Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Cuihong peeked out through the curtain and saw Xia Yao staring at them. She quickly covered the curtain and returned to Xia Lanyue's side.

Xia Lanyue's face was very pale.

Cuihong asked the doctor, "Doctor, is Miss alright?"

The doctor withdrew his hand from taking the pulse. "It's nothing, nothing to worry about."

Cuihong nodded in relief, "It's good that you're alright."

The doctor put away the pulse pillow and said, "I'll go out now. Call me if you need anything."

Xia Lanyue nodded, and the doctor stepped out of the carriage.

However, when she lifted the curtain, Xia Lanyue and Xia Yao's eyes met, and Xia Lanyue angrily turned her head away.

After the doctor left, Cuihong whispered in Xia Lanyue's ear, "Miss, I don't understand. Since you two love each other, why can't he accept this child?"

After saying this, Cuihong seemed to understand something, "Could this child be... oh dear."

Xia Lanyue knew what Cuihong was trying to guess, and promptly shut Cuihong up, preventing her from continuing.

But Cuihong's shocked expression was undeniable, so Xia Lanyue simply let go of her hand.

“Miss, why did you lie to me? So you were still with Dai You,” Cuihong said with a wronged expression. “This young master Xia is quite pitiful.”

"What nonsense are you talking about? Dai You and I are completely innocent," Xia Lanyue said angrily.

"Innocence?!" Cuihong realized she had spoken too loudly and quickly covered her mouth.

Xia Lanyue was getting anxious. She couldn't explain it to Cuihong anymore. "Oh dear, that's not how it is. Don't make things worse."

Xia Lanyue was preoccupied with Zhou Yuan's words and had no time to pay attention to Cuihong.

So Jiang Di's arrest was really Xia Yao's doing! Xia Yao even met with Li Tao behind her back, and he secretly got rid of Li Tao's child! What about the grain? He framed her?!

Xia Lanyue couldn't understand it. She and Xia Yao came from the same world, so why would he do this to her?! Which of his words were true, and which were false? Or were they all lies?!

Why is that?!

Xia Lanyue couldn't wait any longer. She rushed out of the carriage, grabbed Xia Yao, and walked towards the woods on the side.

"Where are you going, Miss? It's dangerous over there, you'd better not go too far," Butler Zhang's voice rang out from behind.

Xia Lanyue pretended not to hear and pulled Xia Yao forward.

"Hurry up and keep up!" Butler Zhang said to the servant.

Xia Lanyue turned around and ordered, "No one is allowed to follow."

The voice was so imposing that it scared away the servants.

Reaching the edge of the woods, Xia Lanyue stood facing Xia Yao.

Xia Lanyue had a lot of questions she wanted to ask Xia Yao, but when she faced him, she didn't know where to begin. "Is there anything you want to say?"

“Don’t believe Zhou Yuan’s attempts to sow discord. He’s doing it on purpose. Things aren’t as he says,” Xia Yao said.

"For example, which statement was wrong?" Xia Lanyue asked.

“You know I met with Li Tao. She used the child as leverage to force me to see her. I had no choice. I’ve explained it to you before,” Xia Yao said.

"I remember you met her at night in River Valley Village, and you even hugged each other. Surely she didn't blackmail you?" Xia Lanyue said seemingly casually, but only she knew the pain in her heart.

Xia Yao said helplessly, "At that time, I was just trying to keep her calm; I didn't have feelings for her."

"You hugged and still say there are no feelings? What about you being with me? Is that just a fling too?" Xia Lanyue retorted.

Xia Yao became anxious, "Of course not, Yue, you are different from her. You are very important to me. You know where we came from. You are the only one in my heart. Everything I do is to prepare for our future."

"Prepare? Prepare for what?" Xia Lanyue asked, puzzled.

Xia Yao's face darkened. "Yes, I had someone drug and get rid of Li Tao's child, but it was for you. I felt bad when I saw how haggard and sad you looked because of that child. I didn't want you to be unhappy, and I didn't want that child to become an obstacle to our relationship."

Xia Lanyue was terrified. She hadn't expected Xia Yao to be so ruthless. She couldn't help but think of Zhou Yuan's words from earlier that day, and her voice trembled, "What about my child? Did you come here today for it too?"

"No, no," Xia Yao hurriedly explained, "I didn't instigate Zhou Yuan to do it. Believe me, he was doing it to avenge his sister."

"Really? But you said you didn't like my child either, and that even if the child is gone, we can start over," Xia Lanyue said, no longer trusting Xia Yao.

“No, no, Yue, I admit that I was happy for a moment when Zhou Yuan wanted you to lose this child. But that wasn’t what I meant, because I knew that would mean losing you,” Xia Yao’s voice gradually became humble. “I don’t want to lose you. I came to you just to tell you that I’m willing to accept this child, as long as you don’t leave me.”

Xia Yao stepped forward and embraced Xia Lanyue.

The night was too dark for Xia Yao to see Xia Lanyue's expression, but he could feel her warm tears soaking his clothes, so he hugged Xia Lanyue even tighter.

After a moment, Xia Lanyue composed herself, stepped out of Xia Yao's embrace, and wiped away the tears on her face. She was no longer the person she used to be; although she could be moved by his words, she couldn't easily trust him anymore.

"You've been hiding a lot from me. So it was your doing that I was made things difficult for by Village Chief Zhao. And I even ridiculously asked you for help. You've been pretending to be a good person in front of me for so long?!"

“Back then, I didn’t know you were in the same boat as me. When Acheng was tricked by Wei Liangxing, I came up with a solution, but you and Dai You happened to be in town and got dragged into this mess. This was not my intention,” Xia Yao said.

Looking into Xia Yao's sincere eyes, Xia Lanyue's heart softened again. She wanted to question him, but she didn't know what to say. Perhaps, deep down, she cherished this opportunity to reconcile.

"Believe me, I really didn't mean to harm you. I just want to be with you," Xia Yao said, looking at Xia Lanyue.

Xia Lanyue sighed, "Tell me everything else you've lied to me about."

Xia Yao was about to speak when Xia Lanyue interrupted him again, "This is your last chance to defend yourself, I hope you cherish it."

Xia Yao smiled and said, "I didn't lie to you. There's just one thing I didn't tell you."

Xia Lanyue took a deep breath. "Speak, what is it?"

Xia Yao stared into Xia Lanyue's eyes. "I told you, I hope you won't blame yourself."

Xia Lanyue was taken aback. You understand what he meant.

Just then, a series of rapid footsteps came from the nearby woods.

Xia Lanyue and Xia Yao immediately realized something was wrong and looked at Lin Zi together.

Then, a group of masked men rushed towards them.