Little Jiang Yan’s voice was very calm.
It was as if she were talking about the most ordinary thing.
Even though He Qingfu couldn’t see anything, she could still guess the girl’s expression at that moment—it was probably just like Jiang Chixi’s expression when she heard the Nation-Guarding Tree had been struck down by heavenly thunder.
—No matter how turbulent her thoughts, she still had to give others the impression of calm and reassurance.
After returning to the bedchamber, He Qingfu had no time to speak with the little girl. She immediately set about arranging the follow-up matters, and until deep into the night, the little red string kept hiding in her collar.
Cup after cup of tea was replaced. When the morning sunlight finally shone into the sleeping hall, He Qingfu at last put down her pen.
A palace maid stepped forward to ask about the morning court.
He Qingfu said, “Postpone it by an hour.”
The maid withdrew at once, and He Qingfu finally had a moment to herself.
She quickly got up and headed to the underground palace. The moment she stepped inside, little Jiang Yan transformed and stood before her.
“There’s no need to come here anymore.”
The little girl, acting as if nothing had happened, urged her, “The peacock died. It seems like quite a hassle—so many commoners are mourning him.”
“Go take care of your work. Come back when you have time.”
He Qingfu ignored her words and held her hand, leading her down the steps of the underground palace.
As soon as they descended, the two—one human, one yao—saw Chen Xihe.
He stood directly opposite the entrance of the underground palace. When he saw them return, he breathed a sigh of relief. He placed the withered peach blossom in his palm to the side and walked over.
Little Jiang Yan lifted her head. Chen Xihe picked her up and set her on the bed, then crouched down so she wouldn’t have to look up at him.
“Did you see Taotao?”
Jiang Yan nodded.
Chen Xihe asked softly, “Do you regret going to see him?”
Jiang Yan shook her head.
“Do you regret knowing him?”
Jiang Yan thought for a moment, then shook her head again.
Chen Xihe’s voice was gentle. “That’s enough. You’ve seen him at his best and most interesting, and you’ve seen him at his ugliest and most lifeless. You’ve accompanied him through a lifetime.”
“We yao do die.”
“A small injury to our true form causes serious harm; a large injury means death. Most of my mother’s family have already passed away. I was very sad then, too, but time dulls that pain.”
“The long lifespan of the yao race means we’re destined to bid farewell to one batch of family and friends after another, and then be sent off ourselves. One day I’ll die, your mother will die, and eventually, so will you.”
“There’s no such thing as immortality. Natural disasters and human calamities will all take us away.” Here, Chen Xihe seemed to remember something and lowered his voice even more. “Last night, after you fell asleep, Taotao told me he was very happy to have come to the underground palace. Even though there’s no sunlight here, he has his best friend.”
“Right up to the moment he left, he still had his best friend. That’s a very happy thing.”
Little Jiang Yan stood quietly for a long time before she answered softly.
Under the gaze of He Qingfu and Chen Xihe, the little girl went to the water jar, scooped some water to wash her face and rinse her mouth, then sat on the bed and began to read.
Among the books she read, many of the stories were written by Chen Xihe himself. He wrote them on paper, compiled them into volumes, and gave them to Jiang Yan.
“Spring and flowers are the best of friends.”
“Spring pours all its brilliance onto the flowers, letting them feel warmth. Their relationship grows better and better. In the end, spring has to leave. It says it will return, as quickly as possible, and the flowers promise to wait through another four seasons, to wait for spring again.”
“But the heat of summer and the withering of autumn bring the flowers unbearable pain. Finally, winter arrives, and they can no longer bear the weight of the snow and die amidst the white drifts.”
“Spring finally returns, but it can’t find the flower it once knew. At first, it is angry, then sad. It wanders for a long time, hearing many voices, stories about them. In the end, it finally lets go and never again makes promises to living things.”
After reading the story, the little girl turned it over and placed it face-down on the table.
She pondered, wanting to express her thoughts about the story.
He Qingfu’s lips curved slightly.
She knew what the girl would say—
“So boring. Pointless.”
“Everyone should just mind their own business. Why bother being friends?”
“If it were me, I’d dig up that flower and keep it indoors. Spring is just too useless.”
But after thinking for a long time, the little girl considered and said,
“Best not to make promises to each other. No one can keep them anyway.”
With that, she turned to look at her side. “Is that what it means?”
