Chapter 094

Under Zhan Yue's supervision, Jiashan forced himself to eat half a bowl of rice with the dishes.

Zhan Yue didn't seem to be in a hurry to listen to Jiashan's confession.

After finishing the meal, they took a bath one after another, and when they lay down on the red high bed with soft pillows, Zhan Yuefang frowned, indicating that Jiashan could speak.

Under the gauze tent, the two of them shared a quilt. Zhan Yue no longer had his hair tied up, and was wearing casual clothes. He was half-supporting his head with his elbows, looking at her calmly.

There was no deep affection in his eyes, but when he looked at people, his firm and steady gaze always made Jiashan feel at ease quickly.

Jiashan closed his eyes slightly, then slowly moved to lie on Zhan Yue's chest.

After taking a bath, Zhan Yue often smells of a mixture of sandalwood and cedar, which is like the coolness of winter, and seems to represent the revival of all things in spring.

But what fascinated Jiashan even more was the home-like feeling he gave off.

Jiashan quietly nestled in his arms and said softly, "Dan Cui and the others must have told you something."

"Well," Zhan Yue said, "I told them the general idea of ​​what happened. As for the other details, they don't know either."

As he spoke, Zhan Yue lowered his head and glanced at Jia Shan. Seeing that she looked dazed again, Zhan Yue took the initiative to say, "I heard from Dan Cui that Madam Zheng committed suicide."

Sensing that Jiashan was suddenly tense, Zhan Yue tried his best to be friendly and asked, "Why?"

Jiashan did not answer immediately. Her breathing changed from light to heavy, and then back to light again. After several rounds of this, she said quietly, "Maybe, because of some truth, she would rather die than tell it."

After saying this, Jiashan half raised his head, his face showing a coldness and solemnity that he had never had before.

She showed a half-smile on her lips, looked at Zhan Yue, and said to him: "When Aunt Ruyang came to visit, she told me in person that my mother and Prince Xiaohuai had been engaged."

Jiashan's eyes were deep, like two tumbling pools of stagnant water. "I asked Madam Zheng about this this afternoon."

Upon hearing this, Zhan Yue was not too surprised, and just asked, "Madam, can you confirm this? Is it true?"

"She confirmed it." Jiashan's tone was gentle, but her expression was inexplicably sad. She said, "Mammy also told me that when my mother was pregnant with Yuankang, she accidentally ate a bowl of safflower."

Zhan Yue asked: "Why did you eat it by mistake?"

She is the queen, who dares to give her red flowers?

"Mammy said, 'It's because the Queen Mother misunderstood the words of the treacherous people.'" At this point, Jiashan suddenly bit his lower lip hard, and his fingers slowly curled up. "But I think that even if the Queen Mother dislikes my mother, the baby in my mother's belly is my father's flesh and blood after all."

"The Queen Mother would never do that. She would not even care about my father's face."

As the conversation deepened, Jiashan's fingertips pinched the tender flesh of her palm. The sharp nails suddenly left a bloody mark, which was painful.

But she seemed to feel nothing.

An afternoon was enough time for Jiashan to think about many things. When Madam Zheng passed away, she was naturally mostly sad. But after the sadness, she was followed by fear and shock.

What is she afraid of?

Perhaps she already had the answer in her heart.

I just don’t dare to think about it.

Zhan Yue seemed to understand everything all of a sudden. He looked at Jiashan deeply, as if he couldn't believe her bold idea.

However, he had no time to doubt it. Jiashan had already caught his mood very quickly. She smiled at him, raised her eyebrows and said, "You thought of it too?"

Zhan Yue flatly denied: "I didn't think about anything."

"Look, you clearly thought of it." Jiashan did not allow him to deny it. He looked into his eyes and said, "You are just like me, unwilling to believe it."

Jiashan raised the corners of her mouth, trying to force a smile, but her facial movements were so forced that they failed to hide the sadness in her eyes.

"Yanqing," Jiashan drooped her eyes slightly, her long eyelashes trembling violently, and she trembled, "You and I both understand. Madam Zheng was willing to die to cover up the truth. This further proves that this truth is shocking and cannot be tolerated by the world."

She tried to cheer herself up and keep a straight face, but the hand in her nest was shaking uncontrollably.

There was pain in Jiashan's pretty eyes. She met Zhan Yue's gaze head-on, and seemed to have really made up her mind.

She pursed her lips and smiled, and said softly: "Tell me, will Yuan Kang, not Father..."

The rest of the words suddenly stopped. Zhan Yue's powerful index finger pressed firmly against Jia Shan's lips.

His eyes were deep, and the hot temperature of his fingertips burned hotly on Jiashan's lips.

"Princess." Zhan Yue's expression was extremely serious. He pried open her curled fingers little by little and clenched them tightly in his palm.

Zhan Yue looked into her eyes, his demeanor resolute and calm. He said word by word, "You're overthinking it."

"The sudden death of your wet nurse has caused you a huge shock." Zhan Yue's index finger left, slowly moved upwards, and he put his palms together and gently closed Jiashan's eyes.

He paused and said, "Take a nap. Then you won't have any random thoughts."

His palms were scorching hot, as if they contained a steady force that covered the sky and the earth.

Jiashan did not do as he wished.

She raised her hands and pulled the back of his hands away from her eyes.

Her eyes were slightly red, and she whispered, "I can't do it."

