A wu’s sudden visit caught the Emperor off guard.
She lowered her head and said nothing.
He raised an eyebrow, “Daring to see me? Not running away after all?”
A wu carefully approached, whispering, “Please don’t be angry, Your Majesty…”
Emperor Jingxi lowered his eyes and smiled, “Not angry. Didn’t I say I want to open more financial channels in the future?”
His tea-colored eyes deepened with amusement.
A wu blushed and tapped her foot, “Can we stop talking about that?”
Seeing her about to sulk, he toned down his smile.
“Alright, no more. You want to go home, right?”
She hesitated, “There’s something I want to show you.”
He asked, “What?”
A wu pulled a small embroidered pouch from her sleeve and stuffed it into his hands.
“See for yourself.”
Emperor Jingxi looked at her suspiciously but opened the pouch.
Upon seeing the Yusuo Tablet, his expression froze.
A wu clearly felt the sudden stillness in the room, as if his breath had paused—he was surprised.
She held her breath, silent.
After a while, Emperor Jingxi carefully examined the tablet, then said, “Yes, this is his Yusuo Tablet. After all the searching, it turns out to be in A wu’s hands.”
A wu lifted her hand and took off the thumb ring hanging around her neck.
“These two… came from the same piece of jade, right?”
Emperor Jingxi nodded.
He took the thumb ring from her and inspected it closely.
A wu looked into his eyes, which held a deep, complicated expression she couldn’t quite understand.
Emperor Jingxi said, “When you asked me for the thumb ring before, do you know why I didn’t give it to you?”
A wu asked, “Why?”
He explained, “It was granted by the Predecessor Emperor and relates to a royal secret. I myself don’t like to recall those matters, so at the time, I was unwilling to explain to you.”
Then he told her about the past.
A wu rarely heard the Emperor talk about old days.
Since she met him, he had always been the dignified and reserved monarch—sometimes gentle and forgiving, sometimes cold and severe.
But always the same deeply calculating Emperor.
Now, hearing him speak of his childhood studying in the Imperial Study and about the Predecessor Emperor, his father, she seemed to see the spirited boy of seven or eight years old.
When he finished, the room fell silent.
He looked at A wu, who was staring wide-eyed.
“Hmm?”
She asked, “Are there portraits of you from before in the palace?”
He was surprised but said, “There are.”
A wu: “Then why haven’t you shown them to me?”
He raised an eyebrow.
She whimpered softly, “I want to see what you looked like as a child and when you were a teenager.”
The Emperor was silent for a moment before smiling gently.
He admitted, though he no longer cared much, mentioning the past still made him feel a bit down.
But A wu’s words comforted him, softening his heart.
Perhaps he hadn’t wanted to talk about the past before because he wanted to appear strong to her and not show weakness.
Now, he found it good to be soothed—this strange yet sincere feeling was one he liked.
He took her hand, intertwining their fingers and said, “Alright, I’ll show you. Each year, palace artists paint portraits of me. I’ll take you to see them.”
He added, “I think Princess Mo Yu looks like I did when I was little.”
A wu: “Really? Then let Mo Yu grow up quickly!”
Emperor Jingxi chuckled.
A wu eagerly spoke of the two children, and the Emperor naturally talked about their current state.
When he spoke of his children, every word fascinated her.
At that moment, she deeply felt that despite their many differences, some things connected them—an understanding of heart and mind.
Suddenly, she thought of Lu Yunjian again.
“So, he is your half-brother?”
The unexpected question made Emperor Jingxi’s heart spin like a top, as if A wu playfully flicked him with a small whip, effortlessly controlling him.
Embarrassing, yet sweet.
He admitted, “Yes, and the Empress Dowager knows.”
A wu: “So your insistence on finding the Yusuo Tablet is because you fear him? Afraid he covets the throne?”
Emperor Jingxi: “It’s not just about the throne. A new emperor brings new ministers. While alive, words carry weight; once gone, a mere jade tablet means little. If people believe it, it’s the Predecessor Emperor’s will; if not, it’s just an object. I’ve been Emperor for eighteen years. Why fear a small jade tablet?”
A wu understood.
