On the eighteenth day of the eleventh month, Zhou Huizhen married.

The bride was Wei Rao’s cousin, and the groom’s family had generations of friendship with Duke Ying Mansion. So on this happy day, Duke Ying and Duchess Ying went to Marquis Xiting’s Han family residence to attend the wedding feast, while the young couple Wei Rao and Lu Zhuo came to Shou’an Jun’s country estate.

Shou’an Jun hadn’t invited many guests. Her natal family and the Zhou family’s ancestral home were thousands of miles away – all distant relatives with whom contact had long been severed. She relied entirely on Wang Shi’s family to fill several banquet tables, then invited neighboring folks they usually socialized with, managing to arrange twenty tables for the wedding feast and finally creating a festive atmosphere.

Amid all the busyness, Shou’an Jun found time to ask Wei Rao: “How is your grandmother doing?”

Wei Rao smiled bitterly. Her grandmother’s health was getting worse and worse, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud.

Shou’an Jun embraced her granddaughter and kissed her forehead: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Everything will be fine.”

At the auspicious noon hour, the groom Han Liao led the bridal procession to take away the bride. That same day, Wei Rao returned to the capital with Lu Zhuo without staying longer at the country estate. Aunt Wang Shi felt a bit disappointed – she had still wanted to find an opportunity to speak with Wei Rao, asking her to look after Zhou Huizhen more at various family banquets for the sake of their cousin relationship.

This year’s winter in the capital came early and was colder than usual.

Wei Rao had just returned from the country estate. The next morning, before she could prepare to visit her grandmother, Earl Cheng’an Mansion sent a steward over. He knelt before her in tears, saying the old lady was dying and the Earl requested she hurry over to send the old lady on her final journey.

Bitao and Liu Ya immediately burst into tears.

Wei Rao just stood there dazed.

Hadn’t this been expected all along? Watching her grandmother wither like a falling leaf day by day, now that this day had truly come, what was there to be surprised about?

After taking leave of Duchess Ying, Wei Rao calmly boarded the carriage.

When the carriage curtain fell, Wei Rao’s tears suddenly slid down. She was suddenly afraid – afraid her grandmother wouldn’t wait for her.

“Hurry, go faster!” Wei Rao knelt by the carriage door, suppressing her sobs as she commanded the driver.

The driver cracked his whip forcefully, and the carriage raced at full speed.

Wei Rao stumbled to her grandmother’s bedside. Old Madam Wei had only her last breath left. Seeing the granddaughter she worried about most, Old Madam Wei’s cloudy eyes rolled down two streams of tears. She couldn’t speak, trembling as she reached toward Wei Rao. Wei Rao knelt at the bedside, holding her grandmother’s hand against her wet face: “Grandmother, Grandmother, don’t leave me…”

Old Madam Wei tilted her head, watching her married granddaughter cry like a child before her, crying as she had when she first lost her father and then her mother.

What a pitiful child. Old Madam Wei was also reluctant to leave her granddaughter, but she hurt too much – she couldn’t hold on anymore.

Her granddaughter’s face became increasingly blurred, leaving only those sobbing cries. Slowly, even those cries could no longer be heard.

Old Madam Wei closed her eyes.

Every winter, a group of elderly people pass away.

On the fourth day after Old Madam Wei’s death from illness, in Ci Ning Palace, the Empress Dowager, who would celebrate her sixtieth birthday next year, was also dying.

Emperor Yuanjia led one empress, three consorts, three princes with their wives, and two young imperial grandsons kneeling before the sickbed. Court historians knelt solemnly to one side.

The Empress Dowager’s passing would naturally be a major event recorded in the annals of history.

Emperor Yuanjia knelt at the front, right beside the Empress Dowager’s sickbed.

The Empress Dowager looked at her son before her. Emperor Yuanjia, in his early forties, was like a piece of celestial jade carved by time – magnificent and noble, yet unable to hide his imperial majesty. Such a fine son, who after being neglected by her for years could still win the late emperor’s heart and successfully ascend to the throne, allowing her to sit on the Empress Dowager’s throne as she had wished – this made the Empress Dowager immensely proud.

Having been Empress Dowager for so long, she was satisfied with everything around her, except for two matters.

She didn’t want her son to respect Shou’an Jun in his heart. She didn’t want her son to dote on that vixen daughter of Shou’an Jun.

But she was about to die. Her final words would be recorded in history. She couldn’t at this moment demand that her emperor son promise never again to favor that mother and daughter pair, as it would make her appear narrow-minded as Empress Dowager, make her seem short-sighted, only caring about those unseemly matters of the inner palace and back courtyards.

