Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 390 - 389: The Living Dead

Chapter 390: Chapter 389: The Living Dead

The Ninth Prince walked into the main hall, hand in hand with the Sixth Princess, laughing. "Where is the imperial mother?" he asked.

"Imperial mother is worshipping Buddha in the Small Buddha Hall," answered the Sixth Princess in a soft, glutinous voice.

Shan Jieyu was indeed praying at the Small Buddha Hall. Her son had only been gone for a few short days, but it felt like an eternity to her. She didn’t know whether his chronic illness could be cured, nor if he had seen his younger brother.

Shan Jieyu tried to repress her nervousness and calmly made her way to the main hall.

Due to her long-term practice of Buddhism, she exuded a strong fragrance of sandalwood. On the surface she seemed calm and collected, but her eyes always held a hint of sadness. Her complexion was white and smooth, with delicate features. Even though she was middle-aged, her charm from her youth was still discernable.

She was dressed in a semi-worn, dark green jacket and a moon-white floral skirt. A pearl hairpin adorned her hair, with only a thin layer of makeup on her face. Unlike the overly flashy concubines in the palace, she resembled an ordinary woman from the folk.

The Ninth Prince greeted her and started talking about the news and happenings from the temple. He also presented a string of blessed Buddhist beads from the abbot of Lingyin Temple to Shan Jieyu. Additionally, he gave her a few grass-woven crickets and small baskets he had bought for the Sixth Princess.

After some time, an older maid was instructed to take the Sixth Princess away to play.

Once the room was emptied, the Ninth Prince leaned in and whispered to Shan Jieyu, "Imperial mother, I got a clear look at Shiyi this time, heard him talk, watched him make poetry. He looks a lot like you, even more than me, and he’s very talented, good at writing and composing poems. And he’s...very, very happy... I think he wouldn’t be so happy and fortunate if he grew up in the palace..."

Shan Jieyu listened and wept, finally had to cover her mouth with a handkerchief to muffle her cries.

Shan Jieyu had turned forty this year. She lived with The Yuans until she was twelve when her family met with a calamity. She was the only one saved; everyone else was killed, including a newborn child.

She was sent to live in Lingnan for three years. She was fostered by a small merchant family in a town under the pretense of being a distant relative. They claimed that all her family members had died in a plague, leaving her, a solitary child, to seek refuge with her distant relatives.

From the fear of being decapitated to the relief of being rescued, from the sadness of losing her loved ones to gaining the resilience to live on, and finally accepting her new identity and cultivating mutual affection with her foster family’s son, it took her a total of three years.

It might not be a long time, but it was enough for her to embrace all the changes. She thought she would stay there, take root and sprout, settle down with that strong, healthy young man, bear children, and let the Yuans’ bloodline continue in an alternate form.

When she was starting to be hopeful for the future, she was abruptly taken back to the Capital City.

Only then did she find out that the only surviving bloodline from her family, the Crown Prince, had been murdered. The Emperor wanted her to bear his child, wanting someone of Yuan’s bloodline to ascend the throne.

The Emperor wanted her as a tool for his "atonement", or, perhaps, a living corpse.

She hated the dog Emperor who exterminated her family, but the dog Emperor was already dead. Even though the current Emperor had avenged her family and once saved her, she still hated him. If he hadn’t insisted on marrying her cousin back then, her family wouldn’t have suffered such calamity.

She knew she didn’t have the freedom of choice, and all she could do was to submit.

Henceforth, she had lost not only her identity but also her sense of self and her aspirations. The grand palace seemed like a large cage, confining not only her physical being but also her mind.

She felt as if fate hasn’t been completely blind. After being graced by the Emperor’s favor twice, she successfully bore a son.

From the day the son was born, she hadn’t seen the Emperor until her son turned sixteen.

Mother and son lived quietly in the Luoxia Hall, being neglected and bullied by others, but they didn’t care.

As her son grew older, he became more and more attached to her. When her son was six, the Emperor appointed the son of General Chu to be his companion in study. She owed her life to General Chu who saved her from the dungeon and was fully aware that General Chu was the Emperor’s man. Seeing the Chu’s rise in power and her son’s increasing intelligence, she began to harbor a glimmer of hope for life again.

If the Emperor were to die and her son ascended the throne, that wouldn’t be so bad.

However, when her son was thirteen, he was seriously injured by some villains. General Chu was framed and became a son-in-law, ending his official career.

She felt so devastated that she even harbored thoughts of death. Later, she gradually came to terms with her son’s condition. Her son being crippled means that he wouldn’t need to compete for the throne and they might get to live peacefully. Mother and son leading a quiet life, free from worries and fear, didn’t sound too bad.

Afterwards, she learned that the Emperor and the Chus were searching for divine doctors and divine medicine to cure her son’s illness, which rekindled some hope in her heart. However, repeated disappointments left her emotionally drained.

When her son turned sixteen, he married his imperial consort and his concubine. That’s when she found out that not only were his legs crippled, but also his virility had been ruined.

That very year, the Emperor appeared before her again and showed favor to her yet another time.

Surprisingly, at the "advanced age" of thirty-three, she was with child again. To avoid any complications, she was sent to the Nunnery under the excuse that she was praying for the ailing Empress Dowager. However, just when she started harboring hopes again, she ended up giving birth to a "stillborn".

Her heart felt dead. Even when the Emperor entrusted her with looking after the Sixth Princess, she remained detached. If it weren’t for her eldest son, she really would’ve considered becoming a nun.

She thought that if she hadn’t nourished any hope, she wouldn’t have suffered so much. As a living dead, she had no right to possess such a luxury.

However, last year, two huge sources of happiness fell into her lap, one after the other, making her feel like she was in a dream. She first learned that Master Wu Zhi was willing to treat her son, and that the divine medicine for her son’s cure had been found. Later, she found out that the "stillborn" was a sham, and her younger son was still alive...

After a bout of crying, Shan Jieyu asked, "You’ve talked so much about Shiyi, but you haven’t mentioned yourself. How are you doing, my son? Has your illness been cured?"

The Ninth Prince’s face flushed a little as he smiled and said, "It should be cured."

Shan Jieyu cried joyously again. Wiping her tears, she pressed her hands together and said, "Blessings to Amitabha Buddha, your illness is cured. That’s amazing." She quickly added, "You should go back sooner. I want to hold my grandson by this time next year."

Before leaving, the Ninth Prince handed over a small wallet to Shan Jieyu, which contained a lock of hair from Shiyi.

Shan Jieyu lay in bed, smelling the lock of hair over and over again. She placed it on her chest before gradually falling asleep.

When she woke up the next day, she put the lock of hair back into the wallet and placed it near her heart again, keeping her precious little one close to her heart all the time.

Meanwhile, Chen Dabao and Chen Afu were laughing and playing around. Dabao came to the main court for dinner, just as the two little beings in Chen Afu’s belly were turning somersaults, making her slightly uncomfortable.

When Dabao heard that his brother or sister was tumbling around in his mother’s belly, he placed his hands on her belly and felt it thumping and heaving, filling him with joy.