Night deepened, and the towering Imperial City fell silent, leaving only countless palace lanterns swaying soundlessly in the wind and snow.
Blessings and Longevity Palace had gained a little life, yet it looked even more desolate than in previous years. Even Hongyu, already accustomed to palace life, felt a belated melancholy upon returning to Palace City after two months of travel. She secretly worried whether this journey outside the palace would be the last of her life, and whether she would have to spend the coming decades in this palace that held nothing, until her beauty faded with age.
Beneath the great ginkgo tree that blotted out the sky stood three burned-out sticks of incense. The rear window of the nearby Bedchamber was open.
Dressed in a deep-red nightdress, the Empress Dowager lay on her side against her pillow, staring blankly at the mottled shadows of branches and the wind and snow outside the window, every detail of the snowy mountain flashing through her mind.
She had thought those days on the snowy mountain were the most wonderful, freest days of her life, something she could never experience again.
Later, Ye Jingtang's comforting words on horseback had dispelled her doubts and made her believe that even better things awaited her.
But only after truly returning did she realize that those days spent embracing beneath a blanket had indeed been the happiest days of her life.
Once they had turned back and reunited with the others, she was no longer the only person beside Ye Jingtang. By the time they boarded the boat back to Capital City, she could only steal a moment to sneak to his door for a look. Now that she was back in the palace, even a furtive glimpse from the doorway had become an extravagant hope.