Love is an eternal mystery, passed down through the ages...
Has anyone ever known that the moments spent in the arms of a lover are another kind of eternity? Even when passion fades, the indescribable happiness and sweetness of that moment remain forever etched in the heart, never to be forgotten.
In that moment, loneliness becomes trivial.
Miao Jing and the imperial physicians had been pacing outside the door for some time. After a while, a maid stepped out and nodded to Miao Jing. “His Majesty said only Physician Shi should go in.”
Miao Jing, glancing inside, smiled awkwardly. “Ah... Ping’er, make sure to prepare a proper meal so His Majesty doesn’t go hungry!” He then turned to the physicians behind him. “Physician Shi, go on in! Remember, don’t let your eyes wander—examine and leave quickly!”
Physician Shi nodded hurriedly and shuffled inside.
It was the third day now, and every day had been like this.
Standing at the door, Miao Jing thought to himself that His Majesty was behaving quite unusually this time. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief, as if they should all thank the heavens for finally favoring this king who had defied the world and stood alone. His Majesty had never trusted anyone, let alone shown such affection for any woman. Now that things had come to this, it seemed clear that Tiandu and Yunpei would never reconcile. At the very least, His Majesty wouldn’t forget that Huang Bei Shuang was still King Zhan’s queen.
When the thirty-day ceasefire ended, who knew what the situation in the desert would become? But even thirty days could give this destined couple time to be truly together. In that sense, Miao Jing felt a strange sense of peace.
The towering Guang Han Palace had been without its mistress for an entire month. Now, only King Zhan remained, sitting alone in the Huaiyue Pavilion. On the table before him was a cup of clear wine and a chessboard—one he always lost to the same opponent.
Reports said that the King of Beijing had indeed taken Huang Bei Shuang from Ruo Wen without shedding a single drop of blood. Now, she was likely in his embrace—what a triumph that must be. Thinking this, King Zhan lowered his head and drank a mouthful of cold wine. His wife, his chess partner, the woman he had never touched—was she now entwined with that handsome man in an unrestrained passion? Not resisting at all, not a trace of coldness? Unlike her time in Guang Han Palace!
King Zhan rose and walked to the pavilion’s edge, overlooking Guan Ying Palace. The snowy white jiexia trees in the courtyard were still in full bloom, their beauty standing out against the view. He remembered the story the shaman had once told him about the origin of the jiexia tree…
Long ago, there was a mute girl who fell in love with a general. But the general always rode past her on horseback, never noticing the girl standing by the road, gazing longingly at him. Day after day, her unspoken love brought her to tears every night. One day, her tears fell to the ground and sprouted tender shoots. These small trees soothed the girl’s lonely heart, so she tended to them with care, rain or shine. Over time, the trees grew to be just half a meter taller than an ordinary man and then stopped growing. One day, as the general passed along the road again, the grey buds on the trees suddenly bloomed into exquisite white flowers. The general noticed that the trees were too short for him to pass on horseback without being obstructed by the flowers. But seeing their beauty, he couldn’t bring himself to cut them down. So he dismounted and walked the path on foot. At the end of the path, he saw a girl as beautiful as the flowers. Though she had no voice, her eyes were full of deep love. The general walked over and embraced her tightly, spending a passionate night with her beneath the white-blossomed trees. The next morning, the general left for the battlefield and never returned. The girl’s only solace was that one night of passion. She spent the rest of her life with the white-blossomed trees, which she named jiexia trees.
King Zhan stared at the white-petaled circles below and drank another mouthful of cold wine.
Of course, he didn’t believe in such absurd tales of tears growing trees. What truly unsettled him was the reason why Huang Bei Shuang had planted the jiexia trees. Who did she hope would dismount for her? She had never truly seen him!
Looking up at the bright, unchanging moon, King Zhan let out a cold laugh. Since he had never chosen love, this time he would not back down. If the King of Beijing was willing to concede for a chess piece, then in the next game, the one who lost would undoubtedly be him. King Zhan’s lifelong persistence was Yunpei, and that would never change.
“The cold snow blankets the world of men,Frost passes, yet the green pines remain;Hatred in my heart has yet to be understood,I rise to Guang Han, the sound of the wind on the flute.Though Chang’e has grown weary,The hero tosses away his cup of wine;In the face of many battles,There are no regrets for the deeds of this life.”
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