There Are So Many Strange Things in the World

At a single glance, he knew that this was his mother. The faint outline of her brows and eyes, the graceful expression in her features, even the goose-yellow dress she wore—all of it was exactly the same as the portrait of his mother that had always hung in his father’s study.

Staring at the indistinct figure, Shen Yingzi loosened his grip on the bamboo flute and called out in a daze,

“Mother…”

Hearing his voice, the woman gave him a gentle, fleeting smile. Strands of hair framed a face that perfectly blended delicate charm with breathtaking beauty.

“You’ve grown so big…”

Her voice was every bit as melodious and captivating.

This was his mother.

Every slight furrow of her brow seemed to hold both joy and sorrow. Every turn of her eyes was filled with endless allure.

So this was what she had looked like when she was alive.

The portrait had failed to capture even one ten-thousandth of her beauty.

Shen Yingzi unconsciously took a step forward on his knees.

“Mother… Your son has been unfilial. If not for me, you wouldn’t have left this world so soon…”

But the woman atop the grave merely turned her limpid eyes toward him. She did not respond to his words. Instead, she only parted her red lips and said faintly,

“When he first met me, he told me that from then on, he would never let me suffer the slightest grievance…”

“When I first conceived you, I was terrified. He swore that, as a dignified Golden Core cultivator, protecting me through childbirth would be as easy as lifting a finger. I was only a mortal, so of course I believed him…”

“That day, your father had been at home, keeping me company…”

“But later, he was summoned away by a single order, just as he was today…”

“You were already eight months along by then. I don’t know why, but that very day, after he left, I went into labor prematurely.”

As the woman spoke, she lowered her head and stared absently at some unseen spot.

Hearing this, Shen Yingzi’s heart ached. He wanted to say something.

So this was the truth behind his mother’s death.

But all of a sudden, the woman lifted her head. Her deep, bottomless black eyes fixed intensely upon Shen Yingzi.

He felt as though something had shackled him in an instant. His heart seemed to be crushed beneath a heavy weight, and his throat felt as if it were being squeezed shut. He stared at his mother, unable to utter a single word.

“Yingzi, do you know? I lost so much blood…”

Her resentful voice slipped into his ears on the wind, winding through his mind.

The woman, who had been sitting atop the grave, rose gracefully and walked toward Shen Yingzi, who remained motionless on his knees before the tomb.

With a wave of her hand, a pool of scarlet blood spread beneath his knees. It soaked through his shoes and trousers, and in the blink of an eye, he was kneeling in a sea of blood.

The woman bent down and leaned close to him, murmuring softly,

“Do you know how much blood there is in a person’s body?”

“All my blood ran dry. Look—it’s all beneath your feet. This entire pool. That’s why I died.”

“But if you gave me your blood, I could live.”

“Yingzi, let Mother live, all right?”

Xuanyuan Haoyue awoke amid a gentle, rhythmic swaying.

At that moment, she and her mother, Madam Xuanyuan, were sitting in the carriage on their way home.

Early that morning, her mother had taken her to the national temple to pray for a suitable marriage.

She had come of age at the beginning of the year. Her father had never shown much concern for her marriage, rejecting every proposal without exception. Whenever her elder half-brother saw her, his eyes seemed to regard her as nothing more than an object to be sold to the highest bidder. Only her mother devoted herself wholeheartedly to worrying over her future.

But Madam Xuanyuan had always been mild-tempered. Moreover, she had failed to bear a son. Though she was the principal wife of the Xuanyuan household, her authority had steadily diminished as her elder stepson grew older and her husband’s regard for him increased.

Her mother hoped to marry her off to a family of somewhat lower standing. With the support of her maternal relatives, at least she would have some protection and would not be bullied in the future.

Yet none of the suitable families Madam Xuanyuan put forward met her husband’s approval. He refused to loosen his grip on the matter.

Most likely, he intended to use her marriage to pave the way for the Xuanyuan family—and for her half-brother.

Madam Xuanyuan, who had been sitting beside her with perfect composure, lost in thought, slowly came back to herself. When she turned and saw that her daughter was awake, she smiled kindly.

“Yue’er, you’re awake. We’ll be home soon. I had the kitchen prepare your favorite lotus-petal pastries first thing this morning. You’ll be able to eat them as soon as we get back.”

Xuanyuan Haoyue managed a faint smile.

“Thank you, Mother.”

Looking at her daughter, who had blossomed into a graceful young woman, Madam Xuanyuan gently stroked the side of her forehead. Her voice was filled with melancholy.

“If only you could marry into the Mo family…”

Madam Mo was her closest childhood friend. The Mo family’s youngest son was about the same age as her daughter, and Madam Xuanyuan had watched him grow up. He had an excellent temperament and character. The Mo family was also powerful and influential—the very family her husband had always wanted to draw closer to. If this marriage could truly be arranged, he would certainly not object.

The Mo family was suitable in every way. If Yue’er could marry into it, her life would surely be much better than her mother’s.

Unfortunately, the Mo family doted deeply on their youngest son, Mo Yuanjiao, and would never wrong him in a marriage alliance. Since he was unwilling, no one could force him.

Some time ago, Madam Mo had casually mentioned the matter to Mo Yuanjiao. Sadly, he had rejected it without the slightest hesitation.

After that, Madam Mo never brought up the subject again.

Ever since she was a girl in her teens, Xuanyuan Haoyue had often heard her mother sigh that it would be wonderful if she could marry into the Mo family. The lives of mother and daughter would become much easier, Madam Xuanyuan always said. The Mo family was the best possible destination for her.

When one heard something often enough, it began to sound like an undeniable truth.

And so Xuanyuan Haoyue thought that, if this was the best possible future for her and her mother, then there was nothing she could not sacrifice to obtain it.

It was only Mo Yuanjiao, wasn’t it?

She would simply pursue him.

The two women sat in the carriage, each weighed down by her own tangled worries.

Before long, the carriage stopped at the side gate of the Situ residence.

But waiting for Xuanyuan Haoyue and Madam Xuanyuan was not the freshly baked lotus-petal pastry from the household kitchen. Instead, they were met by an imperial edict ordering the confiscation of their property and their exile.

Xuanyuan Haoyue was utterly bewildered.

It seemed that in the blink of an eye, she had gone from being the Xuanyuan household’s pampered second young lady to a disheveled, wretched prisoner, setting out on a thousand-mile journey into exile.

She did not know how many days and nights had passed.

At some point, the green hills and clear waters lining the road had given way to a desolate wasteland beneath a sky choked with blowing sand.

She felt as though her legs no longer belonged to her. They merely lifted and moved forward in a numb, mechanical rhythm.

The head her mother had once taught her never to bow had long since drooped helplessly. Her empty eyes remained fixed on the ground slowly passing beneath her feet.

She stared at the toes protruding from her rotting shoes. They were still round and plump, and she found that strange.

She had grown so thin during this time that she barely looked human. How could her toes still be so fat?

The world was truly full of strange things.