The document is clear to the world - Chapter 134
I instinctively reached out to call her back, but then I suddenly noticed that the handkerchief beside me was folded into sharp, angular shapes. This strange habit of using handkerchiefs like that reminded me of someone...
"When I passed through Huainan..." This familiar time echoed in my mind once again, impacting my senses. I was even a little confused. Had I really only slept for one night?!
Xiaoyu said I slept for two months. At first, I didn't believe it, but later I couldn't help but believe it. Jinghan's change was something I hadn't expected. He didn't always come to ask for instructions when reviewing memorials. Xiaoyu said his performance in court was also quite remarkable. Right now, I'm holding his memorial on handling the Henan flood, and I can't help but be surprised and delighted. Afterwards, I fall into a long silence. His far-sightedness, his skillful and decisive methods, all come from the hand of a young man. Even though he's my son, I never thought he would reach that level. Then, upon closer inspection of the memorial, neither the tone nor the wording was Jinghan's usual style, yet it sounded exactly like someone else's words. I leaned against the bedside, looking at Jinghan not far away, "You did very well, very much like your father's methods in handling the flood in the first year of Deyou."
Hearing me mention that person, Jinghan still seemed a little panicked. I closed my eyes slightly. "Bring over those letters you kept in the East Pavilion. I want to destroy them myself."
Jinghan couldn't help but tremble, and answered with difficulty. As he turned around, his voice was very soft, "Mother, do we really have to never see each other again until death?"
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On the first day of the fifth month of the third year of the Xuanyou era, Empress Rong passed away. After reading all the letters from the East Pavilion, this once illustrious and renowned woman quietly departed from the world. The imperial city tolled its funeral bells for three days without ceasing, each sound breaking hearts. The mournful cries of the palace rose and fell, forming a vast, boundless ocean of grief.
The emperor did not hold court for ten days.
The eldest princess, dressed in white, observed mourning and knelt outside the East Palace, refusing to rise.
Prince Zhen secluded himself at home for three days
Prince Yin personally wrote the Ode to Motherly Virtue, a magnificent work of 103,000 characters, stained with tears.
~
Half a month later, the Empress Dowager Ling, who had already become a nun, passed away at Jingning Nunnery.
Two sedan chairs were parked outside the palace gates. One was from Dali, and the other carried the last words of the former Prime Minister, Fu Jiarong, granting the two women permission to return to their hometowns instead of dying in the deep palace. Consort Lan was deeply grateful, weeping as she boarded the sedan chair after the passing of Empress Rong. Fu Jing walked out of Xuanwu Gate expressionlessly, turned back to look at the majestic palace walls, and suddenly laughed, a laugh that was laced with tears. "Rong Zhaozhi, you have finally won."
At the last moment, she finally admitted defeat.
However, she was not saddened by losing to this woman.
The young emperor finally pushed open the long-sealed East Palace Hall. His footsteps seemed utterly out of place. The room was still in disarray, just as she had left it. Letters littered the floor; she hadn't destroyed them after all. So be it, he could keep them; he could look back on his parents' past love affair in his spare time.
The most beautiful explanation he could come up with was that his mother died of heartbreak after reading all the letters.
A breeze swept by, and a piece of paper slowly fell to his feet. He bent down to pick it up and was shocked to find that the paper was covered in tear stains, as if it had been read over and over again, crumpled and worn. The boy glanced at it, and then, mimicking his father's tone, read it aloud...
"When I passed through Huainan, I went to that crabapple grove again. I don't know why, but it felt familiar. The first time I went there, it felt familiar. Now, there was an old lady selling love knots under the grove. I couldn't help but buy a pair. The love knots embroidered with crabapple blossoms looked so comforting. It reminded me of many years ago, around Millennium, when you showed off your skills. That was the first time I noticed that you weren't perfect. After all, your needlework skills weren't exactly impressive..."
The moment the news reached Nalan Manor, the entire city was draped in white, and faint sobs permeated the entire city of Huainan. The woman had emerged from here, and the people here now hoped that their cries would guide her soul back home.
