“Zhongming, I'm sorry... I broke our promise. I won't be able to watch Yan'er grow up with you...”
These words were like a needle, thin and sharp, piercing into his ears and stabbing straight through Cheng Ji's heart.
Kneeling before the bed, his spine felt as if it were about to snap. A copper-sweet taste welled up in his throat, but he forced himself to swallow it down.
“I don't blame you, I don't blame you...” he repeated.
Ye Qingqing raised her hand and gently embraced Cheng Ji, whispering softly in his ear, “Zhongming, to have met a husband as wonderful as you in this lifetime is truly the fortune of three lifetimes for me.”
Cheng Ji staggered to his feet. “Qingqing, I'll have someone bring Yan'er here so you can look at him one last time.”
Ye Qingqing grabbed him. “Don't. This plague is contagious. We must not put Yan'er in danger.”
Cheng Ji soothed her, “Don't worry. After taking Physician Lin's medicine, there is no fear of catching the illness. Yan'er will be fine...”
“Zhongming, let it be. It's better not to see him. Seeing him one more time will only make it harder to let go. It's better this way.”
Tears streamed silently down Ye Qingqing's face, yet a faint, gentle smile graced her lips, as if she had finally laid down a heavy burden.
Her gaze shifted past Cheng Ji's shoulder, landing on the white-and-green figure standing quietly in the room.
The Divine Lady stood at the boundary of light and shadow, her snow-white silk robes draping down. With lowered eyes, she possessed the mercy of Guanyin, yet she remained detached, never intervening in the mortal world's parting of life and death.
Ye Qingqing stared at her, her lips trembling slightly.
“Divine Lady, I heard you say just now that I possess the merit of ten lifetimes, which can be traded for a life. I have a request.”
Cheng Ji suddenly gripped her hand tightly. “Qingqing, don't do anything foolish! Accumulating ten lifetimes of merit is no easy feat. It can guarantee you a smooth life, free of illness and disaster, for all your future incarnations. I will take care of Yan'er, so you don't have to worry...”
Ye Qingqing shook her head at Cheng Ji. She knew that speaking her mind would inevitably break his heart.
But she still spoke honestly, “Zhongming, I do not want to use the merit of ten lifetimes to save my own life.”
“What?” Cheng Ji's grip on her hand tightened even further.
“Qingqing, what are you trying to do?”
Ye Qingqing did not look at him again.
She looked at the Divine Lady not far away, her pale face filled with an unshakeable determination.
“Divine Lady, I do not want my own life.” As she spoke, she coughed again, the blood at the corner of her mouth deepening, yet her voice was clearer than ever before.
“I am willing to exchange my ten lifetimes of merit for A'tao's life. A'tao has been by my side since childhood, serving me faithfully every single day. She is a diligent and good child.” Her eyes suddenly grew red. “If I hadn't insisted on bringing her to the clinic to care for the sick, she wouldn't have caught the plague. The people I owe the most in this life, besides my husband, are A'tao.”
“I beg the Divine Lady, please save A'tao...”
Silence filled the room.
Cheng Ji held Ye Qingqing's hand. He opened his mouth several times, but in the end, he said nothing.
Having been married for twenty years, he understood his wife all too well.
Once she made up her mind, no matter what anyone else said, her decision could not be swayed.
The Divine Lady looked at the woman on the bed.
Those eyes, which had always been as cold and indifferent as frost and snow, finally showed a minute shift at this moment.
It was as if a glacier that had stood for ten thousand years was suddenly illuminated by a beam of light reaching into its deepest crevice.
The light was faint and fleeting.
But it had truly existed.
“Ye Qingqing.”
The Divine Lady spoke, her voice cool and carrying a distant quality detached from the mortal world. “Have you truly thought this through?”
“The merit of ten lifetimes is something everyone covets yet cannot obtain. Do you truly wish to use it to save someone else's life?”
She tilted her head slightly, her white silk veil swaying gently. “Even if you lose this merit, and in your next life, you can only be reborn into a destitute family, eating coarse food and living a life of wandering and hardship, you will not regret it?”
This was not a threat.
A deity had no need to threaten a mortal.
This was an advisory—the final warning from a deity to a mortal under the laws of the Heavenly Dao.
Ye Qingqing did not hesitate.
“I do not regret it.”
The three words were spoken softly, yet they carried the weight of a thousand jin.
Cheng Ji's tears splashed onto the back of her hand.
As if suddenly realizing something, he raised his head to look at the Divine Lady, his voice hoarse and urgent. “Divine Lady, since I became an official, though I dare not claim to be as pure as water or as clear as a mirror, I have never embezzled a single coin of the people's hard-earned money.”
“Building bridges, paving roads, opening granaries to distribute grain, and providing disaster relief—I have done everything in my power. The people of Yecheng call me 'Lord Justice.' Although I feel unworthy of the title, I have indeed never brought shame to this official uniform.”
He knelt perfectly upright.
“May I ask the Divine Lady, do I possess any merit?”
The Divine Lady's gaze fell upon him, and she gave a slight nod.
“You do.”
Cheng Ji's eyes welled with heat. Without bothering to wipe his tears, he threw himself to the ground and kowtowed heavily. “I beg the Divine Lady, please use my merit to save my wife! As long as she is safe in this life, I do not need a next life. I am willing to trade all of my merit to keep her alive. I beg you, Divine Lady...”
“It is not enough.”
The Divine Lady's words were like a bucket of ice water poured over his head. “You are diligent in your official duties and have benefited the local people, so you indeed possess merit.”
“However, your wife Ye Qingqing's life has run its course; it is a fated death tribulation. To alter this fated end requires a colossal amount of merit, far beyond what you can provide alone.”
Hope shattered once again.
The tears in Cheng Ji's eyes finally broke through the floodgates.
Just as he was on the verge of complete despair, several voices suddenly rang out in unison behind him.
“Divine Lady, I wonder if I, Shen Yu, possess any merit?” Shen Yu knelt down before the Divine Lady. “Madam Ye's noble character fills me with deep admiration. If I have even a modicum of merit, I am willing to give all of it to her.”
“I beg the Divine Lady to grant this!”
Seeing this, Lin Xun, who was standing to the side, also knelt before the Divine Lady.
“Divine Lady, I, Yizhi, have practiced medicine for several years and treated countless patients. I do not know if this counts as merit, but if it does, I am also willing to give all of my merit to Madam Ye.”
“And us!”
The subordinate officials all knelt down together.
They kowtowed one after another.
“I have followed the Governor for eight years. He is clean and upright, and I would never dare to bring shame upon him. In all the cases handled by the yamen over the years, I have never accepted a bribe, nor have I ever wrongfully accused an innocent person. If that counts as merit, please, Divine Lady, use my merit to save Madam Ye!”
“Though I lack talent, during my five years as an official, I have used my salary to set up porridge booths three times, saving over a hundred refugees...”
“And I...”
Hearing these urgent voices, Cheng Ji's tears flowed down his cheeks, slipping into his mouth with a bitter, salty taste.
These subordinates, whom he usually lectured and scolded, were now vying with one another to offer up their precious merit to save his wife's life without the slightest hesitation.
What was more...
He did not even know Shen Yu or Lin Xun, yet they too were willing to offer their own merit to save his wife.
How could anyone not be deeply moved?
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