Chapter 95

Chapter 95

"Don't go… don't go…"

Jiang Mo's murmuring brought him back to his senses. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I won't leave. I'll stay by your side forever."

"Child… child…" Tears slid from the corners of Jiang Mo's eyes as she slept. An Zeyou dug his fingers into the edge of the bed, forcing himself to endure the heartache. "There will be more children."

He leaned over her, coaxing her like a child, gently patting her. "Forget it. Forget everything from before."

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Mo slowly opened her eyes. Seeing everything around her, and seeing An Zeyou, she closed her eyes again. She didn't want to face it; she only wanted to escape.

"Second Young Master, the Madam requests your presence." A maidservant's voice came from the doorway.

An Zeyou opened the door. Jiang Mo heard the maidservant say, "The Madam said she didn't see Miss Jiang last night. Now that she's feeling a bit better, she would like you to bring Miss Jiang to see her."

It seemed Madam An knew nothing of what had happened the previous night.

"Miss Jiang is ill. I'll go alone."

With An Zeyou's words came the sound of the door closing.

The entire room fell silent. Jiang Mo slowly rose, wanting to pour herself a cup of water. As she picked up the cup, she noticed her hands trembling violently. Since giving birth, her body had been weak. She had been traveling nonstop, had little appetite, and after the ordeal of the previous night, her body was completely drained.

"Someone come." Her voice was faint. She called twice, but no one entered. She staggered to the door and opened it. "Someone come."

Immediately, a maidservant came forward to support her. "Bring me a bowl of porridge." She didn't want to live like this, but things hadn't yet reached an irredeemable state. If she wanted freedom, to reunite with her father and brother, she had to stay alive first.

"Yes, miss. Please return to your room. I'll bring it for you." The maidservant helped her back to her room. Jiang Mo sat down on a stool, resting her elbow on the table, holding her head as she stared blankly at the door.

Arriving in a strange place, surrounded by strangers—what could a weak woman like her do to escape? There truly was no one to help her.

Before long, several maidservants entered, laying out a lavish breakfast before her.

Jiang Mo only drank a few mouthfuls of porridge before she felt some strength return. She had no appetite for anything else and had the rest cleared away.

An Zeyou, returning from Madam An's place, saw the cleared breakfast and sat down beside Jiang Mo. "Why didn't you eat more? Was it not to your taste?"

Seeing the wound on Jiang Mo's neck, he reached out to touch it, but Jiang Mo leaned back. "Where is my dagger? Give it back to me."

"Are you still planning to hurt yourself?" An Zeyou's hand froze, but in the next moment, he grabbed the back of Jiang Mo's neck and pulled her close. Jiang Mo used all her strength to pull away but ultimately couldn't match him.

"Even if you die, you'll be buried with me. In this life and the next, you won't be able to leave me."

For her, this was the greatest cruelty—being controlled in life and not even free in death. "An Zeyou, don't make me hate you."

Seeing the coldness in Jiang Mo's eyes, An Zeyou's heart panicked. He released his grip and gently held her shoulders. "Don't hate me, Jiang Mo. Just take pity on me." His face showed desperation. "Look, you can't go back either. Why not stay by my side? I can bring Lord Jiang and A Bai here. If you don't want to live in the An residence, we can move out. You liked the little courtyard in Xiling County—I'll build you one just like it."

Jiang Mo's gaze was distant. "You've saved me many times. I regard you as a benefactor and truly wish you well. If you continue to waste your feelings on me, you'll end up with nothing."

An Zeyou's face turned pale, his eyes shattering. "You're wrong, Jiang Mo. I'm not trying to gain anything. I just want to see you often—that's enough for me."

He didn't understand. He had humbled himself so much—why couldn't Jiang Mo give him a chance?

Jiang Mo's expression softened. "An Zeyou, do you truly love me?"

An Zeyou was stunned for a moment, then straightened up and said seriously, "Jiang Mo, I love you. I want to see you every day, to take care of you, to grow old with you."

"No, you don't love me." Jiang Mo looked at him earnestly. "You're actually a very good person. If Duke Qingguo hadn't deliberately deceived you, you wouldn't have misunderstood me or used me. You're just feeling guilty for hurting and using someone even more pitiable than yourself. For ten years, you finally found someone trapped like you in the Chen imperial clan, someone to whom you could confide secrets without burden, someone willing to listen. You don't love me; you just need a companion to listen to you."

"That's not true." An Zeyou grabbed Jiang Mo's hands. "Remember the first time we met? I heard your qin music from far away. Every note stirred my heart. When I learned you were the substitute bride, I couldn't help wanting to get close to you, but at the same time, I thought you were just a vain woman and took advantage of you. Later, at Luoyun Tower, when you played 'Spring Sunshine,' my heart moved. I just didn't dare admit it and instead suppressed my feelings by hurting you. Jiang Mo, do you know? That New Year's Eve, when I was stabbed and unconscious, I saw your frightened face in my dreams. How much it pained me, how regretful I was? When I woke up, I didn't want to go against my heart anymore. I planned to confess my feelings to you after you left Shangjing, but then…"

These words had been buried in his heart for too long. An Zeyou felt an invisible hand squeezing his heart, tighter with every word, filling him with regret.

Truly, one wrong step led to another. He had thought more than once: even if not before the substitution, even at Luoyun Tower, if he had acted differently, what would have become of them?

"Jiang Mo, it was never that I needed someone to confide in and found you. It was that you were the one, so I wanted to confide."

Jiang Mo stared blankly at An Zeyou, her sense of apology deepening. She couldn't even find a word to refute him.

