Chapter 173
Qiao Nian was stunned, remembering that she heard the bandit say last night that if Xiao Heng hadn't sent someone to follow her, they wouldn't have thought that Jing Yan would be in the coffin.
There wouldn't have been that fight last night.
Maybe at this moment, she has already left Yongbei.
Blame him?
Reason told Qiao Nian that she shouldn't blame him.
Xiao Heng's original intention was to protect her safety, and no one could have expected that bandits would appear last night.
What's more, this incident was ultimately caused by the bandits being too vicious, slaughtering the entire village, even the babies in their cradles.
If it weren't for this, the emperor wouldn't have sent troops overnight, and all this wouldn't have happened.
But...
It has already happened.
Jing Yan died, and many people died.
She couldn't calmly say the word "not to blame".
Her heart was darkly blaming everyone involved in this incident.
But more of it was her own fault...
So, she didn't speak, she just lowered her head and sat quietly.
Fearing that there would be more bandits coming to cause trouble, the two waited until Luo Shang sent reinforcements before setting off again.
After a whole day of delay, the team continued to move forward until nightfall.
On the way, Qiao Nian and Xiao Heng did not say a word.
On the morning of the twelfth day after Jing Yan's death, the team finally arrived in the capital.
But before entering the city gate, Qiao Nian had already seen several figures standing under the city gate.
Her heart suddenly jumped.
It was Jing Yan's family.
It turned out that Xiao Heng had already sent the news of Jing Yan's death back to Beijing, so at this moment, Jing's family was waiting at the city gate to pick up Jing Yan.
The team never stopped.
Qiao Nian sat in the carriage, at a loss.
All along the way, she was thinking about how she should explain to Jing's father and mother if she saw them.
But, even after thinking about it all the way, she still had no idea how to start.
Other people's sons died because of her, what qualifications did she have to start?
Her body trembled slightly with her heart, her fists clenched under her sleeves.
For a moment, she even wanted to jump off the carriage and escape from here.
But she knew that she couldn't escape.
Even if she faced endless beatings and scoldings from the Jing family, she couldn't escape.
She deserved it.
Unknowingly, the team had already arrived at the city gate.
Xiao Heng jumped off his horse, walked forward to Jing's father and mother, and knelt on one knee, "Xiao Heng failed to bring Jing Yan back safely, I beg the two elders to punish me."
Jing's father and mother had already burst into tears when they saw the coffin from a distance, and now they were crying so hard that they couldn't speak.
Naturally, they didn't care about Xiao Heng who was kneeling on the ground. They passed him and slowly walked towards the carriage pulling the coffin.
Qiao Nian had also walked down from the carriage, looking at the two elders approaching, and unconsciously took two steps back.
Jing's father's hand slowly touched the cold coffin, tears streaming down his face.
Mother Jing threw herself on the coffin, crying uncontrollably.
Qiao Nian, like a child who had done something wrong, stood by helplessly, tears falling one by one as Mother Jing cried.
Suddenly, a cold voice came from her ear, tinged with heavy crying and hatred, "I said, if anything happens to my brother, I will never forgive you!"
Qiao Nian turned around suddenly, and saw Jing Rou standing beside her without knowing when, her originally round and lovely face was now full of tears.
Facing those eyes filled with hatred, Qiao Nian felt her heart stagnate, tears surged, and her throat seemed to be choked by something. After a while, she lowered her eyes and choked out three words, "I'm sorry..."
She didn't dare to look at Jing Rou again.
She knew that the three words "I'm sorry" were the three most powerless words in the world.
But, at this moment, apart from saying sorry, she didn't know what else to say.
It was she who caused Jing's father and mother to lose their son, and it was she who caused Jing Rou to lose her brother.
It was all her fault.
Unexpectedly, Jing Rou's crying became more and more sad, "But if my brother sees me blaming you, he will be angry with me..."
This sentence, like a knife, stabbed Qiao Nian's heart fiercely.
She looked up at Jing Rou helplessly, and saw that the latter was already crying.
But even so, Jing Rou still tried to make herself speak, "My brother, my brother told me before he left that he had never cared so much about a woman in his life. He just wanted you to be safe and happy, even if he had to sacrifice his life, he would be happy."
"Qiao Nian, my brother really sacrificed his life, so, so you must give me peace and happiness! Otherwise, I will never forgive you!"
Because, this is her brother's last wish.
After Jing Rou said this, she cried and couldn't say a word.
She didn't understand why there would be people in this world who were stupid enough to use their own lives to exchange for someone else's safety and happiness?
But, this is what her brother said, so she can't disobey.
Ning Shuang hurriedly stepped forward and hugged Jing Rou, and Jing Rou hugged her and cried bitterly.
And these words also made Qiao Nian seem to be hit, and she took two steps back weakly.
She seemed to finally understand why Jing Rou cried that day.
So, did Jing Yan make the worst plan before leaving?
Did he go there without hesitation even though he knew how vicious the bandits were and how dangerous this trip was?
Why?
Why so stupid?
Even if he had made no achievements, she would always stay with him!
What she valued was never how many merits and honors he had.
She only valued him!
Endless sorrow drained all the strength in Qiao Nian's body in an instant.
She fell backwards unconsciously, but unexpectedly, she was firmly held by Jing's father.
Qiao Nian was stunned, slowly turned her head to look at Jing's father, and tears finally surged, "Uncle, I'm sorry..."
But Jing's father slowly shook his head, and a word squeezed out of his throat choked by tears, which was actually comfort.
"This is Yan'er, the path she chose."
It was Jing Yan who chose Qiao Nian. Knowing how bumpy and difficult the road ahead was, he still chose her resolutely and firmly.
As Jing Yan's father, how could he not know how stable and mature his son was.
He knew that Jing Yan's choice of Qiao Nian was not an impulsive act.
He knew that Jing Yan must have anticipated the countless difficulties they would encounter after being together, and must have anticipated countless endings.
He just didn't expect that God would be so cruel and give him the most miserable ending...
If you want to blame.
Just blame God for playing tricks on people!
Qiao Nian was already crying so hard that she couldn't stand.
All the scenes of her past with Jing Yan came to her mind, making it extremely difficult for her to even breathe.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Heng suddenly appeared behind her, half of his body resting on her back, as if to give her support.
However, sensing the temperature behind her, Qiao Nian deliberately straightened her back and didn't want to touch him at all.
Jing's father didn't find anything unusual, he just bowed to Xiao Heng and said, "I plan to take Jing Yan home today, I wonder if the general can send someone to escort him?"
Fallen leaves always return to their roots.
Mutian Village is not far from Beijing, and if they set off now, they can still arrive before dark.
Xiao Heng immediately responded in a deep voice, "Of course. I will escort you two back."
Unexpectedly, Jing's father refused, "General and Miss Qiao have been tired from escorting Yan'er back all the way, so just take a good rest! Now that things have come to this, I just want to take my son back quietly."
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