âYouâ¦â
âYouâ¦â
They both spoke and stopped at the same time.
There was another bout of silence.
Just as the two of them were hesitating over what to say, the coachman stopped the carriage. They had arrived at Jiang Danheâs residence.
Jiang Danhe got out of the carriage first. Xiaoguo heaved a sigh of relief. Then she took her bag and prepared to get out.
Just as she got up, she saw that the curtain had been lifted. Xiaoguo bent down and alighted. She saw a large hand waiting quietly for her.
Xiaoguo pursed her lips and hesitantly placed her hand on his.
Jiang Danhe was delighted. He quietly tightened his grip and helped her down safely.
Xiaoguo was about to take her hand back, but Jiang Danhe didnât let her. He held her hand even harder so that she couldnât draw it back.
Xiaoguo felt like her hand was going to be crippled. Why was this person so strong?!
Xiaoguo couldnât take it anymore and looked up at the blushing Jiang Danhe. âMy hand hurts.â
âWhat?â Jiang Danhe didnât understand, so he asked her in a daze. Under her gaze, Jiang Danhe realized that he had exerted too much strength. He quickly let go of her hand. âOh, Iâm sorry.â
Xiaoguo finally retrieved her left hand and looked down at it. Good grief, the blood has stopped flowing through her veins.
Jiang Danhe also realized it. At this moment, he was so embarrassed that he could only chuckle foolishly.
After the two of them alighted, the coachman drove the carriage into the courtyard. Xiaoguo did not know the way, so she could only wait for Jiang Danhe to lead the way.
However, she did not know what Jiang Danhe was thinking. After he got out of the car, he remained rooted to the spot where he was standing.
So the two of them stood like fools, enjoying the breeze at the front door.
Another gust of wind swept past and Xiaoguo wrapped her clothes tightly around herself in resignation. Was she going to spend the night at the front door?
Jiang Danhe was woken up from his daze by the wind. When he saw Xiaoguo pulling on her clothes, his embarrassment returned. His face was even redder than before.
âLetâs go in quickly.â
As soon as Jiang Danhe said that, Xiaoguo almost rolled her eyes. It sounded like she didnât want to go in.
Jiang Danhe also realized that he had said something wrong. âIâm sorryâ¦â
Xiaoguo gave him a friendly smile. âItâs fine. Hurry up and go in.â
The wind was cold at night.
Jiang Danhe was overjoyed. âShe smiled. She smiled at me!â
âShe looks so pretty when she smiles. Hehe.â
Xiaoguo looked at Jiang Danhe who was grinning from ear to ear. She was speechless. What is this?
âLetâs go.â
Jiang Danhe happily brought Xiaoguo in.
The soldiers at the door saluted Jiang Danhe when they saw him. However, they were a little curious when they saw Xiaoguo. After the two of them had left, the two soldiers gathered together and whispered to each other. Looking at the generalâs yearning expression, they could roughly guess Xiaoguoâs identity.
Xiaoguo looked at Jiang Danhe, who was smiling foolishly along the way. She couldnât help but suspect that Zhuang Zhuangâs high IQ was not inherited from him.
When they returned to the house, Li Shouji, who had just come back from getting food, saw their backs.
When Li Shouji first saw the beauty, his heart skipped a beat. When did such a beauty arrive at the residence?
He did not go over to say hello. Seeing Jiang Danhe bring her back to his house, he could guess the womanâs identity.
This must be Jiang Danheâs wife.
Li Shouji did not disturb the two of them. He burped and returned to his own house. He was still carrying the food that he had packed for Jiang Danhe. It seemed that he could only eat tomorrow.
Li Shouji turned around with the meal box and returned to his room while humming a tune.
Xiaoguo followed Jiang Danhe into the house. Jiang Danhe lit a few candles with familiarity. In an instant, the room was lit up.
Jiang Danhe took Xiaoguoâs bag and placed it on the bed. At first, Xiaoguo was a little unused to it, but she had no reason to refute. After all, they were still husband and wife.
