Wei Yi looked at the “resignation letter” in his hands, his heart trembling and bleeding.

He gazed at Ji Yunshu and said, “You want to distance yourself from me, so that’s why you made this decision, isn’t it?”

Ji Yunshu kept her eyes lowered throughout, replying, “Your Majesty misunderstands. I am merely tired and no longer wish to be involved in court affairs.”

“You don’t have to be involved!”

Ji Yunshu’s expression was resolute. “I beg Your Majesty to grant my request.”

She clasped her hands and bowed!

Wei Yi’s eyes darkened.

He didn’t know when it had started, but somehow he and Ji Yunshu had become sovereign and subject!

His heart inevitably turned cold. “Why must you do this? Even if you want to avoid me, there’s no need to go this far.”

His voice trembled.

“Yes!” Ji Yunshu suddenly raised her head to meet his sorrowful gaze, a flash of disappointment in her eyes as she said, “You’re absolutely right. I am doing this to avoid you.”

“…”

Ji Yunshu said with tears in her eyes, “The current Your Majesty is no longer the Your Majesty I once knew, and the current Wei Yi is no longer the Wei Yi I once knew. How am I supposed to face this? How am I supposed to accept all of this? Besides avoiding you, I have no other choice.”

“Shu’er…” Ji Yunshu immediately stepped back two paces. “After returning to the capital, I’ve been afraid to see you. I kept trying to convince myself that as long as I didn’t think about it, didn’t pay attention to it, I could pretend everything was still the same as before, imagining that you hadn’t changed, that we hadn’t changed. But at this moment I realize that some things cannot be self-deceiving.”

Tears burst forth!

Wei Yi looked at her with heartache and suddenly pulled her tightly into his embrace.

“Shu’er, I haven’t changed. I’m still that Wei Yi, still that Wei Yi who’s willing to do anything for you.”

Ji Yunshu neither avoided nor struggled, like someone who had completely lost all sensation, allowing him to hold her.

She only said, “We can never go back.”

“We can, we can! Shu’er, I only want you!” He shouted desperately, holding Ji Yunshu even tighter. “Originally I thought I could let go, could let you be with Jingrong, but I simply cannot deceive myself! Shu’er, I cannot lose you, cannot let you leave my side again!”

Ji Yunshu said nothing.

Her entire person showed no reaction whatsoever.

Wei Yi released her, gripping her arms tightly, saying with determination, “For you, even if it means giving the entire empire to Jingrong, I’m willing. As long as it’s what you want, I can give you anything.”

“I want the Wei Yi from before. Can you give me that?” Her voice was very soft, so soft it was filled with despair.

Ah!

Wei Yi was stunned!

Ji Yunshu’s hands slowly withdrew from his grasp.

She knew very clearly that the Wei Yi she wanted could never come back.

Thus, she clasped her hands again. “What this subject needed to say today has been said. As for other matters, this subject doesn’t wish to speak of them. I only hope Your Majesty can come to his senses soon.”

Having said this, she turned and left!

Wei Yi could only stand frozen in place, watching helplessly as she gradually disappeared from his sight.

His hands, hanging in the air, slowly clenched into fists.

How painful his heart was—perhaps no one could understand, only he himself knew.

He staggered backward several steps, laughing painfully and loudly. Then he stepped up two stairs and reached out to overturn the table.

“Bang!”

It made a tremendous sound.

The noise echoed throughout the entire hall.

As the table overturned, the dragon-embroidered screen behind it also fell.

Crash after crash rang out!

Everything on the desk scattered to the floor. Items rolled down from the table, then one by one tumbled down the stairs. When the inkstone smashed on the ground, it instantly broke in half, the ink inside splattering everywhere, staining the stack of vermillion memorials in complete disarray.

Hearing the commotion, a eunuch outside hurriedly rushed in, his face alarmed, bowing to one side. “Your Majesty?”

“Get out!”

“If Your Majesty is unwell, this servant will summon the imperial physician.”

Wei Yi gave a bitter laugh. “Unwell? Yes, I am unwell!”

The eunuch was startled. “This servant will go fetch the imperial physician immediately.”

Just as he was about to leave—

Wei Yi suddenly burst into laughter, his entire body sinking weakly onto the stairs.

He stared at the ground and said, “I am indeed ill—it’s a sickness of the heart! No one can cure it!”

“Your Majesty…”

“I can give her everything, but I can no longer give her what she wants.”

Sorrow! Helplessness!

The eunuch was a clever man. Having attended Wei Yi for nearly a year, he knew His Majesty kept Lord Ji in his heart, and he knew the “she” His Majesty spoke of now was Lord Ji. But as a servant, he must not speak of it, dared not listen to it—only by playing the fool could one survive long in the palace.

That night, Wei Yi ordered several jars of wine brought and sent everyone away.

He had never liked drinking and wasn’t good at it either. After a few cups, he was already somewhat dizzy and dazed.

“Shu’er…”

He called out Ji Yunshu’s name over and over!

Supporting his head with one hand and holding a cup in the other, his wrist gradually lost strength. His five fingers relaxed, and the wine cup fell to the floor with a “bang.”

The wine spilled!

The cup also cracked!

At that moment, all sorts of memories flashed through his mind one by one.

In those years…

Nearly all his memories were related to Ji Yunshu.

He thought that getting drunk would ease his suffering, but when his body was numbed by alcohol, his mind remained clear—even clearer than when sober. The painful feelings were infinitely magnified, like knives continuously cutting the flesh from his body. Painful, yet utterly powerless.

Outside the hall.

It was now evening. The lanterns outside the hall had been lit one by one. In the distance, the lights of the densely packed palace buildings glowed red, dazzling to behold.

At this time in the Fangjin Bureau, Ji Wanxin donned a cloak and quietly emerged with a lit lantern.

She headed all the way toward Fuyang Hall!

The evening weather was quite cold. Her body was already weak, and after walking all the way from Fangjin Bureau to Fuyang Hall, her body was already trembling slightly from the cold.

Arriving outside the entrance.

The eunuch standing guard outside stopped her.

“Which palace maid are you?”

She lowered her eyes and said, “I’ve come to request an audience with His Majesty.”

“His Majesty is resting inside.”

“I trouble you two honored eunuchs to be flexible. I was summoned to the palace by His Majesty’s personal decree to the Fangjin Bureau.” She deliberately made this clear.

The two eunuchs exchanged glances.

Weighing matters in their hearts.

Then they asked, “Are you that Miss Ji from the Ji family whom His Majesty summoned to the palace?”

This was no longer a secret!

She bowed slightly and said, “Yes.”

Immediately, the two servants’ expressions changed, and they greeted her with smiles. “So it’s Miss Ji. Please wait outside for a moment. This servant will go report immediately.”

“Thank you!”

The young eunuch immediately pushed the door open to make the report, only to see wine bottles everywhere inside, with His Majesty supporting his head as he sat there.

“Your Majesty?” He called softly.

No movement!

“Your Majesty?” He called again.

After a long while, Wei Yi finally stirred. Without raising his head, he said, “Speak.”

“Miss Ji Er, whom Your Majesty previously summoned to the palace, is outside requesting an audience.”