She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

"Don't bother any more. If you have anything to say, just ask now."

Before Ying'en could reply, these words suddenly fell into their ears, and both of them were surprised.

Mrs. Cui lifted the curtain outside and slowly walked into the bedroom.

From the time he learned the news to the time he rushed into the palace overnight, he hardly slept a wink. All he saw was the child he had raised with his own hands, covered in scars.

After enduring these few days, Mrs. Cui looked ten years older, and the dark circles and fine lines under her eyes could no longer be hidden.

Ah'an looked at her, the sadness in her eyes could not be concealed and almost overflowed.

It was as if this incident had come unexpectedly, shattering her to pieces and catching her off guard. It was also as if she had been waiting for this for a long time, and finally this cause and effect had come to pass.

Ying'en stood up and made room for them.

I thought, there should be a lot to say.

When the sound of the door closing was heard again, there was a brief silence between the two people.

Mrs. Cui sighed, but still did not go to A'an's bedside. For fear of accidentally touching her wound, she moved a round stool and sat in front of her.

"I've heard about the palace affairs from Li Shanggong when I came here." Madam Cui looked at her with pity. "I used to think that you would be taken back to the palace one day, and you would know all this sooner or later, so I left it to the Queen to tell her."

After a pause, he continued, "But the queen unfortunately passed away, and this opportunity was lost. You were still young, and for your future, she left me a will, telling me not to tell you. I thought that you had escaped, and there was a wide world outside, and you didn't have to come back to this cannibalistic palace, and you wouldn't know about this past again. I didn't expect that you would know it so soon."

Fate is mysterious. Despite all the hardships, it still guided her back to the capital.

She took out a piece of folded paper from her bosom and handed it to Ah'an.

"The day the queen passed away was like the day she handed you to me. The sky was gloomy and the rain was pouring down." Mrs. Cui's expression was empty, revealing a nostalgic sentiment. "The rainy season in the capital is getting longer every year. She and I have known each other for thirty years now."

Ah-yi carefully unfolded the origami and twisted it in her hands. The ink on it was old and the folds were deep, which meant she must have read it many times.

It is said that Empress Chen was both talented and virtuous, but A'ao had never seen her handwriting with her own eyes.

The palace collected her belongings and buried them with her, and also burned all her written manuscripts, leaving not a single word behind.

Seeing her today, I was not disappointed. Her handwriting was neat and beautiful, and through the words, it seemed as if she was standing in front of me, dignified and gentle.

Unlike A'ao, when she started painting, her characters became free and easy.

The article was very long, so Mrs. Cui didn't say anything else, giving her time to read it carefully.

Judging from the date of signature, this letter was written on the second day after Chen Zhaoying was forced to give herself to Shen Zhuo.

You are like my friend, and reading my letter is like meeting you in person.

The two words "Yingruo" are Mrs. Cui's maiden name.

Chen Zhaoying was clearly aware that if Shen Zhuo successfully ascended to the throne, such humiliating things would happen once and there would be many more.

Shen Zhuo was narrow-minded and had a vulgar character. It was hard to say whether he would use A'ao as an excuse or himself as an excuse to coerce A'ao. When he ascended the throne, the late emperor was his elder brother, so naturally, as a widowed queen, she could not be the queen mother. Staying in the palace with this awkward identity was like a bargaining chip.

The best way is to die.

Chen Zhaoying calmly wrote down everything before and after her death.

Having lived in the palace for a long time with no one to talk to, he started to talk a lot now that he was about to leave. He wrote a long letter, telling his entire life story, and told Mrs. Cui everything in it.

Apart from A'an, she had no other concerns.

As the daughter of the Chen family, she was born to marry the prince, become the princess, and bring glory to the Chen family. When she first met Shen Cong, he was indeed extraordinary in appearance and he was also the prince. Even though she never had the slightest room to make her own decisions, Chen Zhaoying accepted it.

After getting married, she hoped to be able to live in harmony with her husband. They didn't need to be too loving, as long as they could live a stable life.

Unexpectedly, Shen Cong began to reveal his hidden side soon after his marriage. He respected his wife and mother more than anyone else, treated women as playthings, and forced her to give birth to his son as soon as possible to consolidate his position as crown prince.

In bed, humiliation and abuse are common.

Chen Zhaoying was pregnant and was hoping to give birth to a child safely, whether it was a boy or a girl, so that she could have some hope.

But one night when she was four months pregnant, Shen Cong got drunk. He returned to the Eastern Palace drunk and forced himself on her. Chen Zhaoying lost her first child.

This matter was known to almost everyone in the government and the country.

In order to appease the Chen family, Emperor Wu'an severely reprimanded Shen Cong and made him kneel in the ancestral hall for three days. He also personally sent someone to deliver supplements to Chen Zhaoying's bedside before the matter was resolved.

Chen Zhaoying hoped that such days would pass quickly.

Soon, she had Ah-yi.

A'ao was a well-behaved child. Except for the day of her delivery, when she sat for too long at the Shangyuan Palace Banquet and felt unwell, resulting in premature birth, she never suffered any pain.

Her daughter was so beautiful that even Emperor Wu'an, who wanted a grandson very much and had not seen a baby for a long time, was very pleased and personally bestowed the name and title of Princess A'an on her.

