Chapter 112: Opening The Heart

Demoted to a commoner, family property confiscated, exiled to Huangzhou.

In the previous life?

In the previous life, not only were they demoted to commoners, but all the women in the family were made official prostitutes, the men were punished as slaves, and those who dared to resist were executed. The entire clan was exiled to the miasmic lands of Baiyue, four thousand miles away from home. The journey was full of hardships. Marquis Yongyi, Yan Mu, had barely arrived at the place of exile when his old wounds flared up due to the humid and hot weather, and he died bedridden shortly after.

This life is already much better than the previous one.

But is exile still inevitable?

Huangzhou.

Where is Huangzhou?

In both lifetimes, Jiang Xuening had never ventured far from the capital. Even if she had seen the place in books, it was hard to imagine what kind of place it was, whether it was inhabited, and how far it really was.

Jiang Boyou felt relieved, seeing his daughter suddenly lost in thought, fearing she was worried about the fate of the Yongyi Marquis’s household. He quickly comforted her, saying, “Huangzhou is in Hubei. Although it was trampled by the iron hooves of the Pingnan Prince’s army twenty years ago, turning it into a desolate and abandoned city, it is still much better than being exiled to the northwest, Liaodong, or Baiyue. Life may be hard, but at least your life is not in danger. If you can endure it, there might be a chance for reinstatement in the future.”

Jiang Xuening remained silent.

Jiang Boyou continued, “This is already the emperor’s mercy, considering the meritorious service of the Marquis’s household. In reality, it is for the sake of Consort Wen’s unborn child, not wanting to spill blood and willing to spare the Marquis’s household to accumulate blessings for the child. Otherwise, just for the Marquis’s connection with the Pingnan Prince’s rebellious party, the household would not be tolerated.”

Jiang Xuening understood the reasoning, but as long as she thought about the injustice the entire Yongyi Marquis’s household had to bear, leaving their ancestral home and comfortable life to go to Huangzhou, and that the young man also had to suffer, she felt a deep sorrow welling up from the bottom of her heart, making her extremely uncomfortable.

She asked, “When will it be?”

Jiang Boyou thought for a moment and said, “The weather is so cold now, and it’s close to the end of the year. It should be after the New Year.”

Jiang Xuening nodded thoughtfully.

After listening to Jiang Boyou for a while, she finally returned to her room.

The furnishings in the room had already been simplified a lot.

The guqin, Jiao’an, was packed in its case and hung slantingly on the wall; the sword that Yan Lin had asked her to put away on his birthday was silently hidden in its box; she walked to the dressing table, opened a small box, and the dried jasmine bracelet lay quietly inside.

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In the depths of the dungeon, it was as dark as night even during the day.

The winter cold was biting, and the ground was damp.

The only blanket in the small cell was cold to the touch. The only light came from two dim oil lamps on the distant wall. Yan Lin sat with his back to the corridor, his back covered with jagged scars, but his gaze was fixed on the only window in the cell.

The weather during the day was not good, with a gray haze in sight.

Occasionally, clouds would rush by in the sky.

As the sky darkened, it seemed as if a strong wind blew away the gloomy clouds, and sparse stars appeared at the window, with a crescent moon quietly climbing up the treetops.

Yan Lin hadn’t seen such a beautiful scene in a long time.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

The youthful sharpness in his features had not been worn away, but instead, it seemed even more spirited, like a pine tree rooted in the rocky mountains, standing firm against the wind without a hint of bending or retreating.

When Jiang Xuening came here at night, she saw this determined profile.

Gazing at the moon in the prison, what night is this?

Her steps halted, and Zhou Yinzhi, who had followed her, lowered his voice and said, “Miss, keep it short and come out quickly. I will take my leave first.”

At this moment, Yan Lin heard the noise.

He turned his head and saw the figure standing under the lamp by the wall.

It seemed she had sneaked in, wearing a deep black cloak that wrapped her tightly, but her fair face still reflected a soft glow under the dim light.

Without needing to see her full face, Yan Lin knew it was her.

He chuckled softly, “You even dare to come here, you’ve really grown bold.”