“Your Majesty, I am leaving,” the Empress Dowager said, looking at Emperor Yuanjia with sorrowful reluctance.

Emperor Yuanjia’s face was full of grief.

No matter what the Empress Dowager had done, she was his mother, the one who brought him into this world. Emperor Yuanjia had longed for the Empress Dowager’s love and had been disappointed again and again, but at this moment, none of that past mattered. Emperor Yuanjia only knew that the person before him was his mother.

“Your son has been unfilial, unable to serve devotedly at Mother’s bedside day and night,” Emperor Yuanjia gripped the Empress Dowager’s hand tightly, tears sliding from the corners of his eyes.

The Empress Dowager shook her head and smiled: “You’ve done very well. You are a good emperor. Even in death, I can face the ancestors of the Zhao family. It’s just that Mother still has one wish unfulfilled, and without fulfilling this wish, Mother cannot rest in peace even in death.”

The tears welling in Emperor Yuanjia’s eyes suddenly stopped.

He looked at the Empress Dowager with complex emotions, and the strength in his hands loosened.

There was one matter the Empress Dowager had discussed with him for years, yet he had never relented. Could it be that at this moment, at their final meeting as mother and son, with these final words, the Empress Dowager still wanted to use filial duty to pressure him? Why couldn’t she consider what qualifications Prince Jing had to be the Crown Prince? Dissolute and lustful, achieving nothing in literature or martial arts – except for having an empress for a birth mother and noble status, how could he compare to Prince Duan, or even Prince Fu, the third prince?

Emperor Yuanjia remained silent for a long time. The Empress, kneeling behind, grew anxious and couldn’t help crying: “What other wishes does Mother have? Please speak freely – your son will certainly fulfill them!”

The Empress Dowager didn’t look at her. Breathing with difficulty, she stared intensely at Emperor Yuanjia: “Your Majesty has reached the age of no confusion, yet has delayed establishing a Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince is not established for a day, the court and people cannot be stable. Your Majesty, Jing…”

“Mother, I have my judgment regarding the Crown Prince matter. Please don’t worry about it,” Emperor Yuanjia suddenly interrupted the Empress Dowager and instead comforted her. “Mother doesn’t know that I once had a dream where immortals descended and blessed our Zhao dynasty’s eternal stability…”

The Empress Dowager’s hands began to tremble, and her breathing became labored!

She wanted the Emperor to establish the Empress’s legitimate son, Prince Jing, as Crown Prince. Once the Crown Prince was decided and the Empress’s position secured, no matter how Xiao Zhou Shi might curry favor in the future, she could never surpass the Empress! But the Emperor wouldn’t even grant her dying wish, wouldn’t even let her speak it – this unfilial son!

The Empress Dowager was so angry she wanted to jump up, wanted to point at Emperor Yuanjia and scold him thoroughly, wanted the historians to record this son’s unfilial behavior!

But she no longer had the strength. Before Emperor Yuanjia could finish describing what he saw in his dream, the Empress Dowager’s eyes rolled back, and she died with her eyes wide open.

Seeing this, Emperor Yuanjia collapsed onto the Empress Dowager’s body, wailing.

The court historian knelt and kowtowed, then recorded briefly: The Empress Dowager passed away. The Emperor wept inconsolably.

The Empress Dowager had passed. Emperor Yuanjia suspended court for ten days, and no celebratory events could be held among the people for three months.

Funeral rites, however, were unaffected.

When Old Madam Wei was buried in the Wei family ancestral cemetery, Wei Rao had cried all her tears dry. The bitter wind howled, making faces tight with cold. Wei Rao, supported by Lu Zhuo, stared blankly as her grandmother’s coffin was lowered into the grave.

The red sun set in the west. Lu Zhuo helped Wei Rao into the carriage.

He wanted to say some comforting words, but Wei Rao closed her eyes and leaned against the corner, appearing unwilling to be disturbed.

Lu Zhuo didn’t know what to say.

The carriage wheels rolled along the official road, getting closer and closer to the capital.

Just when Lu Zhuo thought Wei Rao might have fallen asleep from exhaustion after days of toil, Wei Rao suddenly opened her eyes and looked toward him: “Your Lordship, I want to observe mourning for my grandmother.”

Lu Zhuo’s heart tightened.

