Chapter 176
The morning light crept out from the eaves. In the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion, ancient trees stood tall, the snow had been swept clean, and the maids who walked around moved their hands and feet very lightly.
Luo Yining opened her eyes and looked down to find herself restrained by a pair of large hands. Her head felt heavy, and Lu Jiaxue had fallen asleep with his chin resting on it. He wore a musk-skin wrist guard and the familiar ring on his left thumb. Luo Yining found the ring strange, perhaps because she had seen it so often on Lu Jiaxue, it symbolized power to her.
This reminded Luo Yining of when he was still her adoptive father, high and mighty, watching her struggle like an ant from the clouds, without offering a helping hand. He would only offer a helping hand when he was in a good mood, or when it would benefit him. His expression was either cold or nonchalant. Seeing him then, she felt both hatred and helplessness.
She moved a little to move away, but he put his hands on her waist, then looked at her with half-open eyes, and said in a tight tone: "Where are you going?"
Luo Yining, on the other hand, felt a strange sense of revenge. Perhaps everyone has despicable human nature... She was just an ordinary person.
She said, "I want to go back to the Luo family. Do you want me to go?"
Lu Jiaxue was suddenly enraged by her words, his eyes changing. He reached out and grabbed her neck. Luo Yining could even feel him really tightening his grip, maybe dying right there. She hadn't intended to show weakness, but as she felt more and more suffocated, she began to struggle uncontrollably.
My vision was blurry, my whole body felt uncomfortable, and I felt like I was suffocating and wanted to die.
Lu Jiaxue let her go at this time. After Luo Yining came to her senses, she gasped for breath and even choked on tears.
After waiting for you for so many years, she finally came. How could Lu Jiaxue bear to let her go, but he had to let her suffer a little.
"This feeling is unbearable, isn't it?" Lu Jiaxue's voice rang slowly in her ears, but it carried an indescribable heaviness. "After you died, I searched for you under the cliff, but I couldn't find you... That's how it felt. But when I actually saw you like that... It was worse than death."
He was kneeling on the ground, coughing and choking, unable to stand up. He couldn't protect her, hoping she was still alive.
In those plays, didn't the people who fell off the cliff always survive? But she didn't. Reality was the most hideous and terrifying, leaving him no hope, lying bloody before him. For a long time, he truly couldn't bear to look at anything of hers.
His words were like the heat of a furnace, burning people painfully.
Luo Yining coughed, clutching her throat. She felt so miserable, just like she had felt back then. She felt betrayed by the whole world, but she had no one to confide in.
Lu Jiaxue pulled her up and said, "Do you feel uncomfortable? Then don't say those things from now on." He said, "Get up and have breakfast. I have something to go out for. You come with me."
It seems that she really won't be left alone.
The Lu family's ancestral tomb was perched on a hill near the capital, blanketed in snow. Ascending the bluestone steps led to the ancestral tomb, a tall arched gate with flying eaves and a longevity stele. Yining had no idea he was coming here. She walked around. The area was thick with cypresses and pines, lush and green even in the heavy snow. The area was heavily guarded.
Luo Yining suddenly saw a small tomb next to the former wife of the Ningyuan Marquis. She walked over slowly and her breathing paused after seeing the words engraved on the tombstone. This was her tomb!
She stood quietly in front of her own grave. It felt strange to look at her own grave. She had never been here before and didn't even know it existed.
For a moment, the feeling was really complicated. After all the changes in the world, there actually existed a small place where she rested.
If I really sleep in the ground, maybe there will be nothing left, and I will live in peace and quiet from now on. Luo Yining suddenly thought of this.
But she was still thankful for her new life. She had met so many kind people: Mrs. Luo, Lin Hairu, Luo Shenyuan, Wei Ling, all wonderful people in her life. They were worth everything to her. They made her feel full and fulfilled, not afraid of anything.
When Luo Yining got closer, she discovered that her epitaph was engraved on it.
Your name is Yining. You are from Shunde, Beijing. You are the daughter of Luo Zhi, a provincial Jinshi. You were born sixteen years ago and then returned to school...
Return to learning.
It's his handwriting, he carved it there.
Even though she no longer liked Lu Jiaxue, she still trembled at the sight of this. How could she not be moved at all? After all, this had been her life.
Lu Jiaxue stood not far away, talking to his subordinates. Every New Year, they had to perform sacrifices and maintain the ancestral tombs. After all, the ancestral tombs were crucial to the family's prosperity, so they needed to be carefully cared for. After he finished his conversation, he came to find her. Seeing her walk to such a remote place, he said, "Don't think of any other ideas. You're just messing with yourself. You can't get away. Come here."
He reached out his hand to hold Luo Yining's hand and leave, walking down the mountain road. Fine snow began to fall again, mixed with the cold wind.
The carriage was waiting at the foot of the mountain. Luo Yining knew that Lu Jiaxue was taking her somewhere, but she didn't know where. Who was he referring to as the only survivor?
The carriage was enclosed and warm, with nothing to see. Lu Jiaxue sat inside, listening to his subordinates' reports, still about matters related to the border. Since Luo Yining couldn't leave, she sat far away from him and slowly opened the curtains a crack. This time, she found that the carriage had already arrived outside the Meridian Gate.
Is Lu Jiaxue going to take her into the palace?
She was a little surprised. The carriage passed through a long corridor and entered the palace through a side door. Lu Jiaxue had separated from her at this time. He was going to the Qianqing Palace to report to the emperor. He instructed the two maids to guard Yining all the way. Yining was pressed into the sedan chair by the two maids and then entered Jingren Palace through the alley.
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