The Beauties of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 64

Lan Wu pursed his lips, showing no reaction to her words, but after she finished speaking, he said coldly, "If you're done, please step aside."

"I...I only have one thing to say!"

Su Li hurriedly took out a silver token from her bosom and handed it to him, "This is... the King of Qin's waist token. When Miss found it before, she wanted to throw it away, but I kept it. You... you can take it back!"

Lan Wu coldly accepted the token. "Is this the token that tricked the Princess Consort out of the palace back then? So it was you again. How could Madam have such a treacherous servant like you! Get out of the way!"

Su Li paused, then silently stepped aside, watching his departing figure in quiet contemplation, suddenly feeling utterly exhausted.

Ever since the young lady changed, everything she's done has become a threat to her happiness. But why did the young lady change her mind? If the young lady hadn't lost her memory and hadn't changed, she truly would have gone through fire and water for her, resorting to any means necessary...

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If he had been more forceful and pulled her back that night, would none of this have happened? She wouldn't have stormed into the Wansui Palace alone, wouldn't have been injured by the jade axe, and wouldn't have been lying in bed like an oblivious puppet, ignoring his calls.

Or, if Prime Minister Xue had prevented her from entering the palace again when he brought her back from Luoyang, cut off all her opportunities to meet Wang Ji'en, and kept her by his side, then she would certainly be safe and sound by his side today.

Or perhaps even earlier, when he went south to Guizhou, he should have resolutely refused Prime Minister Xue's request and taken her with him instead of leaving her alone in the capital...

"Defang!"

A sharp shout jolted him awake. Zhao Defang slowly raised his eyes, looking at Zhao Guangyi, who was glaring at him with heartache, and said listlessly, "Uncle, please let me go back..."

This morning, as usual, he washed Wanlan's face and ate breakfast. He then stayed by Wanlan's bedside and talked to her, hoping that she could hear even just one word. He prayed that she would wake up and stayed by her side every day, not daring to leave her side for even a moment, afraid that if she woke up and didn't see him, she would fall into a deep sleep and never want to wake up again.

But the imperial uncle sent men to forcibly pull him away from Wanlan's bedside and take him into the palace, ordering him to rest properly.

"What's the point of torturing yourself like this? If she were truly aware of it, she would be heartbroken. You can't bear to see her suffer even a little bit, so you should take good care of yourself for her sake!" Zhao Guangyi wanted to scold him awake. He had been half-dead for two months, wasn't that enough?

Zhao Defang smiled faintly. "Uncle, you know I've always been weak-willed, always believing in letting things take their natural course. I think many things in this world are predetermined, belonging to certain people and not to others, so I never force anything." He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his eyes were still moist, but now filled with determination and resolve. "Only Wanlan, I want to hold onto her forever. Even knowing she doesn't belong here, I still want to keep her. Even if it means giving up everything, I won't hesitate. I only ask that she come back, just for this lifetime... I don't even dare to ask for eternity, just this one..."

Zhao Guangyi frowned and glared at him. "Are you so sure she can come back? She doesn't belong here. Perhaps her current state of slumber is because she has already left and returned to her own world. Although this is very strange, she can come here in spirit, and it is entirely possible that she can leave in spirit. Perhaps everything here is just a dream in her world. When she wakes up from her dream, your fate with her will end here."

"No! I believe that as long as she hasn't forgotten me, she will definitely find a way to come back to me." So he waited, not daring to leave his seat even for a moment, just afraid that she would wake up and not see him.

"Defang—"

“Uncle, you don’t need to try to persuade me!” Zhao Defang interrupted him decisively. This was the first time he had ever been so determined to have someone. “You have just ascended the throne, and you must have many things to deal with. Don’t worry about my affairs. I know what I’m doing.”

Zhao Guangyi pursed his lips, staring intently at his indifferent face. After a long silence, he asked in a deep voice, "Defang, why don't you ever ask me what happened that night? Don't you want to know how Deqing was injured? Don't you want to know how my brother died suddenly? You should know that this throne—" should have been his, so in front of this nephew, he never referred to himself as "I" (朕).

