Like a handful of sugar melting on the tip of her tongue, Li Huaiyu laughed with her eyebrows disappearing into her eyes, and stretched out her hand to tightly hug him!

  "I liked you before and I still like you now!"

  He paused for a moment and continued walking forward. Jiang Xuanjin faced ahead, his expression calm and serene, saying, "I understand."

  "No, no, no, you don't know!" Huai Yu said with a smile, "When you used to go to Longyan Palace to teach Huai Lin, didn't you always run into me on the way? Actually, I was intentionally blocking your path. One time, I even pretended to sprain my ankle and had you escort me back to the palace. Do you remember?"

  Jiang Xuanjin's expression was complex: "It's hard to forget even if you want to."

  It was a sweltering summer, and Princess Chang of Danyang wore an extremely elaborate palace attire, with pearl-embroidered shoes, and pounced on him with the momentum of a fierce tiger descending from a mountain.

  "Oh no, I've fallen! You'll have to hold me in your arms for me to get up!"

  A loud voice, combined with the shocked eyes of the palace staff around him, became Jiang Xuanjin's indelible nightmare that summer.

  He walked through the corridor to Moju, and asked the person on his back with a expressionless face: "Do you know why I didn't care about you at that time?"

  Li Huaiyu scratched her head: "Is it because I'm too good-looking and you're afraid of having evil thoughts?"

  "No, I'm afraid stupidity is contagious."

  Li Huaiyu: "I don't know"

  She bit his shoulder with a "hng", very angry: "The precious treasures of youth, all ruined by you!"

  "Who made you wear a wolf skin?" Jiang Xuanjin said, "Seeing you and keeping a distance is human instinct."

  "What about Huai Lin?" Hua Yu's expression suddenly darkened, and she lowered her head, asking in a low voice, "How is Huai Lin?"

  "Withdraw and be enfeoffed as King of Nanyang, it won't be too difficult for you."

  Actually, Huaiyu found it unbelievable that Li Huailian would abdicate. After all, she was no longer of imperial bloodline now, and he still brought out the late emperor's will, which was just an excuse to hand over the throne.

  Is it because she and Jiang Xuanjin are the only ones who can stabilize the current chaotic Northern Wei?

  But he likes this throne so much, how can he say no and give it up? With his previous temper, if he sits for a few more months, the situation may not necessarily get better.

  "He has something that he wants me to pass on to you." Jiang Xuanjin carried her back to the main building of Moju, put her on the soft couch, and then brought over that large box.

  Hua Yu opened it and found five clay figures inside. Four of them were old, depicting her standing, peeking from the doorway, standing on the imperial court, and sitting with him on a couch in Fei Yun Palace, all with smiling eyes and gentle expressions.

  The last one should be the latest, also her appearance, with both hands clasped in front of her body, a string of Buddhist beads on her hand, and two small children crouching on her shoulders, one on the left and one on the right.

  She was taken aback for a moment, and Hua Yu pursed her lips.

  "Sister, don't look at me now, I can only carve wood and mold clay figures. When I become skilled, I will definitely make a lifelike ceramic statue for you!"

  "What's the point of making pottery figures? There are paintings in the palace."

  "They don't look alike, or maybe I just understand my sister better!" He smiled, revealing a pair of small dimples. "When it's really done, even if my sister is busy with things and not in the palace, there will be pottery figures to accompany me."

  Her throat was slightly tight, Li Huaiyu reached out and touched the old ones. In the fourth year of Daxing, Li Huailin had been very dependent on her and couldn't bear to part with her. But after Li Shan's death, he saw less of her face, although she felt still close, and received various birthday gifts every year. However, for Huailin, everything was different now.

  She had no idea, thinking he just grew up and didn't stick to his sister anymore, and was sad for a while.

  Her eyes moved slightly, and Huai Yu said: "I want to enter the palace."

  She wanted to see him and make up for the years of birthday gifts she had missed, and in her heart, Huai Lin should also be relieved. She thought about seeing him, even if it meant having another argument.

  However, as soon as he stepped out of the Moju's door, Cheng Xū rushed over with a terrified face.

  "Master, madam, something has happened in the palace!"

  Her pupils contracted, Li Huaiyu stared at his mouth opening and closing in front of her eyes, and for an instant, she felt as if she couldn't hear any sound.

  "It's been more than half a month already, Your Highness, don't you want to go out for a walk?"

  Hua Yu sat on the edge of the bed in her outer garment, and just then a group of people led by Wu came to coax her.

  However, this rumor was soon refuted. Jokingly, Ziyang Jun's eyes only had Princess Chang, where else would the world exist? As soon as Princess Chang fell ill, the atmosphere in Kyoto became tense, and everyone who attended court was nervous, afraid of being caught by the lord for any mistake, never to be forgiven again.

  There are rumors among the people that the new emperor is the son of Princess Changle of Danyang and Zi Yang, and whether Zi Yang wants to use his young son to control the world.

  In the ninth year of Daxing, in September, Emperor Xian of Han abdicated to the son of Empress Longyu, and in the same month, Emperor Xian died at the Andi Palace. Empress Dowager Longyu knelt before the spirit tablet of her late husband for an entire day and fell gravely ill. The capital was thrown into turmoil, but Prince of Zhuyang led troops into the city to quell the disturbance, and in October, Emperor Shao of Han ascended to the throne at a young age.

  Shaking her head vigorously, Huai Yu cried louder and louder, looking at the rolling thick smoke, her chest felt suffocated.

