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Jiang Yan was dumbfounded, so Lu Linyuan met Mrs. An early in the morning?

She considered and said: "You and the Lu family..."

Mrs. An laughed at herself: "I was born in a theater troupe in Yangzhou. It was originally a plaything that Mrs. Lu bought for Young Master Lu."

When Lu Linyuan broke up with the Lu family because of Jiang Yanxi, Mrs. Lu felt that her son was just "bewitched" by a ghost, so in order to stop her son from thinking about it, she sent people to search everywhere, and found a woman who looked a bit like Jiang Yanxi.

Jiang Shangshu did not allow his daughter to be a concubine, and the Lu family did not want to marry a concubine to be the mistress, so Mrs. Lu came up with this idea.

"Master Lu refused to touch me. Later, he was demoted to Xizhou. Mrs. Lu sent me to Xizhou to take care of everything so as to take care of Young Master Lu. Who would have thought that I would encounter bandits on the road, and I would almost be humiliated by them. saved me……"

Mrs. An was choked up when she said this: "I wanted to commit suicide, but it was the general who stopped me. The general said he would take responsibility for me and would marry me. How could someone like me be worthy... The news was sent back to the capital After the Lu family, the young master wrote to say, let me marry the general, and when he arrives in Xizhou, I can use the relationship of the general's mansion to help him a lot, so I concealed everything from the general."

"The general heard that there is no one in my natal family. He was afraid that I would not be able to stand in Xizhou. He claimed to the outside world that I had saved him. With this reason in it, it would be much easier for me to marry into Anfu." Mrs. An held a handkerchief Covering his face, wept bitterly: "The general is a good man. No one has treated me so well in this life. I know that my mother-in-law doesn't like me, but I am ashamed of the An family. No matter how bad my mother-in-law treats me, I can only It should be atonement."

"After having the general's child, I just wanted to live a good life with the general. I was afraid that the young master would find me again, so I took the initiative to write a letter to the young master. Unexpectedly, the letter fell into the hands of my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law insisted that I communicated with others." After reading the letter, the general knew that I married him only to pave the way for the young master. Although he didn't expose me, he completely divorced me and didn't want to say a word to me. He packed up his things that day Went to the barracks."

"I thought about committing suicide, but there was still a child of me and the general in my stomach, and I wanted to give birth to this child...but my mother-in-law hated me, and even the child in my stomach was screaming wildly. I don't agree with raising it to the general as a concubine."

Madam An Shao raised her eyes, trying hard to hold back the tears that burst out of her eyes, but unfortunately the tears still flowed down her cheeks.

She wiped her eyes, and her voice was full of self-mockery: "I had a quarrel with my mother-in-law's niece. It snowed heavily that day, and the green bricks under the porch were frosted. She pushed me from the steps. Rolled down, and the child was gone. After the general came back, the mother-in-law said, I fell on purpose, I was guilty and dared not give birth to the child, and the child is probably not the general's child..."

Mrs. An's eyes were red, her handkerchief was completely unusable, Jiang Yanyi handed her handkerchief over.

Mrs. An choked with sobs and said: "When the general came to see me, he told me that after I finished my confinement, he would send me to Zhuangzi in the countryside to recuperate. I don't know if he doesn't want to forgive me anymore, or he believes I heard the words of my mother-in-law, but it is really meaningless for me to live in this world. I threw myself into the lake, but was rescued by the young master. Only then did I know why the young master never found him after he arrived in Xizhou. Me, because he never wanted to use me to pave the way. He wrote that letter because he was afraid that I would die or wait for him foolishly. He wanted me to get married and live my own life.”

Jiang Yanyi didn't expect the truth to be like this, and didn't know what to comfort Mrs. An for a while.

She keenly grasped one point: "Did anyone know about the day you threw yourself into the lake?"

Fearing that Mrs. An might misunderstand, she quickly explained: "I don't mean anything else, I'm just curious that Mr. Lu happened to be there."

Mrs. An shook her head: "I didn't tell anyone. I don't know why the young master appeared in Yanhu Lake."

It was because Lu Linyuan happened to be there to save her that time that An Yongyuan became more suspicious of her and Lu Linyuan.

Jiang Yanyi already got the information he wanted. Mrs. An and Lu Linyuan were old acquaintances, but she didn't communicate with Lu Linyuan in advance when she threw herself into the lake.

The relationship between Mrs. An and Lu Linyuan was not mentioned in the original book, so she mistakenly thought that Mrs. An and Lu Linyuan had never known each other.