At this time, Chen Zhaoying hoped that the good days would pass more slowly. Emperor Wu'an died, and Shen Cong ascended the throne as he wished.

At this time, Chen Zhaoying was named Empress, but she had already separated from Shen Cong and his wife because she could not get pregnant again. She was not afraid of Shen Cong's expansion of his harem, nor did she care. The little love she had for him was completely worn away by Shen Cong's contempt and belittlement.

Once a person has power, he will become unrecognizable. Even the emperor cannot escape this fate. Shen Cong gradually became more suspicious, sensitive and irritable, and even attacked A'ao.

There was no need for him to order A'an to be expelled from the palace, as Chen Zhaoying had already thought of a way out.

The child has done nothing wrong. After a few years when Shen Cong passes away, as long as one of the concubines gives birth to a child and there is a prince who succeeds the throne, the mother and daughter will be reunited.

Chen Zhaoying also hoped that Shen Cong would die early.

But although Shen Cong really died, it was his younger brother Shen Zhuo who caused it.

Only then did Chen Zhaoying realize how wrong she was. This man was even more insane and tyrannical than Shen Cong.

She held her torn clothes tightly, her eyes red, but she refused to shed a tear.

She spent her whole life in constant anticipation.

Perhaps if I had made up my mind and killed Shen Cong earlier, I wouldn't have ended up in this situation today.

She can die, she can be free, but Ah-an cannot. She has been brought into the world by force, and she has not been given the parental love she deserves. Ah-an cannot be trapped in this dark cage until she dies.

So she told her good friend Mrs. Cui that after she died, she didn't have to tell A'an anything. Without this emotional restraint, she could go further.

Until she hanged herself to death, the ink had not yet dried, and Chen Zhaoying could not help but yearn for what a happy life she would have if Ah'an grew up by her side.

Watch her learn calligraphy and reading, or riding and archery, in short, whatever she likes is good. She will play the role of a well-mannered princess in front of outsiders, and when no one is around, she will playfully set traps to tease teachers and maids, or catch a few birds.

When she grows up a little bit, I can prepare clothes, jewelry, gold, silver and jade for her as a dowry, and seal it in a sandalwood box, waiting for the day when someone can win her heart and marry her to the person she likes.

The long ten years passed by in a flash when she suffocated and ran out of breath.

Chen Zhaoying died, and the letter came to an end.

The heart felt like it was soaked in water, swelling and causing a dull pain that spread to the limbs, becoming cold, and the sense of touch gradually faded.

Looking at Ah'ao's sad face, tears rolled down and hung on the tip of her chin, her shoulders trembling slightly, she looked pitiful everywhere.

Mrs. Cui had expected this day to come, so it was not a surprise.

"When you were little, you often asked me why the Queen abandoned you and ignored you. I always answered you perfunctorily, but secretly answered in my heart that the Queen loved you more than anyone else."

Apart from the dense love hidden between the words, everything else was no different from what A'an had guessed.

A'ao thought that since she was sent away so early, Chen Zhaoying would not love her so much.

"The dowry she prepared for you is all sealed in the secret vault under the Changsheng Palace. No one knows about it, and no one will covet it. Mr. Lian Huai was invited by the Queen herself for you. Otherwise, why would he be willing to come to me, a widow?"

Madam Cui sighed, her eyes moistened. "In previous years, I insisted on bringing you into the palace during the festivals, just to show the queen whether her daughter was growing up well without her."

But who can be blamed for all this?
All the sufferings were inflicted on them by men.

Ah-yi finally couldn't help herself and whimpered in pain. It was raining and drizzling, and she was like a lost kitten, soaked to the skin and with no direction.

Ah's shoulders slumped, and she leaned over the edge of the bed, gradually crying. She clutched the letter tightly in her hand, and the wound on her forearm was bleeding, but she didn't care.

There was a broken sentence in it.

"I never smiled when I saw her during the New Year holidays."

Mrs. Cui was so distressed that she couldn't help crying. She walked to Ah's bed and sat down, letting Ah's lean on her chest, avoiding the wounded part and gently patting her shoulder.

"Good Ah-an, this is not your fault. A mother's love for her child does not require any reward or guilt. You just need to be well, that's enough." Mrs. Cui raised Ah-an like her own daughter since she was a child. Seeing her suffering physically and mentally, she felt heartbroken. "Don't hurt her again. You know how anxious and painful it is for me to see this!"

Ah'ao didn't like to cry when she was young. When she was seven or eight years old, she was very naughty. She climbed up and down in the yard and often fell down and got bruises, but she never cried.

Mrs. Cui never scolded her, but only said that children should always release their nature.

Being innocent and lively is always better than being stagnant and dull.

But as he grew up, he fled the capital and made a living by crying at funerals. With tears in his eyes and a broken heart, if he wanted to act more realistically, he would have to be sincere at times.

Now I am really hurt to the core, and I can finally cry from my heart.

I think the joy and sorrow, laughter and tears of a person's life are all destined. If there is any excess, it must be made up in another place. It is a fate that cannot be escaped.

A'ao cried for half an hour before her sobs gradually subsided.

She buried her face in Mrs. Cui's arms and said after a while, "Aunt Cui, I will make him pay with his life."

(End of this chapter)