Chapter 105

Jiang Yanyi was confused. So, Lu Linyuan had known Madam An for a long time?

She said carefully: "You and the Lu family..."

Madam An laughed at herself and said: "I was born in a troupe in Yangzhou. I was a toy bought by Madam Lu for Master Lu."

When Lu Linyuan broke up with the Lu family because of Jiang Yanxi, Madam Lu thought that her son was just bewitched. In order to stop her son from thinking about it, she sent people to search everywhere and found a woman who looked a bit like Jiang Yanxi.

Minister Jiang did not allow his daughter to be a concubine, and the Lu family was unwilling to marry a concubine as the mistress, so Madam Lu came up with this idea.

"Master Lu refused to touch me, and later he was demoted to Xizhou. Mrs. Lu sent me to Xizhou to take care of Master Lu. Who would have thought that I encountered bandits on the road, and I was almost humiliated by the bandits. It was the general who saved me..."

Mrs. An was choked up when she said this: "I wanted to commit suicide, but it was the general who stopped me. The general said he would be responsible for me. If you want to marry me, how can someone like me be worthy... After the news came back to the Lu family in the capital, the young master wrote a letter saying that he wanted me to marry the general. When he arrived in Xizhou, I could use my connections in the general's mansion to help him a lot, so I hid everything from the general."

"The general heard that there was no one in my natal family. Afraid that I would not be able to gain a foothold in Xizhou, they announced to the outside world that I had saved him. With this connection, it would be much easier for me to marry into the An family." Madam An covered her face with her hand and cried bitterly: "The general is a good man. No one has ever treated me so well in my life. I know that my mother-in-law doesn't like me, but I have always felt guilty towards the An family. No matter how badly my mother-in-law treats me, I will just take it as atonement."

"After I had the general's child, I just wanted to live a good life with the general. I was afraid that the young master would come after me again, so I took the initiative to write a letter to the young master. Unexpectedly, the letter fell into the hands of my mother-in-law, and my mother-in-law insisted that I had committed adultery. After reading the letter, the general knew that I married him just to pave the way for the young master. Although he did not expose me, he completely broke up with me. He was unwilling to say a word to me and packed up his things and went to the barracks that day."

"I thought about committing suicide, but I was pregnant with the general's child, and I wanted to give birth to this child...but my mother-in-law hated me and called the child in my belly a bastard. My mother-in-law also wanted to give my niece to the general as a concubine, but I didn't agree."

Madam An raised her eyes and tried hard to hold back the tears, but the tears still flowed.

She wiped her eyes, her voice full of self-mockery: "I had an argument with my mother-in-law's niece. It was snowing heavily that day, and the blue bricks under the corridor were frosted. She pushed me and I fell down the stairs. The baby in my belly was gone. After the general came back, my mother-in-law said that I fell on purpose because I was guilty and didn't dare to give birth to the child. It was probably not the general's child..."

Mrs. An's eyes were red, and her wristband was completely unusable. Jiang Yanyi handed her his wristband.

Madam An choked up and said, "When the general came to see me, he told me that after I finished my confinement, he would send me to a farm in the country to recuperate. I don't know whether he was unwilling to forgive me or believed what my mother-in-law said, but there was really no point for me to live in this world. I went to commit suicide by jumping into the lake, but was rescued by the young master. Only then did I know that the reason why the young master never looked for me after he arrived in Xizhou was because he never wanted to use me to pave the way. He wrote that letter because he was afraid that I would commit suicide or wait for him foolishly. He wanted me to marry well and live my own life."

Jiang Yanyi did not expect the truth to be like this, and for a moment he didn't know what to say to comfort Madam An.

She grasped the point sharply: "Did anyone know about your jumping into the lake that day?"

Fearing that Madam An would misunderstand, she quickly explained: "I didn't mean anything else, I was just a little curious about why Master Lu happened to appear there."

Madam An shook her head: "I didn't tell anyone, and I don't know why Master Lu appeared in Yanhu."

It was because Lu Linyuan happened to appear there and saved her that time that An Yongyuan became more suspicious of her and Lu Linyuan.

Jiang Yanyi had already obtained the information she wanted. Madam An and Lu Linyuan were old acquaintances, but she did not communicate with Lu Linyuan in advance when she jumped into the lake.

The relationship between Madam An and Lu Linyuan was not mentioned in the original book, so she mistakenly thought that Madam An and Lu Linyuan had never known each other.

