Chapter 364 The Grand Finale
In the dark and damp prison, a death row inmate was held alone in the innermost cell.
This death row inmate was none other than Mu Yuanzhen.
At this point, Mu Yuanzhen was no longer the pampered young lady of the princess's mansion who enjoyed all the riches and luxuries of the world.
She was dressed in dirty, tattered clothes that were unrecognizable in their original color and smelled of fish. Her hair, which hadn't been styled for days, was disheveled and knotted, covering most of her face.
Her once delicate and flawless face is now covered with mottled bruises, and her exposed hands are twisted, deformed, and covered in mud.
He was worse off than a beggar who had been homeless on the streets for years.
Mu Yuanzhen's belly had shrunk. On the third day after she was thrown into prison, the child in her womb was born prematurely and was a stillborn baby with blackened skin.
She was incredibly lucky; even in that condition, she managed to hold on until her last breath and survive.
Mu Yuanzhen knew that Princess Pingyuan's rebellion had failed and she was now a prisoner, about to be given a cup of poison to die. As the daughter of a traitor, she would not survive either; her death would be in three days.
Mu Yuanzhen was unwilling to accept this. She was once a high-ranking princess, a favored daughter of heaven who even princesses dared not compete with. She never thought she would fall to such a state.
It all felt like a nightmare.
But dreams always end, and she was unwilling but had to accept her inevitable death.
Now, Mu Yuanzhen has only one last wish: to see Xu Jinnian one more time.
She didn't know why she had to see Xu Jinnian; it seemed she couldn't close her eyes in peace without seeing him.
So when his only drinking buddy who came to the prison came to visit, Mu Yuanzhen used his only functional eye to express his meaning to him.
This person she once looked down upon actually guessed her thoughts and was even willing to help her find the person.
For the entire morning, Mu Yuanzhen stared at the prison door, hoping that the tall figure would appear before her, just like when they first met at Shenhu Mountain.
Hearing the approaching footsteps, Mu Yuanzhen's eyes brightened, and he stared intently at the direction of the prison door.
Until a pale-faced man with swollen eyes from crying came into view.
“Yuan Zhen, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was a step too late. Lord Xu left before dawn. I heard from the servants in the mansion that he went out of town on official business and won’t be back for at least three months.”
The pale-faced man cried and cried, afraid of hurting Mu Yuanzhen's feelings, and dared not tell her the truth, so he could only make up a story.
Mu Yuanzhen's eyes widened, his face filled with despair, but even more so with resentment.
What a coincidence! How could I have been a step too late?
This useless piece of trash can't even handle such a small matter. Why didn't she go earlier and miss this opportunity? She'll die with a heavy heart!
Mu Yuanzhen's face was contorted with rage, his eyes filled with resentment towards the fair-faced man.
The cell was dimly lit, and the pale-faced man didn't notice Mu Yuanzhen's hatred. He just kept apologizing to her: "...It's my fault, I'm useless, I disappointed you, sob sob..."
He was merely a concubine's son from a declining noble family. His birth mother was a woman from a brothel who was redeemed by his father and raised outside the brothel before giving birth to him.
Before his birth mother had aged and lost her beauty, his father had grown tired of her and was indifferent to him, his son, only giving them a few taels of silver each month to make ends meet.
From childhood to adulthood, he endured the contempt of those around him and was repeatedly called a lowly slut by people pointing fingers at him.
Later, the Earl's Mansion finally agreed to let him be recognized as a member of the family, but his treatment in the Earl's Mansion was worse than that of some respectable servants, and he suffered ridicule and beatings from his elder brothers every day.
At the Earl's mansion, he was like a stray dog on the street, someone anyone could kick.
When he was eight years old, his older brother took him to the hunting grounds as a servant, and his brother even made fun of him as prey.
He was so frightened that he cried, and he cried very miserably. It was Yuan Zhen who spoke up to save him and scolded his brother.
From then on, his treatment in the Earl's mansion improved, and at least on the surface, he was treated as a person.
He saw Yuan Zhen as his only lifeline and tried every means to get close to her, even going so far as to make himself look ugly to amuse her, just to let the Earl's Mansion know that he was valuable.
Over the years, he has had food to eat, clothes to wear, and books to read, and last year he even passed the imperial examination to become a scholar, all thanks to Yuan Zhen.
Regardless of how outsiders viewed Yuan Zhen, in his heart Yuan Zhen was the moonlight that illuminated his life.
But he was so useless that he couldn't fulfill Moonlight's small wish.
The more the man with the fair complexion thought about it, the more heartbroken he became, and he cried his heart out in front of Mu Yuanzhen.
Mu Yuanzhen closed his eyes and didn't look at him again.
Three days later, a cup of poison ended her sinful and dramatic life.
He died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.
Sheng An, far away in Qingzhou, had not yet received news of the destruction of the princess's residence and the death of the person she feared most.
As May approached and the weather grew warmer day by day, her longing for Xu Jinnian became unbearable, and she dreamed of meeting him every night.
Watching her daughter chasing after a few chicks in the yard, Sheng An sighed helplessly and waved to the girl, who was covered in mud: "Come and drink some water, let me see if you're sweating."
Zhuozhuo came over excitedly, tilted her little face up, and shoved her hand into hers: "I want to drink sweet water~"
Sheng An coldly refused: "No way!"
This girl loves sweets too much. If she doesn't control her intake, her baby teeth will be completely decayed before she can get permanent teeth.
"Mom, please give me a sip, just a tiny sip, okay, Mom? I love you the most!"
The little guy, who is almost two years old, has a sweet tongue that's as sweet as honey. He acts cute and charming in front of Sheng An just to get a sip of sweet water.
Sheng An wasn't buying her sweet talk. She picked up a glass of lukewarm water, pinched Sheng An's chin, and poured it into the glass, saying, "No sugar water. If you keep nagging, I won't make you anything special for lunch."
These words struck at the heart of the matter, startling her so much that she immediately opened her mouth and gulped down most of a glass of water.
I can skip the sweet soup, but I can't live without delicious food!
Sheng An was disgusted by her dirty daughter covered in dirt, so she picked up a handkerchief to wipe her hands and face: "You're so dirty, your father wouldn't even recognize you as his daughter."
Zhuozhuo blinked her big eyes and asked in shock, "Mom, I have a dad too?"
Sheng An: "..."
Well, after half a year, she's completely forgotten her own father.
Not long after, Grandpa and Grandma Sheng returned, bringing with them a basket full of fresh ingredients, all of which they had specially bought from the city at the early morning market.
In addition to pork, there is also fish and shrimp.
Upon seeing the fish and shrimp, Zhuozhuo became incredibly excited, clapping her little paws loudly: "Such big fish, so many shrimp, so delicious, everything is so delicious~"
The two elders laughed at her childlike words and said with smiles, "Yes, it's all delicious. I'll have your mother make you fish soup at noon, so your little tummy will be round and full, okay?"
Zhuozhuo nodded her little head vigorously: "Okay~"
What a little foodie!
Sheng An shook his head helplessly, got up, picked up the ingredients, and was about to take them to the yard to process them.
At that moment, the courtyard gate was gently pushed open from the outside.
Sheng An thought it was a villager visiting, and subconsciously looked up to greet them, but the moment he saw who it was, he froze on the spot, unable to react.
The person you've been longing for suddenly appears before you without any warning:
"An'an, your husband has come back to pick you up."
——The Finale——
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