[Alternate t.i.tle: Out With A Bang

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Enjoy the double update! We've not much left, now.]

Jiahui's heart could not be still for a long, long time after she returned to the main building. Is there anything more awkward in the world than this? Regret roils in her gut. Her parents… really don't need to be so harmonious. Seriously, how old are they.

She felt that her young mind had suffered serious trauma and now didn't have any appet.i.te for dinner. Stroking the carvings on her yellow rosewood bed, she really, really, really needs some peace and quiet.

Meanwhile, the welcoming banquet in the palace is well underway. It wasn't anything special; it's merely everyone eating, drinking wine, and watching singing and dancing. Zhongli Luo partic.i.p.ated her share in all that. The only thing of note was that this was her first time seeing the Emperor in person. He seems a bit younger than she'd imagined, looking around 35 years old with a rather majestic and grand presence. To her slight flattery, he knows of her, thus asking her a few questions, having her be a bit starstruck with reverence.

Thankfully, the Emperor has one day to do many things, and he doesn't say much to her before rapidly moving on to others. She's happy to do nothing, herself. All she does is sit quietly among them, watching the singing and dancing with extreme boredom. As for the one seated below Prince Ning, Mu Qian, he's quietly drinking down his sorrows with a frosty face, ignoring the Emperor aside from an occasional glance.

Suddenly, the Emperor clasped a wine cup and stood, wanting to give everyone a toast. No one dared be ungrateful and also successively stood up for the toast, except for one person, who remained sitting.

All of their gazes turned to look at him, one after the other. The Emperor's expression fell in an instant, and he seemed a little displeased.

“What's wrong, Mu Qian?” Prince Ning looked at him, frowning. As the Emperor's uncle and Old General Mu's friend, and also having watched these two men grow up, he felt the both of them were like brothers to him. All those things that ended up transpiring afterwards were something he was rather powerless against, and only able to look on and watch.

Mu Qian startled upon hearing him calling him, as if he was only just responding, and finally made a conscious effort to stand up. Just as they all were about to sigh in relief, what they heard was him ask the

Emperor something as he raised his cup. “How is the Imperial Concubine doing, Your Majesty?”

“Mu Qian!” Prince Ning shouted, severely disappointed in him. This punk… is really poking at his sore spot! That was all over a decade ago and the person in question is dead. Raising this old topic again… is it not just deliberately adding to the Emperor's pain?! He's always been one to exact revenge on even an angry glare; how could this guy not be killed for this?

Mu Qian acted like he didn't hear that, still watching the Emperor. “I'm asking you something, Xiao Yi. How is the Imperial Concubine?”

Hearing himself being disrespectfully referred to by his banned name, the Emperor viciously throws his cup down and points at him with fury. “You're an insignificant third-rank General right in the middle of the palace, yet you dare be so impudent!”

Mu Qian walked forward step by step, his eyes never straying from the Emperor, making the latter's heart feel p.r.i.c.kles of fear.

“Xiao Yi, you said that you'd take my power, my n.o.bility, my true love… I knew everything was a foregone conclusion. I just asked that you treat Jinru well. And you agreed, then. You said so long as I never appeared before you again in this lifetime, you would treat her like a precious treasure. Did you treat her as well as that, Xiao Yi? Hehe, so fond of that precious treasure, you were…”

Everyone in the room heard this, and for a moment, they hated that they had the ability to hear things today. Is this something that just anyone could listen to?

Under both his words digging up the sensitive past and countless stares of others, the Emperor was embarra.s.sed into anger. “Come and drag him out for us!”

Prince Ning was quick to plea for leniency. “He's just drunk, Your Majesty. Please remember the friends.h.i.+p you had growing up together, and–“

He didn't get to finish his plea when he saw Mu Qian evade the imperial guards who came to drag him out and vault forward, jumping and landing before the Emperor. The previous Emperor had praised his skills, and they hadn't regressed one bit even after so many years. This move scared the current Emperor into going weak all over, nearly causing him to fall backwards.

Mu Qian suddenly grabbed his throat, turning to look at all the people to the side who wanted to come help.

“Have them step back three chi or I'll snap your neck in an instant.”

Feeling the forceful grip of Mu Qian's hand on his throat, the Emperor knew that he could kill him with one move. His legs immediately trembled with fear, though it still wasn't too obvious on his face; he had an aspect of his reputation to uphold, after all.

He gave the rest of them a look. The guards and military leaders had no option but to go three chi away.

Prince Ning still wanted to persuade him. “Mu Qian, don't be like this!”