"Mammy told me that it is rare to be ignorant in life," Jiashan laughed softly, like a condensed cloud in the sky, and she said, "But today, how can I pretend to be ignorant?"

Jiashan's lips moved slowly as he spoke: "She wanted to use her own death to break my resolve to continue investigating the truth."

"Yes, of course I dare not investigate further." Jiashan's expression slowly calmed down, and was quickly filled with a kind of death-like grief.

Jiashan said quietly: "But at the same time, she also told me the truth indirectly."

Jiashan felt a tightness in his chest and said in a hoarse voice, "She is so cruel."

"Let me bear the burden of her death for the rest of my life." The light in Jiashan's eyes flickered, as if there was water light flashing.

She raised the back of her hand and wiped her face, and her tears finally became uncontrollable and flowed down continuously.

In a trance, Jiashan heard his own dry voice: "She was my wet nurse, how could she have the heart to treat me like this, how could she have the heart to leave me with only a corpse..."

"Yanqing." Jiashan tilted her head slightly, as if all the strength in her body had been drained away. The tears on her face had been wiped away, but the tear marks were still there.

Jiashan showed a dull smile and said in a tired tone: "Mammy is blaming me. I forced her to death."

The night is hazy. Today, there are no stars in the sky, only three or five stars twinkling softly. There is no strange light, no auspicious smoke, only the night is as cold as water and the lights are bleak.

The girl's eyes were red, and traces of crying were still faintly imprinted on her usually stubborn and strong face.

Zhan Yue's chest was churning, and he felt as if someone was squeezing his heart.

He lifted her face and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with his fingertips. He simply sucked away the remaining dried tears with the tip of his tongue.

Not surprisingly, it tasted bitter.

Zhan Yue felt soft and numb in his heart. He slowly comforted her, "You are obsessed."

"Madame Zheng's original intention was definitely not what you think," Zhan Yue met Jia Shan's gaze and gently held her in his arms. He looked at her eyes, which had brightened after being washed by tears, and said softly, "She is willing to die for her master."

Zhan Yue said quietly: "If anyone is really responsible for this, it shouldn't be you."

"There is the Empress in front and the Empress Dowager in the back."

"They are far more responsible than you." Zhan Yue touched her back and soothed her gently, "She raised you and you should know her better than I do. If she had any resentment towards you, she would not have committed suicide for you."

"Don't confine yourself to a small area, okay?" Zhan Yue lowered his voice and said without suppressing his annoyance.

Jiashan looked at him intently, his eyes still slightly cold.

Zhan Yue sighed inwardly without leaving a trace, and said, "Or, let me ask the princess a question."

Jiashan: “You say.”

"Why do you think Madam Zheng doesn't want to tell you the whole story?" Zhan Yue raised his eyes and looked straight at her, saying, "Is it because she's afraid that you might accidentally spread the news, or is it because she doesn't want to tell you and make you worry?"

Jiashan pondered for a long time, and she said softly: "Probably, the latter is still the majority."

"You said you forced her to death, but that's not true." Zhan Yue's voice was deep, revealing a steady strength. He said, "She was forced to death by the truth that could not be told."

Jiashan fell silent.

Zhan Yue saw that she was gradually calming down, so he reached out and pinched her small nose affectionately. He said in a hoarse voice: "Also, there are two questions about Yuan Kang. You have to think clearly."

Jiashan raised his eyes to look at him: "What?"

"If it is really as you think, will you still treat him as your closest brother?" Zhan Yue asked with his eyes lowered.

Jiashan nodded almost without hesitation and said, "Yes."

"What is Yuankang guilty of?"

Although she was sad and heartbroken, she was more sad because of Queen Pei.

The image of Empress Pei was almost blurred in her memory, but from the few words Emperor Zhang He mentioned about her, she always thought that her mother was a proud, generous and loyal woman.

I never thought that my mother might betray my father.

Zhan Yue smiled and said, "In that case, there is no need to ask the second question."

Seeing that Jiashan still looked confused, Zhan Yue stopped keeping him in suspense and said slowly, "I wanted to say that if you don't want to participate in Lichu anymore, I will always be able to protect you and our children."

His thick eyelashes fluttered slightly, like a feather on a bird's strongest wings, with distinct black layers.

Jiashan stared into his eyes and said softly, "But I am still a little scared."

"Don't be afraid." Zhan Yue said softly, "Since everything has been peaceful for the past ten years, there must be a reason for it."

"As long as we don't take the initiative to break the balance, no one will stir it up," he said with his head down.

Jiashan confirmed with him: "Really?"

"Yes." Zhan Yue agreed.

He held her slender back, his face calm and his thin lips tightly pursed.

He didn't tell her that, in fact, there was only one way to solve the problem once and for all. Only the dead could not speak, and only the dead could keep secrets forever.

Nanny Zheng knew this, so she committed suicide wisely. She couldn't let herself become a burden to Jiashan and Yuankang after Empress Pei's death.

Madam Zheng was one of the closest ladies to Empress Pei. Empress Pei and Madam Zheng were both thoughtful people. It was thought that anyone who knew about the past would either be sent far away or die forever.

But there are always some that slip through the net.

Not on our side, but in the other side's camp.

So what about those people? Can we keep them alive for long?

Zhan Yue lowered his eyes, and all the troubles in his eyes were hidden.