By the time Shen Lingzhen recovered from illness and repeatedly recalled the events before and after that day at the temple, guessing that Huo Liuxing’s true intention in speaking harshly to her was indeed to prevent Duke Yingguo’s mansion from taking risks, he had already been enfeoffed as “General Who Breaks the Barbarians” and departed on the campaign to Hexi.
Perhaps he also knew she would eventually react and understand. He merely sought that time difference.
When she figured it out, it was already too late—his objective had been achieved.
Mother comforted her saying she was overthinking it. Political situations were ever-changing,势 always shifted with the times. Now Xiqiang was Daqi’s greatest mortal enemy. The Emperor sent Huo Liuxing to quell the disorder out of sincerity, so she needn’t worry too much. Once he established merit and thoroughly defeated Xiqiang, he could return triumphant to court.
She naturally didn’t believe it, but became a liar herself, smiling and saying: “Really? That’s wonderful then.”
After that, she earnestly took her medicine, earnestly recuperated, and every day stayed energetically and smilingly at her parents’ side.
The frontier war continued like this for an entire year, until the first month of this year when victorious news came from Hexi—Xiqiang had been defeated.
Throughout Bianjing, from imperial relatives and nobles down to common cloth-clad people, all were immersed in the joy of victory.
She too said with great excitement that this was truly a matter worth celebrating, that they should drink a little today, and asked Father for a jar of good wine.
Father probably knew her alcohol tolerance was poor and worried about her, so drank together with her.
After three cups of wine, she was thoroughly drunk. Taking advantage of the liquor’s courage, she finally poured out the thoughts she’d suppressed for an entire year.
She asked: “Father, please just tell me the truth… Hexi has been pacified. The Emperor won’t allow him to return to the capital alive. He’s gone, isn’t he?”
Father looked at her. After a long silence, he let out a long sigh and poured all the wine from his cup onto the ground.
She looked down at the wine stain on the ground and understood everything.
Father told her that Huo Liuxing was a hero. He probably knew early on this battle had no return, yet was unwilling to die from compatriot rivalry. So that day, when the army withdrew from Xiping Mansion, he alone charged into the palace, personally severed the old Xiqiang king’s head, and finally sacrificed himself in the palace fire.
Recalling to this point, the cuckoo on the window lattice seemed unable to bear listening to her story any longer and flew away with fluttering wings.
Jianjia looked at Shen Lingzhen’s pale and wretched face, gently patting her emaciated back: “Miss, this past year you’ve endured too much hardship to set the Duke and Grand Princess’s minds at ease. Right now there’s no one else—if you’re suffering, cry it out…”
Shen Lingzhen, as if suddenly receiving a pardon, couldn’t stop tears from flooding out: “Jianjia, the person I was to marry is no longer in this world, no longer in this world!”
——
Shen Lingzhen’s body deteriorated day by day after that, yet the court continued surging with wind and clouds.
The Emperor, due to the “prince of the previous dynasty’s” death, let down his guard against the Qingyang Huo family and allowed the “Huo family’s second son” to come to the capital to receive honors. He didn’t expect this was inviting a wolf into the house.
Two months later, Bianjing fell into chaos. A palace coup initiated by the Fourth Prince was exploited by the Huo family, Duke Yingguo’s mansion, and the eldest imperial grandson working together. The Fourth Prince and the Emperor both suffered mutual destruction in the palace coup, both perishing. The eldest imperial grandson became the best candidate for the new ruler.
According to the original plan, Meng Qufei should have struck like a mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind that night—dissolving the alliance, assassinating the eldest imperial grandson, and rising up to restore the dynasty.
The Huo family and Duke Yingguo’s mansion had prepared everything, only waiting for Meng Qufei’s signal of success to lead troops and control the palace. But at daybreak, they received Meng Qufei’s corpse sent by the imperial family.
The imperial family said he sacrificed himself protecting the eldest imperial grandson.
This explanation, naturally, no one believed. No one knew what accident befell Meng Qufei that night when he clearly had the opportunity to kill the eldest imperial grandson.
And at this time, Shen Lingzhen no longer had the strength to pursue the court’s disturbances.
An eighteen-year-old young lady, withered in appearance like an eighty-year-old woman. She spent nearly ten hours each day in muddled slumber. In the brief moments of wakefulness, she also spoke gibberish that everyone couldn’t understand—sometimes saying the lychee syrup water had cooled and could be drunk, other times saying the snow outside was falling heavily, so cold.
Only Jianjia alone knew what she was really saying, crying rivers of tears at her bedside.
They say that before a person’s great departure, there’s a process of final rally.
So when one day Shen Lingzhen suddenly woke at dawn full of energy, everyone knew that time was drawing near.
However, no one expected that Shen Lingzhen ultimately wouldn’t die at Duke Yingguo’s mansion.
That morning, she said she’d dreamed of her imperial grandmother last night. The imperial grandmother said she missed her very much, so she wanted to return to the imperial tomb to see.
The Duke and Grand Princess painfully fulfilled her wish and sought an edict from the new emperor on her behalf.
When leaving, she smiled and said: “Father, Mother, don’t follow me. I’ll go see imperial grandmother and come back.”
Everyone knew once she went she would never return, but no one exposed this. Everyone happily saw her off to the carriage, had Jianjia take good care of her on the road, and told her: “Go quickly, don’t keep imperial grandmother waiting anxiously.”
Shen Lingzhen ultimately died at the imperial tomb, in that pepper room Huo Liuxing had built with his own hands.
The Duke and Grand Princess didn’t bring her back to Bianjing but buried her in the Gong County mountains, positioning her tombstone to face directly toward the imperial tomb.
Jianjia, as the person who accompanied Shen Lingzhen through her final journey, also remained in Gong County for a very long time, day after day guarding this grave.
She thought this should be the end, but didn’t expect that a month later, a rush of urgent hoofbeats would break the deep mountain’s tranquility.
She stood before Shen Lingzhen’s grave, watching from afar as a fast-riding horse galloped toward them.
As the horse drew near, the rider hastily reined in, dismounted, but stopped in place, not taking another step forward for a long time.
The visitor was precisely Huo Liuxing. Huo Liuxing who should have died in the Xiqiang palace three months ago.
Jianjia stared at him as if seeing a ghost, momentarily forgetting honorifics: “You… how are you…”
Huo Liuxing stared tightly at the tombstone behind her, not saying a word.
In broad daylight, there naturally couldn’t be ghosts.
Jianjia hazily understood something, tears immediately streaming down like rain: “Why did you only come now… What use is it for you to come now…”