She struggled so hard that Pei Xiaoyuan had to hold her in his arms as he moved forward. When they reached an ancient cypress tree at the end of the palace road, he loosened his arms and let her fall onto the soft ground covered with cypress needles.
It was already dusk, and the clouds above Chang'an were suddenly gathered into a huge, thick black cloud by a strong wind from the wilderness outside the city, slowly pressing down on the city. The clear sky quickly darkened. A few palace crows that had always built their nests in the palace cypress trees, where few people usually passed by, spread their wings and flew away in fright.
As soon as her feet touched the ground and were free, before she could stand firmly, Xuyu pulled away his other hand that was still covering her mouth to prevent her from making any sound, and then without saying a word, turned around and ran back in the direction they came from.
"Princess, please stay!"
That powerful hand grabbed her arm from behind again, making it impossible for her to break free, and she had to stop again.
Fortunately, this time, he didn't cover her mouth again.
Xuyu stood with her back to the man for a moment, and suddenly she could no longer restrain herself. She turned around and said, "Why didn't you ask me in just now? Let me go!" Anger was already flowing in her eyes.
The last ray of sunlight that had not yet been swallowed by the dark clouds leaked through the gaps between the green and shady branches of the cypress and fell on her face. Her face was the palest color he had never seen before, and the anger in her eyes that was transferred to him and the stern tone of questioning him were also what he had never encountered in her before.
"Princess, please be patient."
Pei Xiaoyuan accepted her anger and questioning. The voice and tone he used when speaking to her at this moment were softer than ever before.
"Princess, you will understand if you think about it. His Majesty clearly already knew about Empress Zhaode's last..."
He paused for a moment, and replaced the words that were so cruel that he couldn't bear to say them with a euphemism.
"He never told you where Empress Zhaode's last immortal trace was. Why? He was afraid that if the princess knew, she would be heartbroken and unable to accept such a result."
"If the princess had barged in to question him just now, what would have been the point other than frightening Your Majesty, causing him to feel heartbroken and regretful, and making him more worried about the princess?"
At this moment, Pei Xiaoyuan couldn't help but recall the scene when he was taken to the mass grave in the eastern suburbs that night.
When the emperor was recounting the past, Pei Xiaoyuan still had a deep impression of the despair and depression he felt as if he had been buried in the endless darkness of the eternal night.
He ruled the world, had the power of life and death, and was known to kill millions of people in a fit of rage. However, the woman he had loved had disappeared from the world, broken into pieces and scattered without a trace. All he could do was endure it. And he endured it for more than ten years.
In a person's life, how many decades can be used to endure
And all this happened to a man who was honored as the Son of Heaven. Isn't it the greatest irony
It has to be said that even though Pei Xiaoyuan still cannot let go of the person in the Purple Palace, he can't help but feel a little moved when thinking about this.
"If it is possible, we will use all the power in the world to bring Empress Zhaode back to her home for worship. I think Your Majesty would be willing to do so."
He continued slowly.
The rain stopped.