The golden tent fell, isolating the inner and outer worlds. The emperor slowly leaned against the sedan chair, and his eyes, which had once been as bright as lightning, suddenly dimmed and no longer had any light in them.
He slightly closed his eyelids, as if taking a nap, and let the palace eunuchs carry the sedan chair and move it along the palace road in the early morning.
The sound of swords clashing at dawn had faded away, and the blood in the palace was gradually dissipating.
The morning sky was white and smoky. Deep in the deserted palace road, the crisp chirping of spring pigeons could be heard. In the cool morning breeze that passed through the palace garden, dew rolled on the lush green branches of the laurel trees planted beside the palace road. As the palanquin passed under the branches, a drop of dew fell on the emperor's forehead.
Zhao Zhongfang, who was following beside him, immediately took out a plain towel, reached over, and wiped away the water stains gently. The person in the sedan chair did not move at all, as if he had fallen asleep in the morning breeze. After wiping, Zhao Zhongfang looked at the people carrying the sedan chair, and the two of them understood and quickened their pace.
"Where's Ye Zhongli?"
Suddenly, the emperor's eyelids twitched and he asked in a low voice.
After that night, at dawn, Ye Zhongli took Ding Baiya's remains away.
"I tried to keep him here but to no avail, so I and the Prince Consort escorted him out of the palace. Your Majesty had not yet woken up, so he did not inform you..."
Zhao Zhongfang responded carefully.
The emperor concentrated, as if listening to a distant sound coming from some direction.
After he developed cataracts in his eyes and the imperial doctors' treatment was useless, the emperor's ears became more sensitive than before. When he had nothing to do, he often sat alone facing the small window. On windless afternoons, he could often count the number of fallen leaves from the branches in front of the window.
"I would like to go over and sit down for a while," said the emperor.
The sedan chair turned and passed by the ruins of Yong'an Palace, winding all the way to the depths of the liquid pool and stopped in front of the old apricot tree.
The morning breeze blew through the branches, and the flowers on the tree fluttered down and fell, like a late spring snow.
The emperor sat in front of the tree for a long time, took out an object wrapped in a robe from his deep arms, held it in his palm for a long time, and slowly handed it over.
"Leave it to him," the emperor whispered.
Zhao Zhongfang was startled, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. Hesitantly, he raised his hand, but did not take it immediately.
"Your Majesty..." His voice trembled slightly.
"Why are you crying?" The emperor turned around and his eyes accurately stopped at the old palace eunuch's face.
"Old slave... Old slave did not cry."
The emperor was silent for a moment.
"Do as I say." He said in a low voice.
"Yes, I will send someone to catch up with him right away!"
The old palace supervisor quickly wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, carefully took it, turned around, and limped away quickly.
Another gust of wind blew, and large pieces of delicate flowers could not withstand the wind and flew off the branches.
Spring is coming to an end.
A light fallen petal, like snow, floated slowly and silently, and landed on the emperor's sleeve.
His other hand moved, and then, groping, he finally touched the fallen flower.
He picked it up. In the fresh, juicy pistil, he seemed to smell a familiar lingering fragrance from the past.
"Ah Jing. Ah Jing."
The emperor gently called out a name towards the falling flowers on his fingertips.
"Almost done, almost done. There is one last thing, wait for me to tell you..."
The emperor drooped his eyes and muttered.