeeded. They ruined me, they ruined my child, and now they've completely shattered my already fragile life..."
Meng Jing stroked her trembling back, understanding her breakdown at this moment. Back then, Su Su had a difficult childbirth and gave birth to that child. Because the child had a finger cut off when he was a baby, Su Su took great care of him, caring for him day and night until he was one year old. Later, the court officials believed that she had served the late emperor and was therefore impure, so she could no longer be made a Noble Consort, let alone continue to serve the current emperor. Even her child was questioned. In order to protect her child, she gave the little child to another concubine to raise and requested to become a nun at Yuqing Temple as a Dowager Consort.
For more than a decade, she had been imprisoned in Yuqing Temple like a prisoner, not daring to leave even for a moment, all for Xiao Zhen.
For her to accept that Xiao Zhen is not her child is more painful than death.
"That's why you should find your child and get back on track with him, instead of letting those people have their way," Xie Yushu said. It wasn't that she didn't understand Wan Susu; she just felt there were things more important than crying and resentment, and that was moving forward.
Wan Susu looked up at her with her tear-streaked face, her lips moving as she asked, "Zhen'er... what will happen to Xiao Zhen?"
Xie Yushu's heart sank. Wan Susu was more worried about what would happen to Xiao Zhen at this moment, so she must be more biased towards Xiao Zhen in her heart.
"Will he be executed by the Emperor?" Wan Susu felt a pang of pain in her heart: "He is innocent too. I don't want to kill him, I don't want to kill anyone."
"You didn't want to kill anyone, so you've ended up like this." Xie Yushu couldn't help but utter a harsh remark. She regretted it as soon as she said it, and felt even more regretful as she watched Wan Susu's pale face darken. Clearly, Wan Susu was the most innocent person. How could she blame the most innocent person for being too weak? Under imperial power, how could Wan Susu have any chance to resist?
However, at that moment, she felt a sense of disappointment and frustration, because if she were Wan Susu, she would definitely have recognized her son.
Wan Susu looked at her, her lips trembling: "But what can I do? What should I do..."
Xie Yushu stood up: "You should immediately acknowledge your son, do everything you can to put him on the dragon throne, and then dig up the graves of those who harmed you, and cut them into a thousand pieces, whether they are traitors or emperors."
Thunder rumbled down, startling even Meng Jing. Her words were far too bold, but what was wrong with what she said?
"The road is right at your feet." Xie Yushu walked step by step toward Wan Susu and said to her almost forcibly, "If you still don't understand, then I'll tell you. You should get up now and take Jiang Hua to the palace to see the Emperor. Even if you have to threaten to die, you must make the Emperor bring your child into the palace so that you can recognize him."
Wan Susu was completely stunned, her mind blank. She wanted to ask, "Now?" But she couldn't leave Yuqing Temple...
Xie Yushu pointed outside and said, "Pei Heng's soldiers are outside Yuqing Temple. I have plenty of ways to get them to escort you and Jiang Hua into the palace. Just give me your nod and I will escort you into the palace immediately."
She paved the way for her, but Wan Susu hesitated at this moment.
In that moment of hesitation, there was a knock on the door.
Jin Ye said anxiously from outside, "Miss, the Fourth Prince and Miss Jia Ning have arrived and are currently outside Yuqing Temple."
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Author's Note: I have to catch a train tomorrow, but I've already saved tomorrow's update. It will be posted at 6 PM as usual.
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