Chapter 62: Three Years, Reunion

Xiangshan Bamboo Courtyard.

Pei Zhouwu had returned here alone. The guards outside had already been withdrawn, and now he could come and go as he pleased.

The spot where he stood was precisely where they had bowed to heaven and earth that night.

The wedding night felt as if it were just yesterday, yet he began to doubt himself, wondering if he had truly gone mad from being imprisoned for so long.

Who was Su Yueying? What wife? Perhaps she was merely a figment of his imagination, conjured up in his madness.

Otherwise, how could no one matching his description be found throughout all of Shangjing?

Ever since he entered the Heavenly Prison, his elder sister, the Empress, had helped him search for her. Yet after several days, not a single person named Su Yueying who resembled his description could be found in Shangjing City.

Everyone said he had been confined for too long and had developed some sort of delusion.

But if everything was false, if everything was his hallucination, and Su Yueying was also false, then what about the Glowworm Hairpin?

He lowered his head, and glistening tears fell onto the wooden hairpin in his palm.

Could it be that he had carved this wooden hairpin himself in his madness?

He refused to believe it!

Clutching the hairpin tightly, he turned and strode toward the bedroom. Pushing the door open, he stepped inside. The teacups on the table and the quilt on the bed were exactly as they had been on the day he left—untouched and unchanged, as if no one had ever been there.

When he opened the bamboo cabinet, revealing the neatly arranged women’s clothing inside, even larger tears began to fall from his eyes.

The bitterness of the tears spread from the corners of his mouth to his heart.

With one hand, he caressed the clothes, while with the other, he pressed the sharp end of the wooden hairpin into his palm.

He wanted to use pain to prove that what he saw before him was not an illusion.

In just a moment, drops of fresh blood began to fall like broken strings of tears.

“They all say you’re false… A Ying, only I know you’re real. You are my wife, the one who promised to grow old with me.”

He pulled out the wedding dress hidden at the very bottom, its bright red color glaringly vivid.

“Is it…”

He gripped the wedding dress tightly, blood seeping through his fingers and staining the wooden hairpin crimson.

“Because I didn’t agree to take you to Glowworm Land last time, you got angry?”

Last time, she had said she wanted to revisit Glowworm Land, the place they had gone on their wedding night. At the time, he had worried about her health and refused.

“You’re angry with me, so you’re punishing me, is that it?”

“A Ying…”

“I was wrong, it was all my fault.”

“I beg you…”

“Don’t leave me.”

“…”

When Mother Pei found Pei Zhouwu, panting and out of breath, he was kneeling on the ground, clutching the wedding dress and weeping uncontrollably.

Moonlight streamed through the window, casting his shadow on the wall, making him appear pitiful.

Such a tall and broad figure, curled up, seemed to shrink into a small, fragile bundle.

“A’Zhou.” Mother Pei entered the room and knelt beside him, her eyes red as she tried to comfort him. “I promise you, if such a person truly exists, I will search every corner of Shangjing City to find her. As long as you love her, I will treat her well and never be harsh to her.”

Pei Zhouwu gave no response. The wedding dress pressed against his chest was soaked with a large patch of tears, staining it a deep red.

“Last time, for the sake of the greater situation, Mother said many things that hurt you. That was Mother’s fault. You are a boy, and Mother has been strict with you since childhood, hoping you would grow into a fine young man of virtue, talent, filial piety, loyalty, and integrity. You have never disappointed Mother; you have far exceeded her expectations. But Mother was only ever strict and never truly cared about your inner needs and feelings. Though it is too late for regret, Mother still wishes to make it up to you.”

She embraced Pei Zhouwu, her voice trembling with sobs as she spoke.

“This time, Mother will not restrain or oppose you. Once we find her, I will help you marry her in the most glorious manner.”

“Mother…” Pei Zhouwu clenched his teeth, swallowing the bitterness as he spoke. “I am not mad. What I said is all true. A Ying is real. I have sworn vows to the gods and heaven and earth with her. She is my wife. She is real.”

