Re-embroidering life

Shui Qinghua rushed forward and hugged Ji Zimo tightly, trying to warm him with her wet body.

"Zimo, it's not your fault. We found out too late!" Shui Qinghua choked.

Ji Zimo sat down on the ground and murmured, "For so many years, my biological mother suffered and died quietly not far away from me, but I knew nothing about it. I am ashamed to be a son!"

He once thought that the experience of surviving the Qianzhou flood was the biggest nightmare of his life. Later, he finally managed to get out of it. But at this moment, he felt that he would never be able to get out of the nightmare of losing his biological mother in his life, because she was already dead and he had no chance to make up for it.

Shui Qinghua knelt on the ground and hugged his head. The two of them snuggled together: "That's not the case. You collected her body, buried her, erected a tombstone for her, and also swept her grave and worshipped for her. I'm sure she must be happy in her heart."

"Tomorrow, I want to go see her." Ji Zimo said in a low voice.

During the plum rain season in Jiangxia, it always drizzles for a month or so. On the second day, the sky does not clear up after the rain, but it is sunny and rainy at times.

Ji Zimo and Shui Qinghua held up oil-paper umbrellas and carried a basket of offerings to Shen Xiu Niang's grave. After leaving Jiangxia for several years, the grave was not deserted because it was entrusted to someone to take care of it. The five big characters "Shen Xiu Niang's Tomb" on the tombstone were written by Ji Zimo back then, and they became clearer after being washed by rain. The magnolia tree next to the tomb was in bloom again, with white flowers as big as bowls, and a faint fragrance was emitted in the humid water vapor.

Coming here again, the two of them were in a completely different state of mind. For Shui Qinghua, Shen Xiu Niang was not only her teacher, but also her mother-in-law, adding another layer of emotional closeness. But for Ji Zimo, this was a huge reversal in his life, an irreparable regret, and a lifelong heart-wrenching pain.

Regardless of how muddy the land was after the rain, Ji Zimo knelt down on his knees and rested his forehead on the tombstone. After a long while, he gently called "Mom".

A magnolia petal fell on Ji Zimo's shoulder. Shui Qinghua couldn't hold back her tears. Did Shen Xiuniang hear her son's call?

There were rustling sounds of footsteps, and someone came through the mist holding a paper umbrella. It was Ji Zixuan.

There were still bloodstains on his face, and the corners of his mouth and eyes were bruised, but his hair was combed neatly and his eyes were as deep as the sea.

Ji Zimo didn't move, didn't look up at him, and he didn't care. He lit the paper money in his hand in front of the grave: "Axue, you have been in Jiangxia for so many years, but you didn't look for me or see me. I know that your heart for me is dead. The only thing you care about is Zimo. Zimo is living a good life. He married a good wife, has a bunch of smart children, and is appreciated by the court. I will always protect him, don't worry."

At the end of his words, he couldn't help crying. Ji Zixuan stopped and wiped away his tears.

"Brother, what is going on?" Ji Zimo asked in a low voice, his head against the tombstone.

Ji Zixuan sighed softly and started telling the story of his past with Shen Xiu Niang from the beginning.

At that time, Ji Zixuan had just entered the official career. Because of his friendship with the emperor since they were in humble circumstances, he was chosen by the emperor to go incognito to the south of the Yangtze River to inspect taxes.

The relationship between Jiangnan and the imperial court was very delicate. More than a hundred years ago, when Taizu was trying to seize the world, the Jiangnan nobles supported someone else. After more than a decade of fighting, Taizu finally made a better move, defeated all his opponents, took over the entire empire, and established a new dynasty.

The establishment of a new dynasty did not mean that the whole country would be united. At least the Jiangnan nobles did not recognize the old Xie family from the bottom of their hearts. Taizu was quite angry about Jiangnan's attitude, but he could not turn his face. There was no other reason. Jiangnan was rich and the taxes in the whole country accounted for nine-tenths of them.

After years of war, the treasury of the Xin Dynasty was empty. If Taizu wanted to secure his throne, he had to control the wealth of Jiangnan, and the local tyrants would inevitably resist. After a hundred years of this tug-of-war, the relationship between the Jiangnan nobles and the court was still a relationship of both cooperation and resistance. When the current emperor ascended the throne, he naturally sent his confidant to Jiangnan to investigate, and the person he chose was Ji Zixuan.

When Ji Zixuan arrived in Jiangnan, he was not allowed to enter for a long time and could only collect some scraps. One day, he went to an embroidery workshop to buy clothes and accidentally met a beautiful Jiangnan woman. Later he learned that she was the daughter of the Shen family, a century-old family in Jiangnan.

Ji Zixuan was a rare talent in both appearance and talent, and it was not difficult for him to capture a young noble girl who was not very experienced in the world. Shen Xue soon fell into a passionate and irresistible love, and completely forgot that she had a marriage contract since childhood.

With Shen Xue as his middleman, he soon got to know many big shopkeepers in the silk weaving industry. With his intelligence and talent, as long as he had a breakthrough, it was not difficult for him to build his own network of relationships. He quickly gained a foothold in Jiangnan and also found out a lot of information.

At this moment, something big happened. Shen Xue found out that she was pregnant.

"I admit that I used Ah Xue to my advantage in the beginning, but as time went by, I realized that she was so beautiful and innocent, and I truly loved her. But at that time, we were too young and didn't know that the consequences of this incident were something we couldn't bear." Ji Zixuan stared blankly at the tombstone, lost in memories.

Shen Xue is gentle on the outside but strong on the inside. Once she has decided on Ji Zixuan, she will follow him wholeheartedly. The most obedient lady in the family resolutely throws aside all the rules and regulations, musters up the courage to go to the head of the family, and bluntly says that she wants to cancel the engagement with the Hai family and marry Ji Zixuan.

The Shen family naturally refused to allow it. The wealthy families in Jiangnan have been marrying each other for generations, so how could a stranger with unknown origins dare to covet the daughter of the Shen family?

Since this family path was not feasible, Shen Xue begged Ji Zixuan to elope with her, and she was willing to go back to Jiangxia with him.

Ji Zixuan hesitated. He was not an ordinary person, but an official of the imperial court. He sneaked into Jiangnan for official business, but got entangled with a girl from a Jiangnan family and got pregnant. How would the emperor and the imperial court see him? Would he still want his future and the future of the Ji family?

After thinking it over again and again, Ji Zixuan had to harden his heart and persuade Shen Xue to abort the child. When he said that, Shen Xue's beautiful and lively eyes suddenly lost their luster, and were filled with despair and sadness. "So, you also want me to pretend that nothing happened and marry into the Hai family?" she asked.

That was his last memory of Shen Xue. He never saw her again after that.

One day a few months later, there was a knock on his door. An uninvited guest came in with a package in his arms. He recognized that it was the old housekeeper of the Shen family.

The old housekeeper handed him the package in his hand: "My young lady threatened to die, she insisted on giving birth to this child. You can take him away. No matter what your purpose is in coming to Jiangnan, don't come again in the future, otherwise my Shen family will not be polite to you!"

Ji Zixuan reached out to take it and found that it was a swaddling cloth with a baby sleeping soundly. At that moment, the feeling of blood connection hit him, and he put his face on the swaddling cloth and cried quietly, for that beautiful and stubborn girl, for this child who had no mother in his life.

When he left, it was snowing heavily, which was rare in Jiangnan. He tied the baby to his chest with a cloth and set out on his journey alone.