Two days later, Mu Liang went to his mother's room. He knocked on the door and a maid opened the door. She bowed when she saw that it was first young master.
Mu Liang asked, "Where is Miss Jing?"
The maid replied, "Miss Jing is having evening tea, first young master."
"Leave us alone." Saying that, Mu Liang entered the room and found Jing Sheng sitting on the couch, drinking tea.
Seeing Mu Liang, she smiled at him. "You are home early, Xiao Liang."
"Yes, mother." Mu Liang looked around and asked, "Mother, are you done packing?"
Jing Sheng nodded. "Yes, I didn't bring too many dresses with me. Just one luggage."
He asked, "When will you leave?"
"Tomorrow morning." Jing Shen replied as she put down her cup on the table.
Mu Liang came closer and asked, "Why don't you stay here for a while?"
Jing Sheng smiled a little. "I cannot stay here for long. You know the reason." She patted the seat beside her to signal her son to sit.
Mu Liang sat beside his mother and took her hands. "You've suffered so much for us."
Jing Sheng firmly disagreed. "You are wrong, Xiao Liang. It wasn't your fault. It was none of my children's fault either. It was my fate. It was my choice to suffer. Meeting your father might be a curse, but meeting Xiao Lan is a blessing for me. You chose a good girl for yourself. I'm so proud of you."
Mu Liang smiled thinking about his beloved. "Yes, she is a blessing for me and my family."
Jing Sheng asked him, "When are you two planning to get married? Will you wait till she completes her studies?"
"Does she study?" Mu Liang questioned back. He had seen Mu Lan was secretly practicing martial arts and playing with wind just this morning. Fortunately, her wound had healed or she would have been driven mad by now.
Jing Sheng chuckled upon hearing her son's question. She told him, "You are lucky to have a girl like her, my dear son."
Mu Liang said in reply, "And you are lucky to have a man who protected you secretly all these years."
Jing Sheng's expression changed. Her face became ghastly pale. "Y-you… how do you know? Did Noel say anything to you?"
Mu Liang shook his head. "No, how can he say that? He was thinking of taking this secret to his grave. This time, he was badly injured. Xiao Lan told me everything she knew."
He turned towards his mother. "Mother, you don't have to hold back for us. Because of us, the thing you only got was pain. Now, you are not part of this anymore. You are free. Why are you still thinking of sacrificing yourself? And for what reason? You don't have to do it."
"Stop it!" Jing Sheng shouted. She took her hands from Mu Liang. She closed her eyes.
Mu Liang waited for his mother to calm down.
Jing Sheng spoke, "You know nothing. Don't talk to your mother like that again."
Jing Sheng knew very well why she chose not to be with Noel. She definitely liked him and she knew how good he was. That's why, she thought that it was better for him to choose a girl who was as pure as him. She could never bring herself to be with him. How could she? She thought that she was filthy. She was married and bore three sons for a scumbag. She couldn't possible snatch a good person like Noel for herself. She was rotten from inside and out.
Mu Liang softly said, "Mother, I'm not trying to force you. All I want to say is that it's okay for you to be happy. It's okay for you to have a new life that can give you everything you never had but always wished to have. We love you and we want you to live your life to the fullest. And if you take a painful path for yourself because of us, it will never make us happy, we will regret it, we will think that it's because we weren't good enough, we couldn't make you happy. Mother, can't you see? If you can't become happy, we won't be able to be happy as well."
He exhaled loudly and continued, "But of course, it's your life, your choice. But no matter what you do, what path you choose, you have to be happy, mother."
Then, he stood up and left the room, leaving Jing Sheng alone.
He went to his chamber and found Mu Lan using her power to make the couch fly. He was amazed to see how wonderful she was. For the first time, he saw her using her power this morning. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. His mother was right. He was fortunate to have her.
However, he was feeling uneasy. He never saw her practicing her arts. He couldn't figure out why she was doing it now.
'Could it be she is going on a mission? It will be dangerous if she has to use her power.' On thinking that Mu Liang sighed, knowing she was going to face danger without him made him restless. But he would never stop her if that's something she wanted to do. He would never make her a bird in cage. All he could do was watch over her safety.
Mu Liang strode towards her and hugged her from behind tightly. He mumbled, "I did what you told me to. Can you not be mad at me anymore? I absolutely hate it when you don't talk to me and not smile at me."
These past few days, Mu Lan hadn't been talking to him, not even once. She accepted his hug and his affection, but she never uttered a single word.
In the morning, she suddenly came to him when he was changing his clothes and told him if he could manage to change his mother's heart, she would talk to him.
If Mu Liang could, he would have instantly met his mother, but Jing Sheng was already in the flower shop and he didn't want to disturb his mother. So, he waited till his mother came back.