Qin Nan paused for a moment. After all, he had gone to school and studied history, so he knew roughly what the concept of "ancient times" meant.
Furthermore, he had seen Li Yuchu's past; the ancient imperial system was not a peaceful place.
"She...is she having a hard time?"
Bai Muqiu paused for a moment, then sat up and shook her head.
"She feels she's doing very well."
"Huh? You think she's not doing well?"
Bai Muqiu blinked and asked Qin Nan, "Wealth, luxury, and a large retinue of advisors, with her being the most respected person in the world, isn't that a good life?"
"Uh, that sounds pretty good."
When I first met her, she looked like a beggar, thin and weak, covered in wounds. When I saw her again four years later, she was a completely different person.
Not only her appearance, but also her temperament and body, everything about her has changed. More importantly, her heart has changed too.
With the change of imperial power, she went from princess to eldest princess, from the miserable underground to the luxurious cloud, but I don't think she lived a good life.
She was a victim of palace intrigue when she was stranded, and her return was also a calculated move in the power struggle. Unwilling to be a pawn, she gradually escaped the chessboard and became the player herself.
She did enjoy wealth and honor, and could even be said to have risen to the top in one step, but she had no one she could trust, no one she was close to, no one who truly loved her, and no one who truly cared for her.
Some people love her power, some love her influence, some love her wealth, and some love her bed.
She had many advisors in her household, and they were all extremely licentious.
She enjoyed being the center of attention and the pleasures of being in power.
"After all, she was born into royalty, so isn't this the kind of life she's supposed to live?"
"If she were to die so dignifiedly..."
Bai Muqiu paused, somewhat saddened, "But... she didn't have a good end, and even her carefree and joyful days lasted only three short years."
This dream of prosperity ended when she was twenty-one. Betrayed by her confidant and sold out by her lover, she was treated like an object and given as a reward to a group of soldiers.
Later, he joined the army...
Even so, she did not choose to die.
She lived... she lived... for a long time..."
Qin Nan was somewhat surprised to hear this, but upon reflection, although unexpected, it made perfect sense.
Her childhood experiences led her to face death several times, and her will to live was stronger than anyone else's. She was unwilling to die easily and craved life to the extreme.
"Later, when I saw her again, I didn't recognize her. She called my name."
I can't connect her with that weathered, hunchbacked, lame old woman. She was only thirty years old that year, but she already looked like she was in her twilight years.
I used my divine power to investigate everything she had experienced. At that time, she was a servant who cleaned and did laundry at a post station teahouse.
I'm sorry to her. I regret telling her the truth. If I hadn't, perhaps she wouldn't have gone through all of this.
But she said she didn't hate me, and even... thanked me.
I don't understand. I was the one who gave her the wrong directions.
But she said she had a dream, a magnificent and beautiful dream, a dream of heaven, and now, she has woken up, woken up on earth.
Ever since she returned home, she felt like she was dreaming, as if I had shown her a path to heaven, but she was not an immortal after all, and falling into the mortal world was an ending she had long anticipated.
But I still don't understand. She suffered so much humiliation afterward, so why, why didn't she despair, but instead... told me calmly.
That was the price of her beautiful dream, the reward she paid for her pipe dream. She received it, and she accepted her fate and paid the price. Now, it's all over.
Only when she humbled herself to the dust did she feel at ease and grounded.
I said that if she hadn't gone home, she might have had other experiences.
She told me that meeting me was her destiny.
She knew I was no ordinary person, because later she couldn't find my shop anymore; she had lost the right to enter.
When she saw me, even if I used magic, it was ineffective. Her heart was calm and indifferent to everything. Such eyes could not be deceived by my magic.
"Nan-ge, do you think she's doing well?"
Qin Nan was speechless; he couldn't answer.
Bai Moxuan ate an apple beside them, looking at the two silent adults with a puzzled expression. He had only learned knowledge from books, but had never experienced the warmth and coldness of human relationships or the fickleness of the world, so he didn't understand at all.
Bai Muqiu sighed deeply, "Later, she cooked me a bowl of noodles, saying she owed me."
I ate the noodles, left her some money, and then left.
The third and last time I saw her was when she passed away.
At that time, she was over fifty years old and unable to have children, but she had a son who was mute. She also managed to find a wife who was unable to have children and had a limp.
It's strange, she was told by her ex-husband that she couldn't have children and was divorced, but after marrying here, she gave birth to a daughter in just two years, and later a son.
When she died, I saw her. She never said how hard her life was. She just smiled and asked me if people really have an afterlife.
I said yes.
She pondered for a moment, then said: That's good.
He then passed away.
After she died, I watched as the ghost messengers led her into the underworld.
Her life has come to an end.
"Muqiu, perhaps she... is really doing well, or rather, what do you mean by 'doing well'?"
Bai Muqiu looked up, bewildered. "What I thought was good?"
"I have also felt compassion for the world, but I have never been in it; I was just an observer. I also grieve for suffering, but I don't think there is any right or wrong, good or bad."
So-called destiny is ultimately nothing more than human intervention.
One person did this, another person did that, and a third person did yet another. They all gave a small push, but ultimately it determined a person's life.
The mortal world is vast and boundless, and all living beings are trapped in its illusions.
Some people live their lives in a daze, some struggle in a state of half-drunkenness and half-awakeness, and some would rather be painfully sober.
Each of them represents their own life.
You are ultimately just a spectator in the play. The joys and sorrows, the partings and reunions in the play will all come to an end, but you are still walking your own path.
You've watched play after play, you've been moved, you've shed tears, you've cheered, but when the play ends, don't you still have to continue your journey?
Bai Muqiu lowered his head and pondered for a long time.
"Seven years ago, when I came here to collect my memories of the past, I saw her again that spring."
This time, I recognized her, but she wouldn't recognize me anymore.
She still looks like a teenager, just like I remember her from a long time ago. In this life, I still feel that she is not doing well.
But she... was still smiling, smiling as if she had never experienced hardship and had no worries.
But clearly, she's not doing well..."
A faint mist appeared in Bai Muqiu's eyes.
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