823 The Great Object Between Life and Death (2/2)

Ning Que's gaze landed on the hand the Empress placed on the wall. He had many conflicting emotions right now. He was shocked and lost, and he could not find an appropriate word to describe it.

He said in a hoarse voice, ”Don't you think that's very selfish?”

The Empress smiled slightly and said, ”To the world, I am the saintess of the Devil's Doctrine. It is natural that I am selfish.”

Ning Que said, ”The Prince is still young and needs you as a mother to raise him.”

”My son already has Mr. First as his teacher. Do I still need to worry? I have already made plans. There are letters that I have left with Xu Chi and Zeng Jing. The situation right now might be difficult but is stable, and the matters of the court have its orders. There is no difference whether I'm here or not. It is beneficial to the Tang Empire if I'm not around. At least those wacks from Haotian Taoism cannot use my existence to create trouble anymore.”

Her smile seemed to be radiating light and seemed extremely proud.

Ning Que said, ”I will not allow this to happen.”

The Empress smiled lightly and said, ”I remember someone once said that there are two things in the world that cannot be controlled by anyone. Not even Haotian can do that. That is life and death.”

Ning Que intended to say something else.

The Empress looked at him and said calmly, ”I said earlier that there were two men in the world who loved me the most. Other than His Majesty, the other man was my brother Xia Hou, and he died in your hands.”

Ning Que kept quiet.

”Whatever you felt when Sangsang died was the same feeling I felt when His Majesty closed his eyes. Back then, I jumped from Helan City because I was forced by the situation. Now that I think about it, perhaps I had already wanted to die then, but Helan City was a little short.”

The Empress looked at the clouds under the city wall and said with a smile, ”I think Chang'an should be tall enough.”

Though she was smiling, her eyes were as vacant as clouds and smoke. It was as if she was no longer in the mortal world.

Then, she left the city wall and fell into the clouds and mist.

Ning Que had many ways of catching her or even pulling her back. But he did not do anything because his body was very stiff since he saw her face when she left.

Her skirts fluttered like flowers. Her expression was serene when she closed her eyes as if she were about to enter the most glorious world. It made one feel comforted and reassured.

It was a calm that not many could bear to disrupt.

Ning Que stood on the city wall and watched the moving clouds silently for a long time before leaving.

There were many who came and went in his life. They left and never came back, and they left suddenly and absolutely, making him lost and sad.

His family and friends in the General's Mansion, the Headmaster and Sangsang, His and Her Majesty. They had all left like that.

There is great fear between life and death. Ning Que had lived two lives and was used to seeing life and death in the Wilderness and the Min Mountain. However, this fear was difficult for even eminent monks and Bhadanta to accept, and he himself had never understood it.

On the night Hua Shanyue wanted to save Li Yu and take her out of Chang'an, Ning Que had told Chao Xiaoshu that such an idiotic behavior was hard to understand. It was because he had never understood love.

'What is love? Such that man would live and die for it.' Ning Que had always remembered this statement. He used to think that it was too artistic and trite, disliking it a lot.

Just like that statement, 'Every death in the world is a reunion after a long separation.'

It wasn't until this moment when he understood a little.

Ning Que walked down the city wall and went to the Princess' residence.

He lifted the heavy voiles on the balcony and looked at Li Yu. He said, ”The Empress has passed away.”

Li Yu was telling little Wild a story. Ning Que was observant and noted that she was telling stories that he told in the past.

She did not react when she heard Ning Que's statement. She only raised her head slowly after a long time, a lost expression on her pale face. She asked, ”Why?”

”I don't know if you'd believe it if I said that it was for love.”

Ning Que looked at her and said, ”Prepare to enter the palace. I will send little Wild to study in the Academy.”

In the blink of an eye, it was late spring in Chang'an. However, it was still gloomy and rained incessantly.

The people had yet to emerge from the sadness that came from the Empress' death. The soldiers on the Vermilion Bird Avenue who were waiting to collect their reward still had white cloths tied around their arms.

The Yulin Royal Guards lined up before the Imperial Palace solemnly. Solemn and elegant music resounded through the palace and officials of the court dressed in royal robes lined in under the guidance of eunuchs. The bell rang gradually.

On this day, the new Emperor of the Tang Empire officially ascended the throne. A new era had begun.