Repeatedly broken branches

Yu Yanjing's mother, Empress Xi, has been dead for eighteen years. She and Xia Yunzhi's mother passed away in the same year, and today is also her birthday. So in the early morning, many old maids released paper lanterns by the lake. Most of the new palace maids had never seen Empress Xi, but most of the older palace maids had spent time with her.

Having received her kindness, she was a very kind and tolerant person. Whether they were palace maids or eunuchs, they were all equal in her eyes. She would share the snacks bestowed by the emperor with the palace maids and eunuchs around her, and she would ask the imperial physicians to take care of the sick palace maids and eunuchs. During festivals, she would also give them double the allowance and all sorts of novelties.

So even though she has been gone for so many years, there are still people who remember her, release paper lanterns for her to pray for her soul, and hope that she will soon ascend to the Pure Land.

Passing by the Buddhist hall where Consort Jing resides, one can still hear her reciting scriptures to express her grief and blessings, a sound that can be heard every year at this time.

But nobody knows that these are scriptures about these things, because how could someone who doesn't understand them know?

Ru Meng had made it a habit to release the paper lanterns that Consort Jing had folded overnight into the lake early every morning on this day when no one was around. It was said that these paper lanterns could float all the way to the sea. She didn't know if it was true or not. Anyway, the people of Chaoyang Kingdom were used to releasing paper lanterns in the early morning because by night, they would float on the sea and carry the thoughts of their families to their deceased relatives.

She starts preparing the peach shortbread and sweet cookies that Xihou loves in the morning, and they can be placed on the altar for worship at noon.

Consort Jing knelt before the Buddha statue, her hands clasped together in devout prayer, silently reciting something in her heart. After repeating these words several times, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at Rumeng, who had already finished everything.

"Ru Meng, where are the scriptures I copied?"

Ru Meng brought over the scriptures handwritten by Consort Jing from behind, and Consort Jing put them all into an iron basin on the ground and burned them to ashes.

Looking at the ashes floating in the air, she suddenly remembered the heavy snowfall in Chaoyang Kingdom more than twenty years ago.

It never snows in Chaoyang Kingdom, but in the fifth year after she gave birth to Mo'er, which was also the year Empress Xi entered the palace, it suddenly snowed heavily for several days.

They all found it very strange, and despite the cold, they built snowmen and had a snowball fight in the courtyard. At this moment, the procession of Empress Xi slowly passed in front of her as she entered the palace. It was the first time she had ever seen such a beautiful woman.

She had the same pair of beautiful, almost bewitching peach blossom eyes as Yu Yanjing. Her skin was as white as the snow in the courtyard. Consort Jing had never seen such a fair-skinned woman. Her lips were rosy, as red as winter plum blossoms.

I heard that she came from the Snow Country. No wonder she was expressionless when the Chaoyang Kingdom experienced such a rare heavy snowfall. It seems that she has always been expressionless ever since then.

She was very unhappy, very unhappy.

But everyone envied her. She became the empress as soon as she entered the palace and was favored by the emperor. Every day, Consort Jing could see a constant stream of rewards sent to Empress Xi's palace, but she didn't even glance at them. Of course, she was a princess born into a noble family. What kind of things hadn't she seen?

Consort Jing had never spoken to her, nor had she ever heard her voice.

Finally, the coronation ceremony ended, and she heard Empress Xi's voice for the first time. Her voice was sweet and melodious, but it was devoid of any emotion.

She sat on the high throne of the empress, her eyes dull and lifeless. Was she still unhappy, even with such a noble status?

The first time Consort Jing spoke with her was on a rainy afternoon when Empress Xi was taking a walk in the garden. She never came out except when it had rained.

When she and Mo'er returned from school, they saw that Empress Xi was walking ahead alone, without any maids. Consort Jing didn't think much of it.

As they walked, they saw a handkerchief fall from Empress Xi's body. Consort Jing quickly picked it up but only glanced at it briefly. It was embroidered with a pond and a blue butterfly. She then quickly called out to Empress Xi.

Empress Xi hurriedly took the handkerchief and kept thanking Consort Jing.

This was the first time Consort Jing had seen any extra expression on her face.

"Your Majesty, why do you always come out when the rain stops? I've never seen you at other times."

Consort Jing finally couldn't help but ask the question, knowing that she was being presumptuous.

hope Hou said calmly, "Because at this time, most people are alone."

She disliked crowds, disliked being in crowded places, disliked interacting with people, and did not want to leave the snowy country where she had lived for seventeen years.

She harbored a secret that no one knew except herself.

That is, she already had someone else in her heart, but that person married her older sister, He.

