Jade of Another World

The carriage slowly entered the palace. Nangong Jin was extremely anxious. He carefully carried Lin Ning and rushed to her bedchamber. When he gently placed Lin Ning on the bed, he noticed that her face was as pale as paper, her lips were bloodless, and her breath was so weak that it was almost inaudible.

"Imperial physician! Summon the imperial physician at once!" Nangong Jin roared, his voice filled with unprecedented panic and fear. Soon, the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital arrived one after another. They surrounded Lin Ning's sickbed and examined her with solemn expressions.

Time ticked by, and the imperial physicians' brows furrowed deeper, their expressions growing increasingly grave. Finally, the head physician shook his head helplessly, knelt on the ground, and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress's injuries are too severe; we are truly powerless to help..."

"Impossible!" A madness flashed in Nangong Jin's eyes. He glared and roared, "I order you to save her, or I will not spare you!" The imperial physicians trembled with fear and kowtowed repeatedly, their foreheads soon bleeding.

Hearing Nangong Jin's roar, Lin Ning used her last bit of strength to slightly open her eyes and said in a weak voice, "Your Majesty... please don't blame them anymore, I beg you to forgive them..." Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, but it was crystal clear to Nangong Jin's ears.

Looking at Lin Ning's weakened state, Nangong Jin felt a pang of pain in his heart, and his eyes instantly reddened. He tightly grasped Lin Ning's hand, gently pulled her into his arms, and said in a trembling voice, "Ning'er, I won't let you die. You can't leave me, I can't live without you..."

Looking into Nangong Jin's anxious and sorrowful eyes, Lin Ning felt a surge of emotion. She forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty... I know your feelings for me, but... I'm afraid I can no longer stay with you..."

"No, no!" Nangong Jin shook his head repeatedly, tears streaming down his face. "I am the Emperor, I can definitely save you. I will send people to find the best doctors in the world, they will surely have a way to cure you!"

Lin Ning gently shook her head and said, "Your Majesty, please don't waste your energy... In my life, meeting Your Majesty has been enough... But I have one more wish, and I hope Your Majesty will grant it..."

"Tell me, I'll agree to anything you say!" Nangong Jin said eagerly, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Lin Ning took a slight breath and said, "Your Majesty, please spare Princess Ruoli and stop pursuing the matter of her faking my death... Also, I hope Your Majesty can be a good emperor and bring blessings to the people..."

Nangong Jin held Lin Ning tightly, nodded vigorously, and said, "Okay, I promise you, I will definitely do it! Ning'er, you must hold on, I can't lose you..."

However, Lin Ning's body grew colder and colder, and her eyes gradually lost their light. She took one last look at Nangong Jin and whispered, "Your Majesty... In the next life, I hope to meet Your Majesty again. At that time, I will definitely love you well..." After saying that, her head drooped limply, and she closed her eyes forever.

"Ning'er! Ning'er!" Nangong Jin held Lin Ning's body, calling out loudly, tears streaming down his face like a burst dam. His voice echoed in the palace, filled with endless grief and despair...

Soul's Perspective? Rebirth Revolving Lantern

Lin Ning's consciousness hovered above the crystal coffin, watching her pale face flicker in and out of the clear crystal. Nangong Jin's fingertips were tracing the edge of the coffin, his dragon-patterned cuffs stained with blood—splattered from when he cleaved open the breastbone of the surrendered Nanzhao general with his bare hands last night.

“Ning’er, look at this crystal. It’s even more transparent than the Western Region glass you used to praise.” His voice was hoarse, like a rusty bowstring. “I had peach petals laid at the bottom of the coffin. You said you liked the way they fell on your shoulders…” His voice suddenly choked up. He pressed his forehead against the crystal, his dragon crown askew, revealing the new frost at his temples.

Lin Ning's soul drifted gently out the window, where the leaves of the paulownia trees outside the palace walls were falling softly. She saw herself three months ago, wearing Nangong Jinshang's pale yellow dress, chasing butterflies under the tree. He leaned against a pillar, smiling, and said, "Ning'er's eyes are brighter than butterflies." Now, that paulownia tree had been cut down, and a blood-stained white banner was wrapped around the broken end—the head of the Nanzhao envoy hung atop the banner.

"Your Majesty, it's time for the morning court session." The eunuch's voice trembled outside the door. Suddenly, a cracking sound came from inside the crystal coffin. Nangong Jin's palm was cut, and blood trickled down Lin Ning's cheek. "Step back!" he roared, slamming the memorial against the bronze candlestick. "I've said it before, without Ning'er, the morning court session is not worth attending."

Lin Ning's soul swept across the Taiji Hall, where the vermilion annotations on the memorials scattered on the ground were stained with blood. Twelve imperial edicts had been issued in succession to "conquer Nanzhao," and battle reports from the border arrived, showing that the land trampled by 100,000 troops was barren. Lin Ning saw Wanyan Qiang's head hanging on the city wall, his eyes wide open until death, with Nangong Jin's jade thumb ring inserted between his brows—a birthday gift she had given him last year.

At midnight, Nangong Jin staggered into the palace, carrying a wine jar. Suddenly, the crystal coffin emitted a faint light, and he awoke with a start, smashing the wine jar to pieces: "Ning'er! I heard you calling me..." He lay on the coffin, soaked to the bone, the hem of his dragon robe drenched in half-melted snow—he had just returned from the peach blossom grove outside the palace, carrying peach blossoms that should have long since withered.

“Look, they’ve bloomed…” The peach petals on his fingertips withered on the crystal. “The imperial physician said you’re afraid of the cold, so I had someone place a warm jade at the bottom of the coffin…” He suddenly coughed violently, black blood splattering onto the stray hairs at Lin Ning’s temples. Only then did she realize that there was a blood-soaked bandage wrapped under his inner robe—the knife wound he had taken to save her that day was actually deep in his heart.

Her soul drifted with the moonlight towards the imperial mausoleum, where a newly erected, wordless stele stood deep within the peach grove. Before the stele sat Nangong Ruoli, a silver hairpin given to her by Lin Ning adorning her hair, and a white silk ribbon bestowed upon her by Nangong Jin around her neck—"I grant you a complete corpse, thus fulfilling Ning'er's request." Lin Ning wanted to reach out and touch Ruoli's trembling shoulder, but saw her own soul gradually becoming transparent.

Looking back at the palace one last time, Nangong Jin curled up beside the crystal coffin, clutching her old handkerchief in his arms. The embroidered words "May the moonlight flow to illuminate you" on the handkerchief were blurred by tears, much like his trembling fingertips when he tucked flowers into her hair during their first meeting. As dawn broke, the peach petals in the crystal coffin suddenly withered, and finally, no new bloodstains appeared on Nangong Jin's dragon-patterned cuffs.

When the gates of rebirth opened, the last thing Lin Ning saw was the reflection of the emperor, forever frozen at twenty-four, in the crystal coffin, stretching out his hand to the air and saying, "Ning'er, do you want to see my empire one more time?"