Chapter 124 Revealing Everything
The candles on the table were relit, and Sheng An could clearly see the worry in Xu Jinnian's eyes.
After hesitating for a long time, she asked solemnly, "You said before that the purpose of studying was to pass the imperial examinations. Between me and fame and fortune, what would you choose?"
Xu Jinnian frowned and raised his hand to touch Sheng An's forehead.
Sheng An paused for a moment, then slapped his hand away expressionlessly: "I don't have a fever. Answer my questions honestly."
Xu Jinnian took her hand and inserted two fingers into her palm to confirm that she did not have a fever, but he did not let go.
His brow relaxed, and his expression became more serious than ever before: "I choose you."
Sheng An looked into the man's eyes, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth.
Xu Jinnian sighed, his deep eyes looking directly into hers: "Fame and fortune are certainly tempting, but they are not important to me. In the past, I valued the father-son relationship with my father the most, and now I must add An'an to that relationship."
After saying that, his gaze fell on Sheng An's lower abdomen: "And there will be our child in the future."
Hearing the man mention the child, Sheng An felt a tightness in her chest, and then she remembered the nightmare she had just had.
She shook her head and looked at Xu Jinnian again, asking, "What if your feelings for me fade, or you feel that fame and fortune are more important, would you abandon me to climb the social ladder?"
Xu Jinnian replied without hesitation, "Impossible!"
Sheng An twitched the corner of his mouth: "Nothing is impossible. How many young couples who made vows of eternal love eventually couldn't withstand the ravages of time and became unsightly to each other?"
Xu Jinnian frowned again and cupped her face in his hands: "I don't deny that there are such people, but there are also many couples who are still as loving as ever, like Master and his wife."
He told himself that he wasn't that ambitious, and even if his feelings for An'an faded one day, he couldn't bring himself to abandon An'an to climb the social ladder.
Besides affection, there is also responsibility between husband and wife.
Only those with wicked intentions would do something so despicable.
Sheng An stared at the man for a long time, a hint of weariness on her face: "Xu Jinnian, what I'm about to say is very important, you must listen carefully."
Xu Jinnian's eyes darkened, and he vaguely guessed that what she was going to say was related to the two times she had hidden things from him before, and it might also be related to that Princess Shanmin.
He gripped Sheng An's hand tightly, his expression serious: "Go on."
Sheng An didn't speak, but picked up the cold tea on the table and drank it all in one gulp.
The cool sensation as it went down her throat invigorated her, and her tense mind relaxed in that instant.
Without hesitation, Sheng An dropped the first bombshell of the night: "Liu Huazhi is reborn, just like in the supernatural tales you read to me before."
Xu Jinnian was stunned, his handsome face showing disbelief: "Rebirth? To be brought back to life, to return to the time before death?"
Sheng An nodded: "Yes, you should remember the day we returned to our parents' home. She blocked our way and said those things to me. Those weren't her curses; they were things that actually happened in my past life."
Xu Jinnian quickly recalled the day she returned to her parents' home, when Liu Huazhi cursed her viciously like a madwoman.
It's his fault for not thinking about rebirth at the time. He only thought that the woman and An'an didn't get along, which is why she deliberately came to make trouble for An'an on the day of her return visit.
Seeing the man's furrowed brows, Sheng An, for reasons unknown, actually smiled at him:
"She said that in your past life you were a top scholar in the imperial examinations, and in order to climb the social ladder, you sent back a letter of divorce from afar. In order to eliminate any future troubles, you sent people to burn your grandparents to death, leaving me and my unborn child to die in the wilderness."
And Da Kui, he escorted me to the capital to find you, but he was also killed, leaving Zhao Di a widow.”
Originally, Sheng An did not want to reveal the secret of Liu Huazhi's rebirth and the tragedy of her family's destruction in her previous life to Xu Jinnian so early, but the suspected culprit appeared, and it would be more harmful than beneficial to keep it a secret any longer.
She also took this opportunity to make her stance clear: she is not a woman who cannot live without her husband, and she will not cling desperately to a husband who has changed his mind.
If he tries to climb the social ladder, she will leave him on her own initiative and will never become a stumbling block on his path to success.
Xu Jinnian was incredibly clever; he instantly understood Sheng An's meaning.
His first reaction wasn't anger, but deep heartache.
"You should have told me back then!"
Xu Jinnian hugged Sheng An tightly, believing everything she said without a doubt: "I didn't expect you to be under so much pressure these past few months."
Two lives lost, corpses left to rot in the wilderness, and even his grandparents perished in the fire. He couldn't imagine how heartbroken An'an would be if she knew the ending of her past life.
Fortunately, An'an didn't believe that woman, otherwise she would definitely have chosen to leave him.
Sheng An sighed: "What's the use of telling you in advance? You have no memories of your past life, and you don't know who my enemies are."
Xu Jinnian corrected, "They are our enemies."
Sheng An was satisfied with his attitude, stepped out of his embrace and said seriously, "I suspect that this person is Princess Shanmin. The moment I saw her, I hated her for no reason."
Xu Jinnian's expression turned cold: "Whether it is or not, we will know in three years."
Sheng An shook his head: "There are too many variables. Who knows if the death calamity in my previous life will come sooner."
Xu Jinnian felt a dull pain in his chest, and lowered his head to kiss her lips: "Don't talk nonsense!"
In his past life, he was so incompetent that he couldn't even protect An'an and the child.
Thinking of the child, Xu Jinnian also recalled the dream Sheng An had described. A raging storm raged in her eyes, and a strong sense of resentment rose in her chest.
Sheng An noticed his unusual behavior and reassured him, "Nothing has happened yet, so don't get angry right away."
Xu Jinnian cupped her face in his hands, his forehead pressed against hers, his low, husky voice filled with deep guilt and gratitude: "An'an, thank you."
Sheng An understood what he was thanking him for: "I'm taking a gamble, betting that you're a person of noble character and wouldn't do something so despicable."
Call it being love-struck or being blinded by good looks, but after sharing a bed with this man for several months, she couldn't believe he was a scumbag.
Xu Jinnian felt increasingly distressed and hugged her tightly: "An'an, I won't let you lose."
Now that everything was out in the open, Sheng An relaxed completely, nestled quietly in his arms, and unconsciously closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Xu Jinnian couldn't sleep, so he gently lay down with the person in his arms, covered her with the blanket, and stared at her sleeping face without blinking until the candle burned out and the sky began to lighten. Only then did he close his eyes.
The couple managed to oversleep, and upon waking, they tacitly avoided mentioning what happened the previous night. After breakfast, they went together to visit Xu Cuilian at the Zhang family's house.
Xu Cuilian is recovering well; her nausea and vomiting have completely disappeared, and she can get out of bed and move around like a normal person.
The couple felt relieved.
Sheng An wanted to befriend Ning Sihan, so he started cooking different delicious meals for her every other day and would visit her in the neighboring courtyard every other day to listen to the two imperial physicians, Wang and Hu, discuss medical principles.
In just a few days, Sheng An benefited greatly and became familiar with Ning Sihan, who was staying awake for longer periods of time.
On New Year's Eve, she specially prepared several elaborate dishes for the neighboring courtyard so that the three of them could enjoy a sumptuous and delicious New Year's Eve dinner.
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