If only as we first met
Zhong Yujing stepped into the cell and whispered, "Yuanyang."
The person opposite was obviously startled. She didn't expect someone to call her by that name.
Zhong Yujing continued slowly, "I am the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. I have come to visit you in prison on the orders of the Emperor."
Yuanyang's body trembled violently, and she stared at Zhong Yujing without blinking. After a moment, she suddenly lowered her head and sat silently. Her face could not be seen because of her buried head, but Zhong Yujing could see that her body was shaking violently, sadness was solidified in the air, and the inaudible sobbing sound still reached Zhong Yujing's ears.
Zhong Yujing said nothing, just stood there silently, looking at her, waiting for her to digest all the emotions that belonged only to her.
After a while, Yuanyang rubbed her face on her legs and raised her head again. It was the same face she had just seen. But upon closer inspection, one could see traces of tears on her face and bloodshot eyes.
Yuanyang did not stand up, but still sat leaning against the wall. She just bowed slightly to Zhong Yujing and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister Jing." She obviously knew Zhong Yujing.
Zhong Yujing would not be too formal with her. Someone like Yuanyang did not belong in the palace, and was not suitable for the palace's complicated etiquette. Zhong Yujing liked the feeling of looking at her as an equal.
Then I heard Yuanyang ask, "Is he okay?"
This "he" must be referring to the emperor. At this moment, she is most concerned about him.
"The emperor is doing well. He had been worried about Prince Ping's affairs and was in a dilemma. It was you who solved his urgent problem and gave him a happy ending." Zhong Yujing looked at her and said slowly. Yuanyang smiled. It was the first time that Zhong Yujing saw her smile. In fact, her knowing smile had a kind of girlish cuteness, unlike the coldness she usually gave people.
"That's good." Yuanyang smiled and said, "Prince Ping was killed with one sword. Since I was his uncle, I was very sensible and did not cause Prince Ping pain. Please give him a message." She looked at Zhong Yujing, as if she was telling him something happy.
Zhong Yujing nodded, "Okay."
Yuanyang added, "I won't embarrass him."
Zhong Yujing nodded again.
The mandarin duck lowered its head and showed no intention of speaking anymore.
Zhong Yujing was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Do you have anything else to say to him? He said he couldn't show up right now, but he really wanted to come visit you."
Yuanyang's body trembled again, and he looked up at the filthy wall in front of him. After a pause, he said, "No more."
Zhong Yujing's heart was gripped. "I have a question, can I ask you?"
Yuanyang turned his head and looked at her, "Prime Minister Jing, please speak."
Zhong Yujing's eyes were deep, "Why are you so devoted to His Majesty?"
In fact, Zhong Yujing already had the answer to this question, but there was a strong emotion surging in her heart. Some emotions were heroic and deep, and should not be kept silent and unknown.
Yuanyang turned her head, looking at the light coming in from the window, and said quietly: "In this life, my life has been as thin as a cicada's wing, but I am considered a person with a tough fate. My father, mother and relatives were unlucky. After my grandmother died, I had no one to rely on. I joined the Black Guards, and I am accompanied by killing and blood every day. My heart is colder than my life. I want nothing but to live. He is the only person who has given me warmth..." She reached out to touch the ray of sunlight, squinted her eyes, and smiled at the corners of her lips, as if recalling a beautiful past. "He made me feel that I am a living person, not a moving corpse. From then on, I only live for him, this life, only for him."
Zhong Yujing felt heavy in her heart, but she knew that it was Yuanyang's own choice. Everyone has their own choice, which is their own cause and effect. People live their lives according to their own cause and effect. Outsiders have no right to interfere, let alone this person's own life and her life and death.
But no matter what choices she made along the way, no matter how she walked, there was always the chance to choose a path without regrets. So Zhong Yujing asked her again, "Do you have any unfulfilled wishes? Or anything you'd like me to accomplish for you?"
Yuanyang withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "If I were to say what I wish for, I hope... that he will never know what I am thinking."
She paused, tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and said, "In my life, I have lived up to everyone except one person. I owe him the most. If there is an afterlife, I hope to do my best to make it up to him."
When Zhong Yujing left the prison, she turned around and looked at Yuanyang. She saw her fiddling with a sachet with her head down. The sunlight shone on her face, and she seemed to be recalling a warm past.
Zhong Yujing came out of the prison and returned to the palace to report. She told the emperor everything Yuanyang had said and respected her wishes, but she did not tell the emperor her feelings and regrets. That was the most secret thought in her hard heart, and Zhong Yujing was willing to protect her forever.
That night, news came from the Ministry of Justice that Yaoxian had swallowed a private drug in prison and committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
Zhong Yujing's eyes were filled with bitterness and his vision blurred when he heard the news. Was this what she meant by not embarrassing him? Yuanyang, how did you love that person? Was it him you loved, or the light he occasionally cast in your life?
The next day, Zhong Yujing went to the prison of the Ministry of Justice again. She said that the emperor had ordered that Yaoxian was the sister of the King of Qiangrong and had a special status, so her body should be dealt with separately. She ordered someone to take Yuanyang's body out of the prison.
