There Are So Many Strange Things in the World

At a glance, he knew that this was his mother, because the faint features, the gentle expression, and even the pale yellow dress were exactly the same as the portrait of his mother that always hung in his father's study.

Looking at the indistinct figure, Shen Yingzi loosened his grip on the bamboo flute slightly, and he called out absentmindedly:

"Mother..."

Hearing his call, the woman smiled gently, her hair framing her face, a perfect blend of delicate beauty and allure, breathtakingly so.

"You've grown so much..."

Her voice was also captivating and melodious.

This is his mother.

Every furrow of the brow was a mixture of joy and sorrow; every glance revealed a myriad of emotions.

So this is what she looked like when she was alive.

The woman in the painting is less than one ten-thousandth of her.

Shen Yingzi involuntarily took a step forward with her knees.

"Mother... your unfilial son, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have left us so soon..."

But then he saw the woman on the grave, her eyes, which had been calming like water, looking at him. She didn't respond to his words, but simply parted her lips and said softly:

"The first time he met me, he told me that he would never let me suffer any injustice in the future..."

"When I first conceived you, I was filled with anxiety. He swore that as a Golden Core cultivator, protecting me during childbirth would be a piece of cake. As a mere mortal, I naturally believed him completely..."

"That day, your father was at home with me..."

"But later, he too was summoned away with just one order, just like today..."

"You were eight months pregnant then, and for some reason, it was on that very day, after he left, that I went into labor."

As the woman spoke, she lowered her head and stared blankly into space.

Hearing this, Shen Yingzi felt distressed and wanted to say something.

So, this is the truth behind my mother's death.

Suddenly, the woman raised her deep, unfathomable black eyes and stared intently at Shen Yingzi!

Shen Yingzi felt as if he had been suddenly restrained by something, his heart felt as if it were being crushed and his throat was being squeezed. Looking at his mother in front of him, he couldn't utter a single word.

"Yingzi, do you know how much blood I shed..."

The plaintive sound drifted into his ears on the wind and lingered in his mind.

The woman who had been sitting on the grave slowly rose and walked towards Shen Yingzi, who was kneeling motionless in front of the grave.

With a wave of her hand, Shen Yingzi's knees were covered in bright red blood, soaking his shoes and trousers. In the blink of an eye, he was kneeling in a pool of blood.

The woman leaned close to him and whispered:

Do you know how much blood is in a person's body?

"My blood has dried up, look, right at your feet, all of it, so I died."

"But if you give me your blood, I can live."

"Yingzi, please let your mother live."

--

Xuanyuan Haoyue woke up to a series of slight swaying.

At this moment, she and her mother, Madam Xuanyuan, were sitting in the carriage on their way home.

Early this morning, her mother took her to the temple to pray for her marriage.

She turned 18 at the beginning of this year, but her father didn't care much about her marriage prospects and kept refusing to marry her to any family. Whenever her half-brother saw her, he looked at her as if she were an item waiting to be sold. Only her mother was worried about her.

However, her mother was by nature gentle, and since she had not been able to give birth to a son, although she was the legitimate wife of the Xuanyuan family, she had less and less authority because her half-brother was getting older and her father valued him more.

Her mother hoped to marry her off to someone of lower social standing, so that even with her maternal grandparents' family background, she would have some support in the future and wouldn't be bullied.

However, the suitable families recommended by his mother were all rejected by his father, who hesitated to agree.

It seems likely that she intended to use her marriage to pave the way for the Xuanyuan Household and her half-brother.

Looking at her mother, who sat upright with impeccable manners but was lost in thought, Xuanyuan Haoyue felt a little lost and unconsciously picked at the cushion with her fingers.

Madam Xuanyuan, slowly regaining her senses, turned her head and saw that she was awake, and smiled kindly:

"The Yue'er is awake. We're almost home. Mom asked the kitchen to make your favorite jade lotus pastry this morning. You can eat it as soon as we get back."

Xuanyuan Haoyue gave a faint smile:

"Thank you, Mother."

Looking at the beautiful young woman before her, Madam Xuanyuan's face showed a hint of sadness as she gently stroked Xuanyuan Haoyue's forehead, her tone quite melancholy as she said:

"If only you could marry into the Mo Household..."

Madam Mo and she were very close friends. The youngest son of the Mo Household was about the same age as her daughter. She had seen his temperament and character since he was a child and found him to be a good person. Moreover, the Mo Household held a high position and great power, and her husband had always wanted to get closer to them. Therefore, if this marriage could be arranged, he would naturally not object.

The Mo Household family is excellent and suitable in every way. If Yue'er could marry into the family, her future life would certainly not end up like hers.

However, the Mo Household family dotes on their youngest son Mo Yuanjiao, and would certainly not wrong him in the slightest when it comes to marriage. Therefore, if he does not agree to this matter, no one will force him.

Earlier, Madam Mo Yuanjiao, but he refused without even thinking about it.

Since then, Madam Mo has stopped bringing up the topic of marriage.

As a teenager, Xuanyuan Haoyue often heard her mother say that if the marriage with the Mo Household could be arranged, their lives would be much better. Her mother always said that the Mo Household was the best place for her.

When you hear something repeatedly, it starts to seem like a truth.

So Xuanyuan Haoyue thought, since that's the case, for the best possible outcome for her and her daughter, there's nothing she wouldn't risk.

It's just Mo Yuanjiao, right? Just go after him.

The mother and daughter on the bus were each burdened with their own worries.

The carriage soon arrived at the side gate of the Situ Residence and stopped.

But what awaited Xuanyuan Haoyue and his Madam Xuanyuan was not the freshly baked jade lotus pastry in the kitchen, but a sudden imperial edict ordering the confiscation of their property and their exile.

Xuanyuan Haoyue was confused.

It seemed like only a blink of an eye, and she had gone from being the pampered second young lady of the Xuanyuan Manor to a disheveled and destitute prisoner, embarking on a journey of exile over a thousand miles away.

Countless days and nights have passed.

The once lush green hills and clear waters along the roadside have somehow transformed into a desolate landscape of yellow sand.

She felt like her legs no longer belonged to her; they could only numbly lift forward.

The head, which her mother had once taught her not to bow her head, now hung limply, her eyes staring blankly at the ground slowly moving forward.

She stared at her toes peeking out from her tattered shoes; they were still round and chubby, and she felt a little strange.

I've become so thin lately, how come my toes are still so chubby?

There are so many strange things in this world.