Chapter 368 Dream Back (The End)
"Why, why..."
Enduring unbearable pain, Mu Yuanzhen was on the verge of death, her eyes wide open as she stared intently at Xu Jinnian, who was like a demon, watching helplessly as his hand gripped the neck of the weakly crying fetus.
"She's your own flesh and blood! You can't treat her like this, you can't..."
Mu Yuanzhen's face was filled with pleading. With his last bit of strength, he reached out and tried to grab Xu Jinnian's robe to beg for the child's life.
This child, carrying all her hopes, she loved this child.
This is the fruit of her and her beloved's love!
"Your own flesh and blood? Ha, you're so vicious and naive!"
Xu Jinnian seemed to hear the funniest thing in the world. Amid Mu Yuanzhen's desperate and painful roar, he twisted the baby girl's fragile neck with his hand without any mercy.
His hands were already stained with indelible blood. The newborn girl, who had just been cut open, was nothing to him; she was merely a tool for him to provoke Mu Yuanzhen.
Xu Jinnian achieved his goal. Mu Yuanzhen was in unbearable pain. Her hastily treated wounds were bleeding profusely again. Her face was ashen, and she was barely breathing.
"Come in, let her die knowing why."
Xu Jinnian casually tossed the stillborn baby into Mu Yuanzhen's arms, then spoke to the person who had been standing at the door for a long time.
Mu Yuanzhen turned his head with difficulty and saw a familiar face. He was struck dumb as if by lightning: "It's...it's you..."
Cheng Wenying walked over expressionlessly, glanced at the lifeless infant in her arms, and a triumphant smile of revenge immediately appeared on her face:
“Princess Shanmin, when you were galloping recklessly in Pingzhou and killed three innocent children, did you ever imagine that you would end up like this?”
Mu Yuanzhen looked blank, completely unaware of Cheng Wenying's meaning, and clearly did not remember the evil he had committed.
Cheng Wenying saw it all, her eyes filled with deep hatred: "You killed my younger brother and sister, and I didn't hesitate to infiltrate the princess's residence to become your male concubine, all for the sake of revenge today!"
Having said that, he pointed at the stillborn infant, a gleeful smile returning to his face:
"Lord Xu never touched you. It was me who was always whispering sweet nothings in your ear, just so you could experience the pain and despair of having your child cut open, hahaha—"
Cheng Wenying played a part in the downfall of Princess Pingyuan's faction.
He had a profile that looked remarkably like Xu Jinnian's, and it was this profile that won Mu Yuanzhen's favor, gradually making him her most favored male concubine.
Mu Yuanzhen thought he was uneducated and brainless, so he was not on guard against him and thus revealed a lot of important information to him.
He delivered all of this information to Xu Jinnian.
Cheng Wenying did everything for one purpose: to avenge her younger siblings who died tragically many years ago!
Today, he finally achieved his wish.
Upon hearing the truth, Mu Yuanzhen's eyes widened, unable to accept this reality: "No, it's not, the child isn't yours, it's not—"
Cheng Wenying relished her broken state, picked up a blood-stained broadsword from the side, and pointed it at her heart:
"No man will ever love a woman as vicious as you. I'm going to cut your heart out and see if it's really black."
Mu Yuanzhen died with his eyes wide open in death, and his body was thrown into a mass grave.
The strong stench of blood attracted wild dogs from the surrounding area, and in just half a day, she was devoured until only bone fragments remained, a truly desolate corpse, her body left to rot in the wilderness, her body utterly mutilated.
After avenging his mother, Xu Jinnian resigned from his official post and returned to his hometown. He built a house in front of the graves of Sheng An and her daughter, and stayed with them every day.
On a warm afternoon, he drank strong liquor in front of the grave and died with blood flowing from all seven orifices.
Over the years, in his quest for revenge, Xu Jinnian's hands have been stained with blood, and he has offended countless people, all waiting for the day they will take his life.
Xu Jinnian was fully aware of this; he had long since given up on living if he allowed those people to secretly poison his food.
Despite the excruciating pain in his abdomen, Xu Jinnian struggled to his wife's tombstone and gently stroked the name inscribed on it, inch by inch.
“An’an, I’m here. Wait for me. If there is a next life, will you marry me? I drew a very auspicious fortune stick in front of the Buddha. The Buddha said we will continue our predestined relationship…”
The last word disappeared into the air with a warm breeze, as if in response to him.
Xu Jinnian closed her eyes with a smile, and the hand on the tombstone slowly lowered.
"call--"
In the dead of night, the couple, who were sleeping peacefully in bed, suddenly sat up at the same time. Despite it being the warm spring month of March, they were both drenched in sweat, as if they had just been pulled out of the water.
The couple exchanged a glance and said at the same time, "Did you have a nightmare?"
They paused, then asked in unison, "What did you dream about?"
The couple exchanged identical smiles, then both stopped smiling a moment later: "I dreamt that you died."
The couple's expressions changed drastically as they realized they might have had the same nightmare.
Sheng An stared into Xu Jinnian's eyes, her lips trembling slightly as she spoke, "I might have dreamt of my past life. In my past life, I didn't accompany you to the capital for the imperial examinations. Later, I received a letter of divorce that forged your handwriting. I was worried about your safety and decided to go to the capital to find you, but I was killed on the way..."
Thinking of the horrific scene in her dream, she couldn't help but shudder, a look of terror on her face.
"Don't be afraid, everything in the dream was just a dream. Our family is all right, isn't it?"
Xu Jinnian held his wife tightly in his arms, gently stroking her back repeatedly. His lowered eyes revealed a chilling intent that quickly dissipated.
An'an and he had the same nightmare. Everything in the dream was too real; it was probably their experience in a past life.
The afterglow of the nightmare hadn't faded, and Sheng An's heart was pounding. She couldn't help but tighten her grip on the man's hand: "I... our family will be alright, right?"
Xu Jinnian held her hand in return, giving her a sense of security: "Yes, dreams can be deceiving; nothing in dreams will actually happen."
Sheng An knew he was trying to comfort her and didn't want him to worry, so she nodded in agreement: "That's right, only a fool would take a dream seriously."
After saying that, she subconsciously looked at the top of the man's head, and it wasn't the heartbreaking white hair from her dream.
Sheng An reached out and gently stroked Xu Jinnian's forehead, her eyes welling up with tears: "Are you stupid? Don't you know it hurts me to torture yourself like that?"
Xu Jinnian felt a pang of sadness and a sharp, tingling pain in her chest: "I'm sorry."
Sheng An threw herself into his arms and cried uncontrollably.
She couldn't deceive herself that it was just a nightmare.
Xu Jinnian knew that all words of comfort would be in vain at this moment, so he could only hold her tightly and let her cry and vent her emotions.
Sheng An stopped crying only when her throat was dry and she could no longer shed tears.
Xu Jinnian's inner clothes were soaked, but he didn't care at all. He smiled and took her hand, saying, "Go check on the child in the next room. Don't let your crying frighten him."
Sheng An punched him lightly: "I didn't cry loudly, so how could I scare her?"
Despite saying that, the couple still got up and tiptoed to the next room.
Looking at the little one sleeping soundly on the bed, Sheng An's face showed a loving smile, but when she thought that her Zhuozhuo had never come into the world in her previous life, her heart began to ache again.
Xu Jinnian noticed her emotions and silently put his arm around her shoulder.
With their enemies eliminated, no one will ever harm their family again.
He will do everything in his power to protect the mother and daughter, ensuring they live a life of joy and happiness.
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