The question now is that Mrs. An and Lu Linyuan have never communicated with each other since they arrived in Xizhou. What made Lu Linyuan happen to appear in Yanhu Lake and rescued Mrs. An?

Or did Lu Linyuan know in advance that Mrs. An would throw herself into the lake, as well as the time and place, and made a special trip to save her?

Combined with Feng Shuo's previous words, Jiang Yanyi had a vague guess in his heart, but he was not sure yet.

Mrs. An Shao stopped crying by herself, looked at Jiang Yanyi and said, "In this life, the courage to seek death is only once. I know what it feels like to have lake water pouring into my mouth and nose in the severe winter and the twelfth lunar month. I'm going to die. Maybe I don't deserve what I have now, but since I got it, I want to grab it too."

"Miss Chu, I've told you everything you want to know. I've accepted my fate for everything in my life, but I want to fight for An Yongyuan's fate. Even though he hates me now, he doesn't even want to see me. don't want to..."

Jiang Yanyi asked: "Have you explained it to General An?"

Mrs. An's eyes were sad: "I said it, but that letter is the truth. When I married him... I did have ulterior motives. He will not forgive me."

Jiang Yanyi said firmly: "General An has you in his heart."

There are too many misunderstandings between the two of them, and it needs a suitable time to untie the knot.

An Yongyuan now refuses to look back. In the original book, after the death of Mrs. An Shao, he lived like a walking dead.

Madam An Shao smiled bitterly: "He has me in his heart? Before this, I didn't know that his heart could be so cold and hard! Miss Chu, do you know what it feels like not to be reconciled?"

Jiang Yanyi said: "Although I have never experienced it, I can understand it."

Mrs. An Shao just shook her head: "You don't understand, he and I will never be the same again."

She got up to leave, but Jiang Yanyi stopped her: "Mrs. An, if you want, you can try my method."

Madam An Shao looked back at Jiang Yanyi, her eyes were red and swollen: "What can I do?"

***

An Yongyuan learned that his mother was injured, and immediately returned to Anfu from Xizhou Daying.

He went to invite Mrs. An first, and then went to see Mrs. An. Mrs. An's upper and lower lips and nose were swollen. After the tongue was injured, she was so painful that she dared not speak. Seeing her son, she just kept crying .

An Yongyuan is a real military general, with a strong figure and an inch-long scar on his face. Because he is always unsmiling, few people in the family and even the generals in the army are not afraid of him.

"Mother, what's the matter with you?" An Yongyuan was dressed in uniform and his face was dusty. He looked around but didn't see Mrs. An Shao. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Where is Niang Yun?"

Mrs. An was speechless, and the woman beside her said bitterly: "Oh, general, who dares to say young lady! The old lady's birthday banquet was almost ruined, not to mention, the lady fell like this, the old slave urged I asked the young lady to come back earlier, not to mention keeping watch all the time, but at least I should take a look. The young lady just asked the old slave to come back by himself!"

An Yongyuan asked: "Where is she now?"

The mother-in-law said: "It's in the Ruyi Building! The guests are all gone, and I don't know who the young lady wants to meet there."

An Yongyuan's expression darkened, and he said, "I'll go pick Yunniang back."

Since the last time Mrs. An threw herself into the lake to commit suicide, he directly ordered Mrs. An to be followed at all times.

He was afraid that Mrs. An would have an accident, and he was also afraid that she would see Lu Linyuan there.

Mrs. An was so angry that she slapped the bed, but her mouth was so swollen that she couldn't speak well.

The mother-in-law next to her understood what she meant, and stopped An Yongyuan and said, "Just ask someone to pass on a message, so there's no need for you to pick it up yourself."

An Yongyuan glanced at the mother-in-law: "Mother Tan, you are an old man in the house, and you just want to take care of your mother. The mistress of the An family, no matter what, it is not the turn of a servant to make irresponsible remarks."

The mother-in-law was so frightened by An Yongyuan's eyes that she didn't dare to speak anymore.

An's servants quickly got into the carriage, and after An Yongyuan got into the carriage, he asked the driver to rush to Ruyi Building.

When we arrived at the Ruyi Building, after the driver of the An family explained his intentions, the waiter at the Ruyi Building said: "Mrs. An left early in the morning and is not here."

The coachman asked, "Do you know when my young lady left?"

The shop waiter thought for a while and said: "At three o'clock in the morning, by the way, Mrs. An still left a letter for forwarding to An's mansion, but the business in the building is busy, and I haven't had time to send the letter to your mansion. Someone is here, I'll go get the letter right now."

