mother and daughter

The official road from Weizhou to the capital became muddy when the snow melted. Thousands of cavalrymen surrounded a black sedan chair and marched silently southward.

The horses' hooves crushed the remaining ice, and the splashes of mud fell on the cavalrymen's uniforms, leaving spots like tears.

Inside the sedan chair, the charcoal basin was burning brightly, but it couldn't dispel the sickly look between Ning Lingyi's brows. She was wrapped in a thick fox fur coat, leaning against a soft pillow. The curtain of the sedan chair swayed slightly as it moved, occasionally letting in a ray of cold sunlight, illuminating her pale and almost transparent profile.

An uncontrollable cough broke out from her throat, and she quickly covered it with her handkerchief. Her shoulders trembled slightly. When she spread out the handkerchief, the glaring bright red made her eyes dim. Then she calmly clenched the handkerchief into her palm.

The curtain of the sedan chair was gently lifted, and Su Qingfan came in with a bowl of medicine. He was cold and enveloped by the strong smell of medicine in the sedan chair.

When she saw Ning Lingyi's weak appearance with her eyes closed, her nose felt sore and she quickly lowered her head and stirred the dark medicine with a silver spoon, trying to dispel the burning bitterness and the sob in her throat.

"Your Highness, the medicine is ready. Please use it while it's hot."

She spoke in a very low voice, as if she was afraid of disturbing something.

Ning Lingyi slowly opened her eyes with a tired look. She obediently took Su Qingfan's hand and swallowed the bitter medicine in small sips.

Seeing her like this, Su Qingfan couldn't hold back her tears and they fell down. She hurriedly turned her head away.

"Silly girl," Ning Lingyi's voice was slightly hoarse, with the softness that comes from illness. "It's just a cold. Is it worth your money?"

"I didn't..." Su Qingfan wanted to deny it, but his voice trembled violently, "It's just that this medicine is too bitter and it irritated my eyes."

Ning Lingyi didn't say anything else, but just reached out and gently patted the back of her hand. The warmth from her fingertips made Su Qingfan feel sad again.

Outside the sedan, Nong Zishi and Jing Zhao were walking side by side. Both of them looked unhappy. They had argued several times along the way.

Jing Zhao's tone carried the soft, delicate flavor of a Jiangnan accent, yet his words were sharp as a knife. "Mr. Nong, His Highness's health cannot withstand any further harm. The most urgent task is to march directly to the capital. Taking advantage of the public's turmoil, we can seize control of the government with lightning speed! What if we delay, allowing the court to recover, or if another crisis strikes Beishuo and Xiqiang? What will we do then?"

Nong Zishi's face was gaunt, his white hair increasingly conspicuous at the temples. He patiently explained, "Master Jing, Your Highness has just established a reputation for benevolence and righteousness. Although our army is well-trained, it is still insufficient compared to the Beijing garrison that the imperial court has cultivated for many years. If we can recruit righteous men along the way and gradually build our foundation, we can solidify our foundation. Your Highness's ambitions extend beyond the gains and losses of a single city or a single place."

"Take your time?" Jing Zhao sneered. "I'm afraid time is running out! Your Majesty, the Sixth Prince, is still eagerly awaiting your arrival in Jiangnan. The Jing family has spent all their wealth, not to help Your Majesty implement benevolent policies in the north, but to help Your Majesty quickly establish order and welcome the new master!"

Nong Zishi's face darkened. "Master Jing! Your Highness is the Sixth Prince's sister, and the commander-in-chief of the three armies! All decisions should be based on Your Highness's judgment! How could you..."

The two parted ways again on bad terms.

Jing Zhao pulled the reins of his horse and fell behind, looking at Nong Zishi's back with a gloomy look in his eyes.

Nong Zishi's chest was filled with anxiety and powerlessness. He knew that Jing Zhao represented the will of the Jing family and was the younger brother who was hidden deep in the south of the Yangtze River but always touched His Highness's heart.

But the more this happened, the more he had to stabilize the situation for His Highness and must not take any risks.

He rode his horse closer to the warm sedan chair and whispered to Ning Lingyi inside about the recent situation and the news sent back by scouts along the way. The food and grass were still sufficient, but subsequent replenishment would depend on the Jing family's channels, which would inevitably be controlled by others. The elite troops who could spare time to accompany His Highness south were indeed these...

"Your Highness, we still have too few people." Nong Zishi's voice was filled with deep worry. "Miss Su has written to Mingzhou again, begging Mr. Shen Qingyan to come north to help. This time we go to Beijing, the road ahead will surely be full of difficulties and dangers. The forces of all parties are intertwined and cannot be defeated by force alone. I am really worried..."

There was silence in the sedan for a moment before Ning Lingyi's slightly erratic voice came: "I understand, sir, you have worked hard. Let's march on. Let me think about it."

Nong Zishi sighed and retreated silently.

Inside the sedan, Ning Lingyi slowly closed her eyes.

She listened carefully to Nong Zishi's words: talents, food, troops, allies...

There are so many things going on, and she needs to sort them out one by one and make a decision.

But her thoughts drifted away uncontrollably, across the cold mountains and rivers, back to the deep palace where she had been imprisoned for her entire girlhood, and towards the person she missed and worried about the most, her mother, Concubine Yu.

The closer we got to the capital, the more obvious the deep-seated fear became.

Ning Yanli hadn't used his mother to threaten her before, perhaps because he was certain she wouldn't amount to anything, or perhaps because he was concerned about his last bit of reputation. But what about now? With her troops at the gates, aiming directly at his throne, what else could he possibly be worried about?

