Zhao Shu seemed not to hear the simple yet profound instructions and admonitions. She only saw the Empress Dowager's pale face and gradually dimming eyes, and her powerless hands beckoning to her.
She walked over, tears welling in her eyes, and grasped his hand, which was already thin and bony, her heart aching with each passing moment.
"Don't cry, my life has been worthwhile." The Empress Dowager forced a smile, without calculation, worry, or reluctance, but with relaxation and relief. Perhaps at this moment she was truly at ease.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Shu could no longer hold back and broke down in tears. She could heal the sick and save lives, but she could not heal the heart. The Empress Dowager's heart was dead.
As she cried, everyone in the hall began to weep as well, their sorrow spreading infinitely and filling everyone's hearts.
The Empress Dowager was smiling, a smile more kind and benevolent than ever before. There's a saying that goes, "natural beauty needs no artifice," and perhaps only these words could describe her smile at that moment.
She has had a tiring life; it's time for her to rest in peace.
"I am very pleased with myself," she said softly, shifting her gaze from Zhao Shu to Prince Yong, then to Zhao Yi, Qiu Tong, Sun Yun... looking at them one by one.
"Dayong has a wise ruler and capable ministers, so I am very relieved. I have all the pillars of the country and the best sons and daughters-in-law in the family."
Her voice grew weaker and weaker until even her shallow breathing stopped. Large tears streamed down Zhao Shu's face. "Grandmother..." she didn't know what to say to express the sorrow in her heart.
She changed her fate, but she couldn't change the fact that the Empress Dowager had passed away.
She cried for an unknown amount of time, her clothes were soaked, her face was covered in tears, and her eyes were dry and red before she was finally pulled out of Cining Palace.
Looking up at the sky, it was clearly the dead of winter, but the sky was clear and the weather was exceptionally good.
"Amitabha Buddha, benefactor, your obsession is too deep. Do not be possessed by demonic forces." The Buddhist words, seemingly coming from afar, struck Zhao Shu's heart instantly.
She slowly turned around, but only managed to see a fleeting shadow disappear at the end of the palace path. The long palace path was empty and very long, as long as a lifetime.
“Princess…” Chu Chun wanted to say something, but Zhao Shuyang stopped her with a wave of her hand. She smiled faintly, turned around gracefully, and continued walking forward. Her grandmother was gone, but she still had her father to protect and him to wait for.
When the Empress Dowager passed away, the whole country mourned, and the entire nation was draped in white mourning clothes. Zhao Shu knelt in the mourning hall for three days in a row, refusing to listen to anyone's advice.
"Ah Jun, the Empress Dowager will not watch you torture yourself." Zhao Yi threw the ghost money in his hand into the brazier and said calmly. His bright yellow dragon robe made his skin look particularly pale, and under the flickering firelight, his obviously thin face was highlighted.
Zhao Shu didn't look at him, but she spoke, "I'm not torturing myself, I just want to spend more time with my grandmother." She was telling the truth; she wasn't torturing herself, she simply wanted to spend more time with her.
In the future, they will be separated by life and death, and there will be no possibility of meeting again. Thinking of this, she felt as if a piece of her heart had been cut off.
“Ah Jun, the Empress Dowager has always doted on Father Emperor. She left her side for five years when Father Emperor was young, and she has always felt very guilty.” Zhao Yi did not dwell on the previous question, but instead talked about other things.
Zhao Shu nodded, "So the Emperor's uncle was the Emperor's grandmother's life. If the Emperor's uncle is gone, she will also be gone."
Emperor Mingde was the Empress Dowager's mandate, but she watched helplessly as Zhao Yi administered drugs to him, so she had long since lost the will to live.
Whose fault is all this? It's hard to say; it's just greed, anger, ignorance, and desire.
“Dayong and Father Emperor are both her fate.” Zhao Yi replied, then turned to look at her, reached out and patted her head like when she was a child, “A-Jun, do you think I’m too heartless?”
His eyes were filled with worry and contradiction, as well as a deathly depth. Zhao Shu stared at him for a long, long time. Zhao Shu wondered what she saw in those eyes, which were as vast as the stars and so deep.
There are no people who never grow up, only people who are inexperienced.
“Brother Emperor, you are right. A ruler must have the heart of a benevolent person, but also the courage to give up. In A-Jun’s heart, no one but you is qualified to rule the world.”
"Hahahaha." Zhao Yi suddenly laughed, but then cried. After that, no one spoke; they just knelt there for a long time.
With the Empress Dowager and the Emperor Emeritus passing away at the same time, no one had a good New Year. In the blink of an eye, the grass grew and the birds flew, and all things revived. It was the time when the year's plans depended on spring.
"Princess, shall we go see Young Master Huo first?" Green Ivy asked.
"Knowing that the princess would definitely go to see it, you still asked. How talkative!" Sheng Xia teased, and the two started exchanging winks as if there was some good news.
Zhao Shu wasn't curious. She sat quietly on the chaise lounge reading a storybook. Lately, she had become increasingly inseparable from storybooks, always reading them to pass the time.
Seeing that she didn't ask, the two became impatient. They pushed and shoved each other until Green Luo was finally pushed in front of Zhao Shu, who smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Princess, Marshal Wei is back today. Shall we go see Young Master Huo again?"
"Go? Why not go?" Zhao Shu replied casually, without even lifting her head, as she continued reading her book.
The two exchanged a glance upon hearing this. Shengxia urged Luoluo again, but Luoluo glared at her a few times before continuing to ingratiate herself, "Princess, Marshal Wei has returned. Is it alright if you don't go see him today?"
Zhao Shu glanced at her, puzzled, and asked, "Why?"
Once asked, Green Ivy started chattering away, "Princess, when you went to see Young Master Huo, everyone in the capital said that you and Young Master Huo had a deep friendship, that it was a pity that Young Master Huo had such a bad fate, and that you are not young anymore..."
“They say I’m pitiful and have to live like a widow, that my future husband won’t tolerate me if I go to see Baichuan like this, and that no one will want me in the future?” Zhao Shu interrupted her impatiently.
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