Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress
Chapter 1146 - 1151: Mo Zili’s Heartfelt Thoughts (1)

When Mo Zili’s gaze drifted over her little face, he froze for a moment, his eyes lingering on her sleeping visage and did not move away for a long time.

He had known Xiang Yun since they were children, practically childhood sweethearts. In his memory, she had always been a lively maiden with baby fat and a rosy complexion. When did she become so thin and pale? And her sleeping face, although peaceful like a child’s, had two delicate brows furrowed together...

It was clear that she was not doing well, not happy, her pallor dull and diminished, her pointed chin standing out, even in sleep, her brows knitted, a look of heavy thoughts...

A wave of guilt washed over Mo Zili’s heart—he knew all too well why she was like this.

Even though he knew he was to blame, he could only offer her the status of an Official Wife and a child as compensation, there was nothing else within his power.

The offspring of the Mo Family were always straightforward in temperament, and he was no exception. The reason he had not opposed marrying her before was that he had never truly loved any woman. Xiang Yun was someone he had known since childhood, and the family backgrounds and appearances of their two families were quite well-matched, so he let his parents arrange the marriage affairs for him.

Originally, he thought that a person’s life was just like this, methodically getting married, having children, and living within the bounds of propriety for a lifetime.

Until, several months ago.

He went to the Temple of Peach Blossoms for a spring outing and stumbled upon an incredibly clean face under a blossoming peach blossom tree. The owner of that face seemed only thirteen or fourteen years old, with brows as ethereal as smoke on a willow leaf and a pair of eyes that seemed both joyful and not, bearing twin dimples of sorrow, appearing sick with a delicate beauty, serene as a tender flower reflected in water, and graceful as a willow swaying in the breeze—truly a beauty as flawless as jade!

She was dressed in a simple and elegant sky-blue pattern woven coverlet, with a sky-blue flower-dotted skirt. With her calm and graceful demeanor, she stood out amidst the pale pink peach blossoms, like a celestial being, capturing his gaze instantly.

For the first time, he inquired about the identity of the girl and learned that she was actually the legitimate daughter from Duke An’s Mansion.

The reputation of Duke An’s Mansion was poor, looked down upon by the nobility of the Capital; the girls of Duke An’s Mansion were used for marriage alliances, to stabilize the crumbling status of their family. Hearing this, he felt a pang of regret; such a pure and unaffected maiden, and yet her future was uncertain, not knowing into what kind of family she might marry.

After that, he often made a point of inquiring about news of the girl, as the graceful figure he had seen in the Temple of Peach Blossoms did not fade or disappear with the passage of time in the world, but instead became increasingly vivid. Later, when Duke Li Guo’s Mansion was put under house arrest, throughout those months of confinement, he often thought of the vision of her, standing out as a lotus flower emerging from water, independent of the worldly realm. By then, he had decided that once the ban on his Mansion was lifted, he would go and make it clear to his grandparents, cancel the arranged marriage with the Mansion of Marquis Jian’an, and pursue a proposal to Duke Li Guo’s Mansion to marry her.

Unfortunately, man’s plans are no match for the heavens’, and by the time Duke Li Guo’s Mansion was free from the ban, she was already wed, reportedly replacing her cousin who had fled from the marriage, marrying Jin Dapeng, who was beyond redemption. Soon after, both Duke An’s Mansion and the Mansion of Marquis Wuchang were raided, their female relatives thrown into prison, demoted to slave status.

Without hesitating, he redeemed her, and placed her in a finely appointed small house in Willow Lane.

Now, her identity was no longer that of the Miss from Duke An’s Mansion, but rather a daughter of a guilty official, reduced to slave status. To marry her became an utterly impossible matter.

Thus, he married Xiang Yun as agreed, giving her status and all due respect, but his love would be reserved for the girl he admired.