Chapter 29  

Xu Lianqiao lowered her head to pick up the rice in her bowl, cursing in her heart. She couldn’t figure out what this person was thinking. After waking up, he didn’t say anything and just watched her eat. She wasn’t used to it.

“Why are you staring at me like this? Don’t you want to eat?”

She spoke and picked up a slice of lotus root for Jiang Huai, placing it in his bowl. She remembered that he seemed to like lotus root.

Jiang Huai stared at the two lotus root slices in his bowl, feeling as though he had been drenched in vinegar. He didn’t like eating lotus root slices.

The fact that Ah Qiao might have noticed made him uneasy, so he quickly picked up the lotus root slices and ate them.

Watching him eat the food she picked for him, Xu Lianqiao fiddled with her chopsticks, even nervously tapping her toes on the soles of her shoes.

After glancing at him again, she asked, “You haven’t finished what you started to say that day. You… I… eight years ago… you…”

She couldn’t express herself clearly—perhaps she was too nervous, or maybe the situation was too complicated and unbelievable.

“That day…”

“Ah Qiao, eat this.”

Jiang Huai interrupted her, unsure whether it was intentional or not.

Xu Lianqiao glanced at the mutton in her bowl, feeling confused. Before, he always seemed to know what she liked to eat. Though he never directly asked, every meal they shared together was always filled with food she liked. But today, there were seven dishes on the table, and four of them weren’t her favorites.

She wasn’t picky, but there were just certain foods she didn’t care for, like garlic or coriander.

“I don’t like mutton.”

If anyone else had given it to her, she probably would have eaten it in silence, but it was him. If he didn’t even know what she liked, she couldn’t help but feel upset.

Jiang Huai was surprised. He had never seen Ah Qiao act so soft or coquettish. In his mind, she always seemed indifferent, as though nothing mattered to her—whether someone tried to be her concubine or how they acted around her, it didn’t bother her. But now, she was acting this way toward him.

“Then let’s change it…”

Jiang Huai looked at the seven dishes on the table but couldn’t think of what Ah Qiao liked to eat. After all, he had never really cared about her preferences before.

So, he simply offered her the taro ribs he had just picked up.

Xu Lianqiao frowned, feeling something was off. “You said it that day, and you were supposed to tell me when you came back.”

Yet, he had walked away without a word for so many days, leaving her worried. When he finally returned, he didn’t explain anything to her and instead tried to joke about it, which only made her feel more frustrated.

Jiang Huai sensed the discontent in her voice. If he had previously tried to deny what she said and insisted that he was the one from before, it wouldn’t matter to her. But if he treated her the same way as that other person had, Ah Qiao might not trust him anymore.

If he wanted to gain Ah Qiao’s trust, even if he didn’t want to, he would have to keep pretending to be the other person.

The other person had pretended to be him, so he could also pretend to be the other person.

But Jiang Huai still didn’t know what the past was between Ah Qiao and the other person. All he knew was that they had met eight years ago.

Eight years ago, Ah Qiao was only ten years old. How could they have met?

But when Jiang Huai thought about the fact that that person had known Ah Qiao, he felt uneasy.

Still, since Ah Qiao had married him, she belonged to him, and no one else could take her away.

“What do you want to know, Ah Qiao?”

“What do you mean, ‘I want to know’? Aren’t you the one who said it… What did you owe me eight years ago?”

It was true that he had started the conversation. Why was he now asking her what she wanted to know? Shouldn’t he be the one to tell her everything? Why should she have to ask?

Jiang Huai didn’t know how to make up a story. He had no memories of Ah Qiao from eight years ago.

He had come back so quickly that he hadn’t had time to learn who that person was or what their relationship with Ah Qiao was.

Then, suddenly, he remembered that the year he fell into the water was eight years ago. Lu Siqing had said that Ah Qiao had refused to save him back then. So, it meant that Ah Qiao had been at the Temple of the Reclining Buddha eight years ago…

Jiang Huai slowly connected the dots, glancing at Xu Lianqiao. He wasn’t entirely sure, but in order to keep things moving, he had to test her: “Eight years ago, at the Temple of the Reclining Buddha… Ah Qiao, if you don’t remember anything, I’ll be sad.”

“Really… It’s you!”

Listening to Ah Qiao’s excited voice, Jiang Huai couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. His guess had been right.

It was the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

Xu Lianqiao was overjoyed. She never expected to meet her big brother here again.

But after the excitement faded, Xu Lianqiao felt a sense of sadness.

“So… why did you leave without even telling me? Did you know I was worried about you? I kept wondering if something had happened to you, but I didn’t even know your name. I couldn’t even begin to look for you… let alone find someone to ask about you…”

As she spoke, Xu Lianqiao felt a surge of grievance.

Jiang Huai sighed with relief when he heard she didn’t know his identity. That meant he had plenty of room to make up a story.

“I’m sorry.” Jiang Huai apologized first and then continued, “I had an emergency back then and had to leave the capital. After that… I never had the chance to return.”

“But you didn’t even send me a letter.”

He had said he knew who she was and where she lived, yet he didn’t even send her a letter.

Jiang Huai, hearing this, couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. The man had been heartless and unjust. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have even sent a letter to Ah Qiao.

He was unwilling to defend that person: “Ah Qiao, I was really busy when I returned. When I finally had some free time, I forgot your address. I’m truly sorry for making you worry.”

Xu Lianqiao felt a bit sad upon hearing he had forgotten her address. She had clearly asked him to write it down.

But when she remembered that he still remembered her, she felt less sorrowful, so she pushed away her sadness. Shaking her head, she said, “It’s okay. I was just worried, and I couldn’t help it.”

She was so considerate… but not to him.

With that thought, Jiang Huai clenched his hand, causing the chopsticks to slip from his fingers.

There was a soft “pop” sound.

“It’s okay, I’ll pick it up myself,” Xu Lianqiao said, bending down to retrieve the chopsticks. As she did, Jiang Huai’s smile completely vanished, replaced by dark, gloomy eyes.

Ah Qiao had never worried about him. After their argument that day, he left, and even the young man at the door knew that the weather wasn’t good. There could have been an accident when she went out, but she hadn’t cared about him at all.

“By the way, I still don’t know your name. Why did you suddenly arrive in Jiang Huai’s body? Did something happen to you?”

At this point, Xu Lianqiao realized her big brother was also unconscious. Something must have happened, or else how would he have ended up in Jiang Huai’s body?

Aren’t such supernatural things usually caused by resurrecting corpses or monsters?

“Don’t you care where the real Jiang Huai went?”

“What?”

Why should she care? That’s what she thought, but to avoid sounding cold-hearted, she said something else.

Jiang Huai knew he shouldn’t ask, but he couldn’t help it. Ah Qiao was his woman. How could she talk about another man?

“I do care,” Xu Lianqiao replied earnestly.

“Really?” Jiang Huai felt secretly pleased.

But before he could feel too happy, he heard Xu Lianqiao continue: “By the way, do you have to wait until Jiang Huai’s soul comes back before you can go back… or can you still return?”

She didn’t care about him after all.

Jiang Huai hid the disappointment in his eyes and asked in a dry voice, “Is this body so bad? Jiang Huai is the prince of the Marquis family and a minister at Dali Temple. Isn’t it good to be like him?”

Xu Lianqiao was stunned because, in her heart, her big brother was never someone who would say such things.

Would he really do this to someone else… or was he feeling the need to be held?

She didn’t know how to respond and felt confused for a moment.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the door.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, it’s not good, Lady Lu is about to give birth…”