Chapter 95: ...The Mere Thought Is Heartbreaking

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: ...The Mere Thought Is Heartbreaking

But Chen Minrou just couldn’t let it go. She remained melancholic and listless, showing no interest in anything throughout her pregnancy.

’I must be sick,’ she thought.

Her heart was heavy with a grief she couldn’t shake, all because of one thing her husband had said.

This mood persisted until she went into labor, and she once again had a difficult birth.

Hovering between life and death, Chen Minrou saw many scenes from the "future."

In the third year after her death, Zhao Shijie would fall in love with a young girl and take her as his new wife.

They would have a string of children, living a sweet and loving life together.

Meanwhile, the son and daughter she left behind, without a mother’s protection or their father’s favor, would live out mediocre lives.

When she awoke that time and saw her husband by her bedside—unshaven, his eyes bloodshot, the picture of dejection—Chen Minrou suddenly saw everything with perfect clarity.

She was no longer hung up on romantic love.

Her only desire was to plan everything for her children before she died.

Cui Lingyao listened quietly the entire time, her brow furrowing tightly when she heard about the bizarre dream.

Possessing a system and having had even more fantastical experiences herself, she didn’t assume it was merely a hallucination from her friend’s delirium.

By Cui Lingyao’s estimation, everything Chen Minrou saw in her dream was most likely the future of a parallel universe.

Except in this world, Chen Minrou hadn’t died in childbirth. Instead, she had clung to a thread of life and pulled through.

But she was still deeply weakened, gravely ill and on the verge of death.

So Cui Lingyao’s heart sank. She ached for her friend whose days were numbered, yet she was unwilling to believe that Zhao Shijie would actually find a new love within a mere three years.

Thinking of the rumors in the Capital City, her expression turned ugly. "You’re still sick, and Zhao Shijie is already preparing to take a new wife?"

"..." Chen Minrou was silent for a moment, then pursed her lips. "You can’t really blame him for that. I forced him to. If he didn’t agree, I refused to take my medicine."

"What?" Cui Lingyao was stunned.

"You know he’s terrified of me dying,"

Chen Minrou gave her a small smile. "Whether it’s because his love still remains or because he feels guilty about what he said back then, he can’t bear for me to die."

It was by leveraging Zhao Shijie’s inability to "bear it" that she was able to use her own life to make him promise his future wife would be a daughter of the Chen Family.

’For a once-loving couple to have come to this...’

Cui Lingyao was lost in thought for a long time.

If Zhao Shijie’s feelings hadn’t changed, then from his perspective, it was all because of a single slip of the tongue. His beloved wife had become cold and distant, refusing to ever forgive him.

Now, gravely ill and dying, her only worry was for her two children. She had no trust that he would protect them, nor did she have any faith in his feelings for her.

She showed not a shred of reluctance to leave him, her husband. She even used her own life as a threat to force him to arrange for her half-sister to be his next wife.

’Just thinking about it is heartbreaking.’

Cui Lingyao didn’t know whether to despise Zhao Shijie for his careless words back then or to pity his current predicament.

In her heart of hearts, she still couldn’t believe he would move on to someone new three years later, neglecting the son and daughter his first wife had left behind.

But no matter what, Cui Lingyao would always stand unconditionally by her good friend’s side.

She reached out and patted her friend’s shoulder. "Your children are still so young. Once a person leaves, the tea cools. Even if it’s your half-sister, she’ll have her own selfish interests. The Zhao Family has a title to be inherited, and from what you’ve seen, Zhao Shijie isn’t reliable. Once your half-sister has children of her own, how could she possibly bother to look after yours? Can you really rest easy?"

These words struck a chord with Chen Minrou.

She shook her head with a bitter smile. "You’re right. Once a person leaves, the tea cools. The moment I die, even if my own half-sister marries into the family, there’s no guarantee she’ll treat my two children well."

But what could she do?

Birth, old age, sickness, and death—these were things no one could change.

Cui Lingyao disagreed. "I think this is a sickness of the mind. First, you were under immense pressure to produce an heir and worried yourself sick. Then, you had a complete breakdown over one thing Zhao Shijie said. You finally managed to move past romantic love, only to start obsessing over that dream, convinced your days are numbered. That’s why your body is growing weaker."

She spent every day thinking she was about to die.

Even a robust man would fall ill if he kept that up, let alone a woman like her who had just given birth and was already severely weakened.

In the modern world, Cui Lingyao had seen all sorts of examples on the news.

She advised her gently, "A malady of the mind requires a medicine for the mind. Try to think of positive things and regulate your emotions, and your body will naturally recover. Since you can’t trust anyone else, then you must live well and take care of your children yourself. As long as you’re here, no one will be able to bully them."

"I know," Chen Minrou said with a soft smile. "My mood has truly improved a great deal today after learning you were back. Please, don’t worry. I will absolutely take good care of my body and no longer wallow in matters of love."

Before, she had always felt that love was everything. Because of one sentence from her husband, all her hope had turned to ash, and she had spent her days in self-pity.

Now, truly at death’s door, she wanted to live more than anyone.

Even having seen a future where Zhao Shijie’s heart would change, Chen Minrou was more worried about her children than she was heartbroken.

Cui Lingyao’s eyes reddened, and she hugged her. "When I get back from Pingzhou, I’ll stay with you every day. I won’t let anything happen to you. You have to stay alive for me."

...

The two friends talked for a long time. Once their emotions had gradually settled, they linked arms and started walking back.

Just as they stepped into the courtyard, they saw a figure in the distance by the entrance to the memorial hall. He was dressed in blue robes, his hair held up by a jade coronet, his tall, slender figure standing ramrod straight under the eaves.

It was Zhao Shijie.

Ever since Chen Minrou had fallen gravely ill, she had never been out of his sight for so long. He had grown anxious and could no longer wait in the memorial hall.

Now, finally seeing the two of them return, he immediately walked toward them.

Cui Lingyao glanced up at him and muttered under her breath, "He’s twenty-five now, right? He still looks pretty good. No wonder in your dream, he still had the energy to find a young, tender wife three years later."

"..." Long accustomed to her friend’s habit of making shockingly blunt statements every now and then, Chen Minrou’s lip twitched. "I’m twenty-three."

"You’re different," Cui Lingyao said, as if it were obvious. "You’re in the prime of your youth. How can you two be compared?"

As she spoke, she paused, watching the man draw closer. She lowered her voice, "He hasn’t guessed my identity, has he?"

"I’m not sure," Chen Minrou said slowly. "After your hint that day, I was only suspicious myself. I never said anything to him. But he’s always been perceptive; I don’t know if he’s noticed anything."

Cui Lingyao’s brow furrowed slightly.

She thought of Xie Jinbai’s sudden change in the past.

Then, there was the hint she had given Chen Minrou that day.

Today, Chen Minrou had insisted on dragging her sick body here to pay respects to Mrs. Shen.

And now, the two of them, who had only met twice, had just spent a long time talking alone like the closest of friends.

’I’m afraid...’

While she was lost in thought, Zhao Shijie had already reached them. He had eyes for no one else. The moment he stopped, he wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders, pulling her into his embrace. After carefully studying her complexion, his gaze fell on her swollen eyelids, and his eyes darkened slightly. "You’ve been crying?"