Ever since that incident, Xie Zhixue, terrified of anything similar happening again, had kept a dog.
From the time Ping'an learned to crawl and sit, he had played with that dog all day long. But three months ago—just one month before she was to return to the Capital—the dog had eaten something unknown while outside, suffered a seizure, and died. Xie Zhixue felt deeply saddened, and Ping'an cried his heart out that night. Afterward, Xie Zhixue comforted him, promising that if the opportunity arose, she would allow him to keep another dog for company.
Yet, who could have foreseen that the moment she returned to the Capital, the Emperor would issue an imperial decree ordering her to marry Yuwenzhang? As a woman with a child, she was considered damaged goods—how could she possibly marry him? With no other choice, she had been forced to fake her own death. From her departure until now, Ping'an had never been able to have a second puppy.
Chapter 98