by Feng Yue
And so, the position of the new empress was stabilized.
Although there were still innumerable questions…
For example, what on earth is the surname of Her Majesty?
Yes, it was true that she was the head of two houses, but one must surely precede the other.
So, House Yunlou and House Bai, which one preceded the other?
Bai Xi was Bai Heng’s adopted daughter alright, but she still had the word ‘Yunlou’ in her name. However, Yunlou Baixi was the daughter of Yunlou Qingshu alright, but as a daughter, she personally killed her biological father, and it was unclear whether she was even willing to recognize ‘Yunlou’ as her surname.
Moreover, the previous empress left a written will, bestowing the title of princess upon Bai Xi, changing her surname to Zhao.
Right, so one must also consider whether Bai Xi was going to change her surname to Zhao.
Fortunately, Her Majesty, the present Empress, found a noble with royal blood related to House Zhao from God knew where, and passed the legacy of his family back to him. It was equivalent to Bai Xi temporarily safekeeping it for them, and House Zhao remained in the hands of those actually bearing the surname Zhao.
So at the moment, what was the surname of Her Majesty?
God knew how many people got a headache at the same time from worrying about it.
Toning the problem down, it merely affected her designation. But playing the problem up, it was a matter of which side she would be choosing to take…
House Yunlou and House Bai, Her Majesty could be the head of both houses, but surely she couldn’t have a foot in both camps? Many nobles wondered, Your Majesty, does your loyalty lies with House Yunlou or House Bai?
Are you a friend of House Bai or a friend of House Yunlou?
Or rather, whose enemy do you intend to be?
Moreover, it was not just the question of whether the surname of Her Majesty at the moment was Yunlou or Bai, looking at it from a long-term perspective, the question of what surname Her Majesty would take on in the future was equally important!
Is your surname Yunlou? Or is it Bai?
Or you planning to… take on the surname Ye?
And what exactly is going to happen with House Ye? Will their good name be restored or will the issue remain covered? Will they regain their original fief or will it be merged into the crown land?
For a while, everything was very complicated and in a mess. Moreover, some issues were too sensitive, yet they could not be simply ignored. God knew how many people became burnt out because of it.
Fortunately, Her Majesty, amid her busy schedule, gave them a new troublesome issue to deal with, and all the other troubles didn’t seem troublesome anymore.
— Give Bai Heng a state funeral.
It was extremely troublesome.
Let’s not mention how the regent, who had controlled the Aurora for 15 years single-handedly, had died, or how the late empress had died. After all, in the history books in the future, both of them could only have died of sickness. .
Moreover, the writers must avoid the important and dwell on the trivial, covering up this paragraph in history which no one knew happened at all.
Let’s not even mention how much hair the officers in charge of writing history would have to shed to settle the issue. Deciding on the posthumous name of Bai Heng alone would be enough to make the doctors of philosophy working in Pavilion Shiqu [1] beat their own brains out.
Moreover, Her Majesty stubbornly insisted on burying Bai Heng in the mausoleum the previous empress built for herself, no matter how many ministers kowtowed before the steps leading to the throne, their foreheads bleeding even.
And so, on the fifth day after Bai Heng’s death, he was given such a grand burial.
Generally speaking, the ruler would usually confer additional titles upon the dead at this point to show generosity and a reluctance to part ways. After all, the dead could not leap out of their graves to make demands, so one could just casually make empty promises. However, for some reason unknown, Her Majesty the current empress seemed to be extraordinarily stingy in this regard. She conferred no additional rewards at all, making herself seem somewhat unsympathetic, yet of all the things she could do, she chose to gave him a state burial.
It was so contradictory.
However, for the ministers who had their minds subjected to so much abuse, they couldn’t be bothered anymore…
They only hoped that after Her Majesty had gone through the phase of being a new broom that swept clean, she would stop stirring up so much trouble, or at least do so less frequently.
And so, the funeral was conducted.
Although it was a funeral, the popular folk custom of hiring people to cry before the grave was not followed. Everyone simply took a moment to mourn him symbolically — Actually, probably no one felt sad, and on the contrary many felt relieved and glad.
Ah, he is finally dead.
The traitor who had controlled the politics of the nation for so many years is finally dead.
God knew how many people secretly felt relieved.
No one knew how sincere were their pretentious tears.
The dirge was solemn and grand, and the funeral was conducted personally by the head of House Ye. Even Her Majesty was present to mourn him, bringing with her the mysterious ‘descendant of the former royal family’, the present head of House Zhao.
She was a woman who seemed a little sluggish and dumb, her gaze always made her seem as if she was sleepwalking, and she was always half a beat slow in replying whenever someone talked to her.
She always looked as if she wasn’t awake.
When the funeral was over and everyone was ready to leave, in the cold silence, she still seemed stuck in the past, and she was quiet.
“Do you feel very sad?” Ye Qingxuan asked her.
“I don’t know.” The woman who was once the empress shook her head. “In the past few days, I saw a lot of things about him, but it was all very different from the him I once saw. I am forgetting many things, and now even if I try hard to remember, I can’t remember his face clearly, only his gaze, somewhat.”
