“The city official looked distressed: ‘We didn’t have enough manpower—’
‘At least you know which direction he went, right?’
‘I heard he went west, towards Liuxia Mountain.’
An Jin tried to smile at me. ‘A Yao… think of something else. Think about when you were little, desperately… bullying me…’
I laughed weakly. ‘At this moment… you… just remember this?’
He smiled gently. ‘I remember… everything.’
I took a breath and carefully looked at him, knowing he had also reached his limit. ‘Brother Jin.’
‘Hmm?’
‘Will you… fall in love with… someone else?’
He was stunned. ‘No. Not in this lifetime.’
I smiled contentedly and nodded. ‘Then… I can rest assured. Although… this is a bit selfish…’
His expression suddenly changed. ‘A Yao—’
‘I can’t hold on anymore.’ I looked at him apologetically. ‘Brother Jin, help me take care of Mom and Dad, and—’
‘No!’ He interrupted. ‘Don’t do anything foolish!’
It was too late. I loosened my hand and immediately felt myself falling, accompanied by a sense of relief.
Chapter Seventy-Six: Hard-Won
I was lucky. Although the crevice looked terrifying, it wasn’t as deep as I had imagined. I was caught by tree vines and rocks several times, and miraculously landed on a pile of soft mud. My chest was painfully shocked, my limbs were numb, and I couldn’t move, yet my consciousness remained clear.”
Although I couldn’t move temporarily, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing my life was safe. Just as I was catching my breath, I heard a noise overhead—mountain rocks were collapsing. Somehow, I found the strength to roll to the side, sending another wave of intense pain through my legs. An object crashed to the ground, landing precisely where I had just been. I was incredibly fortunate but then heard a familiar muffled groan from where the object had fallen.
“Umm—An Jin?!” I was shocked and groped my way over.
“A Yao?” It was indeed his voice. “Are you okay?”
I was both amused and exasperated. “How did you come down?”
“I was worried… you’d be alone and scared.” He paused, calling out to me. “A Yao, are you hurt?”
I smiled bitterly and held his hand. “Not seriously. How about you?”
“I’m fine.” He sighed.
“Fine? Wouldn’t it have been better to stay up there and call for help?” I squeezed his hand, suppressing the pain. “Idiot… if I hadn’t reacted quickly, I might have been crushed by you…”
He remained silent, then laughed softly after a while. “I panicked and forgot everything.”
I carefully listened to the surroundings. “It seems to have stopped shaking. Someone will come to rescue us soon.”
“Mm.” He responded vaguely. “Yao Yao…”
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry.” He seemed to exhale deeply. “I’ve neglected you too much these past days.”
“I curved my lips in the darkness, saying, ‘Why say this now? Actually, I’m also at fault. I thought you could handle everything and focused on my own matters, forgetting to ask what you were thinking.’
He took a while to respond. ‘I’ve always been concerned about the child-preventing wine. I know you like children, but—there’s no antidote. I was afraid you would leave me because of this, so…’
‘I know.’ My heart ached, and I squeezed his hand tighter. ‘I like children, but compared to you, nothing else matters. Brother Jin, having you is enough. No one can replace you.’
‘A Yao…’ His voice was choked.
‘Brother Jin, I’ve thought it through. Without our own children, I’ll adopt one from the clan. When the child turns sixteen, I’ll pass the throne to him, and we’ll return to the Xiao family to live with Mom and Dad. What do you think?’
‘…Okay…’ His breathing became irregular. ‘If only I had explained earlier.’
‘It’s not too late now. Once we get out, we’ll start over, everything will be like before, okay?’
‘Okay.’ After a while, he suddenly asked, ‘A Yao, if I weren’t here, would you marry someone else?’
I laughed, which aggravated my chest injury, causing me to grimace in pain. After recovering, I replied, ‘Are you mimicking my previous question?’
‘Would you?’
‘Yes.’ I answered without hesitation.”
I can rest assured.” His voice grew weaker. “Even if you marry someone else, you must always think of me.”
I pushed him playfully. “Yes, yes, I’ll think of you.”
He fell silent. Anxious, I shook his hand, and he continued, “I can’t let you marry someone else.”
“You—” I was amused and exasperated.
“If you marry someone else and think of me, you’ll be unhappy. But if someone can make you forget me, then marry him.”
“What nonsense is this? Stop talking nonsense.”
He mumbled, “A Yao. I’m tired; I’ll sleep for a while.”
I realized something and reached out to touch him. The slippery, sticky sensation made me panic.
“Don’t sleep!” I shook him lightly. “Brother Jin, please… What injury did you suffer? Why is there so much blood?”
He didn’t answer. I cautiously brought my hand near his nose.
Fortunately, he was still breathing, though very weakly. I dared not move him forcefully and, in a panic, tore off my clothing to bandage him, praying for rescuers to arrive soon.
In the darkness, time seemed to have stopped.
If not for the sound of water droplets and stones being knocked, I would have thought I had lost consciousness.
Wait, stone knocking?
I became alert, trying to discern the direction of the sound and asked, “Who? Is anyone there?”
No answer, but the knocking grew louder and faster. I determined it was coming from ahead and dragged my leg toward it. After a while, I touched a hard stone wall, realizing the sound was from the other side.
“Who?”
The knocking stopped, replaced by a faint female voice. “Ayao…”
“Yunqiao?!” I recognized the voice and felt a surge of joy. “Is that you?”
“It’s me…” She paused. “How did you…”
“I came for disaster relief. I heard you hadn’t returned, so I came looking for you. Who would have thought we’d encounter an aftershock? An Jin and I fell down. But I brought people with me; they’ll rescue us soon!”
“That’s… good.” She seemed to speak with difficulty. “Otherwise, I’d have implicated you…”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” I sighed with relief. “Are you hurt? How badly?”
“Ayao, I’m sorry about before,” she sighed. “There’s something… I’m afraid I must trouble you with.”
“What is it?”
“Take care of the imperial consort and Afu.”
“Yunqiao, hold on,” I urged, anxious and unable to see her situation. “People who can save us are coming soon. Hold on.”
The imperial consort and Afu are waiting for you to return. Don’t you want to see Xia Zhiyuan again?”
Yunqiao took a long time to respond, her voice weak but calm. “He’s right beside me.”
I felt a surge of dread. “He…”
“He can finally be quiet, not thinking about anything,” she said tenderly. “Though we did not share a bed in life, sharing a tomb in death is not bad.”
“What are you talking about?” Xia Zhiyuan was likely dead, but I couldn’t let Yunqiao give up hope. “If you go like this, what will the imperial consort do? What will Afu think? He’ll believe his mother abandoned him for a man! You’re being irresponsible—do you want your child to hate you?”
She didn’t respond.
“Say something!” I clawed at the stone wall in desperation. “You’re weak! Are you even worthy of being a Jiang family daughter? For a man—”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I have no choice left. Ayao… please tell them I’m sorry.”
I felt her breathing gradually calm. Silence returned, with only the sound of water droplets.
After a moment, I moved back to An Jin’s side, hugging his waist. His faint but steady breathing kept me grounded.
“Brother Jin…” I lay my head on his shoulder. “If you leave me, I won’t be able to live either.”
After saying this, I felt calmer. I closed my eyes, holding his arm.
“Ayao.”
