Time passed, and the boy who used to blush when looking at her had shed his immaturity and become a majestic emperor.
"Flower Emperor, congratulations," Xue Zi Ning said.
Hua Yun Jin looked up at her, his gaze filled with an emotion she couldn't decipher. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Tonight, I have prepared a banquet. Flower Emperor, please don't be late."
"I will attend," Hua Yun Jin replied.
"Lord Wen, please arrange accommodation for Flower Emperor. You must be tired from the journey."
"Your Majesty, I wish to stay outside the palace," Hua Yun Jin suddenly said.
Xue Zi Ning was taken aback. Hua Yun Jin continued, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, no matter what happens, you will not be held responsible."
With that, Hua Yun Jin turned and left.
Xue Zi Ning's gaze deepened.
After everyone had withdrawn, her hand was taken. She looked up to see Yan Zhao.
"If you have anything you want to ask, go ask..."
Xue Zi Ning was stunned. "Yan Zhao, you..."
"Go, I'll wait for you to return..."
Xue Zi Ning remained silent for a moment, then got up and said, "I'll be back..."
Watching the girl's departing back, his gaze fell.
Xue Zi Ning stopped at a small courtyard. The gate was still the same as it was back then. This place held many of her unbearable memories.
But it was also from here that she was reborn.
Standing outside the gate, she hesitated to push it open. Just then, the door opened, and she pushed it open without hesitation.
The first thing she saw was the man sitting in the courtyard. It was Hua Yun Jin.
He wore a dark robe, his hair loosely tied with a jade hairpin. When he looked up at her, his gaze was much gentler.
"A Ning, you're here..."
Xue Zi Ning was slightly startled. She remembered he used to call her that.
"Have some tea?" Hua Yun Jin asked, holding up a tea cup.
Xue Zi Ning walked forward and sat opposite him. He poured a cup of tea and pushed it towards her, saying, "Try it, I made it myself."
She picked up the cup and took a sip. The same place, the same person, but the tea tasted different, and her heart felt different.
She put down the cup and looked at the man who had transformed from the shadow of the boy he once was. She slowly asked, "Why did you leave without saying goodbye that day?"
Hua Yun Jin chuckled softly, a hint of melancholy appearing on his handsome face. After a long pause, he said, "Because A Ning's heart has always belonged to someone else, and I don't want A Ning to be unhappy. A Ning deserves better."
"Was it difficult to fight for the throne?" she asked. Although she didn't know the extent of the bloodshed, the former Flower Emperor was not someone who cared about family ties; he only chose what was beneficial to him.
Hua Yun Jin did not answer. He didn't want to speak of how much blood he had shed for that position, nor would he mention that the person, before dying, had said the biggest mistake he made was placing the task of strengthening the Hua clan upon him.
"It's all in the past," he replied with just those few words.
Xue Zi Ning nodded. "Yes, it's all in the past. From now on, the world will be peaceful."
"A Ning, the Hua nation will forever be subservient to your rule. As long as you are the monarch, the Hua nation will never betray its oath," Hua Yun Jin said to her, word by word.
Xue Zi Ning slowly opened her mouth. "I plan to abolish the state and establish a vassal kingdom. From now on, you may no longer be the monarch of the Hua nation."
Hua Yun Jin was slightly taken aback, then smiled. "It is only right. After all, he has given you the world as a betrothal gift. A Ning, I admire him for keeping his word. This world is yours."
Xue Zi Ning smiled upon hearing this. "Yan Zhao, I can never repay his love for me in this lifetime. In the next life, I hope to meet him again."
At that time, she would recognize him at a glance.
"An Ning, sometimes I envied him. You never doubted him, you believed in him. Now I understand that his devotion is something I cannot match."
"Hua Yun Jin, one day you too will meet someone for whom you are willing to give everything."
Will I? No, the one I met, I lost. It's good this way now. Watching her grow, marry, and then watch her have children, until the end of her life.
That is enough. A person's life is like this; what one cannot obtain is always a regret.
"Rest well. There is still a banquet tonight," Xue Zi Ning said, rising and walking towards the door.
"A Ning..." his voice suddenly called from behind her.
Xue Zi Ning did not stop. She left without looking back.
Hua Yun Jin watched her disappearing figure. He wanted to ask, if in the past...
Suddenly he smiled. Where would there have been a past?
Everything had already happened.
There was no going back to the past.
Xue Zi Ning got into the carriage. Xue Yan's expression was not good.
She smiled and asked, "What's wrong? Did Xue Song upset you? Tell me, I'll deal with him."
Xue Yan looked up at her and said, "Your Majesty, Xue Song didn't upset this servant. It's about the Crown Prince."
"What happened to Yan Zhao?" Xue Zi Ning asked.
Xue Yan bit her lower lip, her voice filled with indignation. "Princess An Ping said that the Crown Prince had taken liberties with her and demanded he take responsibility."
Upon hearing this, Xue Zi Ning's eyes turned cold. Xue Yan's heart skipped a beat.
Returning to the palace, Xue Zi Ning went straight to her sleeping quarters. In the outer hall, An Ping, disheveled, collapsed on the floor, weeping profusely.
In contrast, Xue Jing Yun sat in the main seat, his expression cold and silent.
An Ru, unable to contain her anger, was scolding An Ping, while Emperor An remained silent, though his face was pale.
"What is going on here? I've been out for so long, and you've given me such a surprise?" Xue Zi Ning said, sitting on the couch.
Beside her, Xue Jing Yun looked at her, his gaze softening considerably, the previously cold and frosty demeanor dissipating somewhat.
Xue Zi Ning snorted and ignored him.
Xue Jing Yun lowered his gaze, the softness disappearing, replaced by an even greater coldness.
Even Xue Zi Ning felt it.
"What exactly happened? I want to know," Xue Zi Ning asked.
An Ping, hearing this, began to cry even louder, but An Ru angrily said, "What are you crying for? Do you have any shame left? You..."
"An Ru..." Emperor An suddenly spoke, rebuking An Ru.
An Ru said angrily, "Father, I am not wrong. I warned An Ping last night not to do anything shameful..."
"An Ru, be quiet," Emperor An coldly reprimanded.
An Ru, displeased, shut her mouth.
Emperor An said, "An Ping, what exactly happened? Tell me clearly."
An Ping sobbed, "I do like the Crown Prince, but I also know that the Crown Prince is A Ning's Imperial Husband. Today, I merely wandered into A Ning's sleeping quarters, and then... then..."
An Ping didn't finish, leaving the rest to the imagination.
"A Ning's sleeping quarters are so large? You wandered in? An Ping, do you take us for fools to be deceived by you?" An Ru said indignantly.
"An Ru, be quiet," Emperor An reprimanded.
An Ru, sullenly, closed her mouth.
Emperor An looked at An Ping and said, "An Ping, are you saying that the Crown Prince of Xue nation harbored ill intentions towards you?"