Chapter 265 - 68: Calm

Chapter 265: Chapter 68: Calm

Chu Zhao had just told Xie Yanlai that no matter how painful it was, she would remain clear-headed.

When Xie Yanlai told her that her father was seeing someone and didn’t want her present, her mind was perfectly clear. She immediately guessed that her mother had arrived.

Even just a moment ago, when she heard the voice from inside and recognized who her mother was, she had been shocked but remained clear-headed. And everything that had been strange before suddenly made sense: the odd behavior of Xiao Man and the others, the sudden appearance of real bandits, the guards who were so easily persuaded—

She was so clear-headed that while listening to Zhong Changrong speak, she could deduce her parents’ past—a beautiful bandit, a general tasked with eliminating bandits, a tangled web of love and hate.

She was even clear-headed enough to realize it was simply a honey trap, with no grand tale of love and hate.

If anything, it was the General’s shame and the bandits’ victory.

It was fine. As someone who had already died once, there was no truth she couldn’t accept.

Until she heard the last sentence: The baby was—fake.

She was that baby. Chu Zhao looked down at her own hands. She wasn’t even a byproduct of the honey trap. She wasn’t her father’s daughter at all!

Chu Zhao’s mind went blank. Her ears buzzed, a cacophony that drowned everything out, yet it was also eerily silent—so quiet she could hear her own breathing.

It was as if her own breathing was the only sound left in the world.

Until someone shook her hard, shouting, "Chu Zhao."

Chu Zhao’s vision focused, and she saw Xie Yanlai’s face—

"Let her sniff this," a voice said.

A pungent scent filled her nostrils. Chu Zhao sneezed, the force of it making her ears ring, but then her head cleared. Only then did she realize she had come inside the room at some point.

Xie Yanlai was still the one with his arm around her. In front of her, Chu Ling had sat up in bed. And to the side was—

When the woman saw Chu Zhao’s gaze fall upon her, she took a step back. Flustered, she looked for a place to hide, but there was nowhere to go. She could only turn away and bow her head.

But Zhong Changrong slapped himself across the face and said cautiously, "Ah Zhao, you know me. Uncle Zhong can’t talk right, I only ever spout nonsense—"

Chu Zhao looked at him and smiled.

Her smile made everyone around her even more worried.

"Uncle Zhong, you think I don’t know what you’re like?" Chu Zhao said with a smile. Without another word to him, she broke free from Xie Yanlai’s hand and strode toward Chu Ling. "Father, you must lie down. No matter what’s happening, you can’t get up right now."

Chu Ling let her help him lie back down, and Chu Zhao then sat on the edge of the bed.

A tense silence fell over the room.

"I’m fine," Chu Zhao said, looking up at everyone. Her gaze did not skip over Mu Mianhong; it lingered on her. "After all this time, I’m only just learning your name. I’ve just been calling you Aunt Ding this whole time."

Mu Mianhong looked at her, her expression a mix of sorrow and worry. Her lips trembled as she said, "It would have been better if you didn’t know."

Chu Zhao shook her head. "If something has happened in this world, it deserves to be known." She stood and bowed to Mu Mianhong. "Thank you."

Mu Mianhong watched her, speechless. ’What is there to say? The girl is so calm it’s unnatural, and anything said would only serve to provoke her.’

Chu Zhao had stood up, but instead of sitting back down, she bowed once more.

"Thank you for saving me when I was attacked before," she said.

It wasn’t just Mu Mianhong; Zhong Changrong and Xie Yanlai both thought she was delirious. ’She appears clear-headed, but she must be confused—otherwise, why thank her twice?’

Zhong Changrong shot Xie Yanlai a look, signaling for him to make Chu Zhao smell the pungent medicine again. Xie Yanlai, stony-faced, ignored him.

Guilty over his blunder, Zhong Changrong didn’t dare glare back at Xie Yanlai and sheepishly averted his gaze.

