The Legend of Zhen Huan: Year after year, we share the spring breeze

When the birthday banquet ended, it was getting dark.

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed half the sky red, outlining the outline of Wanshou Mountain with an exceptional gentleness. Clouds, like brocade, spread out layer upon layer across the sky, and the distant mountains, like dark green, gradually faded into the twilight.

An Lingrong stood on the white marble steps, looking at the gradual change of crimson color, and suddenly felt her heart tighten.

She raised her hand to her chest and whispered, "Sister, Sister Zhen, I want to watch the sunset."

Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang exchanged a glance, and they both stepped forward, one on each side holding her arms: "Okay, we'll accompany you."

Hongxu and others followed from a distance, keeping a perfect distance so as not to disturb them but also to appear in time when needed.

The mountain path was winding, with flowers blooming on both sides. The early spring breeze, carrying the fragrance of flowers, gently brushed across the sleeves of the three people.

An Lingrong's steps slowed, her breathing becoming more and more ragged. Shen Meizhuang quietly tightened her arms, pulling her whole body into her embrace, half supporting, half holding her as they walked forward. Zhen Huan also slowed her pace in tacit understanding.

The three of them walked towards the top of the mountain step by step.

When she reached Fengqi Pavilion, An Lingrong was already sweating profusely, but her almond-shaped eyes were surprisingly bright.

The palace servants had already prepared soft couches and tea in the pavilion.

The three of them sat on the soft couch with their sleeves folded, snuggling together and looking into the distance.

Fengqi Pavilion stands atop the southwest peak of Wanshou Mountain. Gazing from its balcony, Kunming Lake resembles a shimmering jade mirror, embedded amidst the cascading green mountains. The water reflects the rosy clouds, embracing half the sky. Cloud shadows and natural light blend in the water, making it difficult to distinguish between the real scene and the reflection.

In the distance, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge lies like a streak of white jade on the emerald waters. A gentle breeze ripples the lake, shattering the bridge's reflection into a myriad of light points. These, blending with the blazing sunset glow in the sky, create a scene as if the fairyland of Penglai has descended upon earth.

Suddenly, a bronze bell tinkled softly in the wind from the pavilion's corner. The tinkling startled a few egrets, whose snowy feathers skimmed across the water, their wingtips piercing the mirror-like sky and sending out ripples. These ripples spread out, shattering and then reorganizing the reflected clouds, adding a touch of lively interest.

"It's so beautiful."

An Lingrong murmured softly, her voice filled with unbreakable tenderness.

She tilted her face up slightly, letting the evening breeze brush across her cheek, blowing a strand of her hair to her lips.

A few strands of frost can be vaguely seen between the hair, emitting a gentle silver glow in the sunset glow.

Shen Meizhuang raised her hand and tucked the strand of hair behind An Lingrong's ear, her movements as gentle as if she were treating the most precious treasure.

Zhen Huan leaned on the other side and silently pulled the brocade blanket closer to the two of them.

An Lingrong stared into the distance, her voice vague: "I'm leaving!"

The words were so light that they were almost blown away by the wind, but they landed heavily in the hearts of the three people.

A faint overlapping voice came from the side: "Okay."

An Lingrong turned her head and looked at them, but she saw a clear calmness in their eyes. There was no surprise, no sadness, only a calmness that had been prepared long ago.

Shen Meizhuang met her gaze with a faint smile, the gentleness spreading in the fine lines at the corners of her eyes was warmer than the sunset: "We will accompany you."

An Lingrong understood the profound meaning behind these four simple words—they were not words of comfort before parting, but a promise to be together through life and death.

Tears suddenly fell: "You..."

Zhen Huan placed her cold fingers on the back of her hand. "My health has been getting worse these days. I've been holding on so that you can have a good birthday."

An Lingrong felt the coolness on the back of her hand, and then she noticed that Zhen Huan's face was paler than usual, and there was almost no blood on her lips.

Shen Meizhuang immediately held their hands together, her warm palms tightly wrapped around them: "We have already agreed that wherever you go, I will go."

Although Shen Meizhuang was in good health, she knew without a doubt that she would collapse immediately without Zhen Huan and An Lingrong.

The evening breeze suddenly became very quiet.

An Lingrong slowly raised her head and looked into their eyes.

In those two pairs of eyes that were no longer young but still bright, she saw the promises made in their youth, the bits and pieces of mutual support during the years in the deep palace, and the tacit understanding and concern that had remained the same for decades.

Tears gradually blurred her vision, but made the emotion in her heart more distinct.

She finally nodded gently, and a tear slid down her cheek, sparkling in the sunlight.

"I am very satisfied with you two in my life."

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

Shen Meizhuang stretched out her arm and pulled the rope under the corridor, and a "ding-ling-ling" sound was heard.

After a while, Hongxu, Hongzhou, Longyue, Lingxi and Jinghe knelt in front of them.

