Chapter 25 (2/2)

This scene overlaps with a scene from his memory.  Grief and ache flashes in his eyes.

Back then, during that stormy night, she too wept to him while saying: ”Chenqie does not want to enter the palace….. but…. chenqie has no other choice but to.”

The night was heavy back then, there was not a single star in sight.

She had never said anything prior to that, only at the end of her life did she finally said those words.

He was helpless.  So, she did not enter the palace on her own free will.  Turns out—–

By then, everything was too late.

He lost her.  He truly lost her.  The last thing she said to him was : ”Chenqie is tired….. really, really——”  The rest of the words remains unheard.

He is at the highest and most esteemed position, but he lost the one thing he should have grasped from the start: love.

The rest?  No matter how brilliant everything is, they are nothing but wasted years.  They are just like meteor showers, bright and colourful but only for that moment; they have no lasting impact at all.

Her beautiful face and her clear smile are things he cannot forget no matter how long it has been.

He closes his eyes in sorrow.  Only when he reminisces about her will his heart turns soft.  When he doesn't, he is just a cold-blooded and calculative emperor.

He suddenly turns around, no longer looking at the sleeping Xi Yan.  Step by step, he leaves the hall.  Just as he walk past the door, he can hear Eunuch Li asking, ”Your Majesty, are we to go to Li Hua Palace?”

He nods.  He wants to go to Li Hua Palace.  Why shouldn't he be allowed to deceive himself?

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