Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Jiang Mo backed into a corner, Chen Yingchou stepped forward. Backed into a corner, Jiang Mo’s lower back slammed into the flower stand, making her wince. Chen Yingchou, pained, stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, his resentment and anger boiling over. "Wei Yalan, what are you doing here? Come home with me."

He scooped her up and started to leave. Jiang Mo pushed against his chest, struggling. "Put me down! I am not Wei Yalan!"

Chen Yingchou felt like his heart was breaking. Though he already knew the truth, he stubbornly insisted, "No, you are Wei Yalan. You are my lawful wife, my Lan'er. You have to come back with me."

He let her struggle but refused to let go. Jiang Bai, who had been playing in the yard, rushed over, pushed Chen Yingchou away, and pulled Jiang Mo down from his arms. "Let go of my sister! You jerk!"

Chen Yingchou had been traveling nonstop for days and barely eaten. When Jiang Bai pushed him, he was too weak to keep his balance and knocked over the flower stand. Flower pots shattered on the ground, branches and petals scattering among the mud and broken tiles.

Hearing the commotion, Ding Lizhu came out of the room. Seeing the man in luxurious robes, a golden crown, and a jade belt, he knew he was a high-ranking noble. Noticing the man’s red eyes and tearful gaze fixed on Jiang Mo, he couldn’t help wondering: Was Sister Mo’er really dumped, and this guy was her ex? To abandon someone and then come back regretting it—he deserved a beating.

Before Chen Yingchou could steady himself, Ding Lizhu struck him with a fist, sending him stumbling back several steps before he regained his balance.

Ding Lizhu shouted, "You heartless bastard! You dumped her, and now you have the audacity to come back?"

Chen Yingchou smiled bitterly. Who had abandoned whom?

Seeing Ding Lizhu about to strike again, Jiang Mo quickly stopped him. "Take A Bai inside. I’ll talk to him and make things clear."

Seeing the man’s wary expression, which clearly indicated a special relationship with Jiang Mo, Chen Yingchou felt like a fool. He laughed, and the more he laughed, the more his heart ached. "Lan’er, who is this man? You’ve only been away from me for a little over a month, and you’ve already found a new man?"

Jiang Mo lowered her head and turned her face away. "Your Highness need not know."

Chen Yingchou could barely breathe. The heavy stone pressing on his heart pounded relentlessly. He truly did not understand why his Lan’er was so distant. He walked over to Jiang Mo, placed one hand on her shoulder, and gently lifted her chin with the other, forcing her to look at him. "Didn’t I ask you to wait for me? Why didn’t you? Wei Yalan, tell me, what did I do wrong that you treat me like this?"

Jiang Mo was forced to tilt her chin up, but she dared not meet his eyes. She looked down. "I am not Wei Yalan. Your Highness, please leave this place."

Chen Yingchou looked at the wooden hairpin in her hair. "You are wearing the hairpin I carved for you with my own hands. If you are not her, then who are you? Tell me, who was the one who shared my bed when I was blind? Who hummed lullabies for me? Who played 'Mid-summer Flying Flowers' for me? Who went with me to the military camp and spent the night there?"

Jiang Mo’s tears fell. Finally, she looked him in the eyes—those eyes she had touched and kissed, those eyes she had once said were beautiful. But she only glanced at him briefly before she dared not look again.

"Your Highness already knew, didn’t you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have found this place. What more do you want to confirm?"

Chen Yingchou trembled as he wiped away Jiang Mo’s tears, gently caressing her face. "I will not hold any of the past against you. Just come back with me. Can’t we go back to how we were?"

"Go back?" Jiang Mo let out a cold laugh. "And what about the woman you have feelings for?"

Chen Yingchou was bewildered. "The woman I have feelings for? Lan’er, the only one I have ever loved is you."

Jiang Mo did not believe him. "That day, Your Highness clearly said you had someone in your heart and that you would tell me who it was."

Chen Yingchou recalled that day. He had wanted to express himself but had been too afraid, so he used a vague, half-hidden remark to hint at his repressed feelings.

"You misunderstood, Lan’er. Xu Ping’s senior brother was a mad doctor. Treating my eye condition with him was a matter of life and death. I was afraid I might not survive, so I dared not confess my feelings to you. I had even prepared a letter of divorce. After the third day of the third month, I was undergoing treatment, and in the final days, I was unconscious while being acupuncture. I had no idea what was happening outside. If I had known I would survive, I would have told you clearly. No matter who you are, the only person I have ever truly fallen for is you."

Jiang Mo stood frozen, unable to come to her senses for a long time. The person Prince Yu had feelings for was actually her?

Recalling everything that had happened in the Prince Yu’s mansion, she was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. So this was what it felt like to have mutual love. But they were as different as clouds and mud. Even if Prince Yu had confessed his feelings back then, she would not have dared to gamble her family’s lives on a man’s sincerity. Knowing this now was even more useless.

She pushed Chen Yingchou’s hand away. "Your Highness, do not say such things. Your lawful wife is Wei Yalan, not me. I cannot go back with you. Or are you planning to take me back to charge me with the crime of deceiving the emperor?"

Prince Yu spoke lightly, but if she returned to the capital with a face identical to Wei Yalan’s, once the emperor learned of the substitution, her family’s lives would be forfeit.

Chen Yingchou grasped Jiang Mo’s wrist. "Lan’er, trust me. Everything will be set right. Come back with me, return to my side. I will not let anything happen to you."

