After hearing the news that Yuan Shilan had passed, Nalan Hongye remained silent for a long while. Wen Yuan left the room, along with her servants.

　　She recalled the last time she saw the cold lady. Her face was bandaged. Even if her wounds were not visible, it was easy to imagine how badly her face had been disfigured through the bloodstains on the bandage.

　　She looked at Nalan Hongye calmly and said, “Even if it’s not me, it won’t be you.”

　　Nalan smiled plainly. Given her status, it was inadequate of her to visit a concubine who had been alienated. However, she still visited her in the end. This instant, faced with her disparaging remarks, she did not react much. She looked at her quietly and blurted out a sentence which she had hidden for a long time, “Even if it’s not you, you don’t need to do this. Don’t you know that the entire palace has been waiting for this day?”

　　“Who has time to fight with them?” Yuan Shilan laughed coldly as she managed a terrifying smile. “I don’t want to waste time waiting for a man who doesn’t love me.”

　　Nalan Hongye continued, “What about Your Majesty? Do you feel nothing towards him?”

　　Yuan Shilan, with a ferocious expression on her face, answered in a low voice, “I don’t want anything that’s not mine.”

　　In Dongnan Palace, Nalan Hongye leaned on her chair and smiled.

　　Was that really true? Did she feel nothing towards him? If that was really the case, why would she disfigure herself over a person she did not care about? Why would she lament her fate, in the face of loneliness? Why would she want to die then?

　　Ultimately, she was young, naive and willful. It was only because of these reasons that she could act in this manner. She had not thought of how her family would suffer if she killed herself just like that.

　　The back palace was a terrifying place. It caused people to lose their minds, including the young lady who disfigured herself by slashing her face time and again, then committing suicide thereafter.

　　She thought that her death would cause him to reproach himself out of guilt and remember her forever. However, she did not realize that it would just create a small, temporary ripple. The topic would be brought up casually when the concubines had meals with each other, and nothing thereafter. U.p..dated by B oxnovel.com

　　This palace had no shortage of souls that had lost their lives in vain. With the passage of time, through months and years, who would remember her?

　　“How stupid!” Nalan Hongye sighed lightly. With her status, she could have enjoyed a life of luxury. Alas, she did not have the brains nor the tolerance.

　　“Madam?” Wen Yuan stood by the door and called out, holding a bowl of medicine in her hands.

　　Nalan Hongye gestured casually for her to come in, taking the bowl of medicine from her. Although the medicine was very bitter, she did not even flinch as she swallowed it mouthful by mouthful.

　　Wen Yuan watched on as she looked at another small bowl with sugar in it. She wanted to say something but did not.

　　“These are my instructions. Concubine Yuan was virtuous, generous, and kind. Having passed away of severe illness, she is to be promoted to a sixth-level concubine and buried in the mausoleum in the west. Her family is to be bestowed with 1,000 taels of gold, while her brother is to be promoted to an official.”

　　Wen Yuan was stunned as she looked at Nalan in confusion. Yes, she had the power to intervene in political matters and oversee anything in Song involving fourth-ranked officials and below. However, since she fell ill, she had given up her power for over two years. Was it worth it to do this for a concubine who had sinned?

　　Nalan Hongye did not explain further as she continued, “Your Majesty is busy with matters in court. Don’t tell him of Concubine Yuan’s passing. Order the officials to watch their mouths.”

　　Wen Yuan nodded and obliged.

　　The palace fell into silence. Nalan Hongye, having spent great effort to utter those words, felt tired. She lay down and frowned, as she used her fingers to rub her Taiyang acupoint.

　　Even if he alienated her, he still felt something for her. After all, he had loved and doted on her. He would undoubtedly feel sad upon learning of her passing. Now that there was unrest at the northwestern borders, coupled with the internal politics in court, he had enough matters on his hands to worry about.

　　After she took her medicine, she tried to sleep. Dreamily, she thought to herself about Concubine Yuan’s fate. Perhaps, in a few years, he would forget about her too. Even if he recalled, he would not feel much towards a woman who had seemingly passed away “due to illness”.

　　As the candlelight flickered, it was another cold, lonely night. As the decree from Dongnan Palace spread to the other palaces, the various palace heads gained awareness of the empress’s intentions. Even if they felt displeasure towards Yuan Shilan and her family, no one dared to speak up. A few days ago, Lady Cheng had turned up personally to apologize. This signaled a big thing: the empress still held her power and was not to be underestimated.

　　The back palace was still seemingly peaceful. There was still dancing and singing every night, supplemented with the sounds of musical instruments. Amidst the joy, all of the plotting was overshadowed by the snow. In the vast palace, the lady was forgotten just like a wilted flower.

