Chapter 51 A Parting Ways

Seeing her daughter return from Yongzhou, as if her soul had been left behind, Lady Xiang was filled with worry. She came to inquire several times, but to no avail. The Guo mansion remained prosperous, and her daughter was still busy in the garden, but she often stared blankly at the increasingly withered crabapple tree outside the window. Finally, it was Lu Binghui's arrival that brought a glimmer of life to her daughter's face. This young man had been serving as an official for five or six years, and had grown into a handsome and capable young man, experienced and reliable. Even more remarkable was that her daughter had come back to speak with her: "Mother, I've thought it through. Please… go to the Lu family and tell them, I want to marry Lu Binghui." She paused, and under her mother's surprised and incredulous gaze, added the shocking condition, "But there's one condition: Lu Binghui can only marry me in this life. If not, then this matter is over."

The news caused quite a stir in the Lu family. Monogamy was almost unheard of in powerful and wealthy families. However, unexpectedly, despite a brief silence and family pressure, Lu Binghui displayed rare perseverance, a long-lost smile appearing on his lips. Perhaps, in others' eyes, marrying Guo Huairou, the unique daughter of a military family in the capital, was already worth the sacrifice. But in Lu Binghui's heart, she was the woman he had been waiting for.

Soon after, a grand and splendid wedding was held in the capital. The ten-mile-long procession of red bridal procession was the envy of all. Huairou, dressed in a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, sat quietly in the bustling bridal chamber, listening to the clinking of glasses outside, breathing in the quiet.

Not long after their marriage, Lu Binghui was suddenly transferred back to the capital, just as he had been before, and his official rank was unexpectedly promoted. He assumed it was due to his father-in-law Guo Shichang's connections, and felt even more respect and gratitude towards Huairou. But he didn't know that behind that transfer order was actually an invisible hand at work. The emperor knew that "his" wife, "his" Huairou, had a garden in the capital to which she had poured countless efforts. He was fulfilling her dream of starting a family and establishing a career in his own way; promoting her husband's official rank was a gift of status and armor he bestowed upon her.

Upon returning to the capital, Lu Binghui visited Liyuan Garden and was filled with even greater admiration for his wife. He had witnessed firsthand how the ingenious artifacts improved people's lives, how practical skills attracted talent, and how the products from Liyuan Garden became wildly popular throughout the capital. He even observed that when Crown Prince Yunji encountered certain thorny issues, he would quietly visit Liyuan Garden for long, private discussions with Huairou. Despite holding no official position, his wife seemed to possess the power to influence half of the capital. Perhaps because of this "special" status, the Lu family treated Huairou with exceptional care and consideration, showing no neglect despite her initially "demanding" marriage conditions.

As Binghui had predicted, Huairou did not lose her freedom despite becoming someone's wife and daughter-in-law. Her children were cared for, her life was taken care of, and her school was protected. She could freely choose where to focus her life. At the same time, she was striving to be a good wife, devoting all her hopes and thoughts to her family. Looking at her husband Lu Binghui's upright face, often adorned with a satisfied smile due to his successful career, she felt happy for him. Silently, she completely severed all possible correspondence with "Jiancheng Jun" and quietly released the carrier pigeon named "Feiyan" back into the mountains. That unforgettable feeling, the brief warmth and endless bitterness in the Yongzhou villa, were all deeply, deeply buried in the most secret corner of her heart, like burying a memory from a past life. Only in the dead of night, when she gazed alone at the same bright moon outside her window, would a cold tear silently slide down her cheek. So be it.

Time flies, and ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the winter of the 151st year of the Zhenguo era, on a snowy day, the sound of a funeral bell tolled from the palace, each toll heavy in the hearts of everyone. Emperor Zhen Jiancheng had passed away at the young age of fifty, entering his dreams amidst a peaceful and serene landscape.

When the news arrived, Huairou was in the warm pavilion of the Liyuan Garden, teaching her seven-year-old son, Lu Chengxi, to read. Her hand trembled violently, and the ink splattered onto the rice paper. It felt as if a piece of her heart had been ripped out in that instant; the intense pain made her suffocate, and her face turned ashen.

Soon, a secret rumor spread among the people that the emperor died young because he was overthinking things and died in depression.

Yunji had already ascended the throne. Dressed in mourning clothes, he came to Liyuan to see Huairou. The young emperor's face was filled with sorrow and exhaustion. He said to Huairou, "Huairou, before my father passed away... he requested to be buried with my mother's portrait and issued an edict posthumously honoring my mother as 'Imperial Noble Consort Huishan'."

Huairou listened quietly, without tears or even a significant change in expression. Only she knew that her heart had long since shattered, utterly devoid of hope with his departure. She understood, of course, who the person in the portrait was, the one Jiancheng Jun had longed for to death, the one he had requested to be buried with. Huishan… was that his final assessment and remembrance of her? Ten years had passed since their parting in Yongzhou. In those ten years, she had become a mother, and he had become a vanished legend.

Life is short, and we are often unaware of this when we are young, thinking that time is long and there are countless opportunities to start over and squander it. It is not until we reach middle age and have experienced the pain of separation from loved ones and the pain of unrequited love that we realize the deepest fear is that when you finally meet that soulmate and the one your heart longs for, you will find that there are already too many insurmountable gaps between you: identity, responsibility, family, age... Too many things beyond your control will strangle that budding beauty in the frost of reality.