I don't want to know!

Zhao Defang abruptly stood up and turned his back, his straight figure appearing stiff, yet seemingly trembling slightly. "Uncle, this throne has never been my concern from the beginning. Although Wanlan never told me her purpose for entering the palace, I know—" He closed his eyes tightly, filled with remorse for his past cowardice. If only he had been more resolute, more forceful in taking Wanlan away, if only he could have let go of everything in the capital…

Wanlan knew he couldn't let go, and everything she did... was for him!

"Uncle, none of this has anything to do with me. Wanlan told me long ago that something big was going to happen, but I kept avoiding it and ignoring it. Please stop worrying about me. All I want now is for Wanlan to come back..."

Zhao Guangyi was about to say something when Wang Ji'en strode into the hall, bowing slightly, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Lan Wu from the Prince of Qin's residence requests an audience."

"What is he doing here? I have already told Defang to rest in the palace for a few days, and I have also transferred several palace maids to the Prince Qin's residence to take good care of the Princess Qin. I told them not to worry."

Zhao Defang turned around and said resolutely, "Uncle, I want to go back."

"No!" Zhao Guangyi coldly refused. He didn't care whether Defang rejected him or not; he only knew that if Defang continued like this, she would definitely collapse! It would be best if Deqing could wake up, but no one knew whether she would wake up or when. "You stay obediently in the palace."

Then he turned to Wang Ji'en and said, "Tell him to go back and tell him that the Prince of Qin will be staying in the palace for a few days. This is an imperial decree. Tell them not to come again."

Wang Ji'en hesitated for a moment before replying, "Your Majesty, Lan Wu seems very anxious. I wonder if something has happened at the Prince's residence? Would you like to—"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Defang exclaimed in alarm, "Let him in quickly!" Had something happened to Wanlan? No... he had only been gone for less than half an hour...

Helpless, Zhao Guangyi could only say, "Summon him in."

He had barely finished speaking, and Wang Ji'en had just turned around and hadn't even taken a step, when Lan Wu rushed in from outside the hall, hastily bowed to the Emperor, and then urgently called out to Zhao Defang:

"Your Highness, the Madam has awakened!"

Volume 4: Like a Dream, Yet Not a Dream, Chapter 70, How Many Times Have My Soul Been With You in Dreams (2)

Every time she closed her eyes, she prayed, hoping that when she opened them again, Zehua's gentle, smiling face would appear in her vision, saying to her, "You're awake."

However, she was disappointed every time.

My aunt is a woman who is extremely obsessed with the Five Elements, the Eight Trigrams, unusual numbers, and other supernatural things, but she has never been able to figure out how she traveled through time.

On the third day after she woke up, looking at the token that her aunt had been searching for for ten years—a relic from the Northern Song Dynasty—she suddenly had a thought: this thing might be able to help her. And on the very day she thought of the token, a fire broke out in the hospital. As her aunt and Susu were pushing her out of the hospital, she stood up from her wheelchair and ran back—

If the token can help her, then send her to Zehua's side.

Otherwise, she would rather perish in a fire than live her whole life in longing...

But she didn't die.

When she heard the faint calls in her ears, she realized she could clearly sense the presence of humanity. Through her slightly open, blurry vision, she saw several white figures darting back and forth...

She wept in despair—

Suddenly, I felt that no matter where I went, it would be impossible for me to meet Zehua again.

I searched high and low, from the heavens to the depths of hell, but found nothing.

She instantly understood the true meaning of those two sentences...

============================================================== "Your Highness, shouldn't Madam be waking up soon? She's been crying since just now." Her pillow was already soaked, but the person who was supposed to be awake hadn't opened her eyes, so they hurriedly sent someone to the palace to summon the prince. "And the palace maid who was serving here just now said she saw Madam open her eyes briefly, and then fall asleep again."

Zhao Defang, who rushed back to the mansion, kept his eyes on the woman on the bed and said indifferently, "You may all leave."