Big Moon Ballad

Chapter 2666 Tight
Ji Jiashu was stunned by the question.

"My father..."

"What's wrong?" Ying Baoyue asked, somewhat surprised. "He didn't tell you anything, did he?"

Ji Mo said he had nothing to say to his son, but when he entered the palace, he didn't mention leaving. He just sat silently in the carriage.

This person is just being stubborn.

“I did,” Ji Jiashu said, looking down at the memorial in his hand. “He asked about some state affairs and gave me some instructions about family matters.”

When Ji Mo spoke to him, it was always in a businesslike manner, more like speaking to a subordinate than to a son.

“By the way,” Ji Jiashu looked up, “I did not reveal the internal affairs of the Former Qin to him.”

“I know,” Ying Baoyue said, “I have no doubt about you.”

Just as Ji Jiashu subconsciously avoided her gaze, Ying Baoyue knew that Ji Mo and Ji Jiashu had definitely said more than that.

But this was a private matter between the father and son, and she couldn't ask any further questions.

"Your father said he wanted to go north with the Qin army."

“He told me,” Ji Jiashu sighed, “that it was his decision, and there’s nothing I can say.”

He had a very ominous premonition.

Recalling the figure he had just seen as he left, Ji Jiashu felt a mix of emotions.

Ji Mo sat cross-legged on the bed, dressed in white, with nothing but a wisp of wind in his sleeves, and only a green jade hairpin on his head.

Seeing his father without any accessories, Ji Jiashu felt very uncomfortable and vaguely sensed something.

This time, my father put everything aside when he came to Former Qin.

In his memory, his father was always a cold and tall figure, dressed in a scarlet sacrificial robe, with an official seal and tokens hanging at his waist.

As the national advisor of Southern Chu, the divine son of the Vermilion Bird, the leader of the cultivation world, and the head of the Ji family, my father has always shouldered countless responsibilities.

Now, my father has taken off not only his mourning robes, but also those titles and burdens.

Only by shedding these things can a father become his true self.

Ji Jiashu touched the national advisor's sacrificial robes on his body. He was now wearing these robes and had already tasted the bitterness his father had experienced back then.

He only wore it for a few months before feeling suffocated by the weight; it's hard to imagine how his father wore it for decades.

Ji Jiashu recalled the scene when they had just parted ways.

Ji Mo, as before, asked him about his cultivation progress in a stiff tone and explained some matters concerning the Ji family.

But just as he bowed and turned to cross the threshold, Ji Mo suddenly asked him from behind.

"How do you feel wearing this outfit?"

“It’s not good,” Ji Jiashu said after a moment of silence, then turned around, “but I’m willing to do it.”

"idiot."

Ji Mo scoffed, "What's so good about serving the imperial family?"

Ji Jiashu didn't speak, he just looked at him silently.

Ji Mo understood his implication and snorted coldly, "I am different from you. I am here to continue the glory of the Ji family."

Ji Jiashu, a native of Chu, served as the Grand Tutor of Qin. Without his own family as a backer, he was unable to bring blessings to his family and ultimately gained nothing.

"And what is it for?"

Ji Jiashu was unable to answer his father's question.

He could only bow again and turn to leave.

Unexpectedly, Ji Mo's voice came from behind again, "You like her that much?"

Ji Jiashu was startled.

He turned back again, and the father and son looked at each other.

Both of them knew perfectly well who this "she" was.

Ji Mo's eyes were bright, seemingly filled with contempt, pity, helplessness, and heartache, a complex expression that Ji Jiashu couldn't decipher.

Ji Jiashu knew he had to answer the question, so he took a deep breath and nodded.

"Fool."

This time, Ji Mo didn't call him an idiot again, but just shook her head with a wry smile, "You weren't even chosen, I don't know what you're so fixated on."

"And what about you?" Ji Jiashu looked directly into his father's eyes for the first time. "Why do you insist on going to the North?"

"Dad, she's dead."

Ji Mo's pupils suddenly contracted, and the next moment Ji Jiashu, along with his sword, was blasted out of the room by a massive surge of true energy.

"Get out!"

……

……

"In short, I was kicked out by my father." Ji Jiashu raised his head and looked at the moonlight outside the window. "I guess we're not suited to be father and son."

“Your elder brother said the same thing,” Ying Baoyue said.

"Big brother..." Ji Jiashu was taken aback, "He said that too?"

Ying Baoyue nodded.

Ji Mo's three children all get along with him; he's a real failure as a father.

Ying Baoyue thought of another father and son, and her feelings became even more complicated.

“Now that the memorials are almost finished, you should rest,” Ji Jiashu said worriedly, looking at the bloodshot eyes of Ying Baoyue. “I will protect you, you should get some sleep.”

Ying Baoyue was silent for a moment, then said, "There's only a little bit left to watch. I'll go to sleep after I finish."

Ji Jiashu stared intently at her. "Do you think you can keep your word?"

Ying Baoyue smiled and nodded. "You should go back first. This is the Epang Palace. I'm very safe here. I can sleep without anyone protecting me."

"Really?" Ji Jiashu hesitated, then suddenly stood up. "Never mind."

"Jia Shu?"

Ying Baoyue was somewhat surprised as she watched Ji Jiashu push open the door and walk out.

Ji Jiashu walked very fast, almost rushing downstairs, and stopped just as he reached the entrance of the Imperial Prayer Bureau.

A military officer in armor was walking towards him. Seeing him, he looked surprised. "Grand Preceptor, what's wrong?"

"Returning to the Morning".

Ji Jiashu looked at the young man who had been by Ying Baoyue's side the longest with mixed feelings. Gui Chen already had an aura of iron and blood, and was much more mature than before.

"Is His Majesty resting?" Gui Chen glanced at the lights on the rooftop.

"Not yet," Ji Jiashu said, suppressing his anger. "She said she still has a few memorials to read."

"Then why did you come out?"

Ying Baoyue had not returned for a long time, and Guichen originally thought that Ji Jiashu would definitely be by Ying Baoyue's side tonight.

“She wanted me to come out,” Ji Jiashu said, feeling aggrieved for the first time in a long time. “I wanted to protect her, but she refused.”

Even when they fall asleep, high-level cultivators remain vigilant and expend their true energy. Only when they have another high-level cultivator protecting them can they completely let go of their worries and get a proper rest.

Protecting the Dharma is something only those who are close and trusting can do. In the past, during his travels, he and Ying Baoyue would take turns keeping watch at night and sleeping in each other's arms.

He didn't understand why, now that things had come to this, Ying Baoyue was no longer willing to trust him.

Gui Chen fell silent upon hearing this.

"His Majesty's refusal to let you do this is not because he doesn't trust you."

Gui Chen sighed and changed his form of address, "Chunhua, Baoyue is doing this for your own good."

Ji Jiashu was stunned. He didn't understand and gritted his teeth.

"But if she continues like this, she'll die from overfeeding."

Even though they weren't together, Ji Jiashu knew very well that Ying Baoyue hadn't had a proper rest along the way. She was always on high alert, like a taut string that never stopped for a moment.

If this continues, she will break down.

She governed the country very well, but she died of exhaustion.

"Is there any way to get her a good night's sleep?"

Gui Chen scratched his head. "I'm afraid only that one person has a solution."

"Who?"

Gui Chen looked towards the direction of Ganlu Palace, where a huge black shadow was perched on the eaves.