The mayfly awakens from its dream and transforms into a bird (The End)

Zhiwei was exhausted by the power struggles and imperial schemes. All she wanted was a genuine conversation, a chance to make her own choices. She wanted him to know how humiliating it was to have one's fate controlled by others, and to know that she had never willingly groveled at anyone's feet!

Zhiwei stared intently at Zhu Liji, her eyes devoid of emotion. One second, two seconds, a full ten seconds passed. Finally, Zhu Liji panicked, a flicker of helplessness crossing his eyes before turning fierce: "You're just provoking me like this, refusing to back down?"

"Fine, fine, very fine! Yan Zhiwei, you refuse my pleas for peace, and you won't be my ally either, so you might as well die!"

"Your Excellency, your sins are grave, and you deserve to die by my hand!" Zhu Liji suddenly took off the decorative sword from the Hall of Mental Cultivation, his old companion that had accompanied him on his campaigns. Now, it would also accompany him in dealing with the last sin he had committed.

That's fine, Zhu Liji thought. In this way, his former lowliness and occasional pity were truly severed from him.

The new dynasty has no need for the old guard!

The sword was drawn, its cold light reflecting off Zhu Liji's distorted face.

Zhiwei still smiled. She grabbed the sword tip and held it to her throat: "Zhu Liji, my sins are grave, and I deserve to die. But what about you? Remember me, I'm waiting for you down there, in the boundless hell."

The sword tip trembled slightly, and a drop of blood slid down the throat. Just one more millimeter forward, and there would be eternal silence.

Zhu Liji pulled his sword back, then suddenly lunged forward!

"Report—!" Pinghai's voice echoed throughout the hall.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has rebelled! He is currently joining forces with Wan Qi and Li Tai to raise an army against the palace, and the one leading the army is none other than the deceased Prince Ding!"

Prince Ding...

The candlelight in the hall flickered suddenly, and Zhu Liji's sword-wielding hand froze in mid-air. He slowly turned his head: "What did you say?"

However, before Pinghai could speak, the sound of armored vehicles smashing through the palace gates came from outside the hall.

"You tyrant, today I'll take your dog's life!" Leading the charge was Li Tai, his black hair bristling with rage, his spear pointing directly at Zhu Liji.

Behind him was a face that Zhu Liji knew all too well, a face that had appeared in his dreams countless times, keeping him awake at night.

Zhu Mingyu.

They're still alive.

Zhu Liji tightened his grip on the sword.

Another person entered. In the firelight, Zhu Sheng, dressed in a red wedding robe but covered with a set of cold, hard soft armor, followed behind Zhu Mingyu and quickly stood in front of the crowd.

His son, his crown prince... father and son, ruler and subject, are all just like that.

He couldn't help but let out a sneer.

“Father.” Zhu Sheng’s voice broke the silence. His gaze swept over Zhiwei, who was being held hostage by a sword. His pupils contracted slightly, but his tone remained steady. “Put down the sword. All the sentry posts in the capital are now under General Wan’s control.”

“Even Wang Miaoxiao, Lord Wang, his mansion no longer exists.”

A complex expression crossed Zhu Sheng's face. Though he was said to have ceased to exist, in reality, his entire family had been slaughtered.

Zhu Sheng seemed to see that hellish scene again. When he led his men to the Prince's mansion, it was already a sea of ​​blood.

Wan Qi, his usually calm and composed master, turned white-haired overnight after hearing the news of Consort Wan's suicide.

Zhu Sheng still remembers Wang Miaoxiao's head on one side and Zhu Hua, who was holding the twins on the other, kneeling on the ground, pleading with him to spare the children, tears streaming down her face.

But Wanqi did not respond. With a swift movement, the pleas and cries ceased abruptly.

"The residences of ministers like Jiang Qin are also under siege, and the palace... is now under my control." Zhu Sheng suppressed the turmoil in his heart and looked at Zhu Liji. "Father, put down your sword. I do not intend to kill you. As long as you abdicate and cease interfering in state affairs, I am willing to honor you as the Retired Emperor and still guarantee you a life of wealth and honor..."

"You want to trap me in the hands of such petty villains?!" Zhu Liji interrupted Zhu Sheng, shifting his gaze from him to Zhu Mingyu's face.

When faced with a life-or-death situation, he was more interested in his younger brother, whom he had long since severed ties with, than in his good-for-nothing son.

Zhu Mingyu was still full of energy, exuding an aura of righteousness.

Ha, after all these years, his younger brother hasn't changed. Even after facing life and death, that nauseating, self-righteous glint of "justice" in his eyes is still blinding.

It was this brilliance that made everything Zhu Liji did seem like mud in a gutter!

“Brother,” Zhu Mingyu stepped forward, his voice hoarse from old injuries but carrying a warning, “A great building is about to collapse, and one pillar cannot support it. How much more pointless blood will be shed because of this farce? Stop.”

"Stop?" Zhu Liji looked at the gathered soldiers, his words filled with sarcasm. "Weren't you the one who started it?"