The man's name was Chi, an assassin working for her father. In her memory, Chi was a cold-blooded and ruthless person, but he would always bring her a piece of candy when he completed a mission.

She still remembers how sweet the maltose was.

Chi was ten years older than her. By the time she was fifteen, Chi was already twenty-five. At that time, she didn't know what love was. She only knew that Chi had returned, and she could finally eat the candy from outside the palace.

However, on one occasion, Chi received a mission to go to the Western Regions and had been gone for more than a month. Normally, he would return within a month at most.

Xi waited and waited, but Chi never came. She wandered around the city wall every day, hoping to see Chi riding back on horseback in the distance.

Finally, one day, Chi returned. It was his older sister who brought him back. She knew that her sister's skills were comparable to Chi's, so it must have been their father who sent her to rescue Chi.

That time, Chi handed her the maltose he brought back from the Western Regions. hope had never eaten such delicious maltose before. It had a light fruity flavor. She looked at the small packet and was a little reluctant to eat it.

Chi patted her head and said, "Princess, I'm getting married."

hope suddenly felt that the candy in her hand was not so sweet anymore, and her peach blossom eyes filled with tears. Although she did not know why she was like this, perhaps she was afraid that she would never be able to eat the candy that Chi gave her again?

"Is your bride beautiful? Do I know her?"

"It was your sister He who saved me from the brink of death."

hope didn't understand why. Did the debt of saving her life have to be repaid with marriage?

"Why is it my older sister, and not someone else?"

Chi smiled and said, "Princess, it's only when I'm with her that I can serve His Majesty without any distractions. Your sister is a princess and also an assassin. We have the same mission, so perhaps we should be together."

Should? Perhaps? Even he himself was so uncertain.

hope wiped away her tears and continued, "Will you continue to bring me candy?"

Chi shook his head. "In the future, someone will send the princess lots and lots of candy, but not me."

hope felt terrible, but she didn't know why. She looked coldly at Chi, not knowing what to say. She felt betrayed, yet she also felt ridiculous.

He sent her candy for ten years, but one day he suddenly told her that he would no longer send her candy. hope found it hard to accept. She knew that what she wanted was not candy, but the future that Chi Xu gave her.

There's no future in this world; have you ever seen a killer meet a peaceful end?

On the day of Chi and her sister's wedding, hope deliberately quarreled with her father and successfully failed to attend their wedding banquet. She couldn't bear to watch Chi and her sister go to the wedding ceremony in their red wedding robes.

hope hid in the room and cried for a long, long time. Under her pillow was another layer of candy wrapped in maltose. She couldn't bear to eat that fruity candy anymore, because it was the only one Chi had ever given her, the last time.

He would only give it to his sister from now on. She suddenly envied her sister. Why did her sister have so many things? Her sister could be an assassin, and her sister could marry Chi Cheng. Why couldn't she, a princess, do the same thing?

Two years passed in the blink of an eye. The things she couldn't understand when she was fifteen still didn't make sense to her now. She became taciturn, but no one noticed the change in her, because whenever she was unhappy, her father would always reward her with many, many things, as if these things could heal her.

She knew she was going to marry into the Chaoyang Kingdom, and she also knew that her sister and Chi were doing well. Chi was no longer an assassin, and he and her sister had a daughter who was very cute.

She had seen Chi carrying their daughter past on the city wall, a smile on his face, but it disappeared when her sister arrived.

Perhaps he still doesn't love his sister, but they will still be together and raise their daughter together.

On the night before her wedding, she stood alone on the city wall. For the past ten years, she would always climb the city wall to watch Chi return on horseback in the distance. It had become something she did every day, regardless of whether Chi came back or not.

"Princess."

It was the sound of the pond.

hope was afraid he had misheard, so he quickly turned around to ask for confirmation.

It was indeed him. His face no longer held the coldness and ruthlessness of before; instead, it showed a gentler side and a sense of vicissitude.

How could he look so weathered? He should be living a much better life than he did as an assassin.

"Brother-in-law."

Chi pulled a packet of maltose wrapped in kraft paper from his pocket and placed it on the edge of the city wall. He chuckled and said, "Try it. Is it the same taste?"

hope opened the parchment, picked up a small piece of maltose and put it in his mouth. It was a candy with a faint fruity flavor, the kind that could only be bought in the Western Regions.

"Where did you buy it? Why is it exactly the same as what I ate two years ago?"

Without changing his expression, he said, "The Western Regions."

He went all the way to the Western Regions just to buy this candy? Impossible, impossible. Could it be that his father made him an assassin again?

hope smiled and asked, "Why go to the Western Regions?"

