Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 1097

Chapter 1097 -1091: Untested by Wind and Rain

Murong Li understood that his mother’s nature was always gentle, so when Murong Yan and he decided to pretend to have a growing rift due to power struggles, Murong Li chose to feign reliance on his maternal granduncle.

But… Murong Li was clear about his maternal granduncle’s capabilities; it was absolutely impossible to secretly have his mother sent out of the palace under the eyes of his Ninth Uncle.

The Empress Dowager Yan led her son all the way to Murong Li’s study, lifted Murong Li’s sleeve, and looked at the wound wrapped with fine cotton cloth, which indeed appeared to be just a superficial wound, and only then did she let out a sigh of relief, her eyes involuntarily reddening again.

Seeing no one around, Empress Dowager Yan touched her son’s handsome little face and said to Murong Li, “You… be more cautious! From now on, you must absolutely not set foot on the battlefield! You should pack up now and go back to the capital with your mother after New Year’s Eve!”

“Mother?” Murong Li’s expression was bewildered. His mother had just arrived, and now she wanted him to pack up and return to the capital with her. Did something happen in the capital?

He clutched his mother’s hands and squatted in front of her, looking up at her, “Did something happen in the capital? Mother, don’t be afraid… you have your son here!”

The Empress Dowager Yan’s lips moved slightly, unable to speak for a long time, only saying, “Just come back to the capital with your mother, staying here makes your mother uneasy.”

“I’m with Ninth Uncle, what is there to be uneasy about, mother?”

“Just that…” Empress Dowager Yan abruptly stopped herself, forcibly swallowing her words, tears trickling down her face, “If you still have your mother in your heart, come back with your mother!”

“Mother, it’s not that your son doesn’t have you in his heart, but now Yan and Zhou have allied forces against Xiliang and the Tianfeng Kingdom. The Emperor of Zhou is still in Pingyang City, even while pregnant, just to inspire the soldiers’ morale. How can your son, a man, walk away from that?” Murong Li disagreed, “Mother, what happened exactly? Tell us and we can discuss it with Ninth Uncle…”

Before the Empress Dowager Yan could speak, the repeated calls of “Ninth Prince” were heard outside. She quickly withdrew her handkerchief to wipe her tears and saw her personal nanny enter to report that the Ninth Prince had arrived.

The Empress Dowager Yan tidied her clothes and said, “Invite the Prince in!”

Xiao Rongyan entered and paid his respects to the Empress Dowager Yan, “A Yan greets Sister-in-law. Just now, Tianfeng Kingdom sent an envoy to apologize. I was meeting the envoy in the study, so I didn’t come to greet you. I hope Sister-in-law won’t blame me.”

“Ninth Uncle!” Murong Li bowed to Murong Yan.

“A Yan, sit down!” The Empress Dowager Yan’s lips curved into a smile, pretending everything was normal, as she spoke first, “This time, I didn’t notify you and Ah Li in advance because I didn’t want to trouble you. I just wanted to spend New Year’s Eve with you and then take Ah Li back to the capital since the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Ah Li is the Emperor… If anything happens on the front lines, none of us could bear the consequences, don’t you think?”

Having traveled through many countries for years and seen countless people, how could he not notice the changes in his sister-in-law’s demeanor, despite her pretensions of normalcy?

The Empress Dowager Yan’s voice choked as she spoke, her body slightly trembling. To her, that year was like a nightmare, still causing her to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.

It was because she lost her child back then that her health deteriorated, and only years later was she able to have the Crown Prince, almost losing her life while pregnant with Ah Li.

Murong Yan’s fist tightened slightly at his side, being drawn into the painful memories.

He lifted his robe and knelt in front of the Empress Dowager Yan, “Sister-in-law… A Yan hasn’t forgotten.”

The Empress Dowager Yan, seeing him like this, couldn’t bear it and reached out to support him up, tears still streaming down as she choked on her words, “Later, A Yan, you were ambitious, saying you wanted to lay out a large information network for Yan, and therefore wanted to become a merchant, traveling between nations with a merchant’s identity, while at that time, all of Yan’s Silver Coin were being sent to Jin Kingdom, and it was poor… teetering on the brink of ruin!”

“Your brother was at his wit’s end, having no choice but to humbly plead with officials and citizens to weather the national crisis together, and people nationwide contributed Silver Tael for you. My maternal family donated all their family wealth, I gave you all my bridal jewelry, not even keeping a single piece of jewelry on me.” The Empress Dowager Yan touched the Jade Pendant at her waist that had changed cords countless times, “I only kept… this Jade Pendant your brother gave me as an engagement token when he proposed to me.”

“Sister-in-law…” He looked up at his sister-in-law, eyes turning red, “A Yan has not forgotten.”

Although later Sister-in-law’s dowry was all retrieved by Xiao Rongyan, the grace she showed in aiding him in times of difficulty, Murong Yan has never forgotten.