Jiang Mo shook off his hand. "I told you, I am not Wei Yalan. I am Jiang Mo—not a noble lady from a prestigious family, but a common woman. I am not worthy of a lofty prince like you." She pointed around her. "Your Highness, look. I have finally achieved the peaceful life I have always dreamed of. Please, just let me be. Go back and love Wei Yalan. She is your wife."

Even if she were spared the death penalty, what identity would she have to stay by Prince Yu’s side? Did he want to keep her as a hidden lover? Would she have to spend the rest of her life in hiding and fear?

Chen Yingchou felt suffocated. He pressed his chest to ease the pain, his eyes full of anguish. "I am a human being, not a character on a stage who can love whoever I’m told to. Do you know how I’ve been these past month and more since you left? I desperately tried to make Wei Yalan remember our past—how ridiculous, trying to make someone who is not you become you. Now that I have finally found you, how can I just give up?"

Jiang Mo knew in her heart that going back with him was easy, but living a life of one husband and one wife, growing old together, was too difficult.

Lin Mei was a cautionary tale. She did not want to become the next Lin Mei.

Many things are not enough just because two people love each other. Going back would inevitably drag her into endless disputes. Zhu Shiliang could not protect Lin Mei—how could Chen Yingchou protect her?

"Your Highness, you and I—it’s impossible."

Chen Yingchou was about to say more when the door to the main hall opened. Jiang Bingzhong, leaning on a cane, came out and knelt before Chen Yingchou. "Your Highness, please forgive our sins and stop troubling Mo’er."

Jiang Mo knelt beside her father and kowtowed heavily. "I, Jiang Mo, am nothing but a liar full of deceit. From the first day I entered the prince’s mansion to the last day I left, I never treated Your Highness sincerely. Everything I did was forced, all an act. Today, let us pretend that Your Highness was never here. From now on, we need never see each other again."

Chen Yingchou’s fists clenched tighter and tighter. He shouted, "He Ji!"

He Ji burst in. He had been listening at the door, hearing the commotion and wanting to enter earlier, but he had no orders. As soon as he stepped inside, he was stunned by the scene before him. So there really were two people in the world who looked identical but were not blood-related.

"Surround this place. No one is allowed in or out."

"Yes, Your Highness, the Crown Prince."

Crown Prince? Jiang Mo did not know whether to be happy or worried. Yes, the emperor had intended to make him the Crown Prince. Now that his eyesight was restored, he was naturally the legitimate heir. Chen Yingchou would one day ascend the throne—that made him even more beyond her reach.

Jiang Mo gently touched her belly. Fortunately, Chen Yingchou had not noticed earlier; otherwise, she would have been forcibly taken away.

After Chen Yingchou left, Jiang Mo’s first act was to return to her room and wrap layers of wide cloth around her belly. "Child, forgive your mother. We cannot go back with your father. It is not his fault, nor yours. Blame the one who started all this. Mother believes that father will certainly not let him off. But without him, mother would never have met your father, and you would not exist. So, my child, let us not resent anyone. Do not be consumed by hatred. Let us just live our own lives well..."

After binding her belly, Jiang Mo could not help but think of Prince Jing and the Tenth Prince. Their mothers had both been executed after giving birth to them. Even if Chen Yingchou loved her, how long would that love last? She had no family to rely on—her only support was Chen Yingchou’s love. When that love faded, her life would soon end. And what kind of life would her child lead? Would he become like Prince Jing, clinging to other princes, or like the Tenth Prince, living humbly?

"Sister Mo’er, may I come in?" Ding Lizhu knocked softly. "Master told me everything. Sister Mo’er, rest assured. No matter who you were before, since you have agreed to marry me, you are my wife. I will risk my life if needed to keep that man from taking you away."

Jiang Mo opened the door. "Remember this, Lizhu. I don’t need you to risk your life. Many things in this world cannot be achieved by risking your life—like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, or an ant trying to shake a tree. Do not make unnecessary sacrifices. Leave this matter alone."

Ding Lizhu looked dejected, his lips trembling, his hands clutching his clothes. "Sister Mo’er, do you still love that man? He is the Crown Prince. If not for you, someone like me would never have seen a Crown Prince in my lifetime. He is so handsome—more handsome than any man I have ever seen. So noble. And he is the father of your child. I am ordinary, good only for woodworking."

Jiang Mo pulled him inside and poured him a cup of tea. "In this world, there are not only nobles and royals. There are far more common people. The common people are the foundation of a nation. Rest assured. Although he is the Crown Prince, he is also a gentleman, a general guarding the border, and a virtuous minister working for the people’s benefit. Even if he knows you are my fiancé, he will not harm an innocent person."

"You see, Sister Mo’er, you speak so highly of him. You clearly still care. Why don’t you go back with him?"

Jiang Mo smiled and shook her head. "Many things are complicated beyond a single promise."

In the eyes of ordinary people like Ding Lizhu, she had struck a lucky break. Only she knew how awkward her position was. Wei Yalan was meant to become empress. How could she, with a face identical to the empress’s, live in the harem?

Not to mention whether Wei Yalan would forgive her, even the emperor and the Empress would never accept her.

Even if she explained this to Ding Lizhu, he would not understand. She patted his shoulder. "The carpentry shop won’t open in the next few days, and you can’t leave either. For now, you can share a room with A Bai."

Seeing that Jiang Mo was firm and would not go with the prince, Ding Lizhu said no more. Thinking that he could stay here and see Jiang Mo every day, he felt a little happy.

But that very night, He Ji had his men throw Ding Lizhu out.