Qiu Ling nodded slowly. He understood what Bai Fen was saying but he wasn't necessarily happy about it. It was good if there was a chance to maybe lift the curse. He wasn't even that interested in lifting the curse on the three immortal races but to lift the curse on Jing He's family would definitely be a good thing. After all, this would be his own family as well and he didn't want his beloved or the child that they would have to suffer someday in the future.
The problem was that there wasn't anything he could do. Waiting for whenever somebody's reincarnation would be born … this all relied on luck. But if it hadn't happened in all those generations, how likely would it be that their child would be the one? In that case, there was no hope at all.
Thinking of that, Qiu Ling furrowed his brows. He didn't necessarily need to have more than one child. Even being childless would be alright if there was Jing He at his side. It might not be what he would prefer but he could live with that. But putting their family through suffering … that was something that he really didn't want to let happen. But even if he thought so, what was he supposed to do? The curse was like that. He couldn't change it.
Qiu Ling closed his eyes, somewhat understanding the pain that Bai Fen felt. Just imagining being in that situation … it already hurt. To have actually gone through it … "It can't have been easy."
Bai Fen shook her head. "No, it most certainly wasn't. To be honest, it was the hardest time I ever went through. Thinking back now, had I known about this beforehand, I might have never married my husband. I certainly do love Rong Su but this is probably more than I can take. I also would have loved to have more than one child. Unfortunately, I only found out when it was too late. Nobody bothered to tell me."
Qiu Ling furrowed his brows. "Your husband just didn't mention it beforehand? That seems quite cruel."
"To be honest, I think he himself didn't know until the time our first child died. And my in-laws never bothered to tell us. They were unhappy with our marriage anyway."
Qiu Ling looked pensive. Actually, he somewhat remembered that there had been some trouble between them. Never mind that it had come up when Yin Lin Lin tried to get Hong Bao and the Fate's Scribe Shun Tao into trouble at the beginning of Jing He's trial, he had also been the dragon king back when Bai Fen and Rong Su had gotten married. Even though he hadn't really cared, he had still heard through the grapevine that things hadn't been that straight forward with them. "He was engaged to somebody else before, wasn't he?"
Bai Fen nodded. "Right. A marriage arranged by his parents. When he refused, it caused a lot of issues. Especially since her father had just died. To suddenly renege on the promise his parents and hers had made … it certainly wasn't a good look for them.
"But he had also been saying that he didn't want to marry her since quite some time before and he wasn't about to change his mind on that. It was just that his parents hadn't taken it seriously so when the situation finally was like that, it became even more awkward. Had they reacted earlier and tried to find a solution, maybe everything could've been solved by then."
Qiu Ling nodded. "It couldn't have been easy. But it was still quite cruel of your in-laws to just let you get into such a situation. Didn't they know how it felt? Or were they lucky?"
"They were indeed lucky. Rong Su was their first son. And while I believe that there were some problems, he did make it into adulthood. For us, things were a bit more difficult. I'm not sure why we deserved that kind of fate. But in any case, it's not something to worry about anymore." She looked at Jing He, smiling faintly, and rubbing his arm. "I am glad that he has made it until now.
"After his trial is over, I will be able to put my mind at ease. From what the fate's scribe said when his punishment was reviewed after those one hundred days, he has actually managed to accumulate quite a few trials. It is definitely enough for now and it might even be enough so that he won't need to attempt another trial ever again."
Qiu Ling looked up at that, feeling a bit hopeful. "So after he … returns, that would be it? He won't need to leave anymore?"
Bai Fen nodded. "Yes, just like that. You don't need to worry anymore. It is just that the trial still needs to end." She turned to face Qiu Ling again, her expression difficult. "He is going to ascend soon, isn't he?"
Qiu Ling hesitated but then nodded. "He is. And I don't know what to do. I promised to take him around and show him the dragon realm. But the more time passes, the more I'm worried about what this will mean for Jing He. He has this bad habit of overthinking things. If I let Jing Yi live, won't he feel that there is some more meaning to it than I originally thought? I really don't want that to happen."
"There's indeed a certain chance that he will think like that. Jing He … even though he doesn't know about this curse on our family yet, he has lived through what it entailed. I'm afraid that he will have quite a few worries. This might be why he turned out like this. He really worries too much. Even when there is no need to."