She said, "It was my oversight; I should indeed punish myself."
As she spoke, she rose from her chair and walked to the incense table.
She lit three sticks of incense, bowing again and again.
One bow to the heaven, earth, and the deities.
Another to the ancestors.
The third was to confess her sins.
She was utterly sincere.
Behind her knelt a dense crowd of people, each stiff in the wind.
Before Feng Yun had finished her worship, a low weeping erged from the crowd.
That weeping made everyone’s eyes moist.
It seed like just a mont ago that six or seven years had passed, but how Changn had developed to its present state was well known by the old mbers of Changn...
After Andu City was breached, the death-row inmates in the Prefectural Governor’s Prison were granted rcy by the Great General, ordered for execution by Empress Dowager Li, and then Fang Fucai was dispatched to collect the people. It was Ao Qi with his sword in front, and it was Feng Yun with her clever plan, rescuing half of them...
The other half, led away by Fang Fucai, were not spared, dying either in Central Capital or on the way there.
They were so fortunate to have strolled through the Hall of Yama and must have done many good deeds in their past lives to have the chance to follow their mistress. Starting with just a few dozen people, living in fear and hardly having enough to eat, to now being dressed in finery and having grown a hundredfold in number...
They beca rich.
Wealthy.
Influential.
And so began to forget their roots.
If it weren’t for the mistress’ striking reminder, even if they didn’t err today, who knows what they might do in the future...
"Co here."
Feng Yun slowly turned around, looking at the people kneeling on the ground.
"You are the stewards of Changn and its backbone. Co, offer three sticks of incense before heaven, earth, and ancestors, and speak what’s in your hearts."
After saying this, she turned and left.
The people slowly stood up, lined up, and moved forward to the altar to offer incense and repent.
Feng Yun did not look back and went straight to her room.
This day at Changn, the air was filled with two scents.
The sll of blood and the fragrance of incense.
Feng Yun sat by the window alone for a long ti.
With the beginning of February and the onset of spring, the weather turned warr, but the night winds were still cool.
She did not close the window, suddenly realizing that despite changing her life and seemingly escaping the nightmare, she could not completely free herself.
Unseen, she had already started another gamble, a completely different one from her previous life...
There were no rebirth experiences to follow, nor anyone to guide her.
If she won, all would be well, but if she lost... perhaps she would not find a more peaceful end than in her forr life.
-
At night, Aozai ca back.
This ti, its trip to the mountains had been quite long, a full two months.
The day before Chinese New Year, in the middle of the night, Aozai brought back a female lynx that was slightly smaller than itself, gently licked its fur in front of Feng Yun to indicate kinship...
But the new bride, raised in the mountains, was wary of people and quite aggressive. Barely tolerating Aozai’s grooming, she seed as if she wanted to give Aozai a beating and even growled softly at Feng Yun, only to be gently subdued by Aozai...
Feng Yun dared not get close.
But she fed her and gave her a pleasant na.
— Song Lu.
The scent of morning dew on the green pines of the mountain clung to her.
Not knowing whether she understood or liked the na, but Aozai was very pleased, rubbing against Feng Yun contentedly.
Before dawn, Aozai left with its new bride.
Feng Yun was saddened for a long ti, feeling at the mont that Aozai was about to leave her for good, that after farewell, it would not return.
Unexpectedly, on this special day, Aozai has returned.
A "big cat" leaped in through the window, covered in frost and dust, affectionately rubbing against Feng Yun over and over.
"What’s the matter?" Feng Yun stroked its back fur, with utmost tenderness, "Where’s your new bride? Why didn’t you bring her back?"
Aozai pressed its large head against her, breathing huffs and puffs.
With a smile, Feng Yun lowered her head and guessed, "Did you have a fight?"
Aozai rested its head on her lap, gazing at Feng Yun like an innocent child, greeting her, caring for her...
Feng Yun’s heart skipped a beat.
Aozai had co back slling of blood.
It wasn’t that it argued with its new bride; it was concerned about her.
"Aozai." Feng Yun hugged Aozai’s neck tightly, pressing her face against its head.
In the past few days, the emotions suppressed in her heart burst forth in front of Aozai’s clear and pure eyes.
So many years have passed, and everything has changed.
In fact, many people around her are no longer the sa as before.
Only Aozai has not changed.
It has been loyally and eagerly... loving her for all these years, without change.
"I’m going to Xijing," she said softly, "To see Ayuan."
Aozai leaned against her.
Feng Yun smiled, "Ayuan is just like you, unchanging."
Ignorant of affairs, Yuan Shangyi had beco a solitary three-year-old child until death.
Aozai didn’t leave that night; it stayed over.
Feng Yun let it sleep beside the soft couch, where its nest was...
After falling asleep, she clearly didn’t think of Pei Jue, yet she dread of Pei Jue.
In the dream, he called her, "Lady Yun."
Feng Yun seed to be in a half-dream, half-awake state, sowhat dazed, "How did you co back?"
Pei Jue sat down, took her into his arms, and exhaled, "I have wronged you."
Wronged...
What had been wronged?
In Changn, soone had betrayed her.
Could it be that Pei Jue also did sothing to wrong her?
Won? Money? Or what?
Feng Yun wanted to ask, but in the dream, she was so panicked that she couldn’t even speak.
"Lady Yun..." Pei Jue cradled her face, sighed softly, and pulled her into his embrace, "The Emperor has passed away. You must grieve appropriately."
It was this soft sigh that jolted Feng Yun awake.
She opened her eyes to find dusk enveloping her.
The sky was not yet bright, and it was so quiet around that there was not a single sound.
Aozai gazed at her attentively, its dark eyes indiscernible in the night.
Thank goodness it was a dream...
Feng Yun let out a long sigh of relief, did not call for anyone to attend her, dressed herself, poured a glass of water and drank slowly, rested for a mont, and just as she was about to go back to sleep, she heard the urgent sound of horse hooves, breaking the silence of Huaxi...
Her heart was in turmoil.
After a mont, unusual footsteps ca from outside.
Xiaoman joyfully said, "Big Brother Zuo, how co you’re back?"
"Where’s the madam?" Zuo Zhong’s voice was very low.
"The madam has gone to sleep," Xiaoman sensed his mood, "But what happened...?"
Zuo Zhong was silent for a mont before he told her.
"The Emperor has passed away. I have co back to report the mournful news."
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