The Second Sister of a Farmer's Family's Path to Imperial Destiny

"Madam, you should eat something. Your body won't be able to take it if you continue like this." A woman in a dark purple skirt with emerald green patterns held a porcelain bowl in one hand and a porcelain spoon in the other, and looked at the gray-haired woman in front of her with a worried look on her face.

"Lin'er, don't you think I should have followed the general out in the first place? If not, how could my Chengde be lost? And how could the enemy take advantage of the opportunity to steal my baby?" The woman said in a daze, looking at the nanmu bed.

Lin'er looked at the woman who was half-sitting on the bed in front of him. She was only over fifty years old, but her hair was already gray, her eyes were dull, her figure was thin, and she was wearing a white middle garment. She looked like an old woman who was about to be buried.

He couldn't help but feel distressed. This was the master he had grown up with since childhood. Ever since the loss of Master Chengde, the master had been asking these questions. Within a few years, in order to get out of the shadow of losing the master, the master gave birth to children one after another and went to the military camp to help the general manage military affairs without a day's rest.

A few days ago, when he heard that the young master had been found, the master seemed to have changed his appearance. He looked more energetic than before, and no longer a mule that just kept turning around.

But the good times did not last long. After learning that the man was an impostor, the master fell ill and could not even recover to his initial condition.

"Madam, it's not your fault. You are doing great things to defend your country. The people of the Zhao Dynasty are proud to have a female general like you. As for the matter of the second young master, it's because the enemy has lost their conscience and set their sights on the child."

After a pause, Lin Er sighed and said, "But fortunately, the enemy was caught off guard by the general and his wife at that time, and did not send out any real assassins. Instead, they just found a wandering scholar, so the young master survived."

The woman seemed not to hear what Lin'er said and continued to cry.

Lin'er gritted her teeth, scooped up a spoonful of porridge and stuffed it into the woman's mouth. She really didn't care about the rules of respect and etiquette. If the lady didn't eat, she would really fall down. At that time, let alone waiting for the second young master to come home, she would probably fall down first.

The woman felt something sifting into her mouth. She opened her mouth unconsciously and let the spoon pour the porridge into her mouth. When the spoon was pulled out, she swallowed.

"Zhilan!" A strong voice came from outside.

A man came in quickly from outside, still wearing official uniform and with a long beard. He stepped over the threshold and looked at his wife on the couch with concern.

His wife looked dull and seemed to have no reaction. She turned her head and asked Lin Er, "Is she still like this?"

Lin'er shook her head helplessly. She had just tried to feed her wife some porridge, and she was able to eat a few mouthfuls. This was the most she had eaten in the past few days.

"Zhilan." The man touched the woman's hand, stroking it gently, and said softly, "If you continue like this, I'm afraid you won't be able to wait for the child to come back."

Hearing the word "child", the woman finally reacted. She looked at the man excitedly and asked, "Did you find the child?"

The man saw that his wife finally reacted. He wanted to lie directly, but then he thought of her previous appearance and shook his head and said, "Not yet, but I believe it will happen soon."

"Xiang'an, tell me, am I a sinner? I dreamed of our Chengde yesterday. He was complaining about why we didn't take good care of him, but handed him over to our men and went to fight on our own. He said he hated me..." As she spoke, the woman wanted to cry again, but her tears were always limited. She had been crying for so long that she could no longer cry.

"Zhilan, listen to me." The man held the woman's hand, looked into her eyes and said, "There is no news about Chengde yet, which proves that he is still alive. As long as a person is alive, there is still hope. You can't collapse first, otherwise you may not see Chengde again."

The woman looked at the man pleadingly and trembled, "Will you really come back?"

The man said softly, "Yes."

He didn't know if it would, but he hoped it would.

And the Fifth Prince had come to ask him a few days ago whether Chengde had a birthmark on his body. I guess he had found someone who looked similar? Or maybe it was Chengde...

But he didn't dare to have such high expectations anymore, for fear that everything would come to nothing.

He was very happy when the child was born. He thought the child was delicate and looked more like a scholar than a military general's child. So he named him Chengde, hoping that he could have a career in politics in the future, and live a stable, safe and healthy life.

But the child was stolen not long after he was born...

All the beautiful hopes turned into nothing.

The woman nodded vigorously and said, "Bring the porridge quickly. I need to eat more. Otherwise, Chengde won't be able to see me when he comes back."

Lin Er was so happy that he almost cried. He immediately turned around, took the bowl and said, "Madam, Lin Er will feed you!"

The man motioned to Lin'er to hand him the bowl, and he personally fed it into the woman's mouth spoonful by spoonful.

"Xiang'an, I want to go to the temple to pray for blessings later. Maybe the Buddha will see my sincerity and let me see Chengde soon. When Chengde comes back, he may have a few children. Then they will call me grandma, so that I can also enjoy Chengde's blessing."

The woman drank her porridge and spoke expectantly.

The man didn't say anything, but just looked at the woman with a smile.

He didn't know what to say, and was afraid that he might say the wrong thing and cause his wife to go back to her old state.

……

Lin'er served the woman to the Buddhist temple and then walked out.

The lady has never liked people following her to pray in the Buddhist temple, saying that this would make the Buddha feel that one's heart is not sincere. Although she doesn't know what the logic is, she still does it.

He was outside the Buddhist temple, staring at the scenery outside, with his ears perked up, afraid that he would miss his wife calling him.

He Xiangan walked in front of Lin'er, who was a little surprised. Usually, the general was the most disdainful of the Buddhist temple, but his wife insisted, so he moved the Buddhist temple in.

He whispered, "General, is there anything you would like to ask Madam?"

He Xiangan shook his head and motioned Lin'er to follow him out to talk.

The two walked outside the courtyard wall. He Xiangan saw that there was no movement in the Buddhist hall, so he asked, "How has Madam slept recently?"

Lin Er shook his head and said, "Even if I use the tranquilizing incense prescribed by the Imperial Hospital, it doesn't help. I keep having nightmares."

He Xiangan took out a box of incense and said, "This is made by the third daughter-in-law. She said it has a good calming effect, but it may be addictive. I asked you to put a little bit in it at night. Don't put too much, otherwise the lady's brain will be damaged."

Lin Er accepted the brocade box and said, "I still have to thank Third Young Master's wife, but Third Young Master's family seems to have acquired a lot of things since the carriage fell off the cliff."

"Perhaps this is also the blessing of Jingmin and his people. Those who survive a great disaster will surely have good fortune in the future."