After Madam Yan and Hu Nu had left, Cui Xun walked over to Li Ying. Just as he was about to tell her about Wan Xiang’s story, Li Ying suddenly said, “Cui Xun, today is the Cold Food Festival. I want to go for an outing. Will you accompany me?”

During the Cold Food Festival, there was a five-day holiday. The citizens of Chang’an would not only sweep tombs but also engage in spring outings, stepping on the fresh grass, planting willows, viewing flowers, holding feasts, and playing cuju football. A contemporary poem described it: “During the Cold Food Festival, the wealthy all go out, a riverscape like a painting after the rain clears. Whose family is most splendid on their spring excursion? The creaking sounds of carriages entering among the flowers.” The poem meticulously depicts the bustling scenery of Cold Food Festival outings.

Cui Xun looked at Li Ying and nodded: “Yes.”

On the road out of the city, fallen petals were scattered everywhere, and willow catkins floated in the air. Cui Xun and Li Ying walked along a mountain path, looking down at the cockfighting, football games, and children with kites below. Li Ying watched the young children in fine clothes flying eagle-shaped kites. Kites were expensive to make and popular mainly among noble families in the Great Zhou; poor families rarely played with them. Li Ying said, “Just now, while chatting with Hu Nu, I suddenly understood the significance of the Taichang Reforms.”

“Oh?”

“Before, I only knew that the Taichang Reforms were a national policy implemented by my father, his life’s work. These reforms could make the Great Zhou prosperous and peaceful for generations to come. But, I didn’t understand what measures were included, nor did I know what changes they would bring to this country. Now, I’m beginning to understand.” Li Ying watched the kites dancing in the sky: “Without the reforms, Hu Nu would never be able to fly a kite, nor would his sons or grandsons. They would be poor farmers for generations, with no hope in life. But with the reforms, Hu Nu can take the imperial examinations. He can be a farmer in the morning and enter the imperial court by evening. His fate will change, and the fate of his descendants can change too. This is perhaps the significance of the Taichang Reforms.”

The kites flew higher and higher, soaring through the sky like giant eagles. Cui Xun said: “The most important aspect of the Taichang Reforms was abolishing the Nine-Rank System and establishing the imperial examination system to widely select talents. Even scholars from humble backgrounds could become marquises and ministers through the examinations. From then on, the Great Zhou court was no longer a place where ‘there are no humble families in the upper ranks, and no noble families in the lower ranks.’ It can be said that the Taichang Reforms changed the fate of countless common families.”

Li Ying nodded: “You know, Hu Nu is truly intelligent. At such a young age, he seems to understand everything. If such a child were to remain a farmer forever, I think that would be not only his loss but also the Great Zhou’s loss.”

“With the examination system, he won’t always be a farmer. Talented scholars from humble backgrounds like his won’t always be farmers either.”

Li Ying smiled gently: “I think so too. Therefore, my father and mother were truly remarkable.”

As she mentioned, the Empress Dowager, Cui Xun, hesitated, then said: “Just now, Madam Yan told me why Wan Xiang was beaten to death by your mother.”

He recounted to Li Ying everything Madam Yan had said in the investigation hall. Li Ying gradually frowned: “So, Wan Xiang was instructed by my aunt to deliberately sow discord between Empress Zheng and my mother, and after being exposed, was beaten to death by my mother?”

Cui Xun nodded. Li Ying asked again: “Why would my aunt do such a thing?”

“Madam Yan said she didn’t know.”

Li Ying recalled an incident when Empress Zheng had given her a wild ginseng soup gifted by the Kingdom of Koryo. Just as she was about to drink it, her aunt had hurriedly arrived and accidentally spilled the soup. Later, her aunt found an excuse to send her away. At the time, she didn’t quite understand what had happened. She only remembered that when her mother saw her afterward, her expression was very displeased, showing anger she had rarely seen. Presumably, that was the time her aunt had set up the scheme, making her mother firmly decide to fight Empress Zheng to the death.

A gust of wind rose, and willow catkins flew with it, spreading like snow. Li Ying could barely see the path ahead. She covered her face with her sleeve. When the catkins dispersed, she lowered her sleeve and said in bewilderment, “My aunt made a pair of shoes for me every year after I was born. When she was young, her family was poor, so she sewed shoes for others to supplement the family income. But she didn’t have money for candles, so her eyes were damaged from sewing shoes. My mother told her not to make them because of her poor eyesight, but she said that back when she was sewing shoes, my mother would always watch her eagerly and ask, ‘Elder Sister, when can you make me a beautiful pair of shoes too?’ She kept these words in her heart for many years. Now that she had money, she could buy as much thread as she wanted, so she wished to make up for her debt to my mother by caring for me.”

Cui Xun was silent for a moment, then said: “The Empress Dowager only had Lady Shen as her elder sister, and Lady Shen only had the Empress Dowager as her younger sister. The two sisters indeed supported each other in the past.”

Li Ying smiled bitterly: “I don’t know when everything changed. Perhaps, before my death, I never truly knew anything. I didn’t know about my aunt instructing Wan Xiang, just as I didn’t know about Zheng Yun wanting to kill me.”

Before drowning in the Lotus Pond, the aunt in her memory was loving and caring, and the Zheng Yun in her memory was respectful and protective. Until the moment of her death, she still believed this.

Only thirty years later did she realize it wasn’t so. These people who had seemed to care for her so much harbored completely different intentions behind her back.

