"'Bai Bi,' Li Yao said earnestly, 'I will never let you down.'"
Chapter 618: Quiet Conversation on a Still Night
Pei Ye closed the last page and stared silently at the floor for a while before looking up. Li Xizhou's exquisite golden mask was still facing him.
Her Highness seemed to have no intention of discussing the story with him. Seeing that he had finished, she continued, "As for the so-called Goddess of the Luo River's Palace, there probably is some truth to it."
"Hmm?"
"As you know, Daming Palace is a completely sealed world. In this world, legends like that sometimes arise-sometimes of hidden passages, sometimes of wondrous realms, sometimes of an immortal's guidance... most have to do with escape. And these legends invariably involve the late empress or Bright Moon Palace."
Pei Ye held the front of his robe closed with both hands and listened with a frown. He recalled the legend the maid Meng'er had told him.
"Perhaps, somewhere deep in people's consciousness, that abandoned old palace really is connected to a Spirit Realm beyond reality, just like that figure from over twenty years ago, and so it has become a vessel for their hopes," Li Xizhou said calmly. "People dare not speak her name, yet they all vaguely believe she could not have vanished without a trace. It's just that, after all these years, no one has ever found anything she left behind."
"Then surely such unsupported rumors should have faded away."
"They haven't. On the contrary, they have proven long-lived," Li Xizhou said slowly. "The old residents can find no evidence, but they seize on every strand of spider silk and horse track. New arrivals hear these legends and keep them all in their hearts. Do you know why?"
"..."
"Because people want them to