Mu Qingchao slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw was a world of beautiful mountains and clear waters.
The green mountains in the distance are like green, the small bridge is flowing nearby, the grass is long and the orioles are flying, and the breeze is gentle, it is as beautiful as a fairyland.
But... why is she here?
She remembered that she was dead.
Died in Shen Muchi's Fulin Palace.
"Are you awake?" A voice beside him startled Mu Qingchao.
She turned around suddenly and saw a middle-aged woman.
There was kindness in her eyes. She was about in her early thirties, but her skin was still delicate. Only the fine lines at the corners of her eyes could tell that she was no longer young. Through the gaps in the years, she could still vaguely tell that she was once the same. A beauty who is astounded by time.
"Who are you?" Mu Qingchao unconsciously felt a sense of intimacy when he saw her.
"You don't know me." the woman said.
"But I recognize you." The woman said and touched Mu Qingchao's face with her hand.
"Is the incense book I left for you useful?" she asked.
When Mu Qingchao heard this, his pupils trembled.
"Are you...grandmother?"
"Grandma, why are you here?" she asked.
"This is the country of Xihe, the place where I was born and raised. If I'm not here, where should I be?" my grandmother replied.
Xihe country...
Mu Qingchao turned around and looked around.
"It turns out that the Xihe Kingdom really exists in this world." She said in shock.
She also thought that this place was made up by Prince Qinghe for the purpose of rebellion.
"Silly boy, Xihe country is the best place in the world, with the most beautiful scenery, the most simple folk customs, and the best people."
Mu Qingchao saw that his grandmother had a look of yearning on her face when she talked about the Xihe Kingdom.
But aren’t they in Xihe country?
Why does grandma look into the distance as if she is looking at something far away in the horizon?
She said: "The people of Xihe are queens of goddesses. Everyone looks like a fairy and is good at making strange incense. The people of Xihe are outstanding and the land is wonderful. With the treasure mountain as their back, they are completely self-sufficient. It is an out-and-out paradise."
When Mu Qingchao heard this, he didn't understand.
"Grandma, you spoke so well of Xihe Country, why did you leave Xihe Country and come to Jinling?"
When my grandmother heard Mu Qingchao's words, the expression on her face suddenly paused.
She looked at Mu Qingchao.
"Who said I was leaving there?"
"Did their emperor tell you that?"
"No, it's not."
Mu Qingchao shook his head repeatedly: "There is no record of the Xihe Kingdom in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and even my grandfather never mentioned anything about this place until his death.
It's like... I can hide something."
When my grandmother heard what she said, she suddenly laughed.
"Of course they have to hide it," she said.
"Because they did something shameful."
After my grandmother finished saying these words, the sunlight behind her suddenly dimmed, and the gray color seemed to be swallowed up, spreading from far to near.
It's like a huge landscape painting fading into black and white at an extremely fast speed.
The butterfly that was flying around Mu Qingchao's finger just now turned into a wisp of ashes.
When he turned around again, everything he passed was already scorched black.
How can there be any paradise? How can there be any fairyland on earth?
The real scene was of bodies lying beside her one by one. Even though they were burned to charcoal, you could still see them struggling and crawling forward, trying to escape from here.
Some people lost their limbs, while others had their faces burned.
But it can also be seen that they are all desperate.
The mouth opened wide, as if shouting, asking why, why is this happening...
Mu Qingchao was horrified to see it.
"This...this is..."
But I heard my grandmother's voice speaking slowly in my ears.
"Many years ago, I rescued three young people." She said: "They fell on the bank of the Meandering River with serious injuries."
"I thought they were pitiful, so I rescued them, healed their injuries, and took good care of them. Later, they woke up and told me that they were from the Central Plains."
"One night, a guy from them came to me and he said he liked me and wanted to take me away.
I said why should I leave? I don’t want to go out because of the beautiful scenery here.
He said that he was the emperor of the Central Plains, and if I went with him, he would grant me the glory and wealth of the Central Plains, silks, satins, and jewelry as much as I wanted.
I laughed, what do I want with those things?
I just want to stay here, protect my people, and be the leader of the Xihe Kingdom for the rest of my life.
Then...he got angry.
He said that he is the emperor of the Central Plains and there are countless women who want to be his woman. I don't want to go with him because I don't know how to appreciate him."
After her grandmother said this, she turned her head and looked at Mu Qingchao.
"Tell me, is he being unreasonable?"
When Mu Qingchao heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Haha, being self-righteous is the tradition of the Shen family."
"Later, they came back again." Grandma continued.
"When I come back, I will use spears, lances, cavalry, and gold swords to burn the entire Xihe Kingdom clean with fire."
When my grandmother said this, tears fell from her eyes.
It was as if she had traveled through time, and saw the tragedy of that day when the country was engulfed in blood, and saw her own people asking her for help.
"He said he did this because he loved me."
When grandma said this, there was a sarcastic smile on her lips.
When Mu Qingchao heard his grandmother's words, he remembered the legends from the past.
"No wonder...Qin Tianjian said that even if there is only one woman left in the Xihe Kingdom, Nanming will definitely be destroyed."
It turns out that grandma is the only woman left?
"hehe……"
My grandmother laughed when she heard this: "It's because of these words that the emperor failed so hard and did not hesitate to kill my people and destroy my country, but because of these words, his legs were weak from fear."
"At that time, there was no love or affection anymore. He wanted to kill me."
When Mu Qingchao heard this, he was not surprised at all.
This is the Shen family...
Despicable and shameful, absolutely self-interested.
"Fortunately, grandpa saved you, right?"
She remembered what Zhong Ming said a long time ago by the Qinhuai River, and heard that her grandmother was deeply affectionate to her.
My grandmother was gone, and my grandfather died in depression within a few years.
But when my grandmother said this, she had a look of resentment on her face.
She said: "Among the men in the Central Plains, he is the most disgusting!"
"It turns out that he has long been greedy for my appearance, but the emperor is in front of me, so he doesn't dare to fight for it.
So when the emperor was about to execute me, he rescued me, like a thief, but wanted to say those disgusting love words to me.
He said he loved me and wanted me to marry him.
It’s so funny. Each of these Central Plains men is more disgusting than the last. I’m so annoyed when I see her that I won’t even be able to marry her until I die.”
So he imprisoned me, locked me in the yard, and asked me to give birth to him..."
When talking about giving birth to a baby, my grandmother had a look of disgust on her face.