Bai Qingyan struggled to steady her emotions, her usually calm and clear eyes showing anxiety: “How is she, Physician Hong?”

“It’s too late…” Physician Hong shook his head. “The Grand Princess must have taken the One Day Sleep yesterday, gradually increasing the dose today. The poison has penetrated deep into her organs—medicine is powerless now!”

Physician Hong didn’t say anything about trying his best, which meant there truly was no hope at all…

Bai Qingyan’s palms tightened as she looked down at the Grand Princess lying on the large, soft couch, suddenly remembering her maternal grandmother’s words.

Perhaps back then, her maternal grandmother had already foreseen that this day would come.

It was precisely because of those words from her maternal grandmother that Bai Qingyan had harbored some wariness in her heart, and had a premonition… that perhaps such a day would come.

But Grandmother had spoken so many words with her on Luohong Tower. She had thought… that Grandmother couldn’t bear to see the Lin imperial power corrupted, which was why she spoke to her about… ascending the throne as Emperor. She hadn’t anticipated that Grandmother would choose to walk this path today.

“Elder Sister…” Bai Jinxiu stood beside Bai Qingyan, gently grasping her hand. “Perhaps for Grandmother, this is the best ending! Grandmother is the Grand Princess of Jin, Grandmother’s surname is Lin. It’s perfectly reasonable that she wouldn’t want to personally witness her most beloved granddaughter overthrow the Lin dynasty.”

Bai Jinxiu spoke in low tones, trying to console Bai Qingyan, though she didn’t know how much good it would do, since even Shen Tianzhi hadn’t been able to fully persuade her earlier.

At this moment, Bai Jinxiu regretted it. She shouldn’t have forcibly brought Grandmother out of Luohong Tower, shouldn’t have let Elder Sister know that Grandmother was beyond medical help… shouldn’t have let Elder Sister witness Grandmother’s passing with her own eyes.

Perhaps if Grandmother had remained forever in Luohong Tower, that would have been Grandmother’s best ending.

Even if Elder Sister learned that Grandmother had chosen to stay there, after the intense pain, the wound would eventually heal.

But now, bringing Grandmother before Elder Sister, watching as Grandmother still drew breath while all of them were helpless, as time passed… Elder Sister would grow more and more pained, more and more hateful of her powerlessness, like a saw cutting back and forth through her heart, causing unbearable agony.

“Elder Sister… we did our best!” Bai Jinxiu gripped Bai Qingyan’s hand tightly, her voice choked with tears. “Everyone has their own choice for the path ahead. We chose to overthrow the Jin Dynasty, Grandmother chose to die for the Jin Dynasty…”

Shen Tianzhi feared precisely this—Bai Qingyan’s tearless, silent appearance.

The greater the grief, the more wooden the expression—Shen Tianzhi knew this.

“Rather than forcibly keeping the Grand Princess alive to suffer daily torment between duty and family affection, for the Grand Princess… this might not be the worst ending.” Shen Tianzhi stepped forward and spoke quietly to Bai Qingyan. “If the Grand Princess lived, it would be daily torture of the heart, and such torment… far exceeds the pain of life and death! Your Majesty should understand this better than anyone.”

Of course, she understood—how could Bai Qingyan not understand?

But she had selfish feelings too—that was her grandmother… In her childhood, she had been raised at her grandmother and grandfather’s knees, and she was the legitimate eldest… Though Grandmother was strict with her, she was also held in her palm and cherished in her mouth.

Her first step had been taken while holding Grandmother’s hand.

When learning calligraphy as a child, it was Grandmother who guided her hand in tracing the characters.

Grandmother would rack her brains to compose stories, telling them to her daily, teaching her chess, teaching her… everything Grandmother could teach.

When she was ill, even Mother couldn’t approach her bedside—Grandmother watched over her day and night without rest.

That year, when she returned severely wounded from the battlefield, Grandmother, who had never been particularly religious, knelt before Buddha for three days and nights, praying for her to survive.

Grandfather was gone, Father was gone, the uncles were gone, and of her brothers, now only A’Yu, A’Jue, and A’Yun remained alive…

The pain from the Nan Jiang battle had not yet healed in Bai Qingyan’s heart, and now… even Grandmother was leaving. How could she not be heartbroken?

“Miss, this old man truly has no means left!” Physician Hong spoke quietly to Bai Qingyan. “However… though the One Day Sleep is highly toxic, it is quite gentle, allowing one to die in slumber.”

Physician Hong glanced at the Grand Princess with her eyes tightly closed, then continued: “So even though it has come to this point, the Grand Princess’s expression remains relatively peaceful.”

Physician Hong couldn’t think of any comforting words for Bai Qingyan, his voice low and slow: “This old man has followed Duke Zhenguo for so many years and understands the relationship between the Grand Princess and Duke Zhenguo. If back then… when the Bai family faced disaster, the Grand Princess hadn’t been protecting these orphans and widows of the Bai family, she probably would have followed Duke Zhenguo long ago! Now that Miss will become the Emperor, the Grand Princess can finally set her mind at ease about the Bai family and has no more attachments! This… is a good thing. Miss must not get stuck in a dead end, and must not think that the Grand Princess did this because she was unwilling to see Miss become Emperor!”

Bai Qingyan had reached this point today with great difficulty…

Physician Hong knew the deep affection between Bai Qingyan and the Grand Princess, and feared that Bai Qingyan might think the Grand Princess had ended her own life because she was unwilling to see Bai Qingyan become Emperor. Bai Qingyan, like Duke Zhenguo Bai Weiting, valued relationships and righteousness deeply. If she truly thought this way and refused to ascend the throne for the Grand Princess’s sake, the future of the Great Zhou dynasty would be worrying.

Grandmother had held on to protect them—she knew this…

In her previous life, when Grandmother received the news, she had fallen ill and passed away not long after.

In this life, that Grandmother could live until today—Bai Qingyan was already very happy.

It was just that if Grandmother could have died a natural death rather than dying for Jin in such a manner, she would have been even happier.

Pain slowly grew within her body along the vines of guilt, gathering in her chest. Bai Qingyan felt as if something in her chest cavity was being heavily hammered, and a thick, fishy substance kept surging upward—all of which she forcibly swallowed back down.

After calming herself for a while, Bai Qingyan finally spoke: “I know…”

Her voice was hoarse, her throat achingly swollen and unbearable. “You may go… Jinxiu and I will accompany Grandmother on her final journey.”

Physician Hong looked toward Bai Jinxiu, and seeing her nod gently, he shouldered his medicine box and left the tent together with Shen Tianzhi and the others.

The flickering candlelight illuminated the furrows on the Grand Princess’s face. Bai Qingyan sat down beside her, gently grasping the Grand Princess’s withered hand. Looking carefully, she could see that the Grand Princess had tears at the corners of her eyes, with tear tracks hidden in those deep wrinkles.

Just as Physician Hong had said, the Grand Princess’s expression was relatively peaceful.

Bai Jinxiu knelt beside the bed, glanced at the Grand Princess, then reached out to grasp Bai Qingyan’s hand: “Elder Sister, this was Grandmother’s choice—no one can be blamed!”

Not knowing whether Grandmother could still hear her speak, she still restrained her emotions, lowering her eyes to gently stroke the Grand Princess’s hand as she spoke quietly: “Grandmother, A’Bao knows… You never blamed A’Bao.”

Bai Jinxiu quickly nodded along, and seeing Elder Sister’s reddened eyes, her tears immediately fell like broken strings.

Thank goodness… Elder Sister hadn’t gotten stuck in a dead end, hadn’t blamed Grandmother’s death entirely on herself!