His voice was choked with anguish, helpless as a child.

“I know, Mother knows.”

She stepped back, facing Pei Zhouwu with a look of earnest sincerity.

“But A’Zhou, the people of Zhaoxi are now living in dire straits. The Western Jin army is burning, killing, looting, and committing every atrocity in the border towns. The land is filled with suffering, the people displaced, families torn apart. They are waiting for you to save them. Set out on the campaign tomorrow with peace of mind. Mother swears that no matter what chaos erupts inside or outside the capital, I will find your beloved wife and bring her home. Mother and she will await your return.”

“If it were her, she would not want to see you like this, lost and broken. Do it for her. When you return with immense military achievements, you can be with her openly and freely, and nothing will ever stand in your way again.”

“A’Zhou, you must pull yourself together.”

“…”

The moonlight was serene, its gentle glow unwavering as it illuminated the mortal world.

Whether clear or cloudy, the moon always hung in the sky. Even when obscured by shadows, it would eventually shed the darkness and reappear.

Its coolness, its brilliance, never dimmed.

“Alright.”

Pei Zhouwu finally agreed.

…

On the day of the expedition, nearly the entire city came to see him off, placing all their hopes for repelling the enemy on his shoulders.

The battle was brutal and protracted.

It lasted for three years.

The Western Jin army, suffering defeat after defeat, withdrew from Zhaoxi and turned toward Yunnan, under Shen Xiunian’s jurisdiction. Shen Xiunian, having held out for three years, was growing weary and struggling to resist. Just as he was at his wit’s end, Pei Zhouwu descended like a divine force, bringing reinforcements with his army.

Shen Xiunian had thought he would never see Pei Zhouwu again in this lifetime.

Nor did he wish to.

But with the war at a critical juncture, without Pei Zhouwu’s support, they would surely be unable to hold out, making daily contact unavoidable.

Yet every time he saw Pei Zhouwu, Shen Xiunian was reminded of what Liu Fuying had told him three years ago.

That she was carrying Pei Zhouwu’s child!

In the final battle, the two joined forces to crush the enemy and secure victory.

However, Shen Xiunian was severely wounded while rescuing a subordinate and remained unconscious for dozens of days.

“General, the remaining tasks of post-war recovery can be left to us. You have also sustained significant injuries. It would be best for you and General Shen to go to a rear town to see a physician and rest for a while.”

Pei Zhouwu’s subordinate officer sincerely suggested.

He set down his brush, blew the ink dry on the paper, tucked it into an envelope, and prepared to have it swiftly delivered to Shangjing City.

At the same time, he continued speaking: “I heard that General Shen has moved his entire family to Yunnan. His wife and children are all here. Tomorrow, I will personally escort him back by carriage, as a way to repay the favor he did for me years ago at Xiangshan by investigating the case and clearing my name. General Shen is also a rare military talent, and I hold him in high regard.”

Going to the Shen Family…

Liu Fuying had no idea he was coming to the Shen Family.

Three years had passed, and she rarely thought of Pei Zhouwu anymore.

Just as she had thought back then, even the most profound memories would eventually fade with the passage of time.

At that moment, she was sitting in the courtyard of a neighbor’s house at the end of the Shen Family’s street.

The woman of the house was a widow named Shen Jieling, who had lost her husband. She had a four-year-old son and lived with her younger brother, relying on each other for support.

Shen Jieling was kneading dough in front of the kitchen stove in the courtyard, while under the shade of the tree opposite, her brother Shen Yiliang was intently writing something with a brush, his head bowed in concentration.

As Liu Fuying chatted with Shen Jieling, she occasionally let her gaze fall upon Shen Yiliang.

She still remembered the first time she met Shen Yiliang—the surge of emotion she felt was unforgettable.

Because Shen Yiliang’s face and features… bore a striking resemblance to Pei Zhouwu.

It was only when she saw Shen Yiliang that she would think of Pei Zhouwu, who was now thousands of miles away.