Li Ying sat up in bewilderment.

Hadn’t her soul dispersed? Where was she?

When she looked around and saw the familiar zither on the table, she was stunned. Wasn’t this her zither from thirty years ago? And this place—how could it look so much like Fengyang Pavilion, where she had lived thirty years ago?

The maid Lan Xiang respectfully entered and handed her a letter: “Princess, this is a letter from Young Master Zheng.”

Lan Xiang? Why was she still so young? And Young Master Zheng? Zheng Yun?

Zheng Yun was her fiancé, but had not yet become her Prince Consort, so Lan Xiang and the others called him “Young Master Zheng.”

Fengyang Pavilion, Lan Xiang, the letter, Zheng Yun—Li Ying was completely confused. What was happening?

She stared blankly at Lan Xiang, who was utterly perplexed, thinking the Princess didn’t want to receive Zheng Yun’s letter. Lan Xiang carefully asked: “Princess, should this letter be returned to Young Master Zheng?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Ying snatched the letter from her hand, opened it, and quickly read it.

It was a letter asking her to meet at the Lotus Pond in the palace at the hour of Xu tonight.

In the letter, Zheng Yun said he had matters to discuss with her.

Li Ying remembered every word of this letter that had sought her life—every character had remained crystal clear in her memory for thirty years. After reading it, her mind became even more confused.

Lan Xiang tentatively called out again: “Princess?”

Li Ying didn’t answer, and Lan Xiang dared not speak further. Although Li Ying had a gentle temperament and never mistreated her palace maids, she was still the Emperor’s most beloved princess, so no one in Fengyang Pavilion dared to be disrespectful to her. After a while, Li Ying finally raised her eyes in a daze and asked Lan Xiang: “Lan Xiang, what year, month, and day is it today?”

Lan Xiang was increasingly puzzled but still answered respectfully: “Princess, today is the sixth day of the tenth month in the twentieth year of Taichang.”

The twentieth year of Taichang, the sixth day of the tenth month—the day of her death.

Li Ying was stunned for a long while, then suddenly gave a bitter laugh. She said to Lan Xiang, “I understand. You may go now.”

Lan Xiang curtseyed and withdrew, leaving the room so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

A moment later, Li Ying, holding the thin letter paper, walked in a daze to her zither, wearing palace shoes. She knelt, plucked the strings with her fingers, and heard the clear musical notes. Li Ying placed her palm on the zither and murmured: “So… that’s how it is.”

No wonder Yu Fuwei had told her that the ghost officials of the City of Wrongful Deaths wore red robes.

She hadn’t noticed before that the ghost officials who had tried to capture her in the netherworld twice had worn green robes, while the ghost official who had captured Sheng Yunting in Chang’an had worn red.

So, those who wanted to capture her weren’t ghost officials from the City of Wrongful Deaths at all.

Her thoughts returned to the scene when she had gone to the Ghost Judgment Hall with Ashina Jia. The ghost officials there wore green robes.

Those who wanted to capture her were ghost officials from the Ghost Judgment Hall.

The Ghost Judgment Hall was where Guo Qinwei’s soul was imprisoned, and also where the souls of those who had committed suicide were kept.

She finally understood how she had died.

She looked at her face in the bronze mirror. She was Li Ying, yet not Li Ying. She was not the Princess Yong’an who had never known hardship, but the Princess of the Great Zhou who had endured thirty years of suffering, experienced a soul-stirring love, witnessed the people’s destitution, and also seen the country’s prosperity and strength.

She stared at herself in the mirror and laughed bitterly: “So, it was I who killed myself.”

It was Li Ying from thirty years in the future who had killed Li Ying from thirty years in the past.

The letter from Zheng Yun had fallen to the ground from her hand. The clear eyes in the bronze mirror gradually filled with desolation and pain.

Before her eyes appeared the scene in the netherworld when Yu Fuwei, remembering his past life, had grabbed her by the throat and angrily demanded: “You destroyed my entire Zheng clan! How dare you call yourself a good person?” No wonder Yu Fuwei had been so angry, so intent on killing her, because she was the instigator of the Taichang Blood Incident.

It was she who had destroyed the entire Zheng clan, harmed those innocent people in the Taichang Blood Incident, and caused rivers of blood to flow in Chang’an.

What kind of good person was she?