Married daughters were not required to observe mourning for deceased grandparents. If he and Wei Rao were a real married couple, Lu Zhuo wouldn’t think much of her saying this, but now…

Before Lu Zhuo could respond, Wei Rao said calmly, “According to our contract, I can request a divorce early. Rather than racking my brains for new opportunities in a few years, why not divorce now? I want to observe mourning for my grandmother and cannot bear to delay Your Lordship for a year, so I request divorce and return home.”

When her grandmother was alive, Wei Rao’s heart held nothing but her grandmother. After her grandmother died, Wei Rao cried for three days, then gradually calmed down.

The Empress Dowager was dead. She no longer needed to borrow her husband’s family’s power to make the Empress Dowager wary, so she could divorce.

As for her mother and younger brother, Emperor Yuanjia was in his prime. Perhaps by the time Emperor Yuanjia passed away, her brother would have long since come of age and been enfeoffed as a prince, with no need for his sister’s support.

At this moment, Wei Rao only wanted to quietly observe mourning for her grandmother alone, to quietly remember her grandmother. Once divorced, she wouldn’t have to be criticized for not being a virtuous Lu family daughter-in-law anymore.

Wei Rao looked at Lu Zhuo, waiting for his answer with a heart like still water.

Lu Zhuo’s gaze was obscure as he tried to salvage the situation: “If you want to observe mourning for the old lady, I can observe it with you. There’s no need to…”

Wei Rao closed her eyes and turned her face away: “Your Lordship signed the contract. Please honor your word. After we discuss this, we’ll ask Duke Ying and Old Madam for permission when we return to the mansion. I’ll move back to Earl Cheng’an Mansion tomorrow morning. While people are discussing palace affairs now, if we divorce simply and quietly, there will be less gossip.”

Lu Zhuo didn’t want to divorce. He had many things he wanted to say – either to tell her his feelings or to coax her into staying at Song Yue Hall with the benefits of their marriage alliance.

But she had turned away, rejecting any further words from him.

She had grown thin. She was never a slender beauty – when she first returned to the capital, her face was still plump and lustrous. Now it was completely pale, her palm-sized face shrinking into the snow-white fox fur collar until it could barely be seen.

She didn’t like him, even deeply detested him. With the old lady gone, she wanted to return to Zhengchun Hall, where grandmother and granddaughter had depended on each other.

“Fine. I’ll write the divorce papers for you tonight.”

The corners of Wei Rao’s mouth lifted slightly: “Thank you.”

Tonight at Duke Ying Mansion, some were destined to lose sleep.

Lu Zhuo had Wei Rao return to Song Yue Hall first while he privately informed Duke Ying and Duchess Ying of the matter.

Duke Ying, unaware of the inside story: “Why divorce when everything was fine? If she wants to observe mourning, let her observe mourning. Why divorce?”

Duke Ying truly didn’t understand this granddaughter-in-law. It was just observing mourning – was it necessary?

Duchess Ying told him to be quiet and only asked Lu Zhuo, “You agreed?”

Lu Zhuo nodded: “The old lady just passed, and she’s grieving. If I force her to stay now, it will only add to her troubles. Rather than make her unhappy, better to let her go. After her mourning period ends, your grandson will find a way to coax her back.”

Duchess Ying pondered for a moment, then sighed: “This is also good. The rush wedding for good luck was hasty in all aspects, and we wronged Raorao, especially you. After a year, when Raorao has forgotten her grief, we’ll give her a proper betrothal with three matchmakers and six ceremonies.”

Hearing this, Lu Zhuo fell to his knees with shame: “It’s all your grandson’s foolishness that has troubled you and grandfather.”

Duchess Ying told him to get up: “Our being tired is nothing. Just don’t be foolish again and push Raorao further away. Go tell your mother so she won’t worry.”

Lu Zhuo then took his leave.

Duke Ying stared at his wife. What exactly was going on?

Duchess Ying had no choice but to explain the whole situation.

Duke Ying’s eyes nearly popped out. That fairy-like granddaughter-in-law and his grandson had never consummated the marriage?

Should he be happy that his grandson was truly like Liu Xiahui, able to sit unmoved even facing a beauty, or angry that his grandson was so rigid and couldn’t distinguish good from bad?

Duke Ying and his wife were old and saw things more openly. He Shi couldn’t handle it. Hearing that her daughter-in-law wanted to divorce, and the reason was not wanting outsiders to criticize her for observing mourning for her grandmother and not wanting to delay her son for a year, He Shi cried and raged. Her daughter-in-law was raised by Old Madam Wei – what was wrong with a married daughter observing mourning? She didn’t care – what did outsiders’ gossip matter?

A perfectly good daughter-in-law, lost just because of gossip!