Unraveling the Cocoon (Bonus 22/139)

The Imperial Palace's Star Gazing Platform, where Li Wuxian had once cultivated.

Qin Yi stood atop the high platform and reached out, pressing lightly against the Sky Curtain.

The Imperial Palace's entire past unfolded before his eyes as though a recording were being rewound.

There were the conversations Li Qingjun and Li Wuxian had once held here, Li Wuxian's daily cultivation, her orders to the eunuchs and palace maids, and the occasional audience with officials. The events of these past years appeared frame by frame, down to the finest detail.

Qin Yi had now mastered this scene-retracing ability, akin to turning back time, with great proficiency.

Within just a few years, Li Wuxian's civil and martial achievements had eclipsed all ages. Ordinary people could hardly imagine such energy, and many tended to attribute it to the great order that inevitably followed great chaos, rather than to her own merit. But Qin Yi had personally seen through his retracing—how much had she slept over these years in total?

In the early days, sleeping one or two hours a day had been enough for her. After reaching Soaring Cloud, she had slept only a few times over one or two years.

Even so, not long ago, during one of those rare sleeps, she had been tormented by nightmares.

The peace and prosperity of her realm had been governed into existence with twice the time and energy of ordinary people. While others rested, while others drowned in paper-drunk gold and lavish pleasures, while others squandered themselves on Wine, Women, Wealth, and Temperament, she bent over her desk, reviewing memorials until dawn.

The mountain-like stacks of memorials rose higher than her own body. Her replies were precise and correct, and her energy seemed inexhaustible.

As for cultivation, she actually did very little of it.