"I didn't look closely."
Li Xizhou turned her head and looked beyond the curtain. "You lived in the palace for two months and learned that Qilin Blood is a curse... I've lived there for twenty years. You said Mother had already left me the Mirage-Qilin Knot, that I could clearly wash away the Qilin Blood, yet I insisted on coming out here to do something foolish... yes, Pei Ye, you're right. But I know more about Father and Mother than you do. May I tell you about them?"
Pei Ye said nothing. Li Xizhou continued, "After they conquered the realm, Zhao Baibi became empress, and Li Yao became emperor."
"The emperors of Former Yu always had to bind themselves to Heaven's Will, to prove that they acted on Heaven's behalf. There was nothing wrong with that. Zhao Baibi had known this day would come ever since they obtained the Jade Seal. Li Yao was the next successor chosen by Heaven's Will. How many times had the Jade Seal protected his life on the battlefield?
"But after his coronation, Li Yao changed.
"He became increasingly benevolent and wise, increasingly able to discern the finest autumn hair. He had been a man who held the world in his heart for a long time, and became even more so after ascending the throne. He and Heaven's Will adjusted to each other very quickly. He could always choose the most correct way to handle every affair of state.
"Except that he became less and less like a real person.
"Before, Zhao Baibi had asked whether he thought Heaven's Will was Great Tang's blessing or its bane. Li Yao said that if Heaven's Will were truly omnipotent, Former Yu's situation would never have rotted to such a state.
"But after his coronation, when Zhao Baibi