Water Reflects Peach Blossoms

After receiving the letter, Cen Sheng immediately asked for leave and returned home to help Jiang Ruan deal with her father's funeral, and then take her back to Jian'an to settle down in Jian'an.

No matter whether they work in the capital or are sent to other places, the two of them will be together and never separate.

However, Cen Sheng had just taken office and had a lot of things to do, so he could not ask for leave. He could only send letters and money back. He also took the trouble to greet the magistrates of prefectures and counties in various places one by one, ensuring that Jiang Ruan could reach Jian'an safely alone.

Mr. Cen has considered everything.

He never expected that Jiang Ruan used all the money he gave for travel expenses to make up for the losses in his father's business, and pawned the zither left by his mother to hold his father's funeral.

Finally, he set out on the journey alone. Not only did he suffer a lot, but when he was approaching Jian'an City, he encountered a monster and almost fell into the monster's belly.

This is when fate changes.

——Donghua.

Donghua saved Jiang Ruan.

He shouldn't have noticed who he saved, but the farmer and Jiang Ruan came forward to thank Donghua for saving his life.

Donghua fell in love with her at first sight, and Jiang Ruan's fate was also changed.

If her original fate had been followed, she would have been rescued by Donghua, but he would not have noticed her. Jiang Ruan escaped danger and after arriving in Jian'an City, she successfully met Cen Sheng at the inn as agreed upon.

The two lived in Cen Sheng's mansion as an engaged couple.

Cen Sheng not only gave all his salary to Jiang Ruan, but also gave the land and farm awarded by the emperor to Jiang Ruan, letting her be in charge of the household affairs in the mansion and make all the decisions on all matters, big or small, and he loved her deeply.

But only one year into the three-year mourning period, Cen Sheng was favored by Princess Chenhua of Chen'an Palace. The emperor, who was Princess Chenhua's uncle, issued an edict, ordering Cen Sheng to cancel his engagement with Jiang Ruan and marry Princess Chenhua instead.

Cen Sheng refused and disobeyed the order in public.

This matter caused a big uproar, and people from the palace went to persuade him in waves. Cen Sheng's stubbornness made it difficult for the emperor to back down.

In the end, Princess Chenhua took a step back and said that she would let Cen Sheng, who was not allowed to take a concubine by the county magistrate, take a concubine after marriage. She would be the legal wife and Jiang Ruan would be the concubine.

Cen Sheng still refused and knelt outside the palace to beg the emperor to revoke his order.

Seeing that Cen Sheng was determined as a rock, the Empress Dowager in the palace issued an order, asking her personal eunuch to bring a cup of poisoned wine to Cen Sheng's house to persuade Jiang Ruan.

Jiang Ruan refused. Between death and becoming a concubine, she resolutely drank the cup of poisoned wine.

Jiang Ruan died, and Cen Sheng was extremely sad. He endured until the wedding day. When he went to pick up the bride, he killed Princess Chen Hua with a dagger and then committed suicide with the knife.

So Donghua saved Jiang Ruan twice.

He brought Jiang Ruan back to the Heavenly Palace to save her from the tragic fate of being poisoned to death by a cup of poisoned wine.

After Donghua changed his fate, Cen Sheng waited for Jiang Ruan in Jian'an but to no avail. However, the emperor still granted him a marriage with Princess Chenhua. Cen Sheng refused the marriage and would rather die than marry Princess Chenhua. In the end, the emperor did not want to lose such a wise minister and called off the marriage.

Afterwards, Cen Sheng requested to be transferred to a distant place and took up a position along the way, all the while trying to find out where Jiang Ruan was. Finally, more than ten years later, when he returned to Jian'an to report on his work, he passed by a farmer's house near Jian'an City and heard the story of how the farmer and a beautiful woman who was asking for water were rescued by a fairy, and then the fairy took her away.

Mr. Cen inquired carefully, listened patiently to the farmers' memories, compared the time, and did not miss any clues, and finally confirmed that the woman was Jiang Ruan.

After that, Cen Sheng put his mind at ease and devoted all his energy to governing the country. He had countless students and used his salary to open schools to help the poor. He dedicated his entire life to the court and the people.

Zheyan admired Jiang Ruan's strong will in her original destiny, and was moved by her decision after meeting Cen Sheng today and believing Cen Sheng's lies and her courage of "If you betray me, I will let you go". He felt even more distressed about her strength and her loyalty.

