Off-screen, Gu Heng was shouting desperately, trying to stop Gu Qingling.

He told Gu Qingling that he wanted to honor Consort Rong as Empress Dowager, but he never said he wanted to order Ayu to be executed!

The scene shifts, and Gu Heng sees Jiang Yu locked in the cold palace, while Gu Qingling and the others coldly watch Jiang Yu die. These unfilial children are so heartless.

Then, he watched Gu Qingyan die from being pierced by a thousand arrows while trying to save Jiang Yu. Even in his dream, Gu Heng was so angry that he almost fainted.

"The grudges and debts from the past life will be repaid in this life."

A chanting sound rang out, and Gu Heng fell silent. Past life? Present life?

In an instant, Gu Heng understood many things.

He is the greatest sinner, entangled in past lives' grievances.

"Please, Heaven, tell me what I should do..." Gu Heng looked at Jiang Yu's remains being carelessly discarded, not even buried in the imperial mausoleum after her death, and felt like a beast.

But the chanting never sounded again. Gu Heng watched numbly as the scenes flashed by one after another, until finally nothingness appeared before his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, all the important officials in the court rushed into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, as if he would die completely if he closed his eyes again.

"Where is the Empress?"

Gu Heng spoke with difficulty, "Have the Empress... have the Empress come here, I have something to tell her."

After saying that, Gu Heng began to pant weakly. Gu Heng felt that time was passing very slowly. He waited for a long time before Jiang Yu finally appeared.

After waving away the surrounding people, only Jiang Yu and Gu Heng remained in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"sorry."

Although Gu Heng's voice was weak, it reached Jiang Yu's ears with unparalleled clarity.

"In my past life... I'm sorry."

A huge wave surged in Jiang Yu's eyes. She subconsciously tightened her grip on the handkerchief in her hand. Gu Heng... how could Gu Heng know about her past life?

“I married you…I married you because I love you, not because I hate you.” Gu Heng’s eyes were bloodshot, making his face look terrifying. “If Gu Lin hadn’t been there on our wedding night, I…I would have gone to Zhaoning Palace.”

You won't really let those people tarnish you.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu suddenly stood up and made as if to walk out.

She didn't want to listen to Gu Heng's meaningless words. She didn't want to think about the things from her past life anymore. All she knew was that Gu Heng absolutely couldn't have a good ending.

"Actually... I might have had the chance to kill Gu Qingyan."

Gu Heng suddenly smiled, revealing his teeth, which were faintly stained with blood. Jiang Yu stopped in her tracks.

"It's ridiculous, isn't it? He knew he couldn't marry a daughter of the Jiang family, but he still did it."

That year, he was full of vigor and obsessive about marrying the woman he could not have.

"But I shouldn't have married you."

Gu Heng suddenly became emotional, "I shouldn't have married you and then mistreated you, making you suffer so much."

"So that you wouldn't even be able to be buried in the imperial mausoleum when you died."

"It was my fault."

Jiang Yu sighed, "What is Your Majesty saying? I don't understand."

"This is...this is the Imperial Seal of the State. I will issue an edict to appoint Gu Qingyan as Crown Prince. Ayu, you must be careful of Prince Yu. He has ulterior motives."

Gu Heng struggled to open his eyes to see Jiang Yu clearly, only to realize that he no longer cared about anything.

Gu Heng forced a smile that looked more like a grimace; this was his retribution.

"One last time, Ayu, please... please grind the ink for me, okay?"

......

The unique friction sound of the inkstone and ink stick rang out. Gu Heng listened quietly, afraid that he would lose his hearing in the next second.

"I will have to trouble Ayu to write the imperial edict for me."

"Let's write... a self-reproach edict first."

Jiang Yu paused, holding her pen, before Gu Heng's voice rang out again:

"I have reigned for thirty-eight years, with no merits and many faults, and I am truly ashamed before my ancestors. Since Emperor Taizong, all the emperors of Daqing have made achievements, but I alone have failed in producing offspring, giving birth to a rebellious son who has divided Daqing, favoring him blindly, abandoning the empress, and committing many wrongdoings. Externally, Daqing has lost territory and is powerless to reclaim it. During times of natural disasters, I have failed to treat the people well and have manipulated words to kill the innocent."

"It is all my fault."

"Furthermore, we owe the Marquis of Dingyuan a great debt. I... on behalf of the Gu family's ancestors, apologize..."

Gu Heng almost exhausted all his energy writing a self-reproaching edict.

There had never been an emperor in the Great Qing Dynasty who issued an edict of self-reproach; Gu Heng was the first.

"The second one is to write... the edict appointing the crown prince."

After Jiang Yu finished writing, Gu Heng suddenly started coughing violently. "We would rather cede territory than not welcome Ayan back... Remember, this edict cannot be made public until Ayan returns."

Otherwise, Ayan would be dead.

"It's finished. Would Your Majesty like to take a look?"

"I...I can't see it anymore." Gu Heng smiled foolishly. "You stamp the imperial seal and keep the Crown Prince's edict safe."

"As for the edict of self-reproach, let it be made public."

Jiang Yu glanced at Gu Heng, then carefully put away the two imperial edicts and the imperial seal, and left the Hall of Supreme Harmony without a trace of lingering.

He once drove her to the brink of despair, and now it's too late for him to regret it.

As Jiang Yu's footsteps faded into the distance, Gu Heng could no longer hold on and fell into a coma once again.

In the last moment before falling into a coma, Gu Heng actually felt a sense of relief.

He made it in time and did something for Ayu before he died.

The pigeons flew out of Daqing, the capital city, and headed straight for Daning.

"Your Highness, it's time to go back." Zhuo Yi was playing chess with Gu Qingyan, and now Gu Qingyan could even draw with Zhuo Yi.

The eleven-year-old boy was already so dazzling that even Zhuo Yi wanted to avoid his brilliance.

Heaven knows that every time Zhuo Yi saw Gu Qingyan, he secretly rejoiced that he was the king's son, otherwise he would be crying every day.

"What conditions does Da Ning intend to offer to let me return?"

"Unconditionally."

Zhuo Yi smiled and placed a piece, then looked up at Gu Qingyan, "My Great Ning does not want to see Gu Qingling become emperor, so we will unconditionally release the prince."

"They want the two tigers in Daqing to fight each other, so that we, Daning, can reap the benefits."

"As expected of the Prime Minister."

Gu Qingyan pursed his lips; it was time for him to set off.

After falling into a coma again, Gu Heng did not regain consciousness for several days. As more and more court officials began to contact Lingzhou, all the situations were developing in a direction favorable to Gu Qingling.

Just then, Gu Qingyan, dressed in princely attire, appeared in the capital.

"Prince Yan has returned to the capital."

The news was passed around among people, while Gu Qingyan went straight into the palace.

"Your son greets Your Majesty."

Jiang Yu stood outside the gate of Zhaoning Palace early in the morning. When she saw Gu Qingyan, she finally smiled and said, "Come quickly and let the Empress Dowager take a look."