Chapter 20 What Matters
Soon after, I brought my parents to Jinling as well.
Lu Yinchuan never married.
When I investigated cases, he performed the autopsies.
When I wrote, he ground ink at my side.
At thirty-two, I faked my death, returned to my female identity, and married Lu Yinchuan.
That same year, I met Zhang Ruhua.
And her daughter.
She looked at me calmly and called out.
“Chu Bingzhi.”
I stood up abruptly.
“You…”
She smiled. “I also returned in the second year after remarrying.”
“I truly never expected that in this life, I would fall in love with you.”
She paused, then continued softly.
“Actually, after you died in the previous life, His Majesty arranged everything and then took poison himself.”
I froze.
“How could…”
She gave a soft laugh.
“Chu Bingzhi, have you truly never thought about it? In this life, I have a daughter. It’s not that I cannot bear children—it’s that His Majesty never touched me.”
“Your clan didn’t die either. His Majesty simply hid them.”
“Your children were raised well by him.”
I murmured, “But my children…”
She smiled faintly. “In truth, if you had endured just a little longer, he would have eliminated all those enemies.”
But back then, no one told me any of this.
Yet in this life, danger truly surrounded him.
I knew of several assassination attempts myself.
My heart ached dully.
In this life, Zhao Yan had died before even turning nineteen.
And I was already thirty-two.
Everything should have scattered with the wind.
I was lost in thought for a long time before looking at Zhang Ruhua.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“But to me, none of it matters anymore.”
I stood.
Lu Yinchuan was waiting not far away.
Zhang Ruhua saw him and suddenly smiled.
“In the first year His Majesty began neglecting you in the previous life, Lu Yinchuan entered the palace and fought him.”
“Lu Yinchuan was beaten until he nearly lost his life.”
“After he recovered, he went to the northern desert, saying that when he returned, he would fight His Majesty again.”
“And later…”
I knew. Later, Lu Yinchuan never returned from the desert.
She asked, “Does this one… mean anything to you?”
In the distance, bells rang out.
Looking back toward the green mountains, the evening sun glowed red.
I nodded.
“Yes. It does.”