"There is nothing inherently wrong in the world; it is all the mediocre who create trouble for themselves. Since it is so difficult for everyone, Your Majesty, why don't you follow your heart?"
Upon hearing this, the King of Dongning suddenly slowed his pace and said, "Follow your heart? The Queen means..."
The woman stopped, their eyes met for a moment, and then she said to him, seemingly very seriously, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you, why did Your Majesty disregard the strong opposition of all the court officials that year and bring me, a woman with no background and insignificant status, into the harem and make me Empress?"
Even now, when the King of Dongning recalled the events of that year, he still felt immense pride and exclaimed with satisfaction, "Of course, it was because of your superb medical skills, your benevolent heart and skillful hands, that you personally traversed mountains and rivers, tasted hundreds of herbs, and endured countless hardships to finally find a cure, thus saving countless Dongning citizens from that devastating plague. Your kindness, your generosity, your determination, your strength and courage—every single one of these qualities makes you worthy of being the Queen of this country."
The woman smiled slightly and said, "That was simply because I followed my own heart."
Then she asked, "Does Your Majesty know why I, who am accustomed to a free and unrestrained life, was willing to enter the palace with you back then?"
The King of Dongning seemed genuinely unprepared for this question. He frowned, pondered for a moment, then shook his head, guessing, "Why? Could it be because you have nowhere to go?"
The woman smiled gently, shook her head, and said, "Although when I was rescued back then, I did find that I had completely lost my memory and didn't know who I was, the real reason that made me wholeheartedly willing to follow Your Majesty back to the palace was... because of love."
Upon hearing this, the King of Dongning repeated after him, puzzled: "Because... of love!"
The woman nodded, her eyes filled with admiration and love: "Because I truly admire that young man in white robes whom I first met. He was bold, decisive, and responsible. He was courageous, resourceful, and fearless. To protect the people of the city, he disregarded his own safety, remaining steadfast and loyal to his people during the great plague, sharing their joys and sorrows. He did everything in his power, daring to defy fate!"
Thinking back on the past, it all feels like it happened just yesterday.
Then, the woman's smile faded, she sighed deeply, and continued, "The emperor back then was the best emperor. But perhaps it is the passage of time that has made him old, and he is exhausted by many things. Now he is increasingly unable to withstand many things. So much so that he has even thought of sacrificing a woman to consolidate his power."
Upon hearing this, the King of Dongning finally realized his mistake and said with great shame, "Empress, I..."
The woman straightened her back, looked directly into his eyes, and said earnestly, "Yongning, though a woman, is no ordinary woman. Within Yongning resides a soul from another world, a soul that does not belong here. She is upright, free, optimistic, kind, and brave. Your Majesty must believe that Yongning can do even better than I can!"
The King of Dongning was already somewhat bewildered by these incomprehensible words, and could only repeat in a low voice, "Yongning's body houses a soul from another world..."
At this point, the woman's lips curled up slightly, and she suddenly smiled at him again, saying slowly, "Parents who love their children plan far ahead for them. But Your Majesty, remember that you should never go against your own heart. I know that Your Majesty truly loves Yongning."
Seeing that the King of Dongning was already deep in thought, before he could react, the woman reached out and straightened his robes, saying, "Alright, it's almost dawn, and it's time for His Majesty's morning court session. I should go back now. I believe His Majesty knows what to do."
After saying that, he turned around and reluctantly walked away.
The King of Dongning suddenly looked up and saw the woman slowly drifting away into the distance on auspicious, seven-colored clouds. He hurriedly reached out to stop her: "Empress, where are you going? Empress, don't leave me. Don't..."
He desperately wanted to hold her tight, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't grasp anything in the end. He felt utterly powerless and could only watch helplessly as the woman gradually left and disappeared into the vast sea of colorful clouds.
The room was silent, yet a nightmarish voice still echoed from Qingxin Palace: "Empress, where are you going? Don't go, don't leave me all alone in this cold world, don't go, don't..."
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." At the eunuch's gentle call, the King of Dongning finally slowly awoke from his dream.
Seeing that His Majesty had finally opened his eyes, the eunuch said, "Your Majesty, you were dreaming again!"
With his help, the King of Dongning slowly rose to his feet, and said as if suddenly realizing something, "A dream? Yes, after so many years, I have finally seen the Empress Dowager again in my dream."
"So many years have passed, yet His Majesty still cherishes the memory of His Majesty the Empress. If His Majesty the Empress were alive, she would surely be deeply gratified!" the eunuch said as he helped her change her clothes.
Immediately afterwards, a group of servants came in to help the King of Dongning wash up.