Hearing her words, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but smile resignedly.
It is probably what Bai Heng wanted to see?
However, although he stubbornly asked her not to remember him, if she really forgets, that old fella would probably be fairly upset too?
How ironic, Bai Heng.
“But I am very sure about one thing —” Her voice suddenly sounded.
Ye Qingxuan looked back, puzzled, and saw her serious look.
“I really like him.” Like she was recalling what was left of her memory and once again saw the pair of eyes that remained in her mind, she seemed to wake up from a fuzzy dream, opening her eyes. “Because his gaze was full of strength.”
She said, “I want to be like him.”
After a long silence, Ye Qingxuan laughed self-mockingly, not knowing what to say. After a long time, he patted her shoulder. “Then work hard to live on…”
…
After returning to the palace, Ye Qingxuan walked on the jade staircase alone, looking around, and could not help but sigh emotionally.
Just as he was recalling the past, he heard someone kowtowing in the palace. An old man kowtowed flusteredly, his voice hoarse and alarmed. “Your Majesty, I must say this even if the price is my life. Abruptly conducting a royal wedding after a state funeral inevitably goes against the traditional etiquette. Moreover, Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and plenty of work must be done…”
Wait!
Royal wedding?
Who is getting married?
Outside the palace, Ye Qingxuan felt like a bolt of thunder had struck him, and he almost rolled down the steps.
“So fast?” He finally picked up his jaw that had hit the floor, and cautiously looked into the palace. He only saw the old man below the steps, whose forehead was bleeding, and Bai Xi sitting on the throne,
her gaze cold with no trace of mercy at all.
When she heard his voice, Bai Xi looked up towards him, and her gaze… became even colder.
“Mhmm?” As if she didn’t catch what Ye Qingxuan had said, she produced a seemingly puzzled sound from her nostrils, but Ye Qingxuan shuddered and pretended that he had not said anything.
Bai Xi’s expression relaxed slightly. Pinning Ye Qingxuan, who was ready to escape, in place with her gaze, she then waved her hand. “I have my own reasons. Tai Changqing, if there’s nothing else, you may go.”
The old man pretended not to hear her and continued to kowtow, but was soon dragged out by two warriors in gold armor.
Suddenly, Ye Qingxuan and Bai Xi were the only two left in the main hall.
The silence became more and more awkward.
No one said anything.
It wasn’t until Ye Qingxuan couldn’t stand Bai Xi’s gaze that he coughed twice pretentiously, then opened his mouth to speak. “Ahem, cousin…”
“Mhmm?” Bai Xi produced another syllable from her nostrils, signifying her annoyance.
“Bai Xi! Bai Xi, Your Majesty!!” Ye Qingxuan spoke hurriedly, plastering the kind expression he used to wear as an elder cousin on his face. “Sometimes, you need not rush things too much. Isn’t there an old saying that goes, it gets done faster when you take it slow… I don’t mean that I am unwilling, I’m just saying…”
Before he could finish stuttering, his words were interrupted by the sharp peals of bells coming from afar.
— Someone had broken into the palace!
The sonorous clanking of iron armor sounded.
Two rows of imperial guards rushed to the scene, stationing themselves before the palace. But Ye Qingxuan had sharp eyes and saw the ‘assassin’ running here from afar.
It was clearly the standard armor of the Knights of the Round Table!
And from the man’s height and sound of heart, Ye Qingxuan could recognize him clearly: The man was his orderly!
“Step aside!!!” The knight held no weapons in his hand, and so panicked that he paid no attention to the strict protocol of the forbidden palace. He held a box high with both his hands, and rushed to the outside of the palace, running all the way. “Step aside, I want to see His Royal Highness! His Royal Highness! Where is His Royal Highness?!”
Ye Qingxuan frowned and reached out to stop the imperial guards from killing the knight on the spot.
“What happened?” He looked at his panicked orderly. “What happened to Anglo?”
The knight knelt on the ground and handed him the iron box with both hands. “Your Royal Highness, Avalon sent an urgent message via the wind tunnel! It has been sent 19 times in the past day! Only Your Royal Highness may open it, please pardon my rudeness…”
Before he finished his words, Ye Qingxuan grabbed the iron box from him and had no time to pacify the knight. He directly pulled the iron box open, and a thin letter made of aether crystal fell into his hand.
Soon, his face turned purple with rage.
For a moment, everyone in the entire imperial capital felt panic in their hearts.
A biting chill rose into the sky from the entire palace and spread in all directions. In a flash, cold winter had swept across the nation, and numerous frostwork spread.
Something heavy pressed down in everyone’s heart, making it difficult for them to breathe.
Those with slightly weaker minds almost fainted on the spot.
Not knowing how many enchantments he set off in the palace when he lost control for an instant, Ye Qingxuan flicked his hand and shattered the thunderbolts floating around in the air. For the third time, he read through the urgent report in his hand once again.
He clenched his hands.
Ashes fell from his hands.
A word escaped his lips. “Charles…”
[1] The largest library in the Western Han Dynasty.
797 Funeral 2
It was the first time he dreamt of a place so beautiful. It was like something out of a fairy tale.
