"Why should there be a national mourning? My father is old and unable to manage state affairs. I am considerate of his hard work and he deserves to enjoy his retirement. I have already honored him as the Retired Emperor."
When Yue Jiang expressed her confusion, An Chenghuan gave a very straightforward and simple answer.
Yue Jiang vaguely sensed something unusual in his words. Whether Emperor An voluntarily relinquished his throne or was forced to do so remains to be investigated.
She secretly observed her surroundings and realized that the inn in front of her was the same one where Jing Yan had brought her to see An Chenghuan years ago.
This indicates that Yue Jiang was neither too far from Jing Kingdom nor had she entered An Kingdom, and even Jing Lu was strangely not around.
"The reason why a traitor emerged from Jing Kingdom is primarily due to his improper conduct; His Majesty An Kingdom should not be blamed."
Yue Jiang emphasized, "But I am the Crown Princess of Jing Kingdom. My prince has been searching for me all the way. I hope His Majesty of An Kingdom will be lenient and let me go back. Otherwise, His Majesty of An Kingdom will be deliberately provoking a conflict between the two countries."
After speaking, An Chenghuan remained silent. The surroundings were quiet. Yue Jiang lowered her eyes, but she could still feel a probing and scrutinizing gaze on her.
After a long while, An Chenghuan's footsteps echoed on the wooden planks inside the inn, accompanied by his melancholy and regretful words.
"I will never forget the regret of the past, and I feel guilty whenever I think of Princess Yuejiang day and night."
"I regret that I was hindered at the time and was unable to properly bring the princess to An and fulfill your marriage agreement with me. I heard that the princess was attacked and lost her memory on her way to the marriage, and that Jing Yan took my marriage and snatched the princess away."
"I can guarantee that the group that caused the princess's suffering is Jing Yan, who is crying wolf, not me."
"Until I had a chance to make amends for the regrets of the past, I postponed the coronation ceremony. I thought I could not miss Princess Yuejiang again this time, so I had to come and pick her up in person."
"Fortunately, I have waited for this moment."
He took out an old wedding invitation from his sleeve and presented it to Yue Jiang.
The moment Yue Jiang received the wedding invitation, An Chenghuan's voice rang out again, his tone questioning.
"So, Princess Yuejiang, do you think I can let go today?"
Yue Jiang has not lost her memory. The wedding invitation in her hand proves the agreement between Anguo and Yueguo back then. It has been through the ages and is naturally genuine.
However, later Yue Jiang entered the Jing Kingdom, and the Yue Kingdom used her birth date and time to establish a marriage contract with Jing Yan.
Although Jinglu kept saying that An Chenghuan held a grudge against her, the reason he went to such lengths to kidnap her was definitely not just because of the incident where she was taken away years ago.
From the very beginning, when An Chenghuan went to Yue Kingdom to find the Crown Princess, he was calculating his own interests. Yue Jiang was only the best candidate suitable for him in his plan.
Now that he has taken himself back, it can only be said that there is still something that An Seung-hwan can extract from him.
They might insult Jing Yan, scheme against Yue Guo, or use the pretext that she was originally his princess consort to make Yue Jiang a legitimate excuse for An Guo to declare war on Jing Guo in the future.
Yue Jiang knew that asking An Chenghuan to send her back was a pipe dream, and she couldn't admit for the time being that she hadn't lost her memory.
The initial "amnesia" was to try to survive and to downplay the distance between himself and Qin'an in Jing Yan's heart.
If she were to readily admit to Ahn Seung-hwan that she had never lost her memory, it would be tantamount to telling him that she didn't care about their marriage agreement and that it was merely a survival tactic in a crisis.
He wasn't trying to win me over with sentimental talk, so someone who prioritizes self-interest certainly wouldn't care. He might even look at me with new respect, thinking that a smart person is easier to work with.
If An Chenghuan wanted to attack Jingyan's spirit and destroy his will, he could tell Jingyan about Yue Jiang's amnesia and then use his inability to see Jingyan to portray himself as fickle.
Just as she readily accepted Jingyan as her husband back then, having already followed the crowd and submitted to An Chenghuan, Jingyan would be even more devastated than if she knew she had been forced into this situation.
No, we absolutely cannot let An Chenghuan think of this.
Yue Jiang never learned about the virtues of chastity and fidelity in the Yue Kingdom. Apart from the preciousness of life, she regarded everything else as trivial.
Even if An Chenghuan is greedy for profit, Yue Jiang wants peace of mind, so she can start from this point and help him scheme against Jing Yan, so that he won't mistreat her.
However, after years of marriage, the feelings that had grown between her and Jingyan could not be hidden, and there was also Zhang'er; Yue Jiang had already made them the most important people in her life.
She chuckled to herself, never expecting that she could possess such unyielding integrity for someone.
Yue Jiang feigned shock, her eyes trembling with disbelief: "How could this be!"
She raised her voice in denial, coldly rebuking, "Though I am a weak woman, I am not easily deceived."
“When I first entered the Jing Kingdom, before I was married to His Highness, he brought me to see you. At that time, you never mentioned a marriage contract with me. I only knew that in your heart, I was no match for the gold and silver of your An Kingdom.”
"His Highness asked you to exchange something for me, but His Majesty refused at the time. Now you're saying such sentimental things to sow discord between me and His Highness."
After bearing the blame, An Chenghuan was neither angry nor upset, but only felt a faint sense of gratitude.
"Princess Yuejiang has been in Jing Kingdom for several years, and she is different from when I first met you. She probably has memory loss and is affected by her life in Jing Kingdom, but it is not a big deal."
He apologized: "No matter what, I was tricked by Jing Yan back then and abandoned Princess Yuejiang for the sake of Anguo. I was wrong, and there is no denying it."
Yue Jiang didn't care about An Chenghuan's predicament. She clenched the wedding invitation in her hand, threw it back at An Chenghuan, and said resolutely.
"Even though I have no memory of my past, I am now married to another man. Your Highness has never been unkind to me, and His Majesty has also married another woman."
“None of the four of us are ordinary people. Our every move will be heard by the nations. Your Majesty’s obsession runs too deep. If you do something outrageous, how will you handle the consequences?”
Yue Jiang's words were icy. An Chenghuan glanced at the wedding invitation that Yue Jiang had thrown at him, which slowly slid off his body. He bent down to pick it up.
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