  At a loss for what to do, Jiang Xuanjin hastily hugged her and slowed down his tone: "I won't be angry anymore, okay? You'll suffocate from crying like this, can you calm down first?"

  Hua Yu choked back a sob and stared at him blankly for a moment before bursting into tears: "You're still scolding me?"

  His heart ached, Jiang Xuanjin pinched her sleeve to wipe away her tears, but the more he wiped, the more tears flowed, making his heart chaotic. He couldn't help but raise his voice: "Don't cry anymore!"

  "I didn't blame him at all, why did he have to die?" Sobbing and stuttering, the sentence was broken into several parts, "I can still live, I'm still alive"

  He furrowed his brow and patted her back, Jiang Xuanjin softened his voice to coax: "Don't cry."

  Grabbing Jiang Xuanjin's collar, Huaiyu cried even harder, her bright red apricot eyes looking up at him as tears gushed out: "I don't have a brother anymore, and from now on no one will call me 'Imperial Sister' again."

  "It wasn't me!"

  Jiang Xuanjin caught up from behind, looked at her crying and panting, her eyebrows furrowed tightly, stepped forward and took her down from the horse, gave her a cold glance.

  My nose is stuffy and my throat feels like it's been chilled by a cold wind, making me feel uncomfortable.

  "Who is such a person? You say who is such a person!" Cai Yu choked with rage, "No integrity! Not even a bit of integrity!"

  "Your Highness"

  Her blurred eyes welled up again, and the words on the back were illegible. Li Huaiyu clutched the letter paper and sat on the horse, finally bursting into loud wails, her cries heart-wrenching, making even Wu's throat constrict.

  "She was born with me, and I died with her. Even if it's shameless, I want to go back with her. Imperial sister, do you think that when I catch up with her, will she be difficult to coax?"

  "Wan Wei will never know that I like her until the day she dies, so I have to catch up and tell her. My sister will definitely scold me for being shameless, but life is so long, I can't spend it alone."

  The oil-covered flames shot up quickly, Li Huailin slowly lifted the coffin lid, lay down beside Ning Yuwei, completely unafraid, stretched out his hand to tightly hug her, smiled gently, and smiled out two small dimples.

  "Big sister is right, I haven't done anything good in this life. One wrong step leads to another, if there's a next life, you probably won't want to be my big sister either. Next time, let's switch roles, you kill me and I'll take responsibility for pampering and spoiling you, how about that?"

  A fire broke out in the palace, but he seemed oblivious to it, meticulously adjusting his attire.

  "It's not that I've never regretted it, in fact, I had already regretted it before my sister passed away. But it was too late, as Liu Yunlie said, once you embark on this path, there's no turning back, either my sister would die or I would perish."

  "I didn't learn well from my sister's teachings, nor did I listen carefully to Zi Yang Jun's words. Not even the person I love most could be kept by me." Li Huailin walked into He Xi Palace with a smile, dismissed the palace staff, and sat down beside Ning Yuwei's coffin.

  A clear voice seemed to sound beside her ear, Huaiyu choked with sobs, clenched the letter tightly in her hand, and everything before her eyes became a blur.

  "Older sister, it's like seeing your face when I read your letter."

  Her fingers trembled as she took the letter from him, her eyes welling up with tears.

  "Your Highness." Han Gu bowed her head and came over from the side, her eyes red as she presented a letter with both hands, "This was left for you by the King of Nanyang."

  How dare this little brat do such a thing!

  The big fire was raging, burning with a crackling sound, and the palace staff were rushing to block the flames and prevent them from spreading. A gust of wind blew over, and the smoke made people's eyes tear up, Li Huaiyu covered her eyes with her hand, pursed her lips and gripped the reins tightly.

  Although she could think this way in her heart, she didn't dare say it out loud. Everyone knew how much the Princess loved Li Huailin, and even if they had deep grievances between them, she would never be willing to see him end up like this.

  This was a long-planned suicide. From the moment he followed them back to the capital, Li Huairan had been waiting for this day, waiting until they returned to He Xi Palace, waiting until he apologized to Li Huaixian, so that he could follow Ning Guifei on her way out. Otherwise, he should have let Ning Guifei rest in peace long ago, why bother bringing her all the way back to the palace?

  Just lower your head and admit it.

  The hand holding the reins shook slightly, and Huai Yu's eyes turned red: "He hasn't come out from inside?"

  The sudden loud voice startled Zhuo again, and he dared not to conceal it anymore. He cupped his hands and said: "At the hour of one, King Nanyang entered the Andi Palace, dispersed all the palace staff, and did not allow anyone to approach. At the hour of three, I found that the Andi Palace was on fire, but it was already too late. The fire spread very quickly, and both inside and outside the palace had been splashed with oil. Even if water was brought in, it would be useless."

  Yu Wu looked at her and seemed embarrassed, Li Huaiyu shouted: "What's going on? Tell me!"

  "What's going on?" she asked softly.

  Rolling thick smoke enveloped the entire He Xi Palace, burning beams fell down, making a "rumbling" sound. Li Huaiyu reined in his horse and stared blankly at the flames that shot up to the sky, feeling as if all the blood in his body had congealed.

  "Your Highness!" Seeing Li Huaiyu riding his horse from afar, he raised his hand and shouted loudly, "Don't go any further, the fire is very big!"

  The palace was in a state of utter chaos, and as one approached the Hengxi Palace, there were more and more people running about in all directions.

  "A galloping horse" rushed straight into the palace gate, with Hua Yu holding the reins, her face pale.