Within the layers of light, he saw a white-haired young man, who had lowered his head and was smiling even as he was putting a ring onto a girl’s finger. There was no pain nor misfortune. That scene was full of so much happiness and joy that he felt like he could experience the same thing too. Then, he woke up from his dream.
Charles opened his eye and heard the sound of water boiling. The firewood cracked in the stove. Someone was sitting in front of the stove, with his back facing against Charles. He was watching the fire.
“Is it morning already?” Charles looked up with a confused look on his face.
“No, it’s midnight.” The man picked up the water flask on the stove and stood up. He grabbed a handful of tea leaves from the tea canister on the table and threw them into the broken water flask. When the boiling water was poured into the water flask, the tea leaves tumbled around and the water turned into a faint shade of red. After shaking it a few times, the tea, which was not exactly fragrant, was poured into two broken wooden cups, and placed on the bedside. He seemed to be very familiar with this place, as if it was his home.
Paganini dragged a broken chair over and sat in front of Charles. “Apologies for waking you up from your dream.” He might have apologized, but his face showed no hint of regret. There was only a look of chilling serenity.
“What happened?” Charles was confused. “All of a sudden…”
Paganini cut him off and brought him a cup of tea, “Tea?”
“Ah, thank you.” Charles subconsciously took over the cup of tea. He lowered his head and took a sniff. It was still the same smell of tea leaves that were of poor quality, but the water temperature was perfect and did not seem like it had just boiled.
The cheap tea leaves floated in the hot water, as they either rose or sank. All of a sudden, there was an instant when the dark red color of the water seemed to transform into flames that were spreading across the land before suddenly rising, and finally disappearing. Illusions of lands and buildings on fire suddenly appeared in the cup of tea. Flames were spreading like tidal waves and drowning all the corpses and skeletons. There were screams of despair and children were crying.
Pat! Charles’ hand trembled and the cup of tea fell. The tea was spilled and the illusions vanished. Charles was stunned.
Paganini looked down, as if he did not see anything, and turned a blind eye to what had just happened. He drank a sip of tea and placed his cup back onto the table. When he looked at Charles, there was a look of thoughtfulness and disappointment on his face. “No matter how hard I think about it, I can never figure out why God will take such special care of someone like you?”
“I’m sorry.” Charles was embarrassed as he picked up the cup of tea that he had spilled.
“There’s no need to apologize. This is not a mistake after all. No, perhaps to you, it is.” Paganini took over the cup from Charles and looked down at the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup. He looked like a fortune teller that was able to take a peek into the future through the shape of the remaining tea residue.
“Leave, Charles.” He lowered his head and suddenly said, “You have finished your tea. You should leave. Leave through the back of the village. Someone will pick you up by the river and send you to Anglo.”
In the ensuing silence, Charles suddenly felt a sharp pain in his skull. It left as quickly as it came. Now, there was only the lingering pain that felt like a thin metal wire had penetrated through his head.
He subconsciously pressed against his forehead. Once again, he heard the screams of despair and the cries of children coming from a place that was far away. There were also the sounds of burning and the earth-shattering… but those sounds were gone very quickly. No, it was as if they never happened.
But the pain was now beginning to spread to his spine. All of a sudden, Charles felt bitterly cold, as if he had been tossed into an icy river. As he tumbled in the icy waters, he suddenly crashed into an iceberg with a huge roar
.
All these sensations were suddenly cut off. Paganini had already given more than enough hints. Realization suddenly dawned on him and he finally understood everything.
“Is it really like this?” Charles looked up at him and seemed to be in a daze. “Mr. Constantine, he… has finally decided to kill me?” The corner of his mouth twitched, as if he was trying to laugh at himself, but it was a poor attempt and overall, he just looked awful. No matter how hard he tried, he could not bring himself to laugh. “Can you tell me… why?”
“At this stage, are you still going to ask such a foolish question, Charles?” Paganini looked at him pitifully. “From the very beginning, Constantine was just an illusion in your eyes. You can see the truth behind everything, yet why can’t you see the nature of people? He is just the way he is. He is always obsessed with things that he can never get. He is deeply obsessed and he has committed plenty of sins. He had no qualms killing in anyone that was in his way. Charles, you are in his way.”
“I’m sorry.” Charles lowered his head and apologized. It had already become a habit. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to…”
“You just wanted to step down from the altar, right?” Paganini cut him off, “You wanted to change the world according to your wishes. No, probably anyone would have thought the same. But you are the only one who will be able to change it easily. You have the ability to destroy everything that Gaius had worked for. It is just that easy and simple to you.”
The piercing sound of a whistle broke the silence. It came from a place that was far away.
“You should leave now,” Paganini repeated again. His face was devoid of emotions even as he was urging Charles.
Charles looked at him despondently, as if he did not understand what Paganini was saying.
Paganini frowned and finally sighed helplessly. Then, he stretched out his hand. He was as swift as lightning as he gave Charles a slap.
Slap! Then another one. His eye patch fell off, revealing an empty eye socket. The wound had begun to tear and blood dripped down his face. His only remaining eye looked up at him. There was only emptiness in his eye, just like the empty eye socket.