Li Ying watched the catkins floating in the wind and felt she had fallen into doubt about human nature: “Cui Xun, in this world, what is real and what is false?”

Cui Xun turned his head, looking at her confused eyes, then quietly turned away and said, “Their initial feelings toward you were indeed genuine. It was only later, for various reasons, that they had to tell you lies. If they could choose again, they certainly wouldn’t have done so.”

Li Ying was still doubtful. She asked Cui Xun: “Really?”

Cui Xun nodded slightly but firmly: “Really.” He paused, then added: “Because the Princess is worthy of anyone’s sincere treatment.”

Li Ying was taken aback. She couldn’t help looking at Cui Xun. His face was still as pale as ever, without a trace of color, and his eyes still showed no emotion, deep and indifferent. She looked at him for a long time before turning away, pursing her lips. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and she softly said: “Mm.”

The two of them continued walking until they reached a verdant area about three or four kilometers from Chang’an. The surroundings were lush with greenery and filled with the sounds of birds and the fragrance of flowers. Suddenly, Cui Xun stopped in his tracks.

Seeing him stop, Li Ying said, “Yes, this is the Cui family cemetery.”

It was also where his mother was buried.

Li Ying continued: “Cui Xun, today is the Cold Food Festival.”

No child didn’t want to sweep their mother’s tomb during the Cold Food Festival.

Cui Xun looked at her: “So, you didn’t come for an outing?”

“No,” Li Ying said. “I brought you here to sweep your mother’s tomb.”

“Why?”

“No particular reason. I just wanted to bring you here.” Li Ying said sincerely, “Cui Xun, since you joined the Imperial Guard, you probably haven’t swept your mother’s tomb, have you? Don’t you want to do so at the Cold Food Festival?”

Cui Xun didn’t answer, but Li Ying said: “If you didn’t want to, you wouldn’t have lit an eternal lamp for your mother at Ximing Temple every Lantern Festival.”

Cui Xun looked at her, his throat moving slightly, but he said nothing. Li Ying sighed: “I know you might say again that this is none of my business, but I want to do something for you. I also really want to make you a little happier.”

Cui Xun pressed his lips tightly together. He felt a warmth in his eyes and turned his head away without speaking, just staring absently at the large and small tombs in the cemetery. Li Ying didn’t know what he was thinking, whether he was once again blaming her for meddling. But as Cui Xun stared fixedly at a tomb in the center of the cemetery, after a moment, he suddenly said: “That’s my mother’s tomb.”

Li Ying also looked at that tomb. Cui Xun murmured: “After I turned fourteen, I never swept her tomb again.”

“Was it because your father wouldn’t allow it?”

Cui Xun nodded slightly: “He said I was the shame of the Cui family.”

“You are not,” Li Ying said. “As a member of the Cui clan from Boling, he neither joined the army to defend against foreign enemies like you, nor entered the court to serve wholeheartedly like his elder brother. Instead, he allowed the household to be torn by infighting, leaving the family in constant turmoil. He could neither govern the state nor manage his family. He is the shame of the Cui family.”

As she spoke, her tone became somewhat indignant. Cui Xun’s previously melancholic expression finally softened into a slight smile. Seeing this, Li Ying also smiled. She raised her chin proudly and said, “I am the Princess of the Great Zhou. What I say must be right.”

Cui Xun nodded: “Yes, it is right.”

Li Ying turned her head, smiling at him: “Then let’s go sweep your mother’s tomb.”

She paused, then added: “If your father comes, I have ways to deal with him.”

At Cui Xun’s mother’s tomb, weeds grew abundantly. It was much more desolate compared to other tombs. It was evident that her husband, having remarried, naturally wouldn’t pay much attention to his former wife. And since her son was not allowed to sweep her tomb, her grave in the Cui family cemetery was certainly not as clean as the others.

Cui Xun had already crouched down to remove the weeds from his mother’s tomb. He pulled them out one by one, very carefully. Li Ying was about to say something when she suddenly saw a group of men dressed in scholars’ attire coming up the mountain toward the cemetery. The men’s features somewhat resembled Cui Xun’s, but they were not even a fraction as handsome as he was. These must be his father and brothers.

His father and brothers were probably coming to sweep the tombs in the Cui family cemetery. Li Ying’s finger lit up with a ball of green ghostly fire. The ghost fire rose into the air, gradually growing larger, and then moved toward the group before disappearing, transforming into a white mist that enveloped them.

Cui Xun looked up at Li Ying. Li Ying smiled and said, “It’s just an illusion. Your father won’t be able to reach the cemetery for some time. Cui Xun, you can properly pay respect to your mother now. Those annoying people won’t disturb you.”

A faint smile appeared at the corners of Cui Xun’s mouth. He lowered his head and continued pulling weeds from his mother’s tomb. Li Ying also crouched down to help him. She pulled the weeds very carefully, too. She said to Cui Xun, “Cui Xun, I’ll help you clean together. Your mother’s tomb will be very clean.”

“Mm.”

“I also have lots and lots of netherworld money and treasures. I’ll give them all to you so you can burn them for your mother.”

“Mm.”

“Your mother’s offerings will be the best here. She will be very proud of having you as her son in the netherworld.”

Cui Xun stopped pulling weeds. He looked up at Li Ying, who was focused on pulling weeds with her head down. Ripples appeared in his eyes, usually as calm as water. He looked at Li Ying and then softly said: “Mm.”