As she remained silent, she felt that Gong Juechen might just keep up the facade for his entire life without ever revealing his true nature.
After Gong Juechen had left, contented with his meal, An Jing asked Xiao Changyi, "Husband, we’ve only given Meng Zhuqing half a year’s time. Is that really enough?"
Before Meng Zhuqing set off for Beisheng, they had given him a deadline of half a year. If he couldn’t find any evidence within half a year, Meng Zhuqing would have to come back and stop wasting time.
Solving a case, An Jing felt, was not easy. Just like in modern times, sometimes it could take several years to solve a case. And here, where things were so much more primitive, An Jing sincerely believed that half a year was not enough.
But considering that they couldn’t let Meng Zhuqing stay outside indefinitely, lest something happen to him, she and her husband had set a time limit. At most half a year, then Meng Zhuqing would have to return.
Xiao Changyi said indifferently, "Whether it’s enough or not, he has to come back."
An Jing looked at her husband for a long moment before asking again, "You didn’t actually want him to go to Beisheng, did you?"
Xiao Changyi did not say whether he wanted it or not; he simply said, "If he wants to go, then I will let him."
An Jing chuckled, "He’s fallen into the web of love."
Pausing for a moment, An Jing added, "Before, I worried Wild Goose Jade wasn’t a good person and feared that he would only suffer if he fell for her, so I didn’t approve of him liking Wild Goose Jade, much less his obsession with her. Now, it seems we should respect his own wishes. We can only watch over him. In the end, the decision is still his own to make."
Meanwhile, on the road to Beisheng.
With no village ahead and no inn behind, Meng Zhuqing and Tobanya had no choice but to spend the night outdoors.
The moon shone sparsely among the stars, and in this season, the deep night brought no dew and did not feel cold, merely cool and more comfortable than staying in an inn, if not for the unsettling presence of snakes and insects.
Fortunately, Meng Zhuqing had brought some medicinal powder, which he sprinkled in a circle around himself and Tobanya, preventing snakes and insects from getting near them.
At this moment, Tobanya was sitting under a tree, leaning against it, asleep.
Meng Zhuqing sat under another tree but did not sleep. Instead, he watched Tobanya, who was slumbering.
Before, he had pitied her, a young girl carrying such a heavy burden of hatred. Now, knowing what that hatred was, he could empathize even more and pitied her even further.
His own family had nearly been executed to the last of the Nine Clans...
But he was luckier than she was; his grandfather had helped his family, defying orders to clarify everything. His father was spared the disgrace of being labeled a traitor, and every member of his Nine Clans survived.
She, however, was far worse off than him...
She truly lived on hatred till now.
He hoped that this trip to Beisheng would find the evidence needed to vindicate her father’s unjust accusations.
Seeing the sleeping person suddenly rub her arms, and thinking she was cold, Meng Zhuqing quickly took out a coat from his pack, and then, tiptoeing over, he draped it over her.
But just as he had put the coat on her, she woke up, causing his breath to hitch abruptly.
Meng Zhuqing tried to explain that he was only covering her with a coat because she seemed cold, but before he could finish his sentence, having only uttered a single word, he heard her say two words, "Thank you."
Then, she closed her eyes again and continued to sleep.
Watching her fall back to sleep and hearing her even breathing, Meng Zhuqing was almost convinced that her waking had been an illusion.
On this journey, she hadn’t spoken a single word to him.
After a while, Meng Zhuqing foolishly smiled with his lips curved.