Chapter 457 (2/2)

By the time she got to the estate's entrance, Ji Man was gasping for breath. She could only watch as the bald head disappeared into the distance with her son. She didn't know how long it would take until Haohao would be returned to her.

—

Liu Hanyun didn't know how much longer she had left to live. Her old illness couldn't be cured, but she felt now was the best time to die, before the marquis found out that she was the culprit and while he still felt pity towards her.

Liu Hanyun called Xi-er over to her bedside and looked at him as she said, “In the future, you'll be the only child in this estate. You have to talk more with your father and spend more time with him. Don't resent your father. Do you understand?”

Xi-er blankly looked at his deathly pale mother and suddenly burst into wailing.

“Don't cry. Learn from the heir, smile more.” Liu Hanyun covered her mouth, as she started coughing and gestured for Chunpi to bring Xi-er farther away from her. She continued to advise him, “If Miss Nie's next child is a son, even as a ghost, I'll help you. If it's a daughter, you'll become this household's heir. You can't keep hiding behind other people.”

“Mom…” Xi-er couldn't stop crying. He wanted to go over to hold his mother's hand, but Chunpi stopped him. Liu Hanyun smiled and gestured for Chunpi to take him outside. “Go bring him to the marquis.”

She didn't regret in being ruthless enough to harm a child. She didn't regret her actions, but her heart felt tormented, and her illness became increasingly worse. Liu Hanyun got out the dagger she had hidden nearby, mustered up her courage, and drove the dagger into her heart.

This time, she wouldn't continue to live and be a burden to Xi-er. Once Xi-er lost his mother, the marquis would definitely treat him a little bit better. When he saw that she had ended her life, no matter what, the marquis would definitely feel more pity, right?

—

Chunpi was crying as she brought Xi-er over to the western courtyard. She knelt down in front of the marquis and couldn't stop crying. Ning Yuxuan asked her twice why she was here, but Chunpi was crying too hard to speak.

Thus, he more or less guessed what had happened.

“Have her buried with full honors,” Ning Yuxuan said, “She was a foolish person.”

Xi-er was still crying too. He hid behind Chunpi with eyes full of fear.

Translator Ramblings: When I was reading this story for the second time, I felt much sadder about Liu Hanyun's death, especially because she's clinging onto the hope that Ning Yuxuan will treat Xi-er better if she dies. Based on Ning Yuxuan's previous actions, we can easily guess that's not going to happen. Killing herself is ultimately a futile gesture. There's nothing she could have done to get Ning Yuxuan to care about Xi-er the same way that he cares about Haohao. I wish someone could have told her that Xi-er would rather have his mom alive. It would have been awesome if she could have become friends with Mu Shuiqing, who seems the most sensible woman in the story.

And, I feel like Haohao is being taken into Child Protective Services because time and time again, his parents have failed to protect him. More importantly, if they actually care about him, why don't they ask the monk if they can come with Haohao and give up the secular world for a period of time?

What do you guys think?

If you want to read a vague spoiler about Haohao's future, I wrote one in the comments below.