Chapter 848: A Tough Decision
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Queen looked at the bracelet and was silent for a long time.
Madam Qiao had been the Queen’s attendant when she was young. The Queen was older than her and they had grown up together.
And they had both fallen in love with Qiao Yanze’s father.
But the Queen had an engagement since young and could not decide on her marriage herself. When Madam Qiao had gotten married to Mr Qiao, the Queen had given her this bracelet.
Later, they each had their own families and she became the Queen. The friends.h.i.+p between the two of them gradually drifted apart.
But when she gave Madam Qiao the bracelet, she had given her a wish.
As long as she was still alive, the wish would be valid. Madam Qiao had used her death as an exchange for her son’s safety.
This was her one and only wish.
The Queen held the bracelet in her hand and sighed helplessly. “Pei Lin is going to see him at last. When he left, she wanted to follow him.”
Nan Zhi looked at the Queen, surprised that she knew her grandmother so well.
The Queen adjusted her mood and looked at Nan Zhi. “Your grandmother has given me a difficult problem. Your uncle violated the law and there’s no mistake about it at all since he has admitted the charge and the evidence all leads to him. Interpol will be taking him out of the Capital tonight. Although I’m the Queen of this country, if I were to ask them to pardon your uncle publicly, then what authority do I have in front of the Royal family and the public in the future?”
Nan Zhi nodded silently.
She knew that everyone was equal before the law.
Uncle was already guilty and the Interpol would not let him go, even with the Queen’s words.
The Queen looked at Nan Zhi and frowned slightly. “Nan Zhi, you’re the Crown Prince’s lover. You should know that your uncle committed a serious crime and the Qiao family will fall with him. It is impossible for our Royal family to have a marriage union with a family that is tainted.”
Nan Zhi’s heart tightened. After her uncle’s incident, she had already thought about it.
“If you want to save your uncle, I’ll give you two choices.”
Nan Zhi had a bad feeling in her heart. The hands on her knees clenched into fists tightly and a layer of cold sweat made her palms cold and clammy.
“I can’t publicly rescue your uncle from the hands of the Interpol. I can only operate in secret. I’ll replace your uncle with a criminal on death penalty who look like him and let that criminal to commit suicide in the detention center. Then, I’ll send your uncle to a safe place.
“Of course, there are conditions with it. If you choose to go with your uncle, you must promise me not to let your uncle enter S Country and never be entangled with the Crown Prince again.
“I’m not someone who will break up lovers, so I’ll give you another choice. If you agree to make a clean break with the Qiao family and your uncle, I can arrange another ident.i.ty for you so that you can get married to the Crown Prince as the daughter of a n.o.ble family. But you can’t have any contact with the Qiao family anymore!”
Nan Zhi had roughly understood what the Queen meant.
The Qiao family no longer had a spotless reputation. With its decline, the Qiao family could no longer be involved with the Royal family.
As the granddaughter of the Qiao family, if she wanted to get married to Mu Sihan, she could only appear with a change of her ident.i.ty.
From then on, she would have nothing to do with the Qiao family.
Could she do it?
Was she going to abandon her family for love and her own future?
Nan Zhi bit her lip, feeling extremely miserable in her heart. But Nan Zhi could understand the Queen’s starting point and proposal.
Even ordinary aristocrats were unwilling to get involved with a tainted family, let alone the Royal family that was focused on face, duty and command over the country.
The Queen looked at Nan Zhi’s eyes that were slowly turning red and she seemed to have thought of her younger self.
She also had to make such a difficult decision and understood the girl’s inner turmoil.
But it was impossible to have the best of both worlds.
You gain some and you lose some.
It was all up to her own thinking and choices.
“Your uncle will be taken away at eight p.m. You have no time to think about it. If you choose your uncle, I’ll arrange for the replacement and let you reunite after you’ve settled Pei Lin’s funeral. If you choose the Crown Prince, then your ident.i.ty will be changed and I won’t tell you where your uncle went. In the future, you have nothing to do with him or the Qiao family.”
Nan Zhi’s lips trembled slightly.
Painful tears fell from her eyes and onto her face.
Uncle was already so depressed, if he knew that Grandma was gone, would he also take his own life?
Would he be able to handle it if she was not around for him?
Without love, children, and his mother, he was only left with loneliness, coldness, betrayal and hurt… Was she able to leave him for love?
Choosing Mu Sihan, she would have to makeover and live with a new ident.i.ty. Was she going to abandon the blood flowing in her body too?
But, but…
If she left, what about Mu Sihan?
He loved her so much and stuck by her side like a child in private.
But what could she do?
For her, Uncle could even forgo his wedding ceremony. She could not give up on him!
She wanted him to get back on his feet, let him investigate the person behind Xiao Ying and restore the Qiao family.
Before Grandma died, she was most worried about Uncle…
After weighing the pros and cons, Nan Zhi had made a decision in her heart.
“I can’t change my ident.i.ty. I’m a member of the Qiao family and can’t be the daughter of another n.o.ble family.”
The Queen nodded. “In the future, you can’t see the Crown Prince and the Little Prince anymore. Are you sure?”
Nan Zhi pursed her lips, the feeling of suffocation surging out from her heart like a tidal wave that wanted to drown her, but she had no other choice.
Xiaojie was her son, he would understand her when he grew up.
Now that he was with Mu Sihan, he had the best education and would have a great future. She would be proud of him.
After uncle was secretly taken out and replaced, he could not live as Qiao Yanze anymore. He would face countless difficulties and if Xiaojie left with her, he would only suffer.
As for Mu Sihan…
His mental illness had improved a lot. With Elder Dong by his side, he would help him.
Now that the Qiao family was in trouble, she had no other way. She believed he would understand her for making this decision.
…
Coming out from the Queen’s office, Nan Zhi had no time to be sad and miserable. She had to hold the funeral of Madam Qiao.
The Qiao family had fallen overnight and the n.o.ble families who were in contact with them were afraid of being affected so when the news of Madam Qiao’s death spread, only close relatives attended the funeral. Not one of those n.o.ble families who b.u.t.tered up to them usually, came.
The world was cold and indifferent.
Because of the incident of the Qiao family, the funeral was kept simple and Nan Zhi took care of everything.
An Feng knelt down in front of the black and white portrait of Madam Qiao and her tears had flowed to the ground.
Only two days had pa.s.sed from Qiao Yanze’s arrest to Madam Qiao’s funeral, but Nan Zhi felt like it had been centuries.