Xiaoguo sat on a stool, and Jiang Danhe sat down as well. They were seated across from each other.
âYouâ¦â
Xiaoguo was wondering how to start the conversation, but Jiang Danhe thoughtfully told her everything.
Xiaoguo listened quietly. Jiang Danhe explained all that had happened to Xiaoguo. From the moment he was taken away as a soldier to meeting Shao Zhan, who was still a prince at that time, to his fake death and implementing the plan.
âSo why didnât you contact home?â
Xiaoguo was more concerned about this. âSince he wasnât dead, why didnât he contact his family? Besides, if he had contacted them, Mrs. Jiang might not have diedâ¦â
âSigh, we faked our deaths to hide our identities. The situation was a little complicated at that time. If I had contacted you, Iâm afraid that our enemies could have followed the clues and found you. Although the previous emperor was muddle-headed, he still had a few elite troops under his command. They were trying hard to find our troops then. All of us didnât dare to go out or contact our families. Once we are found, all of us, including our family will be exterminated.â
Jiang Danhe heaved a sigh of relief upon finishing what he had to say. He had wanted to explain these things to his family for a long time. Now that he had finally said them, he could not help but feel relieved. He continued speaking again.
âI didnât contact you guys after that because the emperor wasnât prepared to let me return home. Although itâs very safe now, there are still some surviving enemies. You guys are unarmed. What if they seek you out and harm you? I donât dare to take the risk. Moreover, as long as I tie up the ends here, I can retire and return home, and be reunited with you all.â
Xiaoguo listened quietly. So that was the reasonâ¦
âBy the way, wife, whereâs mother and my daughter?â
Jiang Danhe, addressing her as wife, took Xiaoguo by surprise. âWife?â
âOh right, he didnât know that Mrs. Jiang had alreadyâ¦â
âMother died a year and a half after you left.â
Xiaoguo spoke softly and looked at Jiang Danhe sympathetically.
The smile on Jiang Danheâs face immediately disappeared. He looked at Xiaoguo in disbelief. She had passed away? Impossible. He must have heard wrongly. He asked again, shakily.
Xiaoguo looked at Jiang Danhe, who was trembling all over. She couldnât bear to see him like this. However, that was the truth. Xiaoguo repeated herself, âDuring that time, there was a famine and we were starving. At the same time, we were informed of yourâ¦â
Xiaoguo suddenly stopped talking. She couldnât bear to continue because this was too cruel to Jiang Danhe. His mother had died after hearing about his death. How brutal was that?
âWas it because she heard about my deathâ¦?â
Jiang Danhe understood the last sentence. He couldnât stop trembling and he felt like he was blacking out. âHow could this be? How could this be!â
âActually, thatâs not the only reason. There was also a famine at that time, and many people in the village had diedâ¦â
Xiaoguoâs voice became softer and softer because Jiang Danhe was crying in front of her.
Xiaoguo didnât know what to do. She looked at the man with tears streaming down his face. She didnât know how to comfort him, or whether she should comfort him at all. Eventually she decided to let him vent it all out.
Xiaoguo was getting ready to leave so that Jiang Danhe could sort out his emotions. However, before she could move, a large hand grabbed her and pulled her into his arms.
Jiang Danhe buried his head in Xiaoguoâs arms and cried quietly.
At first, Xiaoguo was a little stiff. She wanted to struggle as she was feeling uncomfortable, but when she saw the face that looked so much like Zhuang Zhuang, she couldnât bear to push him away. Instinctively, she started to pat his head and comfort him like how she usually did for Zhuang Zhuang.
Jiang Danheâs body froze for a moment before he started sobbing quietly. He held on tightly to the woman who gave him warmth.
He held her soft waist, and breathed in the refreshing scent of her skin. He vented the sorrow that he had been keeping to himself all this whileâ¦
Xiaoguo gave out a soft sigh. After all, he was just a child who was in his twenties