He Qingfu was stunned.
It was a long time before she nodded slightly. “That’s what it means.”
This was the first time little Jiang Yan had scored on reading comprehension.
She kept her face cold, but there was a trace of pride in her voice. “It’s not that hard after all.”
“All right, I’m going to sleep now.”
She lay down on the bed. He Qingfu stepped forward to tuck her in. Chen Xihe’s expression was a bit complicated; he lowered his eyes and shook his head.
“It would be better if it never happened.”
Those words floated up in He Qingfu’s heart as well.
It would be better if it never happened.
Back in her bedchamber, He Qingfu quickly took out her diary. She had an urgent need to confide, and could only process it alone.
[This shocked me so much.]
[Yan Yan couldn’t even understand before, but now she can analyze human emotions.]
He Qingfu wrote seriously: [I think I can understand this state. Because of the natural distinction between races, the story in Yan Yan’s eyes is completely different from what I see, and the details she focuses on are totally different. But now—]
[The story she sees is still not the story I see, but the emotions she reads are the same as the emotions I read.]
[This isn’t empathy, it’s analysis.]
[All of this is because her friend died. They once made promises, and now they can never be fulfilled. Yan Yan is deeply moved by this, and when she reads similar stories, she analyzes that others would feel the same.]
He Qingfu knew what this meant.
It meant that as long as the little girl was exposed to more and deeper emotions, she might become like a human, might choose to help people—even without an exchange of benefits, she might help others.
But He Qingfu didn’t want that.
She wrote forcefully in her diary: [If it takes getting hurt, feeling deep sorrow, to realize the existence of such emotions—]
[Then I hope my daughter will always remain indifferent.]
[May she never empathize with humans.]
*
Spring passed, summer came and went, autumn fruits fell to the ground, and winter’s heavy snow blanketed all of Jiang.
It had been more than half a year since Taotao left. The little girl seemed to have completely forgotten this friend’s existence.
But He Qingfu knew she hadn’t forgotten, and wouldn’t for a long time.
He Qingfu used the runes she had brought to bind little peach blossom’s shattered soul to a piece of peach wood, and sent it to the imperial tomb.
This was what Jiang Chixi had intended to do, so He Qingfu didn’t hide anything.
After that, life proceeded as usual.
Jiang Chixi became busier than ever. With at most a year left before war broke out, everything from strategic planning to grain reserves was urgent. While Jiang Chixi was so busy she barely had time for three meals, often eating only once late at night, she received a letter from Yao Shian.
But this time, the letter didn’t begin with the latest border updates, but with a report on Yao Shian’s health.
“To avoid delaying military matters, I must report my physical condition to Your Majesty.”
Yao Shian wrote solemnly in the letter:
“What I thought was spring fatigue turned out to be false. I have a very serious illness. The army doctor says it came on suddenly, but had a latent period of several years. Because it was hidden so deep, it was hard to detect, but once it flares up, it’s rapidly fatal.”
“I have at most one year left to live.”
“The war should break out by then. I hope I can live to see that day and wipe out the Chu and Xiao clans, but I fear things may change too soon, and I may have to trouble Your Majesty.”
“The back of this letter lists the people I recommend for the campaign. They are all brave and skilled, but each has their flaws. Please consider carefully.”
“I don’t seem to have much else to say.”
Yao Shian sighed, “It’s been truly wonderful serving Your Majesty.”
After reading the letter, Jiang Chixi was uncharacteristically lost in thought for a while.
But her friend was still here, and the affairs of state were pressing. She had no time to mourn someone who hadn’t yet passed. She looked at the people Yao Shian recommended, pondered for a moment, circled two names with her brush, and sent people to investigate them.
Afterwards, she let out a light sigh.
Since He Qingfu had moved into her body, Jiang Chixi had only spoken with her once. She wanted He Qingfu to tell her about the surrounding countries, to ask about Jiang’s future, but He Qingfu said nothing.
“Shian only has a year left?”
In the empty hall, she asked He Qingfu.
He Qingfu was silent again. After a moment, she replied, “It’s no use telling you.”
If Jiang Chixi did anything that didn’t match the historical timeline, He Qingfu would immediately take over and correct it. So it was better for Jiang Chixi not to know—then she would still be Jiang Chixi.
Hearing He Qingfu’s words, Jiang Chixi nodded.
