Therefore, after returning to his room, he unusually began to look in the mirror, examining his face from left to right.

His understanding of Mo Junxing was all based on legends; he had never actually met him.

I wonder if his appearance is actually better than mine.

if……

He was born better than me.

That Gu Jingchun...

The mere thought of this possibility kept Shen Hechuan tossing and turning at night, so he got up early to start looking for suitable clothes.

When Gu Jingchun came in today, he didn't look surprised at all, which made him even more uncertain.

He looked at Gu Jingchun, wanting to ask her about her relationship with Mo Junxing, but he opened his mouth and didn't know how to start.

Gu Jingchun was also struggling with where to begin to talk to Shen Hechuan.

Moreover, she was afraid that Shen Hechuan would be unhappy after he found out about it.

So, she's thinking about how to bring it up in a way that will make Shen Hechuan less angry.

Just as the two of them were hesitating about how to speak.

Tianji rushed in.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..."

The urgency to uncover the secrets was unprecedented.

Shen Hechuan frowned, and Gu Jingchun immediately stood up from him.

"What happened? Why are you in such a panic?"

Tianji: "Your Majesty...Your Majesty...has passed away."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Hechuan stood up abruptly.

******

Wanhe Hall.

Dexi knelt on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

"This old servant has always been by Your Majesty's side."

"Yesterday, His Majesty spent the entire day digging for earthworms in the garden."

"When this old servant saw that Your Majesty's fingers were bleeding, I advised Your Majesty to rest, but Your Majesty refused and kept digging..."

"As darkness fell, I dozed off. When I opened my eyes, I saw His Majesty holding the box and laughing. He happily told me that he had dug up a hundred earthworms."

"His Majesty was so happy at that time that I urged him to rest again, but... but His Majesty insisted on using these earthworms to fish."

By this point, Dexi was already sobbing uncontrollably.

He took the handkerchief Shen Hechuan handed him, wiped away his tears, and continued, "His Majesty was fishing until late at night."

"It wasn't until late at night that this old servant saw that Your Majesty had caught a whole bucketful, and once again advised Your Majesty to go back and rest."

"His Majesty then counted all the fish and happily told this old servant that he had reached one hundred and could now go to see the Empress in peace."

"This old servant...this old servant didn't think much at the time and helped His Majesty back to his palace to rest."

"At that time, His Majesty was perfectly healthy."

He even sighed and spoke to the old servant.

He said, "Is the Empress not going to forgive him?"

"He searched every corner of Jingyu Palace but couldn't find anything between them except this broken jade pendant."

"This old servant advised Your Majesty to think more positively, as the Empress will surely be waiting for you down there."

"Then His Majesty lay down."

"Seeing that His Majesty has already gone to sleep, this old servant will also go back to rest."

"But I never expected that when I called His Majesty to get up today, there was no response for a long time."

"This old servant thought that Your Majesty had gone to bed too late yesterday, which is why you woke up late today."

"However, seeing that there was still no movement from His Majesty's room at this time, this old servant mustered up the courage to come in."

"I never expected that what I would see upon entering would be His Majesty lying in a pool of blood."

Dexi finally stopped talking at this point.

He looked at Shen Hechuan, tears streaming down his face, and kept kowtowing on the ground.

"Your Highness, it is because this old servant has failed to take good care of His Majesty that this has happened. I beg you, I beg you, grant this old servant death and let this old servant continue to serve His Majesty in the afterlife."

Shen Hechuan stood there blankly.

He clearly didn't have deep feelings for Emperor Rongcheng, so why was he so distressed when he learned of his death?

Gu Jingchun stepped forward and sighed.

She looked at everything in front of her.

The ground was covered in Emperor Rongcheng's blood.

In front of his bed were two large baskets filled with a hundred carp of all sizes.

The carp, devoid of emotion, swam carefree inside.

Next to the fish tank was a box containing earthworms.

Next to the box was the booklet that Gu Jingchun had given him.

Next to it was a broken jade pendant.

Judging from this, the jade pendant must have been broken and then carefully glued back together.

Gu Jingchun saw all of this as if he had witnessed it all.

Last night.

Emperor Rongcheng lay on his bed, looking at the hundred koi he had caught, and then contentedly used a dagger to slowly cut open his wrist, letting the blood flow out slowly.

At that time, he should have been holding this jade pendant in his hand.

While he waited for the blood to flow, he held the booklet in his other hand.

Looking at the contents of the booklet made him feel as if he had returned to those days, and it also made him realize how wrong he had been back then.

He might regret it, he might feel grief, or he might remain expressionless.

However, Gu Jingchun was certain that at the moment he left, he would truly understand that Jiang Xianhao would never forgive him.

But before he died, he dug up a hundred earthworms and used them to catch a hundred koi carp.

I want to use this belated lucky koi fish to apologize to Jiang Xianhao when I get down there.

Gu Jingchun looked at all this and sighed deeply.

It felt as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe and causing him great discomfort.

No one expected that Emperor Rongcheng would end his life so quietly in such a way.

Shen Hechuan knelt down and slowly kowtowed three times to Emperor Rongcheng.

Only then did he walk out.

Next, Gu Jingchun and Shen Hechuan went through the funeral procession, including wearing mourning clothes, keeping vigil, offering sacrifices, choosing an auspicious day, the funeral procession, and the burial.

After all this is done.

Shen Hechuan seemed to lose his support and fainted.

After that, Shen Hechuan fell ill.

This illness lasted for a month.

During this time, Gu Jingchun took good care of him and comforted him, which helped him emerge from the shadow of losing his parents.

At Emperor Rongcheng's funeral, Gu Jingchun and Gu Jinxi both stood in the positions reserved for the Empress and the Crown Prince.

This aroused doubt and dissatisfaction among the officials.

However, because Shen Hechuan kept a cold expression, the officials dared not say anything.

After the funeral, when Shen Hechuan, despite his illness, discussed matters with the officials, the officials became dissatisfied.

They demanded that Gu Jingchun leave, arguing that women should not interfere in politics or freely enter and leave the council hall.

Some ministers also raised the issue of Gu Jingchun appearing with Shen Hechuan at Emperor Rongcheng's funeral, disregarding ancestral etiquette.