The founding Emperor of Dahui had set many rules for descendants, but now the younger generation paid less heed.
Who wants to listen to the old man?
Emperor Jingxi said, “It’s just that in my heart, I’m still reluctant.”
A wu pondered, then said, “If the Predecessor Emperor had directly told you his identity and asked you to look after him, you would have treated him like family, right?”
Emperor Jingxi smiled and stroked her hair gently”, A wu understands me.”
He sighed softly, “There are other half-brothers in the harem. As long as they aren’t malicious, I don’t hold grudges. Why can’t I accept one Lu Yunjian? But the Predecessor Emperor kept this from me. Why couldn’t he trust me more?”
A wu: “He even left you a hidden danger on his deathbed.”
She recalled how the Predecessor Emperor gave the daughter of the Zhen’an Marquis Manor to him as Empress, and also granted Lu Yunjian an Imperial Edict and the Yusuo Tablet.
For this illegitimate son outside, he cared deeply but never considered Emperor Jingxi’s feelings.
Emperor Jingxi was silent.
A wu: “Fortunately, it’s all over now. Lu Yunjian has been punished.”
Emperor Jingxi: “Yes, finally resolved.”
He looked at the thumb ring and Yusuo Tablet in his hands, thinking the Predecessor Emperor surely never imagined that his two most worrisome sons would become entangled over a woman, each giving his own token to her, causing the thumb ring and tablet to reunite.
If he knew in the afterlife, he’d probably die of anger.
He smiled and handed both back to A wu.
“Keep them with you.”
A wu: “Ah? No, it’s too important.”
Emperor Jingxi: “A wu, just treat it as a token.”
A wu looked at him confused.
He said, “As I said before, objects are lifeless, people are living. An emperor’s promise may be broken, an Imperial Edict revoked, a token denied. So this is nothing. But A wu, you must believe in my heart.”
He gazed at her tenderly, holding her hand firmly, enclosing the thumb ring and tablet: “Believe in my intentions.”
***
In the dungeon, Lu Yunjian dipped his finger in his own blood and painstakingly drew the blueprints of the treasured ship hidden in the Zhen’an Marquis Manor.
He gave everything to Emperor Jingxi, begging to see her one last time.
Emperor Jingxi examined the drawings and summoned him.
Lu Yunjian looked up blankly at Emperor Jingxi.
He said, “I’m willing to accept death and confess all I know—including the secret of the Marquis Manor’s ships and evidence of collusion with the Maritime Bandits over the years.”
Emperor Jingxi asked, “Your request?”
Lu Yunjian stared deeply, stubbornly, and said, “I want to see her.”
Emperor Jingxi: “No.”
He said coldly, “Take your drawings and charts to the underworld. Maybe you can complain to the Predecessor Emperor there and have him send me dreams.”
Then he turned to leave.
Lu Yunjian suddenly asked, “Why?”
Emperor Jingxi stopped.
Lu Yunjian said, “You don’t dare, right? Afraid to let me see her. I just want to ask her one thing—is that too much?”
He gritted his teeth, “Let me see her one last time. I just want to talk to her.”
Emperor Jingxi did not look back but replied calmly, “Lu Yunjian, I asked for you. She doesn’t want to see you. Why? I don’t know and don’t want to ask.”
He glanced toward the moss-covered, damp stone wall and said, “At this point, there’s no need to lie. Why doesn’t she want to see you? You should ask yourself.”
Lu Yunjian’s expression stiffened, then his eyes welled with indescribable pain.
He curled up, holding his face.
Emperor Jingxi silently felt his pain.
In this man’s suffering, he began to imagine their past.
He thought A wu must have coaxed him tenderly once, to have lodged in the cold, selfish Lu Yunjian’s heart.
But later, A wu stopped coaxing and would never turn back.
So Lu Yunjian was left only with her indifference.
In truth, A wu no longer coaxed herself, but at least she would turn back, and he could coax her.
Lu Yunjian muttered, “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have treated her like that. But why did she betray me and leave me? She never loved me…”
He suddenly stopped.
At this moment, he was filled with regret.
If he had held on, if he had kept her, maybe everything would have been different.
But from the moment he took that step away, there was no turning back.
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