Jiang Xuening’s eyes were slightly red. After a long while, she realized he had recognized her. As she stepped forward, she felt like she was walking on clouds, her steps unsteady.

As she got closer, she saw the bloodstains on Yan Lin’s back.

In the cold and damp cell, besides the smell of straw and rust, there was a faint scent of blood and bitter medicine.

After hearing that the case of the Yongyi Marquis’s household was concluded by the three judicial offices, she couldn’t rest easy. She had someone call Zhou Yinzhi to inquire and finally took the risk of having him bring her into the dungeon.

Fortunately, the Marquis’s household was not sentenced to death, and the heavy guards stationed in the dungeon had been withdrawn.

The entire dungeon’s defenses had relaxed considerably. According to Zhou Yinzhi, someone had already secretly visited the Marquis’s household, and it seemed possible to maneuver secretly, allowing her to pass through the checkpoints.

Jiang Xuening stood outside, not daring to get too close, fearing to see the boy’s miserable state and make him feel embarrassed. She only asked, “These days, you…”

Are you okay?

She knew it couldn’t be good, so what was the point of asking?

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly lost her words, feeling that her usually eloquent mouth had become clumsy, not knowing what to say.

Yan Lin looked at her and said, “I’m fine.”

Jiang Xuening’s nose tingled again.

Yan Lin couldn’t help but laugh, but the laughter seemed to pull at the wounds on his back, causing him pain. He gasped and coughed a few times, his face turning pale. “Don’t stand outside, come in.”

Jiang Xuening was stunned.

This was a dungeon, with a thick prison door between them. How could she get in?

Unexpectedly, the boy leaned against the cold wall, struggled to his feet, walked to the prison door, and untied the chains wrapped around it, opening the door as if it were his own home, and gestured for her to come in.

Jiang Xuening was dumbfounded.

At this moment, she suddenly remembered that after the Yan family incident in the previous life, Yan Lin had actually come to find her. Only then did she know that something had happened to the Yongyi Marquis’s household.

Thinking about it, how could Yan Lin escape such a serious crime?

Now, seeing the prison door casually secured with chains, it almost instantly awakened her memories of the previous life, realizing the unusual nature of the situation—seemingly exiled, but secretly enjoying such freedom. Was the situation of the Yongyi Marquis’s household really as bad as everyone thought?

Yan Lin seemed to guess what she was thinking. Seeing her standing outside for a long time without moving, he finally couldn’t help but reach out and pull her in, saying, “Seeing you like this, I know you’ve been worried sick these days. Don’t you think that our Marquis’s household, being one of the two great families in the capital, with deep roots in the court, and with you, this clever little fox, giving us advance warning, could really fall into a completely hopeless situation?”

Jiang Xuening blinked, still not reacting.

Being pulled by Yan Lin, she stumbled a step, but fortunately, Yan Lin reacted quickly and supported her, preventing her from falling.

Seeing her somewhat dazed and silly look, Yan Lin sighed, “Seeing you like this, even if I go to Huangzhou, I won’t be at ease.”

Jiang Xuening said, “I’m not that foolish.”

Yan Lin sat on the simple bed in the corner, patted the spot beside him, and said, “I know, if you were really foolish, you wouldn’t have used Zhou Yinzhi to secretly send messages. Did he help you get in this time too?”

Jiang Xuening nodded.

Yan Lin said, “This person is ambitious, but it’s not a big deal. He’s like a grass on the wall, swaying with the wind. As long as you are the strongest wind, they won’t leave you. But if you don’t intend to be that strong wind, it’s better to be cautious.”

Jiang Xuening understood this.

She sat down, lowered her eyes, and remained silent.

In the narrow, dark cell, the girl and the boy sat side by side, just like many years ago on those leisurely, lazy afternoons, climbing up the courtyard wall together, sitting side by side peeling the freshly picked gorgon nuts, smiling at each other, their legs dangling off the wall; or sneaking to the back mountain of the temple, leaning against the giant Buddha statue, shouting into the valley, startling the resting birds…

Time flowed silently at this moment.

Their shadows were cast on the damp, mottled wall, connected by the cracks filled with grime.

