She heard something?
Her son?
Her son?
Her son had already died on the battlefield, so how could he have told Jiang Tingting?
“Mother, it’s true.” Jiang Tingting looked seriously into Mother Zhou’s eyes. “My husband told me in a dream.”
Mother Zhou looked at Jiang Tingting with a complicated expression. She had thought Jiang Tingting was a good girl, but she never expected that, in order to gain the court’s commendation, Jiang Tingting would fabricate such an absurd lie.
Their Zhou family had declined, but for the court to send someone like this to spy on them—this, this was an insult to the entire Zhou family!
“Mother, my husband said that today he can speak with you for a few words, but the time won’t be long.” Jiang Tingting could see Mother Zhou’s fury, but she didn’t explain, instead speaking quickly. “My husband is coming soon.”
Mother Zhou felt nothing but immense irony, and she could no longer hold back: “Jiang Tingting, you…”
“Mother, your son has missed you so much.” A sudden familiar voice rang out, leaving Mother Zhou completely stunned.
Zhou Qinghao!
Her son’s voice!
In an instant, Mother Zhou no longer cared whether Jiang Tingting was lying or not; her entire mind was drawn to that voice: “Hao’er, is that you?”
“Mother…”
The familiar voice, trembling with choked sobs, shattered Mother Zhou’s heart into pieces: “My son… Hao’er…”
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the room, and the oil lamp was blown out.
Zhou Qinghao’s voice was ethereal, as if it might dissipate at any moment, yet every word reached Mother Zhou’s ears with perfect clarity.
Zhou Qinghao briefly mentioned a few things—things that only mother and son would know.
Mother Zhou immediately believed it. This really was her son coming to see her.
“…Mother, I can’t show myself. This conversation is the only chance I’ll have. From now on, I’ll protect you and my younger brother through Tingting.” Zhou Qinghao said firmly. “With Tingting here, you and my brother won’t suffer any more grievances.”
“Mother doesn’t feel wronged. As long as you’re well, that’s enough. You, you shouldn’t stay too long—you, you need to hurry and be reborn!” Even though Mother Zhou couldn’t bear to part with her son, she still didn’t want to delay his reincarnation.
Zhou Qinghao gently reassured his mother, saying that because he had been loyal to the country in life and had accumulated merit, he could stay for a few more years.
The two of them poured out their hearts to each other. Mother Zhou wept like a fountain of tears, and Zhou Qinghao’s voice choked up several times as well.
Even though Mother Zhou was so emotionally overwhelmed, she still kept her voice low, afraid that others might overhear.
It wasn’t until Zhou Qinghao left and Jiang Tingting relit the oil lamp that Mother Zhou finally wiped away her tears and grabbed Jiang Tingting’s hand with great emotion: “Tingting, you’ve suffered so much.”
“Mother, I need to thank my husband.” Jiang Tingting sniffled and said, “If it weren’t for the dream my husband sent me the night before, telling me that my mother was going to sell me to the matchmaker and giving me the idea to come to you, I might not know where I’d be right now.”
“Also, that five taels of silver—my husband told me where to dig it up in the mountains.”
Jiang Tingting pursed her lips and said with lingering fear, “At first, I was half-doubtful about my husband’s dream. It wasn’t until I dug up the silver in the mountains, and then when I secretly came back and saw the matchmaker entering my house, that I believed everything was real.”
“That’s when I came to find you. Mother, my husband saved my life. From now on, I’ll take good care of you.”
Jiang Tingting subtly smoothed over all the inconsistencies from before, simply pushing everything onto Zhou Qinghao.
After all, that guy hadn’t been reborn and had just died like that.
Hmph, she was going to pin all the blame on him.
“Good child, good child!” Knowing that Jiang Tingting was the one her son had chosen, Mother Zhou immediately felt much closer to her.
She never expected that even though her son had passed away, she could still feel his presence through Jiang Tingting’s dreams.
Though mother and son couldn’t see each other face to face, and this was their only chance to speak, just being able to feel that her son was still by her side was enough to make her content.
“It’s just that you’ve been wronged, having to live as a widow.” Mother Zhou felt for Jiang Tingting. As a woman herself, she naturally understood the hardships women faced.
“Mother.” Jiang Tingting shook her head with red-rimmed eyes, disagreeing with Mother Zhou’s words. “If it weren’t for my husband, my fate in the Jiang family… would probably have been terrible.”
“Now that I’ve married into the Zhou family, with you to care for me and my husband helping me from the shadows, I feel… quite happy.” Jiang Tingting expressed her true feelings. “I can work hard, and our family’s days will only get better.”
“Mm.” Mother Zhou nodded, but still couldn’t help but caution Jiang Tingting. “You know our family’s situation. Be careful in everything—don’t stand out too much.”
“Mother, I understand.” Jiang Tingting said with a smile. “My husband also reminded me in the dream that people might be watching our family. He said he’d find a chance to deal with them.”
Mother Zhou was taken aback: “He, he can even do that?”
Just now, time had been too short, and there were many things she hadn’t had the chance to ask.
Mentioning this, Jiang Tingting said proudly, “Mother, my husband is the renowned young general. Dealing with those court lackeys is as easy as turning his hand.”
“He is loyal and protects the nation, having saved countless common folk. His merits run deep. Although he cannot show himself directly, he surely has his own ways to protect Mother and my little brother.”
What parent wouldn’t love hearing praise about their own child?
Moreover, in Mother Zhou’s eyes, her son was truly perfect in every way.
Seeing the light return to Mother Zhou’s eyes, Jiang Tingting secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She recalled that in her previous life, Mother Zhou had passed away not long after, and besides living in poverty, it was more that she had lost the will to live.
Now, with Zhou Qinghao as that motivation, Mother Zhou would have something to look forward to.
No matter what, Zhou Qinghao was still watching from the shadows. Even if only to put her son’s mind at ease, Mother Zhou would live on well.
“Mother, from now on, our family will live well together,” Jiang Tingting said softly.
“Alright.” Mother Zhou’s spirit returned, and her vigor improved somewhat.
“Mother, rest early. I’ll head back now.” Knowing that Mother Zhou needed time to process what had just happened, Jiang Tingting returned to her own room.
In the space, she had recorded quite a few conversations between her and Zhou Qinghao. They had always hoped for rebirth, but also worried that something unexpected might occur.
Whenever they had the chance, they would record some words they wanted to say to their loved ones.
She had no relatives to worry about, so she mostly recorded what she planned to do after being reborn.
Zhou Qinghao, however, had recorded far more than she had.
Using high technology, she had directly programmed a smart system that would combine Zhou Qinghao’s words based on Mother Zhou’s questions.
That way, if she ever did something that didn’t match her current identity, she could just blame it all on Zhou Qinghao.
As for Zhou Qinghao’s secrets… they had crossed through countless worlds already, and between the two of them, there were truly no secrets left.
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