In the piercing sunlight, her palm felt as though it had been burnt by fire, as if words had been engraved on her hand. Blood had filled her vision, as the mountains and lands collapsed before her eyes. She seemed to be witnessing some sort of surreal catastrophe, with weed overgrowing, the grounds split to give way to an ocean beneath. She had been abandoned alone, standing on a plain with fire burning all around her as the vast avalanche and the tsunami shadowed over her and buried her beneath. She was so tired, as she closed her eyes and sank towards that catacomb of darkness.

When Chu Qiao woke up, the rain had just stopped. The moonlight poked out from behind the clouds, spilling its gentle glow onto the bedroom of Mihe Residence. If felt as though it was in the peak of autumn, as the dewdrops fell on the sycamore leaves with crisp echoes. The palace was empty and deserted, and it was as though the entire world had died, with only her left. Slowly moving her body, the dry and cold wind pierced her body, reminding that she was still alive.

From the Rou Fu Palace, there were loud sounds of musical instruments playing. That was the nightly party that Li Ce held with his harem. Every night at this time, there will be some form of celebration that decorates this grandiose palace.

When Chu Qiao was first rescued, the court had a strong wave of opposition. The hundreds of officials endlessly expressed their disdain for Emperor Li Ce’s actions. After debating with them for over ten days, Li Ce finally flipped, and kicking down the throne, he bellowed that he did not want to be the Emperor anymore, and that whoever wanted to could take the throne from him. The officials lost their composure. Only after kneeling outside the Chang Xin Palace for two whole days did they manage to convince this Emperor who had skipped over 70 days of work in merely two years after being throned. Since then, no one dared to mention Chu Qiao again.

On the other hand, Li Ce’s behavior was comforting to the officials. Apart from how he had paid particular attention to Chu Qiao in the first few days, he had mostly returned to the playboy he was. With him returning to normal, the officials finally heaved a sigh of relief. Deep down, many thought that this Yan Bei woman must not have that much attractiveness anyways. The very fact that Li Ce even went ahead to save her was probably on a whim anyway.

When Li Ce entered, Chu Qiao had not made any noise, so he thought that he was still sleeping. Carefully tiptoeing, he acted like a burglar, resulting in the amusement of the maidservants who were watching. Covering their mouths, they did not dare to laugh out loud. After lifting up the veil and seeing Chu Qiao, who was sitting on the bed, Li Ce was slightly taken aback as he smiled and walked over. Holding an intricately made basket, he acted as though he was presenting some kind of treasure as he said, “Someone brought fresh pomegranates, do you want to eat?”

Chu Qiao did not reply. She still seemed drowsy, as though she had not fully woke up. Li Ce sat beside her and looked at her still pale and skinny face. His brows furrowed up very slightly before relaxing again. Picking up a pomegranate, he peeled it open, revealing the crimson pearls inside. Looking over, he smiled and brought it over to Chu Qiao’s mouth, and opened his mouth, as though telling her to open up and eat, before saying, “Qiao Qiao, open up, like me. Ahhh…”

“Li Ce, I have fully recovered.” Like a pool of undisturbed water, her voice was exceedingly calm.

Looking at her, Li Ce would often get the misconception that it was three years ago when she lived in his palace, and nothing had changed. Yet, he started to realize that things were already different. She would no longer confidently tell him about her dreams and ambitions, and would no longer talk about that man with a sparkle in her eyes, and had no longer had hopes and wishes for the future. Even her pair of eyes lost the shine she used to have, as though her crystal clear irises had been covered by a blanket of mist, completely muddled.

“Yes, you are recovering already.”

“I want to leave.”

Li Ce was completely unsurprised that she would say that. With much curiosity, he inquired, “Where will you go?”

Chu Qiao shook her head, seemingly still undecided, and honestly admitted, “I still do not know. But the world is so big. I am sure there will be a place I can stay. If I really cannot find anywhere, I will head to the barren lands beyond the borders.”

“Is there any difference between heading beyond the borders and staying here?”

