The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort (Chapters 1- 203)

Chapter 192 : Letting Go of Her Inner Demons

Translated by : Minodayz & Dumpling

Edited by : Anks & Ely

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"Xiao Shao!" Jiang Ruan opened her eyes and suddenly sat upright in the bed.

The oil lamp was lit, and the burning charcoal in the house was extraordinarily warm in winter. A very concerned voice spoke out, "You've awakened?"

Jiang Ruan looked up to see the cold and handsome young man from her dream sitting beside the bed. Perhaps he was also startled awake by her sudden awakening, because his gaze showed a slight anxiousness. Yet his pupils were cold and dark, like a calm deep pool that incessantly draws people to dive beneath its depths.

"You..." Jiang Ruan was momentarily disheartened. The bitter past was but a dream, but it had been a long dream in which she had revisited experiences from her past lifetime, and had seen the various ends of all the people from that life. Now, upon seeing Xiao Shao, it felt as though all of that had happened in a different lifetime

Seeing her in a daze, Xiao Shao was slightly startled, and was about to get up to pour her a cup of water. "You must be feeling thirsty. You have been in a coma for more than ten days so drink some water." But as he was standing, Jiang Ruan grabbed his hand. Xiao Shao turned around and raised his eyebrows before sitting down again beside Jiang Ruan. "What's wrong?"

His voice was soft and reassuring, allowing the person who had just awakened from experiencing unprecedented brutality and tragedy while dreaming to sense a shred of reality. As Jiang Ruan timidly stretched out her hand towards Xiao Shao, Xiao Shao frowned because when she touched his collar, it was as if she was verifying that the person before her was indeed real. After pausing for a while with her hands on the collar, Jiang Ruan suddenly wrapped her hands around Xiao Shao's neck and leaped forward to hug him tightly.

Jiang Ruan's actions were quite surprising and Xiao Shao was slightly taken aback. But after being stunned for a moment, he looked at Jiang Ruan with some hesitation. Jiang Ruan's head was buried in his neck, and the hands around his neck were extremely tight. After some thought, he stretched out his hand and patted Jiang Ruan's back lightly. He softly called, "Ah Ruan?"

"Xiao Shao," Jiang Ruan's voice was a bit strange, as if she was suppressing a certain emotion, but her next words were also a little strange, "I didn't understand at first why it was you, but now I understand." Her voice slowly lowered, almost inaudible, "It turns out that you had already appeared a long time ago."

In this world, fate and destiny does not happen by chance or randomness. While it seemed as though there should not have been any relationship or encounters between the two of them, in this life, both of them were constantly entangled in one another's lives. Initially, she had just attributed this to mere coincidence until she experienced a dream of a lifetime* and everything from the past reappeared in front of her eyes. Some things suddenly became clear in her mind. In the previous life, Xiao Shao indirectly avenged her and unknowingly gave her justice for the wrongs done to her. Was it because of this that in this life she had become his lifelong companion in order to repay him?

*南柯一梦 (nánkēyīmèng) – lit. a dream of Nanke; fig. dreams of grandeur. The idiom 'Nanke Yimeng' tells people that the world is impermanent, all the wealth and glory are just like the void of an ant's nest, and they will leave one day, so there is no need to be obsessed with it. People pursue prosperity and wealth, and expect fame and fortune, but they often find that what they have obtained through hard work and painstaking efforts is easily lost, and it is so short-lived that people feel unreal, as if it is an illusory dream.

Is there truly such a thing as karma in this world?

Xiao Shao lowered his eyes. His long eyelashes lowered to hide the meaning in his eyes, thus no emotions could be seen in them. However, his movements remained gentle as he softly patted Jiang Ruan's back- even the silence was reassuring.