Yan Lin suddenly felt reluctant to leave this capital city.

Because there were people he missed here.

He turned his head to look at the girl’s serene profile and suddenly asked her, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Jiang Xuening said, “I just wanted to keep you company.”

She didn’t know what to say, but just sitting together like this felt very reassuring.

The boy’s eyes were misty, and when he smiled, there was a particularly touching quality to it. He said, “You treat me so well, and I treat you so well, but why don’t you like me?” Jiang Xuening lowered her head, silent.

After a long time, in the flickering dim light, her voice finally floated up, “It’s not about you. I’ve already said, I’m a bad person.”

Yan Lin still looked at her, not moving his gaze, “How are you bad?”

Jiang Xuening’s memories suddenly flowed back to the previous life.

In this life, Yan Lin really had no faults.

But the scars etched in her memory were too deep to erase, so she could only stay away and try to make amends…

“I had a dream.”

“In the dream, I foolishly told you I wanted to be the empress.”

“You got very angry.”

“Later, I became the empress, and you came back, then with others, you locked me up and treated me very badly…”

Jiang Xuening’s voice was somewhat ethereal, light at first, but then it trembled like a string, quickly stabilizing. As she blinked and looked ahead, hot tears suddenly fell.

She thought, at this moment, she was being cowardly.

She wiped her tears nonchalantly and smiled, “I’m a coward. You were scary in the dream, so I stopped liking you. Isn’t that bad enough?”

Although she was talking about a dream, when her tears fell, Yan Lin felt his heart being squeezed, making it hard to breathe.

It was as if such a thing had really happened.

How could someone stop liking another person because of a dream?

But at this moment, he couldn’t bear to delve deeper, only saying, “How can that be your fault? It was the me in your dream who was too bad, making Ningning afraid to like me.”

The boy’s voice was so gentle and considerate.

In comparison, her words seemed unreasonable.

Jiang Xuening suddenly burst into tears, her eyes red, unable to stop, making Yan Lin helplessly raise his hand to wipe her tears, asking, “Do you want to be the empress?”

Before coming, Jiang Xuening thought she must not cry no matter what.

But when the tears fell uncontrollably, she felt embarrassed.

She stepped back, wiping her tears with her sleeve, avoiding the boy’s burning gaze, and said sullenly, “I said it was in a dream, I don’t want it now. But being the empress, who wouldn’t want to be above others? What’s wrong with thinking about it?”

Yan Lin laughed, but his gaze deepened, “Being the empress is not being above others.”

In this world, there is only one true “person above others.”

Jiang Xuening didn’t understand why he said that, looking at him confusedly. The boy raised his hand to gently touch her head, something flickering in his eyes: no one knew, in such a prison, in such a difficult situation, this newly adult boy quietly made a grand wish, but he told no one.

Outside, the watchman struck the clapper.

Midnight passed.

The crescent moon outside the small window had risen to the zenith, no longer visible, leaving only a frame of sparse stars and the dark blue night sky.

Yan Lin felt time was passing too quickly, thinking that he didn’t know how long it would be before he could return, he asked her, “Do you have someone you like?”

Jiang Xuening lowered her head and said, “Yes.”

Yan Lin smiled and asked, “Who is it?”

Jiang Xuening didn’t answer, not daring to say.

Yan Lin thought of the official from the Ministry of Justice he saw on his coming-of-age ceremony, “Is it Lord Zhang Zhe from the Ministry of Justice?”

Jiang Xuening looked at him in shock.

Yan Lin seemed indifferent, saying, “The way you look at him is like the way I look at you.”

Jiang Xuening was silent.

Yan Lin turned to look at her, half-jokingly said, “While I’m gone, you must try to marry a good man worthy of trust. Otherwise, when I come back, whether you like me or not, I’ll take you away.”

The boy’s tone was joking, even smiling, but his eyes were deeply serious.

Jiang Xuening knew he wasn’t joking.

But, marry Zhang Zhe?

She would really need to work very hard to be worthy of him.

She hummed lightly, knowing the boy was teasing her, but unwilling to admit defeat, she said, “I will.”

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