An Lingrong's eyes slowly swept over each child. She vaguely saw Hongxu's wrinkled little face when he was just born, remembered Hongzhou's stumbling appearance when he was learning to walk, the joy and shyness of Longyue on the day of her wedding with a phoenix crown and a red robe, Lingxi's excitement when she wrote a poem for the first time, and Jinghe's naive look when she always loved to lie in her arms and act coquettishly.

Today, all the children in our memories have children and grandchildren.

She leaned forward slightly, taking all five children in her sight. "From now on, you must take good care of yourselves, eat on time, and remember to put on more clothes when it's cold. Brothers and sisters must love each other, and husbands and wives must work together."

Remember, everything in this world, fame, wealth, and glory are fleeting. Only sincerity is the most precious and the most untouchable."

Hearing these words that sounded like a last will and testament, the children could no longer hold back their tears. They knelt on the ground and kowtowed, their voices choking with sobs as they said, "Children, remember this!"

"Hongxu, you didn't let me down. You are a good emperor, a good husband, and a good brother."

Hongxu kowtowed heavily, resting his forehead on the cold stone slab, his shoulders shaking violently: "Thank you, my godmother, for your guidance, son."

An Lingrong looked at Longyue, who was already crying uncontrollably, and beckoned her forward: "Wanwan."

Longyue staggered to the bedside, leaned on An Lingrong's knees like she did when she was a child, and called out repeatedly: "Mother, mother, mother..." Every call was filled with heart-wrenching pain.

An Lingrong gently stroked her daughter's hair, then looked at Lingxi and Jinghe and said, "A woman's tears are the most precious. I allow you to shed them this once today, but from now on, you must not shed tears so easily. Remember?"

The three of them nodded heavily, but new tears rolled down. They hurriedly tried to wipe them with their hands, but they couldn't wipe them away.

Zhen Huan, tears welling in her eyes, straightened up slightly and said, "Birth, aging, sickness and death are common to all human beings. The three of us will be happy together no matter where we go. Don't be sad. Living your own life well in the future will be the greatest comfort to us."

"Yes!" Five people responded in unison.

Shen Meizhuang said solemnly: "The Emperor will obey your orders."

This was the first time she spoke to Hongxu in this way.

Hongxu took a step forward on his knees and slammed his forehead to the ground: "My son, I will obey your order."

"The late Emperor and Empress were deeply in love, and I do not wish to disturb their peace. I have already built a mausoleum fifty miles southwest of the capital, and will bury the three of us there. The funeral rites will be kept simple. All the people of the country, including the royal family and nobles, will observe a seven-day mourning period. After seven days, the body will be moved to the mausoleum. Weddings and funerals will proceed as normal, respecting human relationships and not disrupting the farming season."

"Son, obey!"

"Okay, you guys can leave now. We still have something to talk about." Shen Meizhuang's voice softened.

The five of them kowtowed deeply and left in tears.

Inside the pavilion, dusk gradually deepened.

The afterglow of the setting sun slants through the carved railings, casting mottled light and shadows on the bluestone table top, and then quietly moves with time, losing its warmth inch by inch.

When the last ray of sunset disappeared on the horizon, the clouds in the sky faded from brilliant golden red to gentle purple-gray, and then gradually turned into dark indigo.

All around was quiet, with only the evening breeze blowing gently through the copper bells on the eaves, making a clear and crisp sound.

The three of them sat opposite each other, no one spoke, but it seemed as if thousands of words were flowing in their eyes.

It was unknown who stretched out their hand first, but then, the three hands overlapped at the same time, and the jade bracelets on their wrists collided lightly, making a crisp sound - that was a gift from Shen Meizhuang to them, and the three of them wore it for the rest of their lives.

They just stared at each other quietly, their eyes tracing each other's eyebrows, nose bridge, and the curve of the corners of the lips inch by inch, as if they wanted to engrave the current face deeply into the deepest part of their hearts.

An Lingrong felt that all her strength was rapidly draining away, and the scene before her eyes began to blur.

She gritted her teeth and used her last bit of strength to put her index finger into her mouth and bit it hard, and a drop of bright red blood immediately gushed out.

She raised her blood-stained finger tremblingly, first dropped a drop on Shen Meizhuang's wrist, then dropped a drop on Zhen Huan's wrist, and finally did the same on her own wrist.

"If there is an afterlife... through this... we can recognize each other..."

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【Complete book】

Since you have read this far, I will not explain the plot and characters in detail.

I bow deeply and thank my fellow book lovers for their company and support.

——It is you who make every moment of typing late at night meaningful. It is your comments, urging for updates, and encouragement that make this story no longer a one-man show of mine.

I hope this book has made you laugh or cry, even if it only touched you for a moment, then my writing will not have been in vain.

May I have no regrets in this life.

——Writing is like this, and so is life.

And we will see you again in the future.

Sincerely,

March 26th, 2025