Chapter 984: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 984: Noticing Something Strange – County Princess Fuyun Has Arrived (1)
After being reborn, Cui Ping’an instinctively resisted recalling anything from his previous life. It was as if only by doing so could he avoid facing the guilt and remorse buried in his heart for so many years.
However, deep down, a voice constantly reminded him that those tragedies had truly happened. What he was doing now was nothing more than deceiving himself! That day, a single sentence from Old Madam Cui had triggered the series of tragedies in his past life, forcing him to confront the mistakes he had once made.
He placed all the blame on himself, believing it was his own insatiable greed that had led to the death of the woman he loved, dragged his cousin into an unhappy marriage, and ultimately caused her early death. Two lives weighed heavily on his conscience—such things couldn't simply be forgotten because of one rebirth.
This illness had struck without warning and fiercely. It was rooted in Cui Ping’an’s refusal to confront the past, and his fear that he might once again tread the same path in this life without knowing how to change it. That deep sense of powerlessness gnawed at him, which was why he fell ill so suddenly, sinking deeper into the miseries of his previous life, unable to extricate himself.
In the past few days, the Cui family had sought help from over ten physicians, even summoning several imperial physicians from the palace. All of them diagnosed Cui Ping’an with a heart-borne ailment—one of the hardest to treat, requiring the patient to walk out of it on his own.
Cui Ping’an had been suffering from intermittent high fevers these days. Even a child knew that prolonged fever could damage the brain or even be life-threatening. The physicians and imperial physicians certainly knew this too, but the fever-reducing medicines they prescribed were practically taken like food, and yet had no effect at all. Sometimes, he would even vomit them up immediately after taking them, and the fever would worsen.
Yet Mo Yan had only fed him a small vial of some unknown medicinal liquid, and it calmed him down. He stopped muttering in his sleep, and his temperature gradually subsided. Just this one act was enough to earn the trust of Old Madam Cui and Cui Qingrou—they were convinced she would be able to cure their grandson (or nephew).
So, when Mo Yan asked what had happened after Cui Ping’an returned that day, Old Madam Cui hesitated only for a moment before revealing everything. In fact, she had been mulling over her words again and again ever since realizing her grandson’s illness was tied to a mental burden. She remembered clearly—it was right after she said she’d bring in that girl Fangcao and marry her off to the eldest grandson that Cui Ping’an’s condition began to change.
Over the past few days, Cui Ping’an had been repeatedly calling out those two names in his sleep, which further confirmed Old Madam Cui’s suspicions. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t figure out why that one sentence had triggered such an extreme reaction. It didn’t align with his usual temperament or behavior at all.
This was exactly what Mo Yan couldn’t figure out either.
Beside her, Cui Qingrou was just as puzzled. Watching Mo Yan probe cautiously, she asked, “County Princess, Ping’an stayed in your residence for a whole month—did he... did he ever say anything to you?”
Mo Yan thought for a moment, and suddenly recalled that day when Cui Ping’an had asked her whether she believed in past and present lives. At the time, she’d already suspected that he was reborn and had warned him not to casually reveal such a secret to others.
Looking at it now, he must indeed have been reborn. He hadn’t experienced any major hardships in this life, but his previous life might have been different. The way he constantly called out the name of the girl he loved and his cousin—perhaps the key to everything lay with those two people.
The more she thought about it, the more it seemed likely. But the matter itself was so fantastical that Mo Yan decided it would be better not to say it outright. So, she simply nodded at Cui Qingrou and said, “He often spoke of the days he spent at the southern estate. That girl named Fangcao was the one he mentioned the most.”
Hearing this, Cui Qingrou’s eyes turned red. She looked at the unconscious Cui Ping’an on the bed, unable to say a word.
A child only a few years old, sent to a distant estate thousands of miles away by his own family—even if it was unavoidable, even if his family never truly forgot about him—surely, his heart still harbored resentment, loneliness, and fear, didn’t it?
(End of chapter)
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