Chapter 165: Farewell, Red Dress; As If A Different World

Outside the mirror.

In that moment, the cultivators were silent.

There was no red dress.

And the way the Jiang family head mentioned Jiang Yunli, plus his unusual attitude toward the Heavenly Emperor.

There was no doubt that only one truth explained it all: Something had happened to Jiang Yunli!

But what could happen to the legitimate daughter of the almighty Jiang family?

In that moment, everyone looked toward the mirror.

Including Jiang Minghuang, who stared unblinkingly at the mirror. He wanted to know why his own father would have such an attitude at the mention of his usually obedient and sensible older sister.

…

Inside the mirror.

Gu Changqing returned to his own residence. He had clearly noticed the unusual behavior of the family head.

He had also figured out that something might have happened to Jiang Yunli.

The first thing he did was to check with the old butler of the house.

But the old butler immediately kowtowed before Gu Changqing as tears flowed down his cheeks.

“Master, please don’t make things difficult for your old servant anymore.”

“I don’t know anything about this, and I don’t dare to ask.”

The old butler clearly knew something, just that this matter was something that could not be spoken of.

This behavior made Gu Changqing feel more and more unsettled.

He did not make things difficult for the old butler. He just waved his hand and allowed the old man to leave.

Gu Changqing sat by the window as he silently chanted something inside his head. A moment later, he seemed to have realized something.

“Senior.”

“Given my current identity, it’s very hard for me to ask around for information. I’ll have to trouble you this time.”

Gu Changqing spoke these words softly, but did not get any response.

But the dark sparrow on his shoulder flapped its wings and flew out of the window.

A long time later, the sparrow flew back.

…

Gu Changqing walked down a long, ancient corridor.

On both sides of the corridor stood many guards of the Jiang family.

There was only one destination at the end of this corridor. The earth jail.

It contained the greatest enemies of the Jiang family, a jail for suppressing countless people who had gone against the family.

The guards on all sides bowed toward Gu Changqing.

Gu Changqing was now a man with high status and great power. Even though he was technically not part of the main family, he was still allowed to walk freely within the family estate.

Gu Changqing walked into the earth jail. The dark, humid air surrounded him. The air was filled with a rotting stench that made one puke, as well as the howls of men suffering cruel physical torture…

This place was like hell on earth.

In his head rang the words that the dark sparrow had told him after it had returned.

“After you left, the red dress stood at the front of Jubei, stared into the distance at Xichuan, and looked upward to the sky.”

“That was, until the time for the agreed wedding.”

“On that day, Jiang Yunli was dressed head to toe in her red wedding dress, but she did not look as beautiful as she did at the front of the city gates.”

“And it was also the day of the wedding when she was to be checked for her virginity, as is customary for a bride.”

“Jiang Yunli was found to be no longer one, which caused an uproar in the entire Jiang family.”

“Both the Jiang and Ji family’s face was completely lost. The family immediately backed out of the marriage and didn’t care about continuing the Xuanyuan lineage anymore, causing the Jiang family to be utterly embarrassed.”

“After that, the Ji and Jiang families fell out, breaking the precarious balance that had been held for millennia.”

“The head of the Jiang family flew into a rage, and asked Jiang Yunli who did this. But Jiang Yunli refused to speak the whole way.”

“Later, Jiang Yunli returned to Jubei. This time, she stood for six months.”

“But her tummy got bigger and bigger.”

“The head of the Jiang family completely lost it and threw Jiang Yunli in to the earth jail. He also gave strict orders: if this matter got out, he would kill any suspects without question or mercy.”

“The pride of the Jiang family head, the obedient and sensible right hand man, and the woman who had the most talent and sense in the history of the Jiang family, suddenly bore countless curses of everyone overnight. She became the Jiang family, the Xuanyuan line’s greatest sinner…”

“The Jiang family head did not kill her, but he cut off their father-daughter ties and sentenced her to a lifetime of loneliness and entrapment within the earth jail.”

…

Gu Changqing walked through the earth jail at a steady pace.

Those words kept ringing in his head, like thorns piercing into his heart.

This woman had lived her entire life for other people, yet in the end, she became the greatest sinner of the family…

Gu Changqing couldn’t help but feel angry for her and overwhelmed with grief.

At one point, he stopped walking and stood in front of a cell.

Through the cell gate covered with a cloth, he stared at the woman sitting inside, a flicker in his eye.

“You’ve returned? Great general…”

The woman in the cell smiled sadly as her gaze moved.

She looked haggard, her white dress covered in filth as she leaned against the cold walls and sat on the dried grass of the cell.

Her hair was a mess, so she no longer looked as beautiful as before, nor as noble as before.

Her lower abdomen protruded and her expression did not have the resolute, fiercely independence she used to exude, but it also lost the iciness it used to have. Instead, her expression was filled with gentleness.

It had only been a few months.

When he saw the red dress again, it was as if he had been transported to a completely different world.

Gu Changqing felt a pain in his throat. No words could fully describe how he felt right now.

“I’ll take you awa,” said Gu Changqing with a complex look in his eyes.

This woman had lived an entire life of sadness and bitterness. She had already lived half her life for others, and she should not live the rest of her life in this place.

And she certainly should not live with the curses of the current and future generations of people, bearing it all alone.

But Jiang Yunli shook her head. “I am already too disgraced to face the world, and cannot face the Jiang family. I am the legitimate daughter and heir of the Jiang family, but I have failed the mission of the Xuanyuan line. Staying here isn’t too bad.”

“At the very least, it’s very relaxing. I don’t have to bear those burdens anymore.”

“Now…”

She rubbed her swollen abdomen, “I’m just waiting for this little one to be born…”

Gu Changqing’s gaze shifted, but he did not speak anymore in the end.

This man and woman just remained in those positions.

Looking at each other through the covered cell gate, silent and with conflicted looks in their eyes.

…

Outside the mirror.

Staring at Jiang Yunli in the cell, staring at Gu Changqing outside the cell.

The cultivators had moved expressions on their faces.

“Sigh!”

After a long time, the sound of a cultivator sighing deeply finally rang out.

Everyone understood that Jiang Yunli had been shouldering too much. Once she had abandoned the mission of the Xuanyuan line, she would never be able to face the Jiang family.

They also understood.

The Heavenly Emperor was obligated to the rest of the world, obligated to Bai Qing’er.

He was destined to be unable to just disregard everything and let everything go, just to take this woman away.

It was too hard to make a decision…

In that moment, everyone felt very suppressed inside.

These two people both carried too many burdens. Even though they had feelings for each other, they were unable to face up to them in the end, they were unable to actually say them out.

The pain inside Jiang Minghuang’s heart became harder and harder to bear.

It had never crossed his mind that his older sister and the Heavenly Emperor had gone through such an experience before.

All of these should have been burdens shouldered by him. But his older sister had carried it all for him!

His sister had shouldered so much, contributed so much, but in the end, she was unable to express that little bit of emotion she had for someone else.

Jiang Minghuang’s vision was blurred as he cried soundlessly.

That slim, beautiful older sister with an icy expression now made his heart ache tremendously.