The carriage traveled through the streets, passing through the East Gate and out of the city, reaching the eastern suburbs. It continued straight ahead until it reached a desolate and remote area. There stood a solitary grave, devoid of any memorial tablet. The grave stood alone, bare of grass, and the surroundings clean, suggesting regular cleaning and worship. Emperor Hong informed Zhong Yujing that the grave held Yuanyang's grandmother.
Zhong Yujing buried Yuanyang's body next to the lonely grave and erected a tombstone with the words "Yuanyang's Tomb" engraved on it.
Buried together with the mandarin ducks was the mandarin duck sachet that she held tightly in her hand when she died. The jailer said that she had a smile on her face when she died, and seemed to have passed away peacefully.
Yuanyang didn't know that on the night she stabbed Prince Ping to death, Yifei was awakened by the shouts of the guards in the next room. He heard the guards shouting, "His Highness Prince Ping has been stabbed to death!" He also heard the guards tying up Yaoxian at the door and taking her away...
Yifei knelt down in the room, sobbing, "Father...it was your son who killed you!" He shed all the tears in his life, walked blankly to the center of the room, brought a round stool, stepped on it, pulled off the brocade belt around his waist, and hung it on the beam.
The moment the brocade belt was put around his neck, he felt as if the huge stone that had been weighing on his heart had been lifted away. He had never felt so relieved. But even at this moment, he had never hated her.
Yifei slowly closed his eyes, and the round stool fell to the ground...
A few days later, the Nansai Rebellion case was finally concluded. Setu was convicted of treason, and his entire clan was implicated. As for Prince Ping, he was not included in the Nansai case but was sentenced separately. He harbored a personal grudge against Naanuda, the father of the Qiangrong King, which led to the assassination of the Qiangrong King's sister. Prince Ping's son, Jue, committed suicide out of guilt over his father's death due to his inability to properly handle the affairs of his wives and concubines. The members of Prince Ping's household who had condoned and allowed the rebellion to unfold were demoted to commoners, and their retainers were exiled. The sword hanging over Emperor Hong's head had finally fallen.
The Daqi Dynasty returned to peace, but Zhong Yujing had a dream on the night when everything had settled.
She was walking across the vast expanse of space when suddenly a bright light flashed, blinding her. She raised her arm to shield herself from the light, but it vanished again. All she could hear was the gurgling of water beside her. Surrounded by towering peaks and deep valleys, the water flowed endlessly, seemingly without end. She followed the current and saw a long bridge spanning the river. On and under the bridge, neatly lined with people, men, women, and children, dressed in all sorts of styles, stood a line. Some stood in a daze, others whispered to each other. At the end of the bridge, it seemed as if someone was waiting for those crossing. Beyond that end, it was impossible to tell where to go.
Zhong Yujing walked forward and when she reached the bridge, she was looking at it in confusion when a woman ran towards her from the long crowd. When she got to her, she could see clearly that the person was Yuanyang!
Yuanyang was still dressed in black, but her face was full of energy, different from before. Before Zhong Yujing could speak, Yuanyang asked, "Why are you here, Prime Minister Jing?"
Zhong Yujing wondered, "Where...is this?"
"By the Wangchuan River, beside the Naihe Bridge." Yuanyang smiled and winked at Zhong Yujing, "Otherwise, how could you see me again." She laughed, giggling like a girl, as if the pain and suffering in the past had never happened to her, and she had always been a carefree girl next door who grew up, and there was no coldness in her eyes. If the leader in black saw her like this, he would definitely not take her back to the black camp.
Zhong Yujing suddenly realized that this was indeed the case. She must have wandered here in spirit. Because all the heirs of their family possessed this ability, unusual things often occurred. Her uncle had mentioned a similar experience to her. She shook her head and smiled, "I'm afraid my spirit has wandered here."
Yuanyang laughed again and said, "I know you didn't come here because you died. We can all see that the dead here are different from the living. That's why I'm wondering why Jingxiang came, and that's why I asked this question."
Zhong Yujing smiled and nodded, but then asked her, "What are you doing here?"
Yuanyang said happily, "Jing Xiang's arrival is a coincidence. I just reported from the underworld. The judge said that although I have killed people in this life, I am a kind person. My life was miserable, and I died for loyalty. My merits and demerits can offset each other. So he gave me a good birth and allowed me to be reborn into an ordinary and good family in the next life. Both parents are kind and will accompany me to grow old together with the one I love."
Zhong Yujing was also delighted to hear this, but she was puzzled and asked, "Who do you love?"
Yuanyang turned around, pointed at the person behind him, and said to Zhong Yujing, "The judge ordered me to reincarnate with him. He said that because we are in love, and to make up for the regrets of this life, we will be husband and wife in the next life. The debt of this life will be repaid in the next life."
Zhong Yujing looked in the direction of Yuanyang's finger, and saw a young man in brocade clothes standing on the bridge, looking in this direction with a smile in his phoenix eyes. Yifei nodded slightly at Zhong Yujing.