Overwhelming guilt swept over her, almost making it impossible to breathe. She had once told Cui Xun that she had never done anything bad in her life, so why was she trapped in the dark, cold Lotus Pond? Why couldn’t she be reincarnated? But it turned out that the bad things she had done, the evil consequences she had caused, were far more severe than most people in this world.

In the Ghost Judgment Hall, Guo Qinwei had said: “Those who commit suicide must relive the pain of their death every Xu and Hai day, until the day their natural lifespan ends, only then can they be released.” As for her, perhaps her sins were too great—she not only had to repeatedly relive the pain of her death, but even when her natural lifespan ended, she could not be released. She was trapped in the cold Lotus Pond for thirty years, unable to reincarnate, until she was rescued by Cui Xun thirty years later, only to return to thirty years ago at his grave, repeating this cycle endlessly, never to be released.

This was probably King Qinguang’s judgment upon her.

As for why she could return from thirty years in the future to thirty years in the past, perhaps it was because she had once possessed the Buddha’s crown relic, which represented the emptiness of all dharmas, neither arising nor ceasing, allowing her to return to the past and choose her destiny.

She could choose for herself whether to live or die.

Li Ying was bewildered.

She could certainly choose life, continue to be the precious little princess, live a happy life under the protection of her father and mother, without having to experience the pain of drowning again and again, without being trapped in the cold, dark Lotus Pond, without experiencing that heart-wrenching love, and without experiencing the heavy guilt of personally causing the Taichang Blood Incident—a guilt so heavy it almost crushed her entire being.

She covered her face with her hands, in such pain that she could hardly breathe. She could choose to live, but what about the villagers of Niu Family Village? What about the people of the Great Zhou? Without the new policies, how would they survive?

Should the gates of the wealthy remain forever red, and the gates of the poor forever cold?

Should brilliant children like Li’er and Hu Nu forever remain farmers’ sons?

Should the Great Zhou not rise again, should governance continue to decay, allowing the Turks to take advantage of the weakness, letting the beautiful mountains and rivers fall under the iron hooves of the barbarians?

Should the tragedy of the Five Barbarians’ disorder be repeated?

No, she did not want that.

She lowered her hands from her face, her eyes brimming with tears. She had made her decision.

At the hour of You, Li Ying changed into a green short-sleeved jacket and a red and white skirt, styled her hair in a double-bun “looking at immortals” hairstyle, inserted a gold flower hairpin, placed a red teardrop-shaped decoration on her forehead, and draped a thin gauze shawl over her shoulders. This was how she had dressed when she first met Cui Xun.

She went to her mother’s palace. Her mother had been unusually angry since meeting her aunt in the afternoon. Li Ying knew that her aunt must have spoken ill of Empress Zheng again, making her mother so angry that she hadn’t even eaten dinner. When Li Ying entered, Consort Jiang was reclining on a low couch, looking lethargic. Li Ying also lay down on the couch, silently resting her head on her mother’s lap.

Consort Jiang stroked her hair. Seeing her beloved daughter improved her mood considerably. She smiled and said, “Mingyue Pearl, why are you dressed so beautifully?”

“Isn’t it nice?” Li Ying said. “Dressing beautifully makes Mother happy, and Father happy too.”

Consort Jiang nodded. Li Ying lay obediently on her lap, just as she had done as a child. She said, “Mother, I want to sleep for a while.”

Consort Jiang smiled gently: “Alright.”

Li Ying closed her eyes, seemingly falling into a deep sleep. But after a while, she spoke as if half-awake, half-asleep: “Mother, if in the future you meet someone from the Cui clan of Boling, a young man named Cui Xun, no matter what happens, please promise me you’ll protect his life.”

Consort Jiang was surprised. She didn’t know why Li Ying would suddenly say such a thing. She asked: “The Cui clan of Boling, a young man named Cui Xun?”

Li Ying made an affirmative sound: “His courtesy name is Wangshu. Mother, don’t forget.”

“Why are you talking about this? Mingyue Pearl, did you have a dream?”

Li Ying didn’t answer, but insisted stubbornly: “Mother, promise me.”

Consort Jiang had no choice but to say: “Alright, Mother promises you.”

Li Ying felt relieved. She wanted to tell Consort Jiang, who would later become the all-powerful Empress Dowager, to be kind to Cui Xun, not to hit him or punish him. But the words on the tip of her tongue turned into a soft sigh. She vaguely said, “Mother, I need to go see Father. I’ll leave now.”