"Jiang Mo, can you forgive me? Forgive me for cutting your finger, for forcing you to play 'Spring Sunshine,' for taking advantage of you." An Zeyou held Jiang Mo's hands tighter and tighter, his eyes full of hope.

Jiang Mo smiled faintly. What reason did she have not to forgive? Even though An Zeyou had once used her, couldn't that be offset by his three rescues?

"On the Lantern Festival night, you saved me from drowning. Duke Qingguo wanted me dead, and you saved me from the assassins. The Empress Dowager couldn't tolerate me, and you saved me again. I owe you far more—how can we talk about forgiveness? But An Zeyou," She pulled her hand away, stood up, and took two steps with her back to him. "I am grateful, but I cannot love you, nor can I stay by your side."

It felt as if a piece of his heart had been gouged out. A sharp pain spread through An Zeyou's entire body. He had said everything he could to make her stay, yet he still heard rejection.

"Jiang Mo, what must I do for you to stay willingly?"

Jiang Mo opened the door. "Master An, stop pressing me. I'm tired. Please leave."

An Zeyou's legs felt like lead; he couldn't move. "I haven't seen you smile in a long time. Could you smile at me?"

Jiang Mo twitched the corner of her mouth, then let it fall, then twitched it again, forcing a smile at An Zeyou.

An Zeyou's eyes moistened. This was not the Jiang Mo he wanted, but he truly couldn't let her go.

He slowly walked to the door and gently hugged her. "Don't move. Just let me stay like this for a while."

He didn't dare put any strength into his arms, afraid that if he did, Jiang Mo would push him away.

He felt that this was the closest distance Jiang Mo could tolerate with him.

Even so, even if it were like this for a lifetime, he would still be willing.

He boldly held her a little tighter. Jiang Mo immediately began to struggle. Before she could push him away, he turned and left first.

That day, An Zeyou did not come again. He sent someone to deliver a seven-stringed qin, many storybooks, and jasmine incense.

Jiang Mo plucked the strings of the qin after a long time. The entire courtyard was filled with a soft, sorrowful melody that moved listeners to tears.

The An family had been military generals for generations, and there was rarely the sound of qin music in the residence. An Shengwu, who doted on his youngest son, had An Zeyou's courtyard right next to the main one. While discussing matters in the study, An Shengwu asked, "Second, is that Miss Jiang playing the qin?"

"Yes, Father. Jiang Mo is very skilled at the seven-stringed qin. I enjoy listening to it."

Listening to the tune, An Zeyou's mood eased slightly. The peace of knowing what she was doing even when he wasn't by her side gave him a sense of happiness.

"Not bad, a pleasant sound. Staying in the residence could indeed provide some entertainment for your mother." An Shengwu looked at An Jinzhi and An Zeyou. "Your eldest brother and I have decided: Jinzhi stays in the residence, and you, Second, will go to the battlefield with me."

Earlier that morning, when An Zeyou had gone to Madam An's room, the eunuch sent by Chen Yingchou to deliver the imperial edict had arrived at the An residence.

An Shengwu burned the edict on the spot and killed the eunuch who had delivered it.

"The messenger came so slowly—it must have been the young emperor's deliberate act to mobilize troops and set up defenses." An Shengwu snorted coldly. "He's only been fighting for a few years. How could the An Family Army compare to those brave but witless fools of the Rong Kingdom? This time, we'll show him the might of our An Family Army. Back in the day, if it weren't for the An Family Army, that late emperor who has now passed wouldn't have been able to sit firmly on the throne. An ungrateful wretch! This time, I'll make sure the throne changes hands!"

An Zeyou knew his father had been waiting for this edict for a long time. Unlike the previous edicts from the Late Emperor summoning his father to Shangjing under the pretext of missing him or celebrating a birthday, this one accused him of conspiring with Duke Qingguo to rebel, ordering his father to return to Shangjing for investigation. It was clearly a death sentence. Given his father's temperament, if he didn't resist now, he would truly become the coward he spoke of.

His father had long prepared everything, waiting only for this edict. Only then would their rebellion have a justification: the emperor wanted to destroy the An family, and their resistance was self-defense, not ambition. That way, when recorded in history, they wouldn't be reviled by future generations.

An Jinzhi objected, "Father, my martial arts and military strategy are comparable to Big Brother's. Why can't I go? Instead, Second Brother, who has never been on a battlefield and doesn't understand leading troops, should stay."

An Zeyou said, "I suggest no one stays at the An residence. Send the women of the family away tonight, so we can focus on the battlefield. This is a life-and-death battle, extremely perilous. Though I have no experience in leading troops, I know the Flying Cavalry Army better than any of you. I've known Chen Yingchou for ten years and understand him better than others do. Sister's Left Army is brave and skilled in battle. If she stays, she'll only worry. Better for all of us to fight together. Our family—if we live, we live together; if we die, we die together."

An Shengwu immediately said, "What nonsense! If we live, we live together; if we die, each dies their own death. What did I rebel for if not to preserve the bloodline of the An family, to save your lives? Jinzhi, take the family and evacuate to Li State tonight." He sighed deeply. "For so many years, our An Family Army has defended Great Qi against Li State's forces. I never thought we would one day flee to Li State. Jinzhi, I've spoiled you—I never stopped you from visiting Li State, and who knew it would become our retreat. You even bought a property there—very farsighted of you. Take your mother, sister-in-law, little nephew, and Miss Jiang there tonight. As for the servants, handle it as you see fit. If they don't want to follow, dismiss them all."

An Jinzhi knew her father's temper well. She thought it over—Li State indeed needed her to settle things first. Once she was settled, she could return to the battlefield. So she didn't argue further. "Daughter obeys Father's command."