She seemed to smell the unique fragrance in her mother's palace again, which was the scent that lingered on her mother all year round.

In her memory, her mother was always extremely gentle. She would patiently stroke her hair, teach her to read, and carefully circle the large characters she copied. When it was late at night and everyone was asleep, her mother would hold her in her arms and hum a soft Jiangnan tune. The tune was filled with a hint of nostalgia, but it was the safest harbor in her childhood.

My mother's eyes are always clear and tenacious, and they never really lose their luster even in the most difficult moments in the palace.

She would whisper to her, "Yier, no matter what you encounter, you must look at the light and keep your heart bright."

But now, is that light still there?

Thoughts are like wild horses running out of control towards the most terrifying abyss.

She seemed to see her mother being dragged out of the palace, her gorgeous clothes torn, her hair disheveled, her always gentle eyes filled with tears. She seemed to hear the cold imperial edict reading out the title of "criminal concubine", the jailer's rough scolding, and even seemed to smell the smell of blood...

How could someone as proud and resilient as my mother endure this? Fear made her curl up, her heart pounding, cold sweat instantly soaking her underwear, and another series of heart-wrenching coughs.

She bit her lower lip hard, suppressing the sob that was about to burst out.

She couldn't tell anyone, she was afraid.

Nong Zishi has devoted all his energy to her, Su Qingfan is still a child, and the soldiers under his command have tied their lives and passion to her. In their eyes, she must be the calm, decisive and fearless Princess Mingzhu, the banner that can lead them to recapture the country and see the light of day again.

All the fragility, timidity, and girlish fears must be buried deep in her heart, and she must chew them silently and swallow them with gritted teeth every night when everyone is asleep.

At night, the team camped behind a hill sheltered from the wind.

Su Qingfan was worried, so he quietly got up in the middle of the night, lifted a corner of the heavy sedan curtain and got in.

In the dim light of the campfire outside the tent, she saw Ning Lingyi buried deep in the brocade quilt, sleeping very restlessly. Her brows were furrowed, her long eyelashes were wet, and she kept tossing and turning.

Suddenly, Ning Lingyi's tears burst out from her tightly closed eyes, soaking her temples. Her voice was filled with unspeakable panic and pleading, and she cried vaguely: "No! Don't touch my mother! Let her go, mother, please go... go..."

How can this situation not be heartbreaking?

Su Qingfan rushed to the side of the couch, tightly grasped Ning Lingyi's trembling hand, and called out softly: "Your Highness, Your Highness, wake up, it's a dream, just a nightmare!"

Ning Lingyi was awakened by her, and through her tearful eyes, she saw Su Qingfan's worried face.

In just a moment, she stretched out her arms, hugged Su Qingfan tightly, buried her face deeply in his shoulder, and sobbed uncontrollably like a child who had suffered a lot of grievances and finally found support.

Su Qingfan felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife. He hugged her frail body tightly and patted her back again and again. His own tears fell like beads from a broken string, wetting Ning Lingyi's black hair.

Two baby birds snuggle together in this cold early spring.

*

Capital, Xiyuan.

Although this palace is still part of the Forbidden City, it has become a deserted place, like a forgotten corner.

One of the palaces was guarded particularly closely. The palace servants and eunuchs all lowered their heads and behaved like cats, not daring to make the slightest sound, as if they were a group of soulless shadows.

Concubine Yu and Concubine Jing lived here.

It was a cold night, and the palace lanterns were dim, illuminating only a small area.

Concubine Yu sat alone on the couch by the window. Although she was holding a well-read volume of poetry in her hand, her eyes were fixed on the dark courtyard outside the window.

She had lost a lot of weight, and her once stunning beauty was now etched with traces of years of worry, leaving only a deeply suppressed calmness.

Concubine Jing walked in quietly, gently draped a warm and thick cloak on her shoulders, and accompanied her silently. They were each other's only comfort in the loneliness of the deep palace. They shared the same torment in their hearts and the endless worry about their children whose life and death were uncertain.

They are completely isolated from information from the outside world, as if living in a glass cover.

Fortunately, the queen secretly protected him and he never ran out of money. No one dared to humiliate him openly. However, this imprisonment day after day and year after year, and the uncertainty about the fate of his children, was the most unbearable torture.

Countless nights, Concubine Yu would wake up from nightmares. She dreamed of her daughter being displaced in the flames of war, of her being seriously injured and left unattended, and even of the sandstorms of Beishuo swallowing her up...

Every time I woke up, I was covered in cold sweat and my heart was broken. I could only let my tears soak the embroidered pillow.

Only during the day could she force herself to grasp that glimmer of hope. The emperor was still guarding them so closely, perhaps because her Lingyi was still alive and well, still posing a threat to the emperor somewhere.

Their presence means Lingyi is fine.

"Sister, it's late, go to bed." Concubine Jing's voice was so soft it sounded like a sigh. "The children are blessed. They will surely turn misfortune into good fortune."

Concubine Yu squeezed her hand firmly: "Yeah, it'll be fine."

Will it be okay? She didn't know, none of them knew.

But she thought.

Yier, my daughter, you must be safe.

Mom is here, waiting for you.

The cold night is long and the palace lanterns are swaying, reflecting the desperate and tenacious watch of the two mothers. On the official road far away from the capital, their blood-related concerns are carrying heavy shackles, and they are approaching the center of this storm of fate step by step.

Where does the future lie? No one knows.

Will mother and daughter ever see each other again? No one knows.