After exhausting every trick she could think of, the original Jiang He had even brought her late father into the matter.
Just yesterday morning, she had told Xie Zhao that before Father Jiang passed away, he had said he hoped that by next year’s Qingming Festival, he would see the two of them bringing a child to visit his grave.
To be fair, the original owner of this body had known exactly how to manipulate Xie Zhao. That was why what happened the previous night had happened at all.
Now that Jiang He had pieced together the whole story, she decided to confess everything at Father Jiang’s grave and refuse to let the tragedy from the novel happen to her.
“Xie Ziming, in front of Father… there’s something I need to confess.”
Xie Zhao continued burning the paper offerings with an expressionless face.
“Father’s last words were actually…”
Damn it. It really did take courage to admit something like this.
In the eyes of people in this era, marriage was no laughing matter.
She had deceived him about something this important, and she had no idea what would happen once she told him the truth.
But she had to say it.
She couldn’t follow the plot of the novel, and she didn’t want to keep living such a suffocating life.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang He lowered her head and gathered her courage.
“The truth is… Father never told us to get married. He also never said he wanted us to bring a child to visit his grave next Qingming Festival. When he saved you, he never expected anything in return. It was me… I was afraid that after Father died, you would leave too, and I’d be all alone. I was scared, so I tried to keep you by using that lie.”
The first half was true.
The latter half she had made up.
The original owner had deceived him. She had to come up with a relatively reasonable explanation to smooth things over.
After all, an eighteen-year-old girl whose parents had both died being afraid of being left alone was perfectly understandable.
At least, she thought the excuse sounded convincing.
However, Xie Zhao showed no reaction at all.
He simply continued burning the paper offerings with the same expressionless face.
Jiang He blinked.
Was my voice too quiet? Did the mountain wind carry it away before he heard it?
She cleared her throat and spoke a little louder.
“Since only the two of us know about the wedding ceremony… let’s just pretend it never happened.”
This time, Xie Zhao finally reacted.
His hand paused.
He turned to look at her.
“You think a lifelong commitment is something you can treat so casually?”
Well…
She knew marriage wasn’t child’s play, but what else could she do at this point?
“I-I’m sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied to you. Fortunately, no one knows we held the wedding ceremony, and we never consummated the marriage. Let’s just pretend none of it ever happened.”
“It never happened?”
Xie Zhao took two steps toward her.
The look in his eyes was intimidating.
Even though he had lost his memories, the commanding aura of someone accustomed to authority still clung to him, making Jiang He instinctively hop backward on one foot.
“I really know I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
She repeated the apology in a much smaller voice.
Without any more paper money being added, the fire before Father Jiang’s grave gradually died down.
Only the glowing red ashes remained, burning like an angry face.
The mountain breeze swept past, scattering scraps of paper and brushing her cheeks with a chilly touch.
Jiang He kept her head lowered, staring at the tips of her shoes as she quietly waited for his judgment.
Only after a long silence did she hear Xie Zhao’s cold voice.
“Why did you choose to confess to me?”
Why?
Could she tell him she was afraid of dying?
Of course not.
Her mind raced, and she quickly came up with another excuse.
“Lies are bound to be exposed someday… I was afraid.”
Xie Zhao replied calmly,
“The day I went to fetch the doctor, only you and Father were at home. His final words were known only to you. If you never said anything, who could possibly expose the lie?”
Jiang He: “…”
Seriously? Does the reason even matter? Can’t we just call off the marriage? Why are you digging to the bottom of this?
Her brain worked overtime, searching for yet another excuse.
“I… I talk in my sleep. Last night, when you slept beside me, I was so frightened that I didn’t sleep at all. I was afraid I’d accidentally blurt out the truth, and that would be even more embarrassing. So I thought I might as well confess.”
Xie Zhao: “…”
He had heard plenty of ridiculous excuses before.
But never one this ridiculous.
“Jiang He, could you at least put some effort into your lies?”
“Huh?”
Jiang He’s head shot up.
So…
He hadn’t believed a single word she’d said?
“I already know you forged Father’s last wishes.”
“What?”
Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
What the hell?
You knew?
“Y-You knew? How?”
She was so startled that she even began to stammer.
“I already told you.”
“You don’t even lie seriously.”
Jiang He fell speechless.
What was that supposed to mean?
Xie Zhao continued,
“Father had already told me that after he passed away, he hoped I would continue looking after you. If possible, he wanted me to accept you as my sworn younger sister. He also told me not to worry about observing his mourning period and to find you a good family as soon as possible so you could get married.”
What?
What?!
Father Jiang had already arranged everything before his death?
And he had even told Xie Zhao to marry the original Jiang He off as soon as possible?
Jiang He stood there with her eyes wide and mouth hanging open, so shocked that her jaw nearly dropped.
Xie Zhao went on.
“He said his illness had already delayed your future for too long. Girls become harder to marry as they grow older. He wanted you married before you turned twenty.”
Before twenty…
How old was the original Jiang He this year again?
Right.
She was eighteen.
That meant…
She had originally wanted to argue.
But twenty.
The timing was almost frighteningly precise.
She was eighteen now.
Two years until she turned twenty.
And two years from now, Xie Zhao would recover his memories and leave.
Sometimes…
People simply had to face reality.
An orphaned girl with no one to arrange a marriage for her would have an extremely difficult life.
She could easily be bullied or become the target of local thugs and troublemakers.
If Xie Zhao could help settle her future, perhaps that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean she had to get married.
Before transmigrating, her family had been in business, and she’d been trained from childhood to manage one.
She believed she could make use of that experience and revive the business Father Jiang had once run.
Still, the same problem remained.
In ancient times, it was incredibly difficult for a teenage girl to accomplish anything on her own.
But with Xie Zhao, things were different.
Since he wanted to repay the Jiang family’s kindness, perhaps she could spend these two years having him help her establish a foothold in Anqiu’s business circles.
“We can talk about marriage later.”
She decided to save the discussion about starting a business until they got home.
First, she needed to sort through everything in the house and see what resources were still usable.
Then another thought suddenly struck her.
He had known the truth all along.
Yet he had kept silent and even cooperated with the original Jiang He by going through with the wedding.
So…
What exactly had that whole performance looked like from his perspective?
Even though she wasn’t the one who had forged the dying wish, she suddenly felt as if all her clothes had been stripped away, leaving her unbearably embarrassed.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
“If you knew I was lying, then why did you agree to marry me?”
Seriously.
Wasn’t that a bit shameless?
“And forget that—why are you the one who’s angry? Weren’t you the one who agreed to it in the first place?”
She grumbled a few more complaints.
Somehow…
She no longer felt guilty.
Instead, she was furious.
“You really don’t understand?”
Xie Zhao asked.
Jiang He looked completely baffled.
“Am I supposed to?”
“You don’t understand why I’m angry?”
Jiang He: “…”
“I know you were afraid.”
“But how could you fabricate Father’s dying wish?”
“Didn’t I tell you long ago that I would take care of you?”
“Even if I had to starve myself, I would never let you go hungry.”