“Li Ce, the Xia Empire will not let me off. As long as you let me remain here, it will eventually lead to disaster for you. I killed countless Xia soldiers and caused the failure of two of their northern campaigns. What’s more, I personally killed the Third Prince, Zhao Qi. Even though there is no war between the Xia Empire and the Tang Empire, the moment they free up their troops will mean trouble for you.”

Li Ce did not speak but merely looked at her. The playfulness in his eyes faded away and had turned to serenity and peace. After a long hesitation, he started to ask her, “For the Jing Family, you became the enemy of the Zhuge Family. For repaying your gratitude to Yan Xun, you followed him for eight years in Sheng Jin Palace living as a slave. For the Yan Bei civilians, you went through life and death countless times. For the Southwest Emissary’s Garrison, you got angry with Yan Xun. For Zhuge Yue, you hid from worldly matters for two years. For the Da Tong Guild, you completely fell out with Yan Xun. Now, for not dragging me into the fray, you are going to head beyond the borders into the barren lands?” The man’s voice turned deep with a tinge of fatigue that he could not seem to hide anymore. Quietly, he asked, “Qiao Qiao, in your life, will you ever start to do things for yourself?”

Chu Qiao was utterly stunned by that question. With the night wind blowing past, lifting up her fringe and clothes. Li Ce lightly held onto her shoulder, and with his other hand, gently clasped her head. So naturally, he pulled her into an embrace without any sense of lust. Lightly, he heaved a sigh, and whispered, “Qiao Qiao, there are many ways to live in the world. You can live your life in poverty, but that is still one life. You can live your life enjoying all of the worldly pleasures, and that is still one life. You can live your life aimlessly without doing much, yet that is still one life. You can also live your life accomplishing great things that will leave your name in history forever, and even then, that is still one life. But despite so many ways, why do you forever choose the way that makes life the hardest for you? Look at you, even the normal civilians probably lead a better life than you.”

Li Ce’s voice slowly entered her ears and crept into her mind. Chu Qiao leaned on his chest, and even her entire thought process froze up. She suddenly felt that his words were so true. If she really lead a simple life like a normal civilian, she would certainly not have gone through so many ups and downs, without so many killings and sadness, without betrayals and backstabbing, lying and abandonment, and she would definitely not be so heartbroken, with no place to go.

The moonlight gently shone onto their shoulders. Chu Qiao suddenly felt extremely tired. But Li Ce, it took me ten years to climb to the top of a mountain because someone told me that there was a rare flower at the top of that mountain. Yet, after I had spent all my time and effort to get up there, I discovered that the mountain was completely bare, with nothing growing there. I had risked my all to get up there, and after my intense disappointment, how am I supposed to get down?

“Qiao Qiao, hope is always in your hands. If you do not give yourself a break, no one could possibly save you.”

As the days passed, winter began. That said, in the Tang Empire, even in winter it would not feel chilly, as Chu Qiao ultimately still stayed in the Jinwu Palace. Although she had no rank nor appointment, women like her were commonplace in this palace. Coupled with her previous reputation, no one dared to find any trouble with her.

The revenge from Xia Empire had not come, as though they had determined that she was already completely useless, and would forget all of their past hatred. The Xia Empire had not even sent a missionary to question about her. Chu Qiao felt that this situation was rather strange, as her current situation was akin to the Japanese Prisoners of war in the past. Considering the anger of the populace and the anti-war sentiments in Xia Empire, why did they not grab this opportunity to make certain her death?

She had gone to ask Mei Xiang, yet Mei Xiang arrogantly replied, “If they dare to come, we will tell General He Xiao to behead every one of them!” Mei Xiang had been her maidservant back in Hui Hui Mountains. Mei Xiang’s parents had both died in the war, and she was a discounted slave before Chu Qiao’s encounter with her. After Chu Qiao arrived at the Tang Empire, this maid servant rode a horse alone all the way to chase after her.

Qiu Sui, the maidservant that Li Ce had sent to Chu Qiao, smiled as she placed down a cup of freshly chilled pears, while arrogantly adding on, “Exactly, Sister Mei Xiang is right. In the first place, His Majesty has been so good to Lady, who would come to find trouble with you?”

