Zhang Jingxing held Zhao Wan’er for a long time, so long that the body in his arms slowly grew cold. He frantically took off the fox fur from his body to cover her, trembling as he asked if she was cold, but received no answer.

“Go bring a brazier.”

“Your Majesty…” Dequan knelt to one side, with all the palace servants kneeling on the ground around them. “Her Majesty the Empress has passed away… Your Majesty, please accept our condolences.”

“No! She hasn’t!” Zhang Jingxing roared. “The Empress is cold – go bring the brazier.”

“How could my Wan’er die? Impossible, impossible.”

The funeral bell tolled again and again until the final toll ended, draining all his strength.

Palace servants came saying they needed to dress the Empress in burial robes. Zhang Jingxing shook his head, holding Zhao Wan’er and refusing to let go.

This standoff lasted until midnight when Dequan gritted his teeth and had them pull the Emperor away.

“I forbid you to touch her! Let go of me!” Zhang Jingxing was held firmly by the guards, watching helplessly as she was taken away. Like an enraged lion, his voice hoarse from shouting: “I’ll kill you all! Kill you all!”

“Your Majesty!” Zhirong knelt before Zhang Jingxing, tears streaming down her face. “Please let Her Majesty go in peace.”

Zhang Jingxing suddenly stopped moving. The guards released him and knelt on the ground.

Zhang Jingxing looked at the sea of kneeling people. She disliked it most when people knelt…

“All of you, get out.”

Zhang Jingxing wearily walked into the room and lay on the bed where her scent still lingered faintly. Yesterday she had leaned here, gazing out the window, lost in thought.

Zhang Jingxing felt as if he had only had a dream – a dream where Wan’er left him. But Wan’er loved him so much, how could she bear to leave?

She certainly couldn’t bear to. She had just left the palace, like last time, when she didn’t want to wear beautiful clothes anymore and missed her family, so she went out to stay for a few days.

He would wait here for her, wait for her to return. He would wait right here.

From then on, after handling court affairs, Zhang Jingxing would go to Fengqi Palace to paint. His Wan’er – when he closed his eyes, her image filled his mind. He painted her beautifully, so when she returned and saw them, she would surely be happy.

Dequan said that if he missed Empress Mother, he should plant a tree. When the osmanthus tree bloomed, Empress Mother would return.

He nodded, thinking Dequan’s method was useful, and rewarded him generously.

So whenever he thought of her, Zhang Jingxing would plant an osmanthus tree. Before he knew it, it had become a groove.

He always had someone bring a table so he could copy Buddhist scriptures in the osmanthus grove. He used to help her copy scriptures often – she would always fall asleep while writing, and he would have to carry her back to bed and finish writing for her in her handwriting.

He had thought about not helping her anymore, letting Mother Empress scold her once, but ultimately couldn’t bear to. Her pitiful appearance with teary eyes always made his heart soften.

When Zhurong brought the Western Barbarians’ surrender letter, Zhang Jingxing found their chieftain truly detestable. Although he had secretly sent people to instigate their uprising, it was indeed the Western Barbarian army that caused Zhao Cheng Ya’s death in battle.

On the road to the frontier, Zhang Jingxing had only one thought in his heart – he wanted to avenge Wan’er’s brother’s murder.

So when the Western Barbarian chieftain knelt before him begging him to spare the tribe members, he didn’t blink an eye as he severed his head.

“Exterminate the tribe.”

He spared the Western Barbarian tribe members – who would spare him?

They killed his beloved woman’s only brother. When his Wan’er could only secretly cry while looking at the whistle her brother gave her in the dead of night, when no one was around, did they think of showing mercy?

After he thrust his sword into a Western Barbarian’s body, he saw someone stabbing toward Zhang Chenghan. Without thinking, he blocked in front of him, suddenly remembering many years ago when he was still young-looking and Wan’er blocked in front of him – when the sword pierced her body, his heart nearly shattered.

He was so frightened, afraid Wan’er would leave him just like that. So when he learned she had awakened, he ran back without even attending morning court.

How grateful he was that she hadn’t abandoned him.

On the day he returned to the palace, he told the Imperial Physician to just extend his life by five years, as long as these five years made him appear no different from ordinary people.

So he used this time to grant Kangning’s marriage. When Zhurong knelt before him, willing to exchange all his glory and future for Kangning alone, he thought for a long time before finally nodding in agreement.

Because he felt that if Wan’er were here, she would smile and tell him that Kangning finding someone who loved her so much meant her future days would surely be happy.

His Wan’er’s smile was so beautiful – her eyes curved like crescents.

When Zhang Chenghan brought the Chen family girl into the palace, he seemed to see his former self and Wan’er freely moving through all places in the palace. Wan’er would look left and right beside him while his gaze always stayed on her.

Zhang Chenghan once told him he would give everything he had to ensure the Chen family girl’s safety and peace.

His firm tone reminded him of his promises to Wan’er.

After a long while, he smiled and told Zhang Chenghan: “Your mother empress once said, ‘A gentleman’s word is his bond.’ Since you’ve said these words, if you can’t fulfill them, you’ll surely fall into eternal damnation.”

The night before the Osmanthus Grove burned, he dreamed of Wan’er.

This was the first time she appeared in his dreams since she left. She still looked like a young girl, wearing white fox fur, smiling as she told him they looked like the Black and White Impermanence standing together.

He also smiled, gently pulling her into his arms, telling her he missed her very much, very, very much.

She smiled and nodded, telling him she knew, so she had come to fetch him.

She told him to bring their marriage compatibility document and her favorite Osmanthus pastries.

She said that leaving him alone all these years had been hard on him, but from now on, she would walk the path ahead with him.

So when Fengqi Palace burned, he wasn’t particularly panicked. He rushed into the flames to retrieve the marriage compatibility document from the study, with Dequan’s panicked shouts in his ears.

Before running out, he looked back once. On the paper on the desk, eight characters had not yet burned completely.

“A gentleman’s word is his bond.”

Later, after being ill for several days, he finally understood what Zhao Ruohua meant when she said before Wan’er’s death that she simply didn’t want to live anymore.

He didn’t want to live anymore either. His Wan’er was still waiting for him.

He had already taken the marriage compatibility document and brought her favorite Osmanthus pastries.

He could finally go find her.

He missed her so much.

“United in matrimony, protecting your lasting peace. A gentleman’s word is his bond.”

He only wished that in the next life, after bringing Wan’er back from the snowy ground, he would hold her hand tightly and never part again.