The waiter quickly took the letter and handed it to the coachman, who handed it to An Yongyuan.

An Yongyuan glanced at it, and found that the envelope was indeed written by Mrs. An Shao, and it said "My husband personally".

He tore off the sealant, and after reading the beautiful small characters on the letter paper, his eyes were faintly red: "Go to Yanhu Lake!"

***

Yanhu Lake is the place where Mrs. An Shao threw herself into the lake for the first time.

At this moment, Jiang Yanyi, Mrs. An Shao, and sister Chu Shubao were shivering around a small stove in the Yangui Pavilion on the hillside by the lake.

While warming his hands, Jiang Yanyi said to Mrs. An: "When General An comes over, don't really jump into the lake, just pretend you're going to jump, but it's a little bit different from life to death."

Turning around, she said to Mrs. An Shao's maid: "You are standing not far away, crying hysterically, how sad you are crying, how sad you are."

The little servant girl said with a confused face: "Do I need to say anything?"

Jiang Yanyi thought for a while and said, "Just call your young lady, the important thing is to cry, understand?"

The little maid nodded vigorously: "Understood."

Jiang Yanyi got up and shouted into the distance: "Second brother, is anyone here?"

Chu Chengmao, who was picked up by Jiang Yanyi as a coolie as soon as he arrived at Ruyi Building, squatted on a big tree, glanced at the official road in the distance, and replied helplessly: "There is no one on the road."

A trace of loneliness flashed in Mrs. An's eyes: "He probably won't come."

Jiang Yanyi reached out to pinch the sweet potatoes roasted by the stove, "Wait a little longer, he might be on the way already. Think about what you have to say after seeing him for a while."

The sweet potatoes haven't been baked yet, but the chestnuts and ginkgo nuts roasted by the fire have cracked their shells.

Jiang Yanyi picked up a ginkgo fruit, and after peeling off the shell, it revealed yellow-green flesh, some of which were covered with a layer of golden-brown fruit coat, and the roasted ginkgo fruit had a unique scent of grass and trees Fragrant, soft and delicious in the mouth.

Ginkgo is often used in soup to make "medicinal" food. It is the first time for Chu Shubao and the others to try charcoal-roasted ginkgo, which is very novel.

"It's glutinous, it smells so good! Roasted ginkgo fruit tastes great as a snack." Chu Shubao's eyes lit up after tasting one.

Jiang Yanyi distributed the baked gingko to Mrs. An Shao and her little maid. Mrs. An was very worried and refused to take it. Her little maid was greedy for a long time. The shell was eaten.

Ginkgo fruit is an ingredient for health preservation, but it contains trace amounts of toxins, and it is easy to be poisoned if eaten too much. Jiang Yanyi roasts less, and one person can't share a few, so there is no need to worry about food poisoning.

She said to Chu Shubao: "You can't eat too much ginkgo, but you can eat chestnuts."

The flesh of charcoal-roasted chestnuts is yellow and clear, fragrant and waxy, and the sweetness is more natural than sugar-fried chestnuts, which is memorable.

After they finished eating ginkgo and chestnuts, news finally came from Chu Chengmao that An Yongyuan had arrived.

Mrs. An Shao hurried to the lake with her maid, and the two sisters Jiang Yanyi and Chu Shubao used snow to extinguish the fire of the mud stove, so that An Yongyuan would not be suspicious when he saw the smoke.

Yangui Pavilion is on the mountainside, where you can have a panoramic view of Yanhu Lake.

When Chu Chengmao came back, Jiang Yanyi gave him half of a baked sweet potato: "Thank you, brother."

Chu Chengmao looked at the three sisters huddled together to eat roasted sweet potatoes, and stared intently at the three sisters below, with a look of indescribable expression: "I shouldn't have been in your muddy water."

Chu Shubao hurriedly gestured to him to mute his voice: "Second brother, don't make any noise."

Chu Chengmao: "..."

At this time, Mrs. An's maidservant's cries could be heard from the edge of Yanhu Lake. Jiang Yanyi saw An Yongyuan get off the carriage, but he didn't say a few words to Mrs. An, and he just strode forward to carry her on his shoulders Carried away.

Seeing this scene, the maid who was tearing her heart and pretending to cry was so frightened that her crying stopped.

Several people watching in the pavilion halfway up the mountain looked at each other in blank dismay.

Chu Shubao held the roasted sweet potato and said, "Ayi, the situation seems to be a little different from what you guessed."

Jiang Yanyi: "...I can see it."