The question now is, Madam An and Lu Linyuan never communicated after arriving in Xizhou. What was the reason that Lu Linyuan happened to appear in Yanhu Lake and saved Madam An?

Or did Lu Linyuan know in advance that Madam An would jump into the lake, and also knew the time and place, and went to save her?

Combined with Feng Shuo's previous words, Jiang Yanyi had a vague guess in her heart, but she was not sure.

Madam An Shao slowly stopped crying, looked at Jiang Yanyi and said, "In this life, a person only has the courage to commit suicide once. I know what it feels like to have lake water pouring into my mouth and nose in the severe winter. Now that I have been rescued, I don't plan to die. What I have now may not be what I deserve, but now that I have it, I want to hold on to it."

"Miss Chu, I have told you everything you want to know. I have accepted everything in my life, except for An Yongyuan. I want to fight against this fate. Even though he hates me now and doesn't even want to see me..."

Jiang Yanyi asked, "Have you explained it to General An?"

Madam An's eyes were sad: "I have said it, but the letter is true. When I married him... I did have ulterior motives. He will not forgive me." Jiang

Yanyi said firmly: "General An has you in his heart."

There are too many misunderstandings between the two of them, and they need a suitable time to untie the knot.

An Yongyuan is unwilling to turn back now. In the original book, after Madam An died, he lived like a walking corpse.

Madam An smiled bitterly: "He has me in his heart? Before this, I didn't know that his heart could be so cold and hard! Miss Chu, do you know what it feels like to be unwilling?" Jiang

Yanyi said: "Although I have never experienced it, I can understand it."

Madam An just shook her head: "You don't understand, he and I can never be the same as before."

She stood up to leave, Jiang Yanyi called her: "Madam An, if you want, you can try my method."

Madam An looked back at Jiang Yanyi, her eyes were red and swollen: "What method?"

An Yongyuan learned that his mother had fallen and injured herself, and immediately returned to the An Mansion from the Xizhou camp.

He first went to greet Mrs. An, and then went to see Madam An. Madam An's upper and lower lips and nose were swollen. After the tongue was injured, she was in so much pain that she dared not speak. Seeing her son, she just shed tears.

An Yongyuan was a true military commander, with a strong body and a scar about an inch long on his face. Because he was always serious, the people in the mansion and even the soldiers were afraid of him.

"Mother, what's wrong with you?" An Yongyuan was still wearing his armor and his face was covered with dust. He looked around but didn't see Madam An. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Where is Yunniang?"

Madam An was speechless. The maid beside her said sarcastically, "Hey, General, who dares to say anything about the young lady! The old lady's birthday banquet was almost ruined. The lady fell down like this. I urged her several times to come back earlier. Not to mention to watch her all the time, she should at least come to see her. The young lady just asked me to come back by myself!"

An Yongyuan asked, "Where is she now?"

The maid said, "In Ruyi Tower! The guests have all left. I don't know who the young lady is going to meet there."

An Yongyuan's face darkened and said, "I'll go pick up Yunniang."

Since the last time Madam An committed suicide by jumping into the lake, he directly ordered that someone should follow Madam An at all times.

He was afraid that Madam An would have an accident, and he was also afraid that she would meet Lu Linyuan there.

Mrs. An was so angry that she slapped the bed, but her mouth was so swollen that she could not speak clearly.

The maid beside her understood what she meant and stopped An Yongyuan and said, "Just ask someone to pass the message. There is no need for you to go in person."

An Yongyuan glanced at the maid and said, "Mother Tan, you are an old lady in the mansion. Just take good care of your mother. The mistress of the An family is not someone a servant can talk about."

The maid was frightened by An Yongyuan's eyes and dared not say anything.

The servants of the An mansion quickly harnessed the carriage, and after An Yongyuan got on the carriage, he asked the driver to rush to Ruyi Tower.

Arriving at Ruyi Tower, after the An family's coachman explained their purpose, the waiter of Ruyi Tower said, "Mrs. An left early in the morning and is not here." The

coachman asked, "Do you know when my young lady left?"

The waiter thought for a moment and said, "3:00 pm. Oh, yes, Mrs. An also left a letter and asked me to deliver it to the An residence, but the business in the building was busy, so I didn't have time to deliver the letter to your residence. It happened that someone came to your residence, so I'll go get the letter now."