She spoke to herself, “If Shian really dies during the campaign, and I haven’t found a trustworthy general, I might have to personally take command.”
“After all, Rongge is grown now, eighteen years old, old enough to take the throne.”
He Qingfu gave no reply.
So Jiang Chixi stopped probing and continued to review the mountain of memorials.
At year’s end, Bai Ze, who had been traveling everywhere, arrived in Jiang. This was his last stop; after this, he planned to retire to the mountains with his wife.
No one knew his true identity—he was only known as a renowned strategist.
During this time, Jiang Chixi received him and talked with him through the night.
Because after Bai Ze left Jiang, he would retire from the world, only to reappear a thousand years later for his wife. And as a yao, Bai Ze understood the plight of weak yao best, and would never reveal Jiang Yan’s existence to anyone.
After weighing the pros and cons, He Qingfu decided to take control and ask how to save the soul of a peach yao shattered by lightning.
Bai Ze was stunned, thought for a long while, and finally gave the method of “using dead things to nourish dead things.”
“Dead wood can turn rigid, but this is just something I heard by chance. There’s no precedent, and I don’t know the specifics. I’ve never seen anyone succeed.”
He Qingfu nodded.
As she expected, Bai Ze pointed toward the underground palace. “There are two yao there.”
“I was going to pretend not to know and quietly take them away, but since you asked about saving a yao, I’ll ask as well—what do you plan to do with these two yao?”
He Qingfu explained, “Nothing.”
“They’re my family now.”
Bai Ze exchanged a glance with his wife and asked to visit the underground palace. He Qingfu didn’t stop them. At this time, little Jiang Yan was already asleep, sprawled on the bed, her cheeks squished into a puff, looking cute and pinchable.
Bai Ze’s wife, Ling Jue, circled the little girl for a long time, her eyes full of affection. She whispered a few words to Bai Ze.
After hearing his wife, Bai Ze looked embarrassed.
After hesitating a while, he turned to He Qingfu:
“My wife says, hiding such a little girl in the underground palace isn’t right. How about letting us raise her?”
“No exorcist would ever dare come after us.”
“We’ll never have children of our own. We’d treat her well.”
He Qingfu hadn’t expected things to develop this way. She glanced at the girl’s sleeping face and, almost reflexively, grabbed the broom at her side. Seeing her posture, Bai Ze hurriedly waved his hands:
“If you won’t, that’s fine. This little wedding-dress yao doesn’t look mistreated anyway.”
In the distance, Chen Xihe let out a sigh of relief.
He Qingfu relaxed as well.
She asked Bai Ze not to reveal the existence of the underground palace or the two yao. Bai Ze immediately agreed, and after that, he didn’t linger. He transformed into his true form, let his wife sit on his back, then shrank to the size of dust and left on the wind.
The little girl slept restlessly, and in a daze, opened her eyes.
He Qingfu immediately stepped forward and gently patted her back.
Little Jiang Yan asked, “Mother, why are you here?”
He Qingfu replied, “I missed you.”
“Oh…”
The little girl rubbed her eyes, pulled the quilt up over her face, and burrowed back into her pillow to sleep.
He Qingfu sat for half an hour, then stood up.
“Next year will be busy. I’ll have to trouble you to keep looking after Yan Yan,” she said to Chen Xihe.
Chen Xihe shook his head. “I’ve long since regarded her as my own daughter.”
“There’s no question of looking after her or not.”
He Qingfu smiled, turned, and left the underground palace.
…
Jiang Yan turned the diary page and saw He Qingfu’s feelings about Bai Ze.
[Back then, Master once said that Bai Ze found someone’s aura in the Supernatural Administration Bureau very familiar, but he couldn’t recall who it was, and I didn’t think much of it.]
[Now it seems, that person was me.]
[Time is truly mysterious. The Bai Ze of a thousand years later and the He Qingfu of a thousand years ago once met briefly. Most amazing of all, it was precisely because of my psychic ability that Bai Ze’s wife survived, and Bai Ze in turn gave up his physical body, gifting the ability to transform yao into talismans to the Bureau.]
[And now, to keep Yan Yan from suffering the same fate, I crossed a thousand years to meet him.]
He Qingfu wrote at the end: [Since Bai Ze followed this timeline, it means I succeeded.]
[But I still don’t know what choice I should make.]