After Corpse Dog, Peng Lang, and the others ascended, Gu Qing did not leave again. Whether because years away had made him homesick or for some other reason, he settled on Divine End Peak.
Three years later, he took his two wives on a tour of the continent in a carriage belonging to the Gu Household, with something of the air Jing Jiu had had when traveling with Zhao Layue and Guo Dong.
In the fourth year, they went to Fruitful Accomplishment Temple. Jing Yao, the Previous Divine Emperor, who had become a monk and lived there in seclusion, finally met with them, and even returned to Chaoge City with them.
On the second night after their return to Chaoge City, Empress Dowager Hu closed her eyes and passed away.
When she died, she was not in her former bedchamber, but in the side hall beside the main hall. Even the couch was the same couch.
Jing Yao's father had passed away on that couch.
Looking at the woman sleeping on the couch, Jing Yao stood pale-faced, his monk's robe fluttering lightly, and remained silent for an entire night.
Even now, he still could not understand whom his mother had truly loved.
None of that mattered anymore. There were still many things to arrange: opening the mausoleum, burying them together, observing mourning, and missing her.
Gu Qing and Zhen Tao stood on the stone steps before the hall, watching the morning light stream through Zhengyang Gate, newly built five hundred years ago.
Zhen Tao's eyes were red and swollen like actual peaches, because she had cried so terribly hard.
There was not the slightest trace of grief on Gu Qing's face. He was merely quieter than usual.
"Let's go."
He left the Imperial Palace with Zhen Tao and