Nalan Xi stood for a long time beneath the crabapple grove outside Huainan City. His uncle, Nangong, had instructed him to keep an eye on that person, and he dared not let his guard down.
At this moment, the man remained silent, simply standing quietly beneath the tree. No one knew what he was thinking, only the faint fragrance of the crabapple blossoms lingered in the air. Nalan Xi approached lightly and handed him the white paper, said to be her last message to him.
The man under the tree looked at the handwriting beside him, then suddenly smiled. It was the same old phrase—"Never to see each other again, until death."
Nalan Xi watched as the man's ethereal figure slowly emerged from the deep forest, and he was momentarily stunned. Then, in a daze, he suddenly smiled. He knew he no longer needed to watch over this man who might ascend to immortality at any moment. As the man uttered those five sorrowful words, Nalan Xi turned and left.
The sunlight was beautiful, filtering through the crabapple grove and casting dappled colors across the ground. The light paper in Lu Li's hand looked exquisite in the sunlight. He gently raised his hand, looking at the words on the paper through the sunlight. In the sunlight, only the two words "See you again" were exceptionally clear...
"Stop looking, you might as well turn around and look at me."
The voice behind me was so familiar, so familiar that I dared not...
He stood stiffly, too afraid to turn around.
"I've been standing here for a long time. Don't you have the habit of turning around?" The woman leaned against the tree trunk, one hand resting on a branch, supporting only a crabapple bud, not picking it.
"I will make this a habit," Lu Li said with a gentle smile, but her lips were quickly moistened with tears.
The woman under the tree reached out and wiped away the glistening drop of water. "I'm dead."
"Yes," Lu Li said with a soft smile.
"We'll never see each other again, and I meant it," the woman said, tilting her head, her presence ghostly and ethereal in the sunlight. "I keep my promises, unlike some people."
"sorry"
"Actually, I, as the biological mother, am even more heartless than you, the biological father. I abandoned the child and ran away."
"Yes, a little," he smiled faintly, "but it's very good."
"Because I'm relieved. By the way, you've done a great job educating Jinghan."
He is very smart.
"I've taught him for over ten years, yet it's not as effective as you spending a month with him. It's a bit of a failure. Let him learn on his own. I'm afraid he'll become dependent on me if he stays with me too long."
You did the right thing.
"Why did you write about our relationship from our wedding day until now? It's just making us a laughingstock for the world."
"Isn't it good to make it clear to the world?" He reached out and pulled her into his arms, smiling slightly. "They should know..."
"No!" The woman grasped his hand, playing with it. "I'm going to keep these. The idea is that one day you'll really leave me first, and I'll read one copy every day until I see you again. But even so, I couldn't resist reading them all."
"It's okay, I'll keep writing, starting now, until I'm gone before you."
The woman's eyebrows curved into a smile, and she put her arm around the man's shoulder. "I want to kiss you."
He paused, then smiled and said, "Okay."
The woman leaned closer, then suddenly smiled. "Actually, life and death don't matter. What matters is that we... will meet again."
The thirteenth year of Tianyou
Under the crabapple grove in Huainan City
"Knot of Love, Knot of Love~~~" the old woman under the trees called out.
The young girl, holding a crabapple blossom pendant, walked over with nimble steps, reached out and grasped the love knot embroidered with crabapple blossoms, "I want this."
"Little girl, these are sold in pairs. You're too young. Wait until you're a grown woman before you and your husband come and buy them."
The girl blushed, but still insisted, "I insist!"
“We can each take one,” the boy behind her, a head taller than her, looked at her with interest, a faint smile on his face, his words clear and gentle.
The girl looked up at him and sized him up. "Okay."
"Alright, alright, just think of this as teasing kids. These are for you two, one for each of you, no fighting over them!"
In the sunset, the boy followed behind the girl, the love knots around their waists swaying back and forth.
"My name is Rong Zhaozhi, and yours is Rong Zhaozhi."
"I'll just remember your name."
Will we ever meet again?
The boy looked intently into her deep, bright eyes, and for the first time, smiled genuinely. "I hope to see you again."