　　“More courage is needed to live on than to die.” Nalan Hongye’s smile was always so plain. She looked at the sky outside the window, as she seemingly saw the green shadow.

　　He stood there and looked at her, with his heavy sword by his side. He stood straight, with the darkness above him. On the day of her father’s burial, he stood behind the grieving princess and said this sentence.

　　“But…”

　　The winds started to blow outside. The snow from last night had not stopped yet. With the winds, the snow was scattered about as they flew in mid-air.

　　“Why did you suddenly lose the courage then?”

　　Yushu remembered the day of Xuan Mo’s passing. It was raining heavily. The physicians were all drenched; their foreheads were especially wet.

　　That morning, the weather was sunny. She led the servants to dry his books in the courtyard. However, in the evening, the troops from the Dongnan Sea suddenly escorted a carriage into the city, all the way to Xuan Mo’s residence.

　　His expression was pale as he was helped out of his carriage by other people. He walked into his study and got changed, as he prepared to enter the palace. However, before he stepped out of the door, he collapsed in a pool of his own blood. She stood beside him and cried helplessly, as the servants swarmed towards him in a panicked manner, carrying him into the house and rushing out to get a physician.

　　It was then that the rain started to pour. It continued for seven days without stopping. The civilians all said that the heavens were crying for Lord Xuan, as a gesture to send a hero off.

　　The physicians swarmed in, batch by batch, all uttering the same thing to her in the end.

　　He was too heavily wounded, he had lost too much blood, his body was too weak from prolonged periods of combat, he had forced his body to make long journeys without recovering properly, his organs had been damaged… However, she no longer heard anything else. She watched on as the elderly men departed with grim looks on their faces.

　　She wondered to herself What were they saying? Why didn’t they go in to treat him? He was able-bodied, enough to lift up swords that weighed more than 40 kilograms and spears that weighed more than 50 kilograms. He had been slightly wounded, what was the big deal? Why was he lying there and not getting up? The eldest princess’s document of marriage had been approved; the Yan Emperor was departing tomorrow… He was an important official of Song, why wasn’t he going to send them off?

　　She filtered all the noises outside and ran to his side. She nudged his arm lightly, just like many years ago, as she called out to him, “My lord, get up… My lord, get up…”

　　However, he remained motionless as his eyes remained shut. He frowned tightly as if he was not able to let go of something. His arms were icy cold. She felt more and more fearful but did not use more strength to tug at his arm. She continued to shout again and again, “My lord, get up… My lord, get up…”

　　Sounds of crying started to echo out. Some maidservants took out their handkerchiefs and wiped their tears discreetly. However, she felt angry suddenly. She turned around and chased them all out.

　　The rain outside was heavy. As the doors opened, the cold winds blew at her thin clothes.

　　A physician walked forward and whispered, “Madam, Lord Xuan won’t be able to make it. You must take it easy on yourself.”

　　She had been a gentle, courteous woman all her life, remaining filial to her parents, following her siblings’ wishes, and listening to her husband. She did not object to anything. However, at that instant, in a fit of anger, she slapped the physician in the face and hollered, “Nonsense!”

　　The elderly physician remained silent and looked at her calmly, yet sympathetically.

　　She finally broke down. Her knees buckled as she fainted.

　　When she woke up, Xuan Mo had woken up as well. His aides stood in the courtyard outside, going in batch by batch to hear his final words. As she carried her child into the room, those people formed a passageway for her. She stood by the tree in front of the room, looking quietly at the candlelight by the window. It was just like many years ago when they met for the first time.

　　She was still young back then, as she followed obediently behind her father with her siblings by her side. Amidst all the aristocrats, her plain white dress made her appear out of place. He stood by the corridor as he appeared strikingly handsome. His smile was warm and gentle, like the spring winds.

　　The servants followed behind her, carrying the umbrella for her. Yong’er was still young; his face was chubby. He lay in her embrace, yawning from time to time, looking fatigued.

　　Those people talked for a long time. As she was Xuan Mo’s wife, no one shunned her. She heard the other people whisper softly to each other, mainly about the marriage of the eldest princess. They also discussed other various issues such as how they would continue to run the country, how to consolidate their positions in the new court, how to avoid conflict with the officials of Yan, and how to integrate into the court of Yan to help the princess out. In addition, some of Xuan Mo’s aides claimed that they wanted to pass some letters to Yan Xun.

　　Finally, the crowd dispersed bit by bit. The courtyard quietened down; only the sounds of the raindrops could be heard.