Zhu Liji stared at Zhu Mingyu's eyes, which seemed clear even in death, and a surge of rage mixed with jealousy, resentment, and utter defeat suddenly rose within him.

Why?! By what right?!

Why is it that everything he painstakingly acquired through every means can be so easily snatched away by these people? Why can Zhu Mingyu win people's hearts even after his "death," while he, the emperor above all others, is abandoned by everyone?

Zhu Liji looked at Zhu Mingyu's gaze. What was that? Was it pity or compassion? Facing Zhu Mingyu like this, Zhu Liji felt as if he had returned to many years ago, to the time when he was a hostage prince who was always being compared to others and always looked at with disappointment by his father.

This throne, this power, are the only things that can prove his worth! And now, even that is being taken away?

No, he hasn't lost yet! The Crown Prince's foundation is still weak. As long as he escapes and reconnects with his old subordinates, he might still have a chance to turn the tables.

He needs a chip!

Zhu Liji suddenly pulled Zhiwei close, his sword blade pressed against her neck: "Don't come any closer! Let me leave safely, or I'll make her bleed to death!"

Zhu Liji's voice trembled with anger, but his movements were swift and decisive.

"Brother!"

"Father!"

Zhu Mingyu and Zhu Sheng exclaimed almost simultaneously, but both hesitated to step forward for fear of inadvertently harming the innocent.

The situation instantly reached a stalemate.

Each of the men had their own thoughts, and none of them dared to make a move.

The atmosphere inside the hall was tense and the air felt as still as iron.

Tethered to Zhu Liji's side, Zhiwei felt a chill and a stinging pain on her neck, yet strangely, she didn't feel much fear.

She watched the scene unfold before her—fathers and sons killing each other, brothers confronting each other, several men who held the reins of power in the world, locked in a stalemate, unable to advance or retreat, for their own ambitions, hatreds, or so-called righteousness.

How ironic.

Only those with choices hesitate and weigh the pros and cons. But someone like her, an insignificant ant, has never truly controlled her own destiny.

It was true before, and it is true now. Even though she has given her all, struggled for so long, endured for so long, and even fought with blood on her hands, in the end, is it still up to others to decide whether she lives or dies?

No.

She doesn't want to!

Countless thoughts clashed in her mind. Zhiwei looked at the slightly trembling sword, its smooth metal surface so clean that it reflected her face—a pale, tired, yet unusually calm face.

Enough, really enough. Rather than continuing to be a pawn in this power struggle, I'd rather... take the final step myself.

At least this time, her destiny is in her own hands!

A resolute glint flashed in his eyes.

Zhiwei didn't struggle or cry out; she simply used all her strength to resolutely ram her neck against the cold blade!

"puff--"

The sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh was dull yet clear.

The force vanished instantly, and my body slumped backward, my vision blurring and fading...

Someone rushed up and hugged her. Who was it? She couldn't recognize them. She found Zhu Liji by scent alone.

What was that expression on his face—surprise, and resentment? Zhiwei stared intently, trying to keep her eyes open. There seemed to be something else on Zhu Liji's face, but she couldn't quite make it out.

She grew increasingly sleepy, and the past flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. She suddenly remembered how, long ago, back in her home in Lingnan, she had so enviously of the sparrows that could leap over the courtyard walls and chirp incessantly. She used to think they were a reflection of herself, only later she was caged. But that wasn't it, that wasn't it…

She may never have been a bird; she mistook her destiny.

She was actually a feather from a bird, who inexplicably ended up in another world. Light and airy, she was swept up and down by the wind, her fate having no weight whatsoever.

So she reached up, and thankfully she finally felt light.

At least for now, this feather no longer needs to rely on any wing or follow any wind direction.

Darkness gently enveloped us, swallowing up the last light and sound.

That's fine.

Her feather, which seemed weightless and insignificant, had, in the end, lived freely and unrestrained.

——

end:

The day Emperor Wencheng abdicated was calm and windless.

The new emperor was diligent, benevolent, and filial. He honored Emperor Wencheng as the Retired Emperor and granted him the privilege of residing permanently in the Yangxin Hall. The imperial tutor Wan Qi was appointed as the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and the loyal minister Li Tai was promoted to Minister of War. Each of them received a title and reward.

Another imperial tutor, Jiang Tan, resigned his post after the new dynasty's ceremony and disappeared without a trace.

On the same day, an inconspicuous blue-canopied carriage rumbled out of the imperial city.

The carriage bumped and jolted as it headed south.

Zhu Mingyu lowered his head and clumsily but earnestly peeled the tangerine in his hand.

Beside her, on the woman's neck was a very deep and long scar, which, though scabbed over, was still red and shiny.

"Once you leave the capital, you'll be in a vast and open world." Zhu Mingyu handed over a peeled segment of orange.

Zhiwei ignored him and lifted the small curtain of the carriage.

The dawn was late in the day, a time when the weather was still chilly despite the warming trend.

Zhiwei probed and gazed intently; a flower bud was beginning to bloom.

The only question is whether the condition is still stable?

Zhiwei hung up the curtain, her fingertips touching the slightly cool fruit flesh.

Spring will eventually arrive.