A moment later, the King of Dongning walked toward the desk in his study, and as if suddenly feeling more light and agile than ever before, he began to speak as he walked.
"Yes, Empress Dowager and Yongning, they are indeed the most precious and priceless treasures in my life! Now that I have lost Empress Dowager, I cannot lose Yongning! Fortunately, the Empress gave me this dream, otherwise, I fear I would have made a terrible mistake!"
Seeing that His Majesty hadn't been this happy in a long time, the eunuch was also pleased, but puzzled, he asked, "Didn't His Majesty already finish reviewing the memorials from last night? Why did he go to the study again so early this morning?"
The King of Dongning smiled without saying a word, in a very good mood. He simply sat down, picked up his brush, and wrote in a powerful and flowing hand on a secret document, which he then handed to a palace attendant.
Upon seeing the Emperor of Dongning's decision, densely written in a secret memorial, the guard stared at him in astonishment, and asked blankly, "Does Your Majesty truly intend to arrange things this way?"
The King of Dongning slowly put down his pen, stood up, and said quite seriously, "Perhaps I was really wrong back then. If I had agreed to let Yongning spare the Prince of Qin on the surface, but then secretly ordered him to be executed, I'm afraid Yongning would never forgive me if she found out the truth in the future."
He sighed deeply and continued, "At this moment, I suddenly feel that I can understand the feelings of the Prince of Qin back then. When he was sent by Emperor Jing to personally lead people to blow up my Dongning Imperial City, he must have had the same thoughts as me at first. If he dared to lay a hand on the people of Dongning, Yongning would never forgive him. That's why he later abandoned his original plan. In this light, the Prince of Qin truly loved Yongning."
Taking a deep breath, the King of Dongning thought to himself, "If even a mere child like the King of Qin can act this way, what about me?"
But the eunuch still looked worried and said, "But if we release the tiger back into the mountains, isn't Your Majesty afraid that one day you might be devoured by the tiger yourself?"
After thinking for a moment, the King of Dongning said with unwavering conviction, "As long as Yongning exists, Dongning will be blessed with eternal peace and prosperity!"
Recalling the night of the Lantern Festival, the eunuch still said with lingering fear, "No matter what, even now, I still feel terrified when I think about those heavy gunpowders."
Upon hearing this, the King of Dongning's face suddenly darkened, and he said with a fixed gaze, "Do you really think I don't know who deliberately put that batch of gunpowder, which was personally escorted into the city by the King of Qin, in here?"
Upon hearing this, the eunuch seemed to have guessed something, but before he could speak, the King of Dongning suddenly coughed heavily: "Cough cough cough..."
Seeing this, the eunuch hurriedly ran to the side, poured a cup of hot tea, handed it to him, and then reached out to help him catch his breath while comforting him, saying, "Your Majesty, don't worry. Fortunately, nothing happened this time, which is already a great blessing."
The King of Dongning sighed, "Alas! Neither of my two sons is capable of shouldering this heavy responsibility. Yongning, it seems I can only entrust Dongning to you. With the kingdom so precarious, how can I rest easy!"
Just then, a hurried footstep was heard outside the door, followed by a guard with a sword who said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened."
Upon hearing the sound, the King of Dongning turned around and looked at him, asking, "What has happened?"
The guard, somewhat frightened, said nervously, "Early this morning, when we went to the imperial prison to change shifts, we discovered...we discovered..."
Upon seeing this, the King of Dongning felt a terrible premonition and pressed for an answer: "What have you discovered?"
The guard stammered, "We discovered that the jailers in the imperial prison had inexplicably collapsed on the ground in large numbers. King Qin, Xuanyuan Han, and his guards have all disappeared without a trace."
"What?!" King Dongning cried out and suddenly collapsed to the ground. Two guards rushed over to help him up.
One of the eunuchs hurriedly called out, "Imperial Physician! Quickly, summon the Imperial Physician! Quickly..."
Meanwhile, in Yi Shangyun's palace, after finishing her makeup and sitting in front of the mirror for a long time, just as she was about to go out, she suddenly felt an unbearable pain in her chest. She quickly sat back down and pressed her hand tightly to her chest, wondering, "Could something have happened to His Highness?"
After resting for a while, just as he was about to get up and go out again, he was stopped by a hurried voice: "Girl, did you let Prince Qin, Xuanyuan Han, go under the cover of night?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Young Master Yi and Mei Zhixuan appeared in front of her, one after the other.
Yi Shangyun seemed to have expected this, so his face wasn't as surprised. He simply said in a normal voice, "So what if it is? So what if it isn't?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com