The room fell silent upon hearing this.
The review team members exchanged glances, and they all saw shock in each other's eyes.
They investigated for three days, focusing only on the evidence of Commander Zhou's "false accusation," never expecting that there was something fishy about the marriage certificate behind the case.
Zhou Jiuzhen lowered his eyes, concealing the glint of light that flashed in his eyes.
This is the moment he's been waiting for.
From beginning to end, he was never confident that he could prove Zhao Jingxiang's crimes. His purpose was to use a scheme to enter the investigation team and find Lao Wang, who had also been implicated and imprisoned there.
Even if he couldn't convict Zhao Jingxiang, he would never allow Zhao Jingxiang to use the shackles of a childhood betrothal to trap Ling Huanwu again.
With this marriage certificate, he and Huanwu will never be separated again!
The inspection team immediately reported the situation.
Reporting a crime as a family member of a victim cannot be considered a false accusation.
Because Commander Zhao was involved, they dared not cause any further trouble and immediately released Zhou Jiuzhen.
The iron gate clanged loudly.
As soon as Zhou Jiuzhen left the investigation team, he was blinded by the glaring sunlight outside.
Not far away at the guard post, a slender figure was carrying two large bags and struggling to stuff them into the hands of the soldiers on duty.
"Comrade, please let me in to see your leader. I just want to see my husband. He's just recovered from a serious illness and has only recently woken up. I'm worried his body won't be able to handle it..."
Seeing that the soldiers on guard remained motionless and refused to take her things, Ling Huanwu was feeling awkward and at a loss with the two large bags of items when a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind her.
“Huanwu…”
The call was soft and tender, filled with excitement and deep longing.
Ling Huanwu turned around in disbelief and saw Zhou Jiuzhen standing in the sunlight, smiling at her.
At that moment, it seemed as if time itself had frozen.
Everything gradually faded away, leaving only the two of them in the world.
Ling Huanwu carefully traced his eyebrows and eyes, meticulously confirming whether the unshaven man in front of her was indeed her Jiuzhen.
It wasn't until he rushed over and hugged her tightly that she realized this wasn't an illusion.
The man before her was none other than Jiu Zhen!
It felt like an eternity to them after only a few days apart.
"I'm here..." She was about to speak when her lips were sealed with a kiss.
It wasn't a gentle kiss; it was forceful, even a bit rough.
His stubble was thick and stiff, like freshly cut wheat stubble, pricking her cheeks and lips, causing a slight pain, a slight itch, and a burning sensation.
Ling Huanwu froze for a moment, then raised her hand and tightly gripped the hem of his shirt on the back, her knuckles turning white from clenching.
The two soldiers on guard stared wide-eyed, almost dropping their guns, but neither dared to utter a sound.
They only saw the man with the cold, hard eyes who had been in the inspection team just a few days ago.
At this moment, it felt as if he wanted to meld the girl in his arms into his very bones, as if he wanted to tell her all the longing and torment he had endured these past days through this kiss.
"It hurts..." Ling Huanwu groaned softly, as his stubble pricked her lips.
Zhou Jiuzhen suddenly came to his senses. When he released her, his breathing was still erratic, his forehead was pressed against hers, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He reached out and gently rubbed his rough thumb against her reddened lips, his voice hoarse: "I'm sorry... I missed you so much."
Ling Huanwu looked at the dark stubble on his chin, her eyes reddening even more. She raised her hand and gently touched it, her fingertips tingling slightly from the prickles: "You've lost weight, and you've gotten darker."
"I'm sorry to have worried you." Zhou Jiuzhen took her hand, pressed it against his face, and rubbed it against her like a large, affectionate dog. "It won't happen again."
The sunlight fell on their clasped hands, warm and comforting.
The soldier on guard quietly turned his face away, but couldn't help but mutter to himself, "This Commander Zhou looks cold and hard, but when he cares for people, he's absolutely genuine."
Ling Huanwu felt embarrassed by his gaze and tried to pull her hand away, but he held it even tighter.
He lowered his head and gently touched her forehead again. This time the movement was very light. The stubble brushed against her skin and still hurt a little, but Ling Huanwu smiled.
Tears rolled down his cheeks and landed on the back of his hand, burning his heart.
"Go home," Zhou Jiuzhen said, his voice filled with an unprecedented tenderness.
"Yes, let's go home."
Ling Huanwu's voice choked with emotion.
Looking at Zhou Jiuzhen's smiling eyes, she couldn't imagine how heartbroken he would be when he discovered that his mother-in-law was no longer in the house!
*
The wind on the island carried a salty, fishy smell, and the ashes of paper money swirled against Zhou Jiuzhen's face.
Ling Huanwu held his hand worriedly, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, I went into the space to get some spiritual spring water for Mother, but I found that if you're far away from me, the door to the space warehouse disappears, so I can't get the spiritual spring water from outside the warehouse at all."
"If there is a spring of spiritual water, Mother can still be saved..."
Hearing the woman beside him blaming herself, Zhou Jiuzhen felt even more guilty.
If he hadn't deliberately let himself be captured as part of a scheme, his mother certainly wouldn't have died.
His military uniform, wrinkled and worn from the long journey, still bore the marks of fatigue. But the strength that had sustained him all that way vanished the moment he saw the new grave.
“Mother…” He knelt down in front of the grave, his palm stroking the rough tombstone. When his fingertips touched the four characters “Tomb of the Wang Family”, they trembled like a piece of ornament in the wind that could not be grasped.
It felt like a red-hot iron was stuck in my throat, and every sob was filled with blood and froth.
He remembered how his mother would always give him the burnt sweet potato when he was a child.
He recalled the amulet his mother sewed for him overnight before his first time going to the battlefield.
I remember when I left, my mother stood at the village entrance, her white hair blown by the wind like a tangled mess of weeds, but she smiled and said, "Mom is waiting for you to come back and eat dumplings."
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