In the darkness, Feng Wu concealed her form, making herself appear even more frail.
"Hua Yun Jin? Or should I call you Hua Yun Dan?"
The man before her, with his faint presence, trembled slightly. After a long while, he looked up, "Your Majesty knows everything?"
Xue Zi Ning stood up and said slowly, "I didn't know before, but I had some suspicions. Why would someone so loyal to me choose to betray me? I didn't understand, until recently when I went to the imperial mausoleum, returned to the past. There, I met Hua Yun Dan..."
Hua Yun Dan's body quivered. He looked up, revealing a face identical to Hua Yun Jin's. If one didn't look closely, they would think this was Hua Yun Jin, but only Xue Zi Ning knew he was not Hua Yun Jin.
This was also Hua Yun Dan's first time meeting the Empress. No, he had met her many times, but only in his dreams.
In his dreams, he had been with the Empress many times. No, in his dreams, she was not the Empress; she was Princess Chang Ning.
"That wasn't a dream, was it?"
Xue Zi Ning glanced at Hua Yun Dan and said faintly, "Perhaps it was a dream for you, but not for me."
Hua Yun Dan closed his eyes, then quickly opened them. "Your Majesty, I will tell you whatever you wish to know."
Hua Yun Dan seemed to have returned to the past.
The Hua family was a prominent clan of a hundred years, their lineage seemingly extending back over a century. It was rumored that the Hua family's ancestor was once a monarch of a kingdom. Later, due to personal affections, the kingdom was forcibly taken away. Afterward, the Hua family descendants also wished to reclaim the kingdom, but unfortunately, no one could fulfill their ancestor's dying wish.
As for him, he was conceived after his father, the eldest master of the Hua family, got drunk and visited the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, spending a night of fleeting passion with his mother, who was a singing girl. Later, his mother became pregnant with him.
In his memories, his mother was gentle and weak. Because of her lowly status, she could not enter the Hua family. The first wife of the Hua family also made things difficult for her. Later, he learned to ingratiate himself, but this still couldn't escape his humble status.
Until he escaped the mansion and met the most important person in his life, the Empress of Huang Ze. Those days were his happiest and most fulfilling. This was the praise of Da Feng Novel.
Despite his lowly and base status, he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the most noble Empress, fighting together. His heart and eyes were filled with her.
However, good times did not last long. Madam Hua, his father's first wife, found him. It turned out that Hua Yun Jin had been afflicted by a curse and had to transfer it to someone else, someone who must be of the same bloodline.
Ironically, after his father died, Madam Hua's status plummeted. The other members of the Hua family did not agree to transfer the curse to their own sons or grandsons. Madam Hua set her sights on him.
Naturally, he disagreed. During his time in the Hua mansion, he had witnessed the suffering of Hua Yun Jin when the curse acted up. Unless he was foolish, he would never agree.
But Madam Hua used his mother's grave as leverage, saying that if he agreed, his mother's grave could be officially listed in the Hua family genealogy.
He knew that his mother's lifelong obsession was to have a proper reputation.
He compromised. The curse was transferred to him. He could no longer stay by the side of the noble maiden, so he chose to leave.
He had not expected the Empress to follow him. He desperately wanted to tell her the truth, but what if he did?
Selfishly, he wanted to be her support, not for her to be his support.
"Hua Yun Dan, it was you who accompanied me and advised on state affairs by my side, wasn't it?"
Hua Yun Dan lowered his head and, after a long while, replied, "Yes..."
"Why didn't you explain it clearly back then?" Xue Zi Ning asked.
Upon hearing this, Hua Yun Dan's voice became unsteady, "Your Majesty, I was afraid you would despise me then."
Despise his humble status, his low birth.
"Hua Yun Dan..."
He suddenly knelt and placed his forehead on the ground, saying word by word, "I plotted against a loyal subject. My crimes are unforgivable. Your Majesty, please grant me death!"
"You wish to die that much?"
He stiffened, looked up, and met those eyes, clear to the bottom, without impurities, as if they could purify all his stains.
He realized that the Empress before him seemed not to have aged since that time; after all these years, she looked the same.
"Your Majesty, if you do not kill me, it will be difficult to convince the masses, nor can I account to the world."
Xue Zi Ning sighed, "Hua Yun Dan, is there nothing in this life you cherish?"
Hua Yun Dan trembled. Cherish?
Perhaps there was, but he had already let go of the past. It was unlikely he would ever have the right to stand by her side again in this life. What he possessed was always flowers in a mirror, the moon in the water.
Cherishing was likely no longer possible.
"Then what about Ming Yu? How do you feel about Ming Yu?"
Hua Yun Dan froze. Ming Yu...
"You probably don't know that Ming Yu came to the capital alone to save you, risking her head to save you. Hua Yun Dan, can't you feel Ming Yu's affection for you?"
"Your subject..."
"Hua Yun Dan, people often forget the one who treats them best. Don't disappoint her..."
Hua Yun Dan's body trembled. He lowered his eyes. "I owe her."
Xue Zi Ning walked forward and suddenly slapped him.
Hua Yun Dan stiffened and looked up at Xue Zi Ning before him. This was probably the first time the Empress had ever hit him.
"Hua Yun Dan, open your eyes and look properly. What is it you truly desire? Supreme status, or to turn back and see someone waiting for you."
Hua Yun Dan closed his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to persuade me further. I am resolved to die."
"Very well, since you seek death, then die. The revenge for Shen Yun Xuan needs to be repaid by you." With that, Xue Zi Ning flicked her sleeve and left.
Ming Yu never imagined that the one who would be waiting would be Hua Yun Dan's execution at noon the next day.
She rushed out of her room, thinking that if anyone tried to stop her, she would fight her way out.
She couldn't just stand by and watch Hua Yun Dan be beheaded.
When Xue Yan informed Xue Zi Ning that Ming Yu wished to see her, she did not have Xue Yan stop her. Instead, she allowed her unimpeded passage.
Ming Yu saw the Empress once again.
This time, the Empress was high and mighty, looking down on her as if she were an ant. Her legs went weak; the strength she had moments ago seemed to have vanished, leaving her utterly drained.
"Ming Yu, do you have something to discuss with me?"
Ming Yu knelt and replied, "Your humble subject implores Your Majesty to spare King Hua."
"Ming Yu, do you know who you are speaking to?"
The majesty of the emperor bore down on Ming Yu, preventing her from meeting her gaze.
Ming Yu gritted her teeth and said word by word, "You are the Empress Chang Ning. Chang Ning belongs to you, and naturally, I am speaking to you, the true Son of Heaven."
Xue Zi Ning's lips curved slightly upon hearing this. "Although you are praising me, it cannot make me spare King Hua."
"Your Majesty, it was not King Hua who killed Lord Shen, it was Empress Dowager Hua. While King Hua is guilty, his crime does not warrant death!"
"Ming Yu, you probably don't know that this death is something King Hua sought for himself."
Ming Yu faltered, disbelieving, "You... you say King Hua asked you to kill him?"