The Empress played the zither a few times when suddenly, footsteps came from outside the peach grove.
The footsteps were ordinary, yet they seemed like a curse, unsettling the Queen's heart. Suddenly, she played a wrong note.
A tall figure strode over, stood before the Empress, and looked down at her.
The newcomer spoke in a very gentle tone, but his words left no room for doubt: "The world is in chaos today, and I intend to undertake a great undertaking. Will you come with me?"
This was Qin Tianye's voice. Compared to the deep, magnetic voice of the previous thirty-odd episodes, this voice was very clear and bright, with a youthful air about it.
Even though Qin Tianye only showed his back in the picture, the audience could immediately realize that this was Qin Tianye in his youth!
The Queen raised her head, her eyes gleaming with tenderness as she gazed at the man. She did not speak, yet that unspoken love had seeped into every inch of her being.
The Queen nodded.
Throughout the entire process, Qin Tianye never revealed his face.
This is normal. Once their faces are revealed, the mature male face will disrupt the innocent and hazy atmosphere between the young boy and girl, and make the audience lose immersion in the story.
To prepare for this role, Qin Tianye went on a drastic diet, losing 18 pounds in five days, all to portray the slender frame of a young man.
The scene shifts again, showing Qin Tianye riding his warhorse about to head to the battlefield. The tall and imposing knight is clad in armor, with only his eyes visible.
His eyes were fixed intently on his wife beneath the horse: "I'm leaving."
The wife of the emperor during the early days of the dynasty nodded without saying a word, but simply raised her hand, took out a knife, and cut off a lock of her hair.
The wife tied her hair to the emperor's sword and waved goodbye to him.
The scene shifts again to the emperor galloping across the battlefield, wielding his sword to reap a multitude of heads.
A strand of hair on the hilt was also stained with blood.
The scenes shift several times, depicting glimpses of the emperor and empress's youth. They shared joys and sorrows, supported each other through thick and thin, and stood together through life and death. Although these are just scattered fragments, they are far from dull; coupled with the lingering, melancholic background music, they become even more poignant and tear-jerking.
The final moment finally arrived. The Empress's face grew paler and paler, and finally, in the blood-red twilight of a sunset, the Empress held the Emperor's hand, a trickle of blood seeping from her mouth, and she could no longer speak.
The emperor's face was as cold as iron, and not a single tear fell from the corner of his eye, but the heavy, suffocating sorrow was conveyed through every breath, every pause, and every blink.
The Empress nodded to the Emperor at the end.
The hand that was held in the emperor's hand slipped away quietly.
At the same time, the emperor closed his eyes.
There was still no tear in his eyes, but the temperature in his eyes was gradually dropping, and he was no longer alive.
Just then, a girl of about seven or eight years old suddenly rushed out from the corner, hugged the Empress's body, and wailed, "Mother! I want my mother!"
The somber background music reached its climax at this moment.
The blood-red sun sank behind the mountain peaks, a flock of wild geese flew by, their rough cries carrying far and wide...
The expressionless man and the crying girl stood in front of the already cold body, looking extremely desolate.
The image gradually fades, the cries of geese return, and the camera pans down from the sky, landing back on the table.
The emperor, dressed in a black dragon robe, trembled and slowly opened his eyes.
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