Big Moon Ballad

Chapter 2621 Farewell
Ji Jiashu stared blankly at his mother, whom he had not seen for a long time.

Although it had been a long time since they last met, it had only been about half a year. But Ji Jiashu's memory of his mother had changed.

In his memory, his mother was always adorned with jewels, her black hair tied up high, and her face always carried the haughty expression of the most noble lady in Danyang.

Although Madam Ye, who was still dressed beautifully, was standing by the door, her expression was one of great panic. Her heavy makeup could not hide the dark circles under her eyes and the wrinkles on her face, and her high-coiffed hair was streaked with many silver strands.

Ji Jiashu looked at his mother, who seemed to have aged ten years in less than a year, and his nose tingled with emotion.

"Come in and talk," the boy in red glanced at the street, let Ji Jiashu into the room, and slammed the door shut.

Ji Jiashu walked into the door, knelt down on both knees and kowtowed to his mother, Ye, who was standing in the corridor, trembling all over.

"Mom, my son is unfilial."

"you this……"

Ye rushed to Ji Jiashu's side, grabbed his sleeves tightly with both hands, and burst into tears.

She reached out to slap Ji Jiashu across the face, but after several attempts, her hand failed to land.

Ji Jiashu wished his mother would slap him a few times. Looking at Ye Shi's trembling hands, he sighed, "Mother, I'm back."

"I thought you'd died out there!"

Ye's chest heaved, her voice hoarse and strained, "Not a single letter has been sent back! You and your father are both heartless!"

Ji Jiashu was taken aback. "I thought Dad would tell you about me."

With the Ji family's intelligence network, Ji Mo could know anything that happened to him outside; he wasn't some unknown person.

Do you think your father will come back and tell me everything?

Hearing this, Madam Ye became even more grief-stricken, "He only speaks a few words to me properly when he's about to go out and risk his life, he... he..."

Ji Jiashu felt a mix of emotions and could only comfort his mother, saying, "It was Father who saw me in Former Qin and told me to come home to see you."

Ye was taken aback, and a complex emotion appeared on her tear-streaked face. "At least that old man still has a conscience."

"Who cares if he comes back or not, as long as my son is back," Madam Ye wiped away her tears and stood up cheerfully. "You didn't even tell us you were coming back, and the manor hasn't prepared anything. I'll have Wang Ma go to the front gate to buy your favorite vegetables, the freshest ones... Oh, and we need to quickly send someone to the Ye residence to inform Jing Shu, she's missing you terribly..."

Ye kept talking, but Ji Jiashu just knelt on the ground and looked at her quietly, with deep guilt in his eyes.

"Mother," he said softly, "I..."

Pretending not to hear, Madam Ye turned and walked towards the main hall, calling out as she went, "Uncle Chen, quickly go and inform Miss Biao that the young master has returned... Oh dear, I'm so busy, we have to throw a big banquet..."

Ji Jiashu got up from the ground and grabbed Ye Shi's clothes from behind. "Mother, I won't be eating at home. I have to go to the palace to see His Majesty later."

Ye stopped in her tracks, frozen in place like a stone statue.

"mother?"

Ye turned around, her eyes red. "And then? When are you coming back? What time would be suitable for dinner?"

Ji Jiashu fell silent.

Ye's eyes grew increasingly red, and then she raised her hand and slapped Ji Jiashu across the face.

"Crack!"

Ji Jiashu remained motionless, neither dodging nor avoiding, which startled the Vermilion Bird God on the side.

"I knew it!"

Tears streamed down Ye's face. "You're just like your deadbeat father!"

“You won’t come back to see me for no reason.”

Although she was a woman confined to her home, it didn't mean she was unaware of the impending storm brewing outside.

Ji Mo would only return home on the eve of a major battle, and each time he spoke to her in a kind and gentle manner and explained things to her, it was because he was about to go out to do something important.

Ms. Ye never imagined that her son would be like this, just as her husband was.

"What are you going out to do? You're still a child, do you want to go to the battlefield?"

Ms. Ye collapsed to the ground, heartbroken.

“I’m not a child anymore,” Ji Jiashu helped his mother up. “Mother, you should already know, right? I’ve been appointed as the State Preceptor of the Former Qin, and I have responsibilities to bear.”

