The morning light is like crushed gold foil, lazily shining on the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City, reflecting a dazzling halo. Jiang Shi stood under the thousand-year-old weeping willow tree that had witnessed the change of three generations of dynasties. The hem of his black brocade robe was still stained with blood from last night's palace incident, which had condensed into a dull hard lump and was slightly stiffened by the morning breeze. He clutched the intact jade seal tightly in his hand, and the warmth of the jade seeped into his bones through the lines on his palm, but it could not dispel the chill in his limbs - half of the chill came from Su Wan's gradually cooling body temperature when she fell in his arms, and the other half was from the heavy sickness that was weighing on her shoulders from thousands of miles away.
Willow silk brushed his cheek lightly, bringing with it the softness of early spring. On the night of the palace coup ten years ago, the same kind of willow threads entangled the wet nurse's clothes when she hugged him and fled. He lay on her shoulder and saw the East Palace behind him collapse in the sea of fire, the red walls turned into charcoal, and the glazed tiles crackled, just like the muffled sound of Su Wan's arrow piercing her flesh when she was hit by an arrow. Jiang Shi closed his eyes suddenly, the jade seals on his fingertips hurting his palms, and the eyes of memory burned uncontrollably, and the forcibly suppressed memory fragments began to surge again - Su Wan was wearing a washed white coarse cloth skirt, brewing medicine for him in the medicine garden in the backyard of Taixue, the fragrance of the medicine mixed with her hair There was a soapy smell in the room; Lin Qingyi was on the high platform of the execution ground, chained but still with his back straight, shouting to him, "Jiang Lang, live on"; Qingluan's veil was dyed red with blood, blocking a fatal blow for him in the chaos, and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness, I have been waiting for this day for ten years."
