Mistakenly Connected to the Jade Flower Branch

Nanfei realized something was amiss: "You've already given birth, but what about your wife's child? Hasn't she given birth yet?"

Nianyao said, "She gave birth."

Nanfei said, "Didn't they say it would mean we'd have no descendants? How come you've had another child?"

Nianyao said, "Perhaps His Majesty felt that the child had done nothing wrong, or perhaps my father was kind-hearted. Anyway, the baby was born. My wife had a difficult labor and was not in good health, so she couldn't take care of the child. My parents took both of us with them..."

Nianyao suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" and frowned slightly.

Nanfei asked, "What?"

Nianyao said, "This sounds familiar? Has anyone else said this before?"

Nanfei quickly interjected, "Not long after you were born, the Queen Mother sent heavenly soldiers and generals to capture your mother and take her back. So your father took you away from Dongyang and came to Jingjiang?"

Nianyao nodded: "That's about right."

Nanfei coughed: "Every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Queen Mother doesn't allow your family of three to meet on the Magpie Bridge?"

Nianyao shook her head: "No. My mother missed us so much that she found a chance to escape from the Heavenly Palace. She was afraid of being discovered by the Queen Mother, so she used magic to turn herself into a star, the brightest one in the eastern sky. She is the first person to see us every day, and I can see her when I open the door in the morning."

As Nianyao spoke, both her expression and voice changed. Was she about to cry?

Nanfei didn't dare to breathe. He couldn't stand seeing girls cry, let alone someone as strong and bold as Yaochi.

Nianyao met Luo An's gaze, bit her lip, grabbed the money pouch, and raised her voice, her tone arrogant: "Thanks. I have many more stories to tell you next time."

Nianyao got up and left. In the instant she turned around, Luo An saw a glint in the corner of her eye.

She would pick fights and bicker with Nanfei for no reason. Was it because she had no one to rely on and envied Nanfei?

Nanfei sighed, "I used to hear storytellers at the teahouse. The Luo family steward was dull and clueless about romance. The old gang leader was indeed dignified and taciturn, but he had a whole repertoire of ways to coax his daughter, and he was quite romantic... Ah, young master..."

Luo An got up and walked out, and Nan Fei quickly followed.

Luo An walked out of Xianzhou Courtyard and went straight to the riverbank. He squatted down, placed his tightly clenched hand in the water and slowly opened it. The black and white chess pieces in his palm had turned to powder and flowed away with the water.

Once his palms were clean, Luo An cupped the river water in his hands and watched it slip through his fingers.

She must have been in despair at that time in the Luo family. The difficult childbirth had damaged her body, rendering her unable to have children again. The child she had risked her life for was taken away before she could even see him. Her husband, seemingly out of nowhere, brought her another child to comfort her. And the guards there were there to monitor and assassinate her…

Even after the water has drained from my palm, the cool sensation remains.

The wound will heal, but the pain will accumulate again and again in the memory.

“His mother has been dead for so many years, and he has never set foot in Nanyue except in Wudong County… Even if you wanted him to acknowledge that the former emperor of Nanyue was his mother, he would shake his head…”

Was the free clinic chosen to be held in Wudong County simply because the Zhang family was worth cooperating with?

"He's jealous of me. He feels that my mother took me away but abandoned him..."

Jealous? Jealous of a child who was adopted from who-knows-where?

She knew perfectly well that he was in a brothel, so why did she still raise Xu Sheng as her own son and even bestow upon him the title of prince?

Everyone in the world knew that the lady had died in childbirth. Her grave was in a grove of acacia trees on the back hill, with one side of the tombstone blank and the other side inscribed: "Tomb of Lady Luo Xu, wife of the estate owner."

In the past few years, no matter how busy my father was, he would always take time to go into the tree array and sit alone in front of the grave, lost in thought. After he was promoted to the ninth level of doctor, my father went into seclusion and stayed in the tree array all day without coming out.

Until one day, Father personally completed the other half of the tombstone: Tomb of Master Luo Qing.

Thus, he became a child who lost both parents.

Does she know that if she comes to Heaven on Earth to see him in person, he will acknowledge her?

Even though his father had waited for so many years, even though she kept male lovers, even though she had an improper relationship with court officials, even though rumors about her were flying everywhere... as long as she was willing to come, he would accept her.

Why not come?

Luo An sat on a rock, gazing at the surging river, his indifference replaced by sorrow.

Nan Fei stood a good ten feet away, not daring to come closer. Even from this distance, he could still clearly feel Luo An's sorrow.

Luo An slowly began, "When she was seriously ill, Nan Yue sent people to Heaven on Earth..."

Nanfei then slowly approached and cautiously said, "Young master... Madam suffered a health injury when she was young, and later went through many wars and diligently governed the country... Her illness must have become incurable, and medicine is ineffective."

Luo An said, "That's what my father said too. I was young then, though not really... Now that I think about it, she probably wanted to see my father and me one last time before she died..."

Nanfei asked, "If you had known Madam's intentions back then, would you have gone?"

After thinking it over carefully, Luo An shook his head: "I don't know... My dad asked me if I was going, and I said no. Actually, I wanted my dad to go; he always missed her."

Nanfei said, "Since the master of the manor asked you, he probably hopes you will go."

Luo An said, "Nanfei, you are sometimes frighteningly clever."

Nan Fei smiled and said, "Young master, if you don't want me to know, even if I'm smart, I won't be able to guess."

Old stories deliberately buried are like a flood bursting its banks once they're brought up. Fortunately, Nanfei is an excellent listener.

Luo An sighed deeply: "My father said that medicine was ineffective, but he still gave the envoy from Nanyue a pill. The medicine was made by my father himself, and there were only two. My father jokingly called it a pill that could bring the dead back to life."

Patients from all over the world come to this place, and I hear all sorts of rumors and gossip. I made a point of trying to find out more about her. There was no miraculous recovery; it was just a brief moment of lucidity before death.

Not long after the envoy from Nanyue left, my father activated the formation and buried himself in the tree array.

If it weren't for her, my father would be both a prime minister and a prince. Handsome and dashing, he would be admired by countless girls. He could easily marry a gentle and virtuous woman and live a carefree life. But she, while alive, made my father's life miserable, and even in death, she took him with her.

I actually hate her... but there's no such thing as one-sided love or hate in this world. She probably hates my father and me too, right...?

Otherwise, he wouldn't have never set foot in Dongyang again after gaining the ability to do so.

Nanfei squatted down beside him: "Young master, love and hate are one. Without love, where would hate come from? Many things are fate, and fate is neither right nor wrong."

Why does this story, which I've heard since I was a child, suddenly seem so strange? Nianyao sat at the table, lost in thought.

My wife had a difficult childbirth and was in poor health, so she couldn't take care of the baby. My parents then took both of us with them...

Who said the same thing?

It was Xu Sheng. He said, "My mother had a difficult childbirth and was in poor health. I was raised by your parents when I was little..."

He also said, "When you were born, your father was the first person to hold you, and I was the second. When you opened your eyes, you smiled at me, and my mother said it was fate, so we arranged a marriage between us..."

Luo An sat down, and Nan Fei squatted down beside him. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the two of them, making them look really... an eyesore!

Nianyao coughed twice.

Nan Fei turned around, raising an eyebrow: "Chief Xue, is something the matter?"

Nianyao said, "Yes, I'm looking for your young master."