Only Chu Ling smiled. "One thank you for each of your two lives. Are you at peace now?"

Chu Zhao looked at him. She sat down, nodded, and wiped away a tear. "Father, I am at peace. You must be at peace too. Don’t worry about me."

Chu Ling reached out and patted Chu Zhao’s arm. "I’m not worried. I’ve seen with my own eyes how incredible my Ah Zhao is. However, Ah Zhao, since fate has brought you here to see and hear all this today, you deserve to know everything clearly."

Chu Zhao lowered her head. "Father, I understand now."

Chu Ling laughed. "Understand what? That’s just your own understanding. You should hear it from my own mouth—Mu Mianhong and I once met by chance. Our second meeting was fate, and by our third, we had fallen in love. Although we never had a wedding ceremony, we were truly husband and wife, and you are our daughter."

At these words, Zhong Changrong turned his head away, and Mu Mianhong raised a hand to wipe her tears.

"Since the General has spoken, I too should speak my piece," she said. "The General and I didn’t meet by chance. I arranged it. At the time, our stronghold—but let’s not speak of that."

She looked at Chu Zhao.

"When we first met, I intended to assassinate him, but my skills were poor, and I failed."

"After our second and third meetings, I remained by the General’s side. As more and more time passed, the General treated me with sincerity, and he developed feelings for me. I was completely at a loss. I didn’t know what to do. Then, when the General showed me the wedding dress—"

As she said this, a flicker of memory crossed her eyes, as if she could still see the red wedding dress, presented to her by the man she loved.

"I no longer knew what to do. My only choice was to run away. I intended to never see the General again in this life."

"But the bandits of our stronghold had committed countless crimes, violating the laws of the land. The court would not stand for it. The General was sent to eliminate us, and his siege left us with nowhere to run."

"I was born in the stronghold, born a bandit. I couldn’t watch my kinsmen die, so my only choice was to step forward and get General Chu to let us go—"

She seemed to be seeing that moment again: across a field of corpses, swords, and spears, the General saw the woman he loved reappear before him, the surprise, shock, and anguish on his face.

"Mu Mianhong does not beg for the General’s forgiveness, nor does Mu Mianhong make excuses for her actions."

She looked at Chu Zhao.

"My own life wasn’t enough to threaten the General, so I wagered my life and the life of his daughter for our survival."

"I held my daughter at knifepoint. I slit my own daughter’s throat with a knife. At that moment, I killed my daughter with my own hands."

"I didn’t come today to see my daughter. I just came to see the General."

She looked at Chu Ling again.

"The man I, Mu Mianhong, deceived and loved is about to die. I came to see him one last time."

"Ah Ling, let this be our farewell in this life. Let us not meet again in the next."

She dropped into a deep curtsy, large tears rolling down her cheeks. Before anyone in the room could speak, she turned and strode away.

The room was utterly silent.

Zhong Changrong kicked a pillar with a loud THUD, shattering the heavy silence.

"That vicious—" he started to curse, but stopped, mindful of Chu Zhao. A man couldn’t just curse a girl’s mother to her face. But still... what kind of mother was she? What had she just said? Not a single word for her daughter, only that the girl was dead. He had been the one to forbid Mu Mianhong from acknowledging her daughter, but to see her actually go through with it made him furious.

’So tragic!’ Zhong Changrong despaired. ’Why is the General’s life so tragic? And Ah Zhao’s life, too!’

Zhong Changrong let out a roar of frustration and stormed out of the room.

Silence descended on the room once more. A moment later, Xie Yanlai’s voice broke it.

"I..." he started, pointing outside. "I’ll be right outside. Call me if you need anything."

Without waiting for a reply, he strode out.

In the blink of an eye, only the father and daughter remained.

Chu Zhao looked at her father and suddenly let out a small laugh. "Father, your youth was a lot more exciting than the stories they tell in the Capital City."