Chapter 21

“Why did you bring me here?”

Xu Lianqiao turned around and looked around. The mountain behind the Temple of the Reclining Buddha was a large grassland, and beyond it, there was a forest and a flowing stream.

Aside from the occasional chirping of insects and birds, it was eerily quiet.

Naturally, she felt a bit scared. After all, she didn’t really trust Jiang Huai.

Ning Yuan saw her pretending to be calm, but she looked like she wanted to run but didn’t dare to. He couldn’t help but tease her.

“Do you think if you scream here, the people in the temple will come to help?”

When Jiang Huai said this, Xu Lianqiao immediately felt uneasy. She remembered how he once wanted to strangle her…

She suddenly regretted going out with him.

Thinking about it, her hands started shaking, and her steps slowly moved back.

Ning Yuan noticed her panic and realized his joke went too far.

He quickly tried to make it better, stumbling over his words, “Ah Qiao, I was just joking. I didn’t mean to…”

Before he could finish, Xu Lianqiao, already scared, interrupted him with a sob.

“Jiang Huai, you’re crazy! You really want to strangle me again…” she said, her voice filled with anger.

Ning Yuan clenched his fists in frustration. He never thought that Jiang Huai would hurt Ah Qiao.

How could he make such a joke with her?

While Ning Yuan was deep in thought, Xu Lianqiao couldn’t stop crying. The more she cried, the harder it became to control herself.

“Ahhh… ooooh… why…” she sobbed, trying to wipe away her tears, but hey wouldn’t stop.

“Are you happy now?” she sobbed while pushing his hand away when he tried to comfort her.

Crying hurt her head, but she still couldn’t stop.

Eventually, she squatted down and continued crying her heart out.

Ning Yuan had never seen her like this, and he didn’t know what to do. He squatted beside her, unsure if he should comfort her or leave her alone.

_

About 15 minutes passed.

Finally, Xu Lianqiao’s sobs became smaller, and she seemed to be done crying.

“Ah Qiao, it’s all my fault. You can hit me or scold me,” Ning Yuan said, apologizing like he was talking to a child.

He regretted his behavior so much.

Listening to his apology, Xu Lianqiao sniffled. She felt embarrassed… She had cried so much, and now it felt like she had made a big mistake.

Ning Yuan quickly tore a piece of cloth from his clothes and handed it to her, not hesitating for a second.

Xu Lianqiao, after a moment of hesitation, took it.

He still had some sense, at least.

“I’ll get you some water,” Ning Yuan said.

Xu Lianqiao heard his footsteps leave.

It was strange. She had cried so shamelessly in front of him, but now she felt embarrassed when she blew her nose.

Forget it, I’ll get up first.

After blowing her nose, she tried to stand up, but her feet felt numb.

When Ning Yuan returned, he saw Ah Qiao walking around stiffly. He quickly rushed to support her.

Suddenly, she was steady, with her feet safely on the ground.

As she got her balance, he handed her a wet cloth.

“Here,” he said briefly.

Xu Lianqiao wiped her eyes with it and said in a low voice, “Actually, this isn’t your fault.”

She understood that Jiang Huai’s earlier words were just a joke, and she had overreacted. She had been wanting to cry for a long time.

Ning Yuan wasn’t comforted by her words. He understood now that it had been the wrong time to joke.

He hadn’t noticed her feelings. Instead, he had just thought he was being funny.

After she stopped crying, he handed her a bottle of water to help soothe her throat.

She didn’t want to lose her voice from crying too much.

Xu Lianqiao took the bottle and drank some, but then looked up at him with teary eyes.

“Where did this water come from?” she asked.

Ning Yuan hesitated, clearly aware that she was wondering if he had gotten it from the stream.

Normally, he would have teased her, but now he just honestly said, “It was brought from Jiang Mansion.”

When Xu Lianqiao heard that, she took the bottle and drank. She was used to drinking from streams and catching fish from the water, but she didn’t like the idea of drinking water from a place where other people had bathed.

She finished drinking and returned the bottle to him, then he quietly put it away.

“Aren’t you going to drink?” she asked.

After a pause, she regretted saying it, realizing she had already drunk from it.

Ning Yuan could tell what she was thinking and comforted her, “Don’t worry, this is fresh.”

He didn’t want her to feel bad about it.

“I didn’t mean that,” she said, feeling a bit guilty but noticing how calm he seemed. He didn’t seem to mind what had happened.

“So, what did you bring me here for?” she asked.