So that's how it is. Zhong Yujing was both moved and overwhelmed with emotion. For a moment, she and Yuanyang just held hands and looked at each other, both of them with misty eyes. Finally, she said to Yuanyang with tears in her eyes: "Bless you. Yuanyang, you must live for yourself in the next life."
Yuanyang nodded solemnly, tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you, Prime Minister Jing." She glanced back at Yifei and saw that most of the team had already moved. Yifei was almost at the end of the bridge, presumably the place where they drank Mengpo soup. Yifei waved at Yuanyang, beckoning her to go back. Zhong Yujing hurriedly said, "Go quickly, don't miss the time."
Yuanyang raised her hand to wipe away her tears, and said to Zhong Yujing with a smile: "I hope I can meet Jing Xiang again in the next life!"
Zhong Yujing nodded and smiled, "If we're destined to meet again, we'll meet again."
Yuanyang turned and ran back to the bridge, heading towards Yifei...
Another dazzling light flashed by, and Zhong Yujing raised her hand to cover her eyes, and suddenly woke up from her dream. It was already bright outside the window, magpies were chirping on the branches, and the Zephyranthes in the garden bloomed more beautifully and fragrantly after the wind and rain.
A month later, while reading a martial arts novel, his uncle suddenly remembered the delicious pastries he had brought back from the day he had asked Zhong Yujing to go book shopping. He asked her to buy him some more so he could enjoy tea with his old friend. So, Zhong Yujing headed to the busy streets of East Market again. The shop was easy to find. Looking around, it was the busiest business on the entire street. Today, the entrance was lined with people. Unlike last time, the shop had a sign, a strip of cloth embroidered with "Tang's Pastry Shop." The owner had used his own surname as the sign.
Zhong Yujing was waiting in line at the door of the store. She looked up and to the side and suddenly found that the owner of the carpentry shop next to the fine pastry shop looked familiar. The old man was leaning on a cane and doing business in the shop. A young man was helping him. After a while, a young woman came out from the inner room. The woman was holding a baby in her arms, who was crying loudly. The woman turned around, shaking her arms, and said a few words to the young man with her slightly childish round face. The young man then went to the Tang's fine pastry shop next door.
Zhong Yujing smiled and walked forward into the carpenter's shop. Qiu Shan raised her eyes and recognized Zhong Yujing at a glance. She said in surprise, "Miss! You are back to find your relatives? I never thought I would see you again!"
Zhong Yujing was also very happy and asked, "How have you and Grandfather always been?"
The old man gathered around, and the two of them exclaimed, "We used the silver ingots you gave us to buy this shop in the heart of the city. My grandfather and I listened to you and returned to our old trade as craftsmen. People here really appreciate our skills, and soon our reputation spread. Now we're getting more and more work, and our lives are getting better and better! Last year, a matchmaker introduced me to someone, and I got married. And last month, I had a baby girl. Look, it's a girl."
Zhong Yujing looked into her arms and saw a delicate little girl crying, her hands stretched out to grab at things. Qiu Shan felt a little worried, "This child is hard to comfort once she starts crying."
As they were talking, the young man in the shop had brought a baby in from the pastry shop next door. Qiu Shan hurriedly greeted him, "This is my husband." She then said to the man, "This is the benefactor lady I often told you about." The man was overjoyed when he heard it and hurriedly expressed his gratitude. Zhong Yujing took a look and thought that he was an extremely down-to-earth and kind young man, and he and Qiu Shan were a perfect match, so she was very happy.
Qiu Shan's husband held the baby in his arms and brought it in front of the baby girl in Qiu Shan's arms. The baby seemed to understand what was happening and grabbed Qiu Shan's child's hand with his little hand. Qiu Shan's child immediately stopped crying. Seeing this, the baby kicked her legs and giggled. Qiu Shan's child also held his hand and kicked her legs and laughed. The two little kids laughed together.
Qiu Shan beamed with joy and said to Zhong Yujing, "It's strange. Ever since my little girl was little, whenever she cries, no one can comfort her except the Tang family's boy. Needless to say, as long as the two children are together, they are extremely happy. And it just so happens that they were born on the same day, it really seems like they have some connection. I've already agreed with the Tang family's wife that we'll arrange a marriage for them right now. When they grow up, they'll be a couple and coax and play with each other."
Zhong Yujing also thought it was a strange thing, so she smiled and said, "When the children grow up and get married, don't forget to invite me to their wedding."
Qiu Shan said happily, "It would be a great honor for us if the young lady could do us the honor of coming. We will definitely let you know when the time comes!"
Zhong Yujing asked again: "Can we name the baby girl now?"
Qiu Shan looked at the two children holding hands happily and said, "Yes, when she was born, I saw a pair of mandarin ducks playing in the pond outside the window. I thought it was a good omen, so I named her Li Yuanyuan."
After Zhong Yujing had verified this, she looked at the baby boy in Qiu Shan's husband's arms and asked in amazement, "Does this baby boy have a name?"
"He was born with a clear jade-like appearance. His mother said he looked like jadeite, so she named him Tang Fei."
Zhong Yujingzheng stood there in a daze, and after a moment, a tear trickled down her cheek. If only life could be as it was when we first met, this would be the best ending.
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