Chu Qiao shook her head with a tinge of worry in her heart. Things should not have been so simple. Was Li Ce forced to make concessions for the Xia Empire?

Chan’er timidly said, “I heard that some Grand Marshal from the Xia empire would like to establish a friendly relationship with the Tang Empire, and as a result, the Xia Empire had not come to seek trouble with Lady.”

Grand Marshal? Chu Qiao frowned, the Grand Marshall of the Xia Empire was the Head of the Grand Elders’ Council, could it be that Wei Guang had let her off the hook?

Chu Qiao had not asked about worldly matters for a long time, and crawled through life. In the Mihe Residence, visitors were not allowed, so she really ended up living “aimlessly” like Li Ce had said.

Over half of this life was closely tied to Yan Xun, and she had gone through all kinds of situations, including darkness and abandonment, life and death, fighting and killing, with him. Ultimately, there was no path left for them, as their paths together only lead to a dead end.

After that, she had asked Li Ce as for why the Xia Empire had not found any trouble with her. At that moment, Li Ce was happily browsing the paintings of the new ladies that were selected into his harem. Hearing her question, Li Ce gave her a lustful glance, and while smiling, he laughed, “Perhaps the Xia Emperor still has some kind of wishful thoughts about me.”

Even though her current state of mind was completely not in the mood for his antics, Chu Qiao still chuckled in amusement and accompanied him as he browsed through the three-foot tall scrolls depicting ladies. Looking at those young women whose eyes were filled with elegance and innocence, they seemed to be gazing at her from a different world.

Before leaving, Li Ce stood by the door and suddenly turned back, smiling at her and telling her, “Qiao Qiao, I want you to think about this very carefully. In this world, who would treat you so well? For you, he had given up so much. For you, he went through life and death. For you, he gave up all his material wealth and abandoned his status. Not only that, but he saved you, and did not even tell you. Such people are rare to begin with. You have to think about it carefully. After you have made up your mind, you have to tell me, and I will make arrangements to send you off gloriously for your marriage.”

With the Sycamore leaves in a mix of red and yellow, it covered the sky, only allowing a few strands of sunlight to seep through, shining onto the land beneath.

Standing in the desolated palace, she thought about the words that Li Ce had spoken before he left as she carefully thought about the last battle she had in Yan Bei. The timing of the attack, defense, retreat, cover, along with the number of forces that were involved in offense, interception, along with the speedy relay of information, and the capability of the people who could suddenly appear within Yan Bei territory. Just like Li Ce had said, who could actually be so good to her?

A certain thought seeped out, and grew like a creeper plant, wrapping around her. As the moon rose up and eventually sank into the horizon, the sun rose up yet again, bringing unending light to the world. She merely stood there the entire night, as she repeatedly thought about the question again and again, while seeking evidence for her shocking hypothesis. A light gradually started to shine in her eyes, as a pearl-like teardrop dripped onto her chest, one after another. Yet she was not the least bit sad or in anguish. She had been overwhelmed by surprise and hope, as she trembled.

At that moment, the golden sunlight had peeked into the room through the window, shining onto her pale white face. She laughed like a carefree child as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

On the day that Chu Qiao left, the weather was still raining. She had not said anything to Li Ce, and with a simple set of luggage, she rode her horse out of Zheng Yang Gate. Even as the drizzle wet her shoulder, it seemed to brim with life and confidence.

Li Ce was still that loose cannon of an Emperor. At this moment, he happily sat on the roof of the palace, wearing a maroon silk shirt. Before the palace, there was a crowd of officials crying in worry and anxiety, yet he seemed as though he could not see her. The breeze that carried the fragrance of aromatic oils caressed his clothes, revealing the embroideries in his inner sleeves. Gazing into the distance at the Rose Royal Road, he could see the cotton cloth of the young woman as she rode atop her white horse, with the endless Sycamore trees on the sides of the path. The entire scene seemed to be perfectly suited for a painting.