Ye, who was still grieving, suddenly flew into a rage and grabbed Ji Jiashu by the collar, shouting, "Former Qin State Preceptor! Former Qin State Preceptor!"

She had indeed received news of such a big event long ago, but she felt no joy whatsoever.

"If you had just stayed quietly in Southern Chu, you would have become the Grand Preceptor of Southern Chu sooner or later. But you insisted on going to the North to work for that woman!"

"You are a man from Southern Chu! You are the son of the Ye family and the Ji family of Danyang!" Ye was furious, and at the height of her anger, she was overcome with grief.

"What kind of bewitching potion did those two women surnamed Lin give you? Your father was like that, and so are you..."

"Mother, you already know? Baoyue is..." Ji Jiashu was stunned.

"Yes, I know, it's her, it's still her..." Madam Ye released her son's collar, looked at the crack that ran through the entire Imperial Preceptor's mansion, and burst into laughter.

The Lin Baoyue who cleaved through the Imperial Preceptor's mansion with a single sword strike back then was actually Ying Baoyue, who came to Southern Chu a year ago to get engaged to her son.

What a tragic fate!

"How could the dead come back? What sins did I commit in my past life?!"

"Why are you following her? Why do you insist on becoming her imperial advisor?"

Her husband lived his whole life for that woman, Lin Shubai, and now her son is going to have to give up his life for Lin Shubai's apprentice.
How could the Ye family not hate this?

“Mother,” Ji Jiashu helped up Ye Shi, who was losing control of her emotions, “I did not risk my life for the Former Qin. I came back this time to protect the Southern Chu.”

"The matter is urgent, and I must go to the palace to see His Majesty."

"No, you mustn't go!"

Ye grabbed Ji Jiashu's clothes frantically, her eyes filled with despair, "Your father has already entered the palace, you can't leave now!"

She had a strong premonition that Ji Jiashu would never return after leaving this time.

"You are a piece of flesh from your mother's body, you can't leave..."

Ji Jiashu felt a tearing pain in his heart, but he trembled as he pried open his mother's tightly gripping hand.

"Once the world is at peace, your son will definitely return to apologize to you."

He knew in his heart that if he didn't go, more people would lose their lives, and even the entire Southern Chu might fall, and his mother's safety would be in jeopardy.

"Mother, your son will definitely protect you and this land."

Ye stared blankly at him, then suddenly let go of his hand.

"Mother?" Ji Jiashu was somewhat surprised.

"Let's go, everyone, let's go."

Ye suddenly stood up straight and raised her hand to tidy her appearance.

She straightened her hair, wiped away her tears, and straightened the crooked hairpin.

At this moment, she seemed to have transformed back into the proud eldest daughter of the Ye family.

"mother?"

Ji Jiashu was used to his mother's crying and tantrums, but he didn't expect her to suddenly calm down.

“Your grandfather sent a letter this morning saying that the descendants of the Ye family are also going to the battlefield.”

Ji Jiashu was taken aback. "My cousin and the others too?"

Ye nodded expressionlessly, "When your father left this morning, it was as if he was saying goodbye to me."

Farewell?
Ji Jiashu froze, while Ye Shi's expression seemed numb.

“There are always a few times a year when you don’t know when he’ll die,” she said indifferently. “Every time it’s like he’s about to die.”

After Ye finished speaking, she bowed deeply to Ji Jiashu and performed a grand salute.

Ji Jiashu was startled. "Mother, you mustn't!"

Lady Ye shook her head, "This humble servant respectfully sees off the Imperial Preceptor, and wishes you continued success in your military endeavors."

She said goodbye to her son as if she were saying goodbye to her husband.

The Vermilion Bird God stood to one side, watching this woman who was always jealous and quarrelsome, but who could only watch her loved ones leave in the crucial moment.

Ji Jiashu felt incredibly conflicted. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately couldn't utter a word.

"My son has passed away. Please take care of yourself."

He knelt down and kowtowed three times to his mother, then got up and walked towards the door.

The Vermilion Bird God opened the gate for him, and just as he stepped out of the gate and was about to rush towards the palace, a carriage hurriedly stopped at the street corner, and a woman's voice came from inside the carriage.

"cousin?"

(End of this chapter)