*flashback*

"Because I love you!" The woman said softly. She wouldn't deny her own feelings just because he made a mistake, but of course, it was because he fell into a trap and he didn't deliberately do it.

"If you abandon the kid, I will hate you! Because you kill an innocent baby..." Then she softened her voice, "I will love him even on your behalf when I get married into Lin Fu. The kid is the most innocent one here." The woman already made the decision so young Lin Zheng wouldn't be able to refuse and her reasoning was also reasonable.

Young Lin Zheng sighed and could only promise that he would take care of the baby as she wished. The woman would take care of him after she got married to Lin Fu, after all, it was inappropriate for her to keep visiting Lin Fu when she was still a maiden. "What about the woman?" Young Lin Zheng wanted to know what she wanted him to do about the servant girl.

The woman's gaze hardened. If she loved someone, she would love him/her to death. However, when she hated someone, she would also hate him/her to death. This kind of calculative woman... she didn't want her to stay at Lin Fu and make trouble. She didn't care if other people called her cruel, because this woman had crossed her bottom line. This maidservant dared to covet her man and even drugged him. "Get rid of her after she gives birth to the baby! I don't care what you do to her, but I don't want to find her staying at Lin Fu after the baby is born."

She wanted to protect her man and also protect her own dignity. Young Lin Zheng didn't find it too cruel and so he agreed with her arrangement. If it was up to him, he would kill the woman already. The maidservant was imprisoned inside a courtyard, but they did pay attention to her nutrition and gave her the best food. All of it was only for the sake of the baby. After the woman successfully gave birth to Lin Jian, she was kicked out of Lin Fu and went crazy because of it. Young Lin Zheng didn't kill her because of his son... After all, she was still his son's birth mother.

Since the first time he laid his eyes on the boy, he fell in love. He was really grateful to his sweetheart for protecting this baby.

*end of flashback*

-----

Yao Ying was quite surprised and admired the woman even more. If she didn't protect Lin Jian, then he wouldn't be here today.

Yao Ying thought to himself. No wonder Lin Jian was really attached to the woman. Yao Ying asked curiously, "Did she really dote on you?"

Lin Jian grinned and nodded. "She indeed did as she promised..."

Lin Jian told him that she only came every now and then just to hug and play with him when he was under three years old --- after all, she wasn't married yet. This story was told by his wet nurse, so he truly believed in it. After he was three years old, she married into the household and really treated Lin Jian as her own son. Her presence even made his aloof father smile more and dote on him more. It was the happiest moment of his life.

"Was it until she was taken away by the Han Emperor?" Yao Ying asked.

Lin Jian nodded.

Yao Ying hesitantly asked, "How...?"

"If I didn't force her to go to the Lantern Festival, then no one would kidnap her!" Lin Jian knew that he would feel this guilt for the rest of his life.

"Kidnapped?" Yao Ying asked in surprise. "Didn't you bring along guards with you?"

"At that time... I was only five... I got lost and Mother was trying to find me. She was too worried about me and separated from the guards. I was found by the guards but when we tried to find Mother... she was already gone. Her personal maids were killed so there was no trace how to find Mother at that time. The guards could only take me home and report to Father," Lin Jian said sadly.

"But why did the Han Emperor kidnap her?" Yao Ying asked curiously. Was the woman a great beauty and she bewitched the Han Emperor?

Lin Jian laughed. "It would be fine if it was the Han Emperor who took her."

Yao Ying looked at Lin Jian in surprise. "But... then... who?" Yao Ying started to feel at a loss. He thought that it was the Han Emperor's doing!

"At that time, we weren't in a peaceful era just like this. We were in the brink of war. During a banquet for peaceful treaty talk, a Han Prince --- who is the Han Emperor now -- took a fancy at my mother. Even when he knew that Mother was married to Father, he couldn't stop his admiration," Lin Jian said that while laughing bitterly. "It was said that Mother wasn't really a beauty that would bring calamity. She was more of an ethereal beauty who would bring peaceful feelings to the ones who saw her. The more you looked at her... the more you would feel enchanted, even your father wasn't immune to her charm." Lin Jian tried to lighten up the mood by saying the last part. It was true so Yao Ying laughed at that.

Yao Ying was really curious about how the woman looked like in real life. He hoped that someday he could see the painting of that woman. Yao Ying said, "What did the Han Emperor do?"

"At that time, he didn't dare to do anything, but his gaze never left my mother and even every person who was at the banquet noticed it. It became a public secret how the Han Emperor coveted my mother," Lin Jian said bitterly.

"It was disgusting of him! Coveting another man's wife is a sin! Besides, judging from his rank, he could get himself a lot of women that willingly served him!" Yao Ying said a piece of his mind.

Lin Jian nodded. "He didn't actually do something to Mother. He just admired her, but someone personally delivered her to him."

Yao Ying wondered who the mastermind behind the kidnapping was. An enemy, perhaps? Yao Ying said, "Even if he didn't do anything, but when he got her, he didn't give her back to your father. He brought your mother back to his country, right?"

Lin Jian nodded once again. "If only we didn't go out that day, there would be no chance for him to obtain my mother!" Lin Jian's veins popped out on his forehead, showing how angry he was. He didn't only blame the mastermind, but also blamed himself too. Why... why was he so stubborn back then?! Not going to a festival for once wouldn't actually make a difference to him. He just wanted to act spoiled to his mother and he hated his own childishness.

Lin Jian continued to explain, "By the time we found out some clues about the mastermind, my mother was already under the Han Emperor's custody. They had no chance to save her or the result would be war. As a general who loves his own country, how could his father sacrifice the life of the common people just to save his love? He also knew that she wouldn't want to be saved by sacrificing a lot of people. She wouldn't be able to live peacefully knowing that the happiness that she got was built on top of other people's blood."

Yao Ying admired the general's moral and conduct, but he also felt sad for him. He had to make a choice between the person that he loves the most and his country. It was a difficult decision to make! Whatever he chose wouldn't bring happiness to him...

"But... didn't you say it wasn't the Han Emperor's work? So... did you find out about the mastermind's ident.i.ty?" Yao Ying asked in confusion. "Is it your father's enemy? Probably because he saw a chance, he made a plan using your mother to hurt your father?" Yao Ying made a guess about the mastermind.