“To eat some meat,” Ning Yuan answered, smiling.

When they set off to hunt pheasants, Xu Lianqiao’s eyes lit up. She really craved them.

She was so hungry. They hadn’t eaten much earlier that day.

She looked at the roasted chicken skewered on sticks, swallowed, and hesitated.

“Isn’t this bad in a sacred place like this?” she asked, nervous.

Although she wasn’t religious, she didn’t want to disrespect the temple.

Ning Yuan chuckled, thinking it was funny she was worried about that now.

“No, this place is far from the Buddhist temple,” he assured her.

Xu Lianqiao looked back at the temple and realized they were much farther from it than she thought.

This felt familiar. Was this place where she used to come? Why did Jiang Huai bring her here? Was it a coincidence?

But she didn’t have time to think too much about it because the roast chicken smelled so good, and her hunger overtook her thoughts.

She ate most of it herself.

Noticing that Jiang Huai didn’t even touch a chicken leg, she felt a bit embarrassed.

Ning Yuan was glad she was eating well. That was all that mattered to him.

They watched the fire die down, and the evening sky darkened.

Xu Lianqiao lay down in the grass, content, as she finished her meal.

Jiang Huai lay down nearby, just far enough from her to give her space.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely.

Ning Yuan, who felt guilty for making her cry earlier, apologized again, “I’m sorry for making you cry like that.”

Xu Lianqiao looked up at the sky, watching a flock of birds fly by.

“No,” she said softly, shaking her head.

At that moment, she wanted to share something from her heart. “Actually… I’m still upset because of Mrs. Wei.”

Somehow, all the years of frustration rushed out at once.

“I’m sure you’re disappointed that she didn’t write to you, right?” he added.

Ning Yuan understood her completely. His own mother had passed away when he was young, but Ah Qiao’s parents were still alive. Yet, she didn’t have their love.

“Yeah,” Xu Lianqiao said, admitting the truth.

“I understand. It must have been hard for her too,” she continued. “When I was younger, I blamed her, and I was angry. But as I grew up, especially after marrying you, I started to understand how hard it must have been for her to deal with everything.”

“She must have had a hard time when she married my father,” she added softly.

“It’s that man’s fault,” Ning Yuan said, referring to her father.

He understood her feelings but didn’t think Mrs. Wei was blameless. She could have left her marriage but chose not to.

In the end, Xu Lianqiao said, “I should still thank you.” After crying, she felt much better.

They lay there, enjoying the peaceful breeze.

It felt like when she was a child, and the boy used to catch fish for her by the stream.

As the sun began to set, Ning Yuan and Xu Lianqiao returned to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

Once they entered the temple, the atmosphere was serious. The quiet sound of wooden fish ^[1]instrument used in Buddhist practices. could be heard.

“I’ll go ask what’s going on,” Ning Yuan said, calling someone from the house. That’s when Xu Lianqiao found out that Wei Jue had pushed Princess Anyi into the river.

“This is your problem too,” Ning Yuan said firmly, almost laughing.

He wasn’t close to his cousin, Princess Anyi, but he knew that she was someone who would seek revenge.

“It seems like this won’t end tonight,” Xu Lianqiao said. She wasn’t trying to brag—well, maybe just a little.

_

The atmosphere in one wing of Wat Pho was heavy and serious.

Mrs. Wei and Wei Jue knelt on the ground, waiting for Princess Anyi to appear.

Although Wei Jue was the future Princess Chu, her marriage had not yet been officially recognized, so she still needed to kneel because of her formal title as princess.

Besides, she knew she was in the wrong this time.

She never imagined that Xu Lianqiao would not show up, but instead, it was Princess Anyi who arrived.

Princess Anyi, of course, had fallen into the trap Wei Jue set up on the floor.

By the time Wei Jue realized it, Princess Anyi had already fallen into the river.

The scent of sandalwood filled the air as Princess Anyi soaked in a bath, surrounded by her maids.

Upon hearing the report of the visitor, Princess Anyi calmly said, “So the rope on the ground was originally meant for Xu Lianqiao?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” replied the maid named Xiao Tao, confirming the information.

After receiving this confirmation, Princess Anyi laughed softly and said:

“I remember that Wei Jue’s stepmother, now Mrs. Wei, is the biological mother of Xu Lianqiao. Could this be relevant?”

“Yes, Your Highness, you remember correctly.”

Princess Anyi gently rubbed her forehead and said, “Then go and invite Xu Lianqiao here.”

She was eager to see how the next part of the drama would unfold.