"Because I told Minmin that there was a kind of malt candy in the Western Regions that was very delicious, and Minmin insisted on eating it, so I went to the Western Regions."

Minmin is the name of his and his sister's daughter.

Xi felt incredibly ridiculous. It turned out that it was because Minmin wanted to eat it. How could she have been so naive as to think that he had specially bought it for her!

"Oh, it's nothing, I'll be going now. My father also said that I should try on my wedding dress."

hope turned and brushed past Chi. Just as she walked behind Chi, Chi reached out and grabbed her wrist tightly.

She was taken aback.

But he didn't turn around.

"This is a wedding gift for you." Chi placed something wrapped in a handkerchief in her hand, then released her wrist.

She smiled, said thank you, and then disappeared on the city wall.

At that moment, Chi had no more attachments in his heart. He was willing to die, never wanting to be an assassin with attachments again. No one knew that once an assassin has feelings, he loses the right to be an assassin, without exception.

He could be a single-minded assassin again, but why couldn't he be happy?

He looked down from the city wall with a bitter smile. When he was fifteen, he had ridden past there on horseback. Just by looking up at the sky, he saw a girl flying a kite on the city wall. The girl's voice was as clear as a silver bell, which took away the last bit of emotion in his heart.

……

From then on, the relationship between Consort Jing and Empress hope began to warm up, and she would chat with Empress Xi about what happened in their private quarters.

They flew kites together in the Imperial Garden, swung on swings together, and picked up Mo'er from school together. Days passed by like this, and finally one day, Empress Xi became pregnant.

Consort Jing was truly happy for her. Although she rarely smiled as usual, she was finally going to smile more because of the arrival of this child.

But she was also worried. Because of her close relationship with Empress hope, the Emperor would visit her and Mo'er more often. If Empress Xi had her own child, would everything go back to square one?

The Emperor already has nine sons, but none of them are legitimate sons. If the child in Empress Xi's womb is a prince, he will be the Emperor's only legitimate son. Given how much the Emperor dotes on Empress Xi, this child will be the future Crown Prince.

Although Consort Jing inevitably had many thoughts in her heart, she still took good care of Empress Xi and shared her experience of being pregnant before. Empress Xi also regarded her as her own sister.

As expected, Empress Xi gave birth to a baby boy, and the Emperor was very happy. He named him Jing. The meaning of the character Jing is self-evident; anyone with discerning eyes could see that the Emperor had high hopes for this child.

Xi Hou also became more optimistic, spending her days around the child. She became much more cheerful, enjoyed going out to play, and started talking to people proactively. Everything was developing in a positive direction.

One day, hope Hou suddenly received a letter from her family in the Snow Country. She became depressed for a while and fell seriously ill.

Even the imperial physicians were helpless; no one knew what was wrong with her or why she had suddenly become like this.

When Consort Jing saw the dying Xihou lying on the bed, she felt inexplicably sad, but she also wondered if the Emperor would not favor Ajing as much if she died.

Will my Mo'er be able to be like before?

She was terrified that she could have such a wicked thought.

However, Xi still couldn't pull through.

The Emperor was devastated and ordered a grand funeral for Empress hope. The whole country mourned for a month, and the Emperor himself stayed at Empress Xi's mourning hall for a full month without attending court.

At that time, Consort Jing passed by Empress Xi's grave and saw little Yu Yanjing, who looked so helpless and pitiful. He had lost his mother, and his father was also in a daze.

In his world, the sun and the moon disappeared overnight.

At that time, Consort Jing simply wanted to take care of him, because of her five-year relationship with Empress hope, and because Yu Yanjing was really well-behaved, so well-behaved that it was heartbreaking.

She asked the Emperor if she could raise Yu Yanjing, but the Emperor, who had no time to care about such things, granted her request.

Everyone says she's after the throne, but she doesn't care.

That was the first time she held Yu Yanjing's soft little hand to go to school. At that time, he would ask again and again, "When will my mother come back? Is my mother really dead?"

Consort Jing would patiently tell him that his mother was not dead, but had gone to a very far place, and that one day they would meet again, and then they would truly never be separated again.

Consort Jing was in a daze for a moment, wondering why she would think of these things. Perhaps it was because today was Empress Xi's birthday, and she hadn't recalled the past so carefully in a long time.

Ru Meng has already gone downstairs to prepare dinner.

She slowly stood up, but suddenly everything went black. She reached out to find something to support herself, but accidentally knocked over the oil lamp. She couldn't make a sound.

She collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted, watching helplessly as the fire grew larger and larger; she had even resigned herself to death.