The waiter quickly took the letter and handed it to the coachman, who handed it to An Yongyuan.

An Yongyuan scanned it and saw that the envelope was indeed written by Mrs. An, with "My husband personally wrote."

He tore open the wax seal and read the beautiful small words on the letter paper, his eyes faintly reddened: "Go to Yanhu!"

Yanhu was the place where Mrs. An first jumped into the lake.

At this moment, in the Yan Gui Pavilion on the hillside by the lake, Jiang Yanyi, Madam An, and sisters Chu Shubao were shivering around a small stove.

While warming his hands, Jiang Yanyi said to Madam An, "When General An comes, don't really jump into the lake. Just pretend to jump, but say it in a way that is a farewell of life and death."

He turned around and said to Madam An's maid, "Just stand not far away and cry hysterically. Cry as sadly as you can."

The little maid looked confused and said, "Do I need to say anything?"

Jiang Yanyi thought for a moment and said, "Just call your Madam. The important thing is to cry. Do you understand?"

The little maid nodded vigorously, "I understand."

Jiang Yanyi stood up and shouted to the distance . "Brother, has he come?"

Chu Chengmao, who was forced by Jiang Yanyi to work as a laborer as soon as he arrived at Ruyi Tower, squatted on a big tree, looked at the official road in the distance, and replied helplessly: "No one is on the road."

Mrs. An's eyes flashed with loneliness: "He probably won't come."

Jiang Yanyi reached out to pinch the sweet potato roasted by the stove, "Wait a little longer, he may be on the way. Think about what to say to him when you see him later."

The sweet potato was not baked yet, but the chestnuts and ginkgo nuts roasted by the fire were cracked after a small cut.

Jiang Yanyi picked up a ginkgo nut, peeled it open, and the yellow-green flesh was exposed. Some of the flesh was still wrapped in a layer of golden brown fruit skin. The roasted ginkgo nuts had a unique grassy fragrance and were soft and delicious in the mouth.

Ginkgo nuts are often used to make soup and medicinal food. It was the first time for Chu Shubao and her friends to try charcoal-roasted ginkgo nuts, which was very novel.

"It's sticky and fragrant! Roasted ginkgo nuts taste great as a snack." Chu Shubao's eyes lit up after tasting one.

Jiang Yanyi distributed the roasted ginkgo nuts to Madam An Shao and her maid. Madam An Shao was worried and refused to take them. Her maid stared at them for a long time. Seeing that Madam An Shao had no intention of disapproving, she took them, peeled them and ate them. Ginkgo nuts

are a healthy food, but they contain trace amounts of toxins. Eating too much can easily cause poisoning. Jiang Yanyi roasted less, and each person could not get more than a few, so she was not worried about food poisoning.

She said to Chu Shubao: "Don't eat too many ginkgo nuts, but chestnuts are okay."

The flesh of charcoal-roasted chestnuts is golden yellow, fragrant and sticky, and the sweetness is more natural than sugar-roasted chestnuts, which is very memorable.

After they finished eating the ginkgo nuts and chestnuts, Chu Chengmao finally received a message that An Yongyuan had arrived.

Madam An Shao took her maid to the lakeside, and the sisters Jiang Yanyi and Chu Shubao used the accumulated snow to put out the fire in the mud stove to prevent An Yongyuan from seeing the smoke and getting suspicious.

Yan Gui Pavilion is halfway up the mountain, and you can see everything in Yanhu Lake.

When Chu Chengmao came back, Jiang Yanyi stuffed half a roasted sweet potato into his mouth: "Thank you for your hard work , second brother."

Chu Chengmao looked at the three sisters who were eating roasted sweet potatoes together, staring at them below, with a look of confusion: "I shouldn't have gotten into this mess with you."

Chu Shubao quickly made a silent gesture to him: "Second brother, don't make a sound."

Chu Chengmao: "..."

At this time, the crying of Madam An's maid could be heard from the edge of Yanhu Lake. Jiang Yanyi saw An Yongyuan get off the carriage, but he didn't say a few words to Madam An, and he rushed forward and carried the person on his shoulders and took him away.

The maid who was crying heartbreakingly at the side saw this scene, and her crying was choked with fear.

The people watching in the pavilion halfway up the mountain looked at each other.

Chu Shubao held the roasted sweet potato and said, "Ayi, the situation seems to be a little different from what you guessed."

Jiang Yanyi: "...I figured it out."