Cen Sheng couldn't protect her. A good woman like her deserved better.

……

After about an incense stick of time, Mr. Cen was supported by a little boy and walked out of the door.

He walked up to Jiang Ruan and handed her the purse in his hand.

Jiang Ruan took the purse, which had faded slightly but was still well preserved, and held it in her hand. She said to Cen Sheng, "You swore at that time that you would be with me forever and never betray me."

"If you can't find me and think I'm dead, and you marry someone else, I won't blame you."

"But your vows are still fresh in my mind. Less than a year after leaving home, you abandoned our engagement and married another woman. It was you who broke your vows first..."

"Yes," Cen Sheng admitted. Although his voice was old and aged, it still held a powerful aura. "The oath we made is still ringing in my ears. I have wronged you. I do not deserve a good death. You should go to the eighteenth level of hell after death."

Jiang Ruan: "It's good that you still remember it. I'm waiting to see the day you go to hell."

After explaining everything to Cen Sheng, Jiang Ruan turned around and left with her purse.

Even though she had been trapped in the Heavenly Palace and had to escape at the risk of death, her family jade pendant had been pawned, she had very little money left, was poor and destitute, and had no relatives or friends, she never told Cen Sheng a word about the hardships she had endured along the way.

She thought he was unworthy.

Cen Sheng was not worthy of listening to her suffering, and even less worthy of her sincerity.

Donghua once told her that Cen Sheng would live a carefree life and could live to be ninety years old.

Now that I think about it, how could a heartless person like her be worried about her disappearance...

After Jiang Ruan left, Cen Sheng could no longer support himself and fell to the ground. He was supported by a little child, crying in grief, and looking reluctantly in the direction where Jiang Ruan's back had disappeared. He was so heartbroken that his whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

"Grandpa!" The child wanted to help Cen Sheng up: "You adopted me, why did you lie to her?"

Cen Sheng smiled bitterly: "She can't let me go..."

"When I first heard she was taken away by an immortal, I knew she had a vast new world ahead of her... If I were still young, I would never let her go. But I'm old now, and I don't know when I'll die. Why should I continue to make her worry about me, feel guilty for not being able to keep our promise, and feel like she owes me something?"

"Instead of that, it would be better for her to let go of this relationship and not be trapped by my dying side..."

"This can be considered as the fulfillment of my affection for her. From now on, the world will be vast, and she will be able to roam freely and see all the beautiful scenery in the world. Like the stars that never fall, she will be ranked among the immortals and be worshipped by the world."

The child said nothing.

Cen Sheng started laughing while crying. His laughter started out of joy for Jiang Ruan, but ended up being filled with sadness. His wrinkled hands tightly grasped the rosewood hairpin that he had made for Jiang Ruan when he was young.

……

Jiang Ruan returned to the inn and checked out.

She is leaving Jian'an.

Although she had only been in this city for a few days, she didn't want to stay here any longer.

"Chirp."

A familiar voice came from above his head. Jiang Ruan walked out of the inn, raised his hand, held the fiery red bird in his palm, and couldn't help rubbing it with his cheek.

"Fortunately, I have you by my side. You are all I have."

Jiang Ruan wants to go back to his hometown at the foot of Kunlun Mountain.

On the way back, she stayed overnight in a dilapidated temple.

The burning firewood made crackling sounds. She sat by the fire and took out the purse that Cen Sheng had returned to her and looked at it. After a moment, she made up her mind and threw the purse into the fire!

Watching the scorching flames quickly devour the purse, Jiang Ruan also felt that her past with Cen Sheng was burned to ashes.

She didn't want to cry, but she couldn't help but shed tears.

She wiped her tears and was weak for the last time today. Tomorrow, she would still be the strong Jiang Ruan who traveled around the country with her father!

Looking at Jiang Ruan sitting in front of the fire, wiping her tears with her sleeve, Zheyan felt sorry for her as if she were suffering the same pain.

She was wearing a linen dress, which was made of rough fabric. She used her sleeves to wipe her tears, and soon the delicate white skin around her eyes turned red.

Zheyan couldn't bear to see her hurting herself like this.

Then I thought now is the time.

He removed the spell that concealed his figure, walked to Jiang Ruan, bent down and handed her a pink handkerchief.