Although Consort Jiang found it strange, she still said: “Go then.”

Li Ying nodded. She rose, put on her palace shoes, looked back at Consort Jiang one last time, and slowly walked out of the palace.

Li Ying went to Shenlong Hall. The Taichang Emperor had been bedridden for some time. Empress Zheng wanted to take care of him, but he wouldn’t allow it. Her mother wanted to care for him, but he wouldn’t allow that either. Li Ying knew that the Taichang Emperor had fallen ill out of guilt for ordering Jin Ni to kill her after being persuaded by Cui Songqing. She hesitated outside the hall for a while, remembering what Ji Qingyang had said—that her father had released him after questioning and had died of guilt ten years later. Ji Qingyang must have told him the truth about her death during the questioning, which was why he died of guilt.

She really wanted to enter Shenlong Hall, really wanted to talk to her father, but in the end, she just looked up at Shenlong Hall with a complex expression, gazing at the core of the Great Zhou’s power, and finally lowered her head without entering.

Because she and her father were doing the same thing.

Li Ying turned and walked step by step toward the Lotus Pond.

She had sent away all her attendants on various pretexts, and thus she went alone to this feast of death.

Night fell, and under the moonlight, Li Ying walked slowly. The closer she got to the Lotus Pond, the calmer she felt.

She thought, if she were Li Ying from thirty years ago, perhaps she would also be willing to die, but her death would certainly be filled with resentment and grievance. Back then, she didn’t even know what clauses were in the new policies. She hadn’t seen the villagers of Niu Family Village collectively drink the holy water and die for a vague hope. She hadn’t seen farmers’ sons become officials through their efforts in the imperial examinations. She hadn’t seen the Great Zhou soldiers drive the Turks out of the Yin Mountains. But Li Ying from thirty years later, had seen it all, so her death held no resentment, no grievance, only acceptance and determination.

On the way, she also understood Yu Fuwei’s words, “How dare you call yourself a good person?” She indeed owed a debt to the victims of the Taichang Blood Incident, and she indeed did not deserve to be called a good person. But to kill one so that many might live—she could only do this.

So, she was willing to be trapped forever in the cycle of death, to pay for her sins.

In the Lotus Pond during the tenth month, all the lotus flowers had withered. Li Ying stared at the dark waters and suddenly said softly: “Ji Qingyang.”

The young Ji Qingyang, who was hiding by the Lotus Pond, was startled.

Li Ying said, “Ji Qingyang, I know you’ve come to save me, but don’t save me.”

She heard the rustle of leaves, and the young man said hoarsely: “Princess… do you know about His Majesty’s order?”

Li Ying neither confirmed nor denied. Ji Qingyang gritted his teeth and said: “No, Qingyang will save the Princess. Even if it’s His Majesty who wants to kill the Princess, Qingyang will still save her.”

Li Ying shook her head: “This is the fate I’ve chosen for myself. If you remember how I saved your life, you should promise me that no matter what happens later, you must not come to save me.”

How could Ji Qingyang agree? Li Ying spoke again: “Ji Qingyang, promise me.”

Ji Qingyang clenched his fists. He thought it was his father forcing her; he didn’t know she was going willingly to her death.

But Li Ying asked a third time, and he could not stop her, so he tearfully agreed.

Li Ying smiled slightly: “Ji Qingyang, in the future, don’t be a hound of the Hundred Riders Bureau anymore. Be a good person. You will become a person respected by all.”

Behind the leaves, apart from the sound of tears hitting the ground, there was no other sound.

Li Ying lowered her head, looking at the bottomless waters of the pond.

At the same time, Wang Tuan’er was trembling as he came to kill her.

Zheng Yun, filled with regret, was galloping to save her.

Shen Rong was taking a silver needle and viciously stabbing it into a wooden doll inscribed with Li Ying’s birth date and time.

The Taichang Emperor was grabbing Jin Ni’s collar, screaming until his voice broke, ordering Jin Ni not to kill her.

But the person they wanted to kill or save closed her eyes at this moment, spread her arms, and gradually saw in her mind that lotus-like figure. She murmured: “Seventeen Lang, I’ve come to see you.”

Her body leaned forward and sank into the Lotus Pond.

From this moment, all past dust was forgotten, and she once again fell into an endless cycle.