“You step back too!” Mu Qian said fiercely.

Prince Ning was helpless in this matter and had to retreat as well. It's all over this time, he thusly thought.

Mu Qian huffed coldly at the man before him. “So now you know that you should listen to me? Xiao Yi! I saw her as my soulmate, how could you do her so much wrong?!”

Sensing his hand's tendency to clench and unclench leaves the Emperor unable to remain calm. He fights to keep his voice steady as he speaks. “We… we never once treated her poorly, really… every last official in court knows that she was the one we loved most…”

“You're not qualified to say ‘love'. She's dead, and whatever you claim now is also over with. You obviously know that I loved her, and I would live for her or die for her. If she was happy, then I was happy, if she was sad, then my heart hurt… but you insisted on s.n.a.t.c.hing her away, and now you've caused her death. As it is now, I could also commit regicide for her… no. Are you even a monarch? You're just a disgrace. Others haven't seen your shameful actions. This whole realm would be dragged down by a mongrel Emperor like you.”

“You…!”

“What about me? I don't want to live anyways, so what can you possibly do to me? This journey to the underworld will be worth it to have you as a sacrifice. She'll definitely be excited when I trample your head on the way to go see her.”

At this point, the entire palace has been surrounded, the entrance packed full with imperial guards wielding swords and bows. Not a one of them dares to act without thinking. Mu Qian's back faces a wall, and his front was protected by the kidnapped Emperor who's the same height as him. It's impossible for him to escape, but they also can't do anything else and can only watch and stare and hope that Mu Qian comes to his senses or his strength gives out.

Upon noticing the heap of useless people he had trained currently didn't dare move a muscle, the Emperor's cold sweat soaked through his clothes. He hadn't once thought that the normally weak Mu Qian, who allowed for his own humiliation, was actually such a profound lunatic. This is still the interior of the Imperial Palace, yet he dares harm him like so!

He's not more than a few years older than Mu Qian, and it could be said that they grew up together, so he naturally knows that Mu Qian's martial arts skill couldn't be paralleled. So long as he wills it, he could snap the Emperor's neck with the same sort of ease as crus.h.i.+ng an ant. The more he thinks of this the more terrified he gets, and the fright results in his legs not listening to what he tells them to do.

“Mu Qian, let me go and I-I-I'll promote you to n.o.bility, I… I'll give you Jinru's bones, how about that?”

He's the feeble one in the end, and probably due to being petrified from Mu Qian's madness, he didn't dare to continue using his royal ‘we'.

Hearing the word ‘bones' seems to jab Mu Qian right where it hurts, and he can't stop from sneering. “Xiao Yi, you don't deserve to say her name. Do you think I'll trust your lies again? Your mouth has always been full of those. You're a petty man that needs revenge for every little thing. I really regret this, and she's dead now, anyways. I should have killed you when you sent an imperial decree to marry her! I should have killed you at the wedding party!”

He didn't want to keep exchanging superfluous words with the Emperor anymore. He had just finished speaking when his hand suddenly clenched hard, and all that was heard was the apparent sound of a bone breaking. Soon after, a cloud-piercing arrow [1] flew through the air from the side somewhere and stuck Mu Qian straight through his own neck. The arrow's angle was very tricky; with a bit more carelessness, it probably would have pierced the Emperor's neck instead.

Everyone saw that Mu Qian had crumpled over and promptly swarmed them. Though he had an arrow through his throat, he still hadn't breathed his last yet, his right hand still forcefully gripping the Emperor's neck.

A guard raised his blade and swung it downwards.

Mu Qian stared without emotion at the sword that was quickly coming his way, and chuckled softly.

In his fading consciousness, it seems like he's returned once again to that day with the heavy snowfall, and back to his dream that he's full of expectation for. There's no Xiao Yi here. His Jinru is still at her golden age of sixteen. She's holding the broken branch, happily, and became his bride…

The Emperor was currently out cold, the bones of his neck having nearly been broken. He's not dead, but he might as well be. The deceased Mu Qian's hand was still rigidly fastened to him and couldn't be pried open. In desperation, they had to chop it off, then had to think of a way to get the rest off.

The Emperor's unconscious and half-dead state has the entire hospital trembling with fear. They have all sort of precious medicinal herbs hanging about, for fear that if he dies, they will all ultimately be buried alongside him.

This huge event happening at this nice welcoming banquet has every official immediately stirred up into a big tizzy. Thankfully, the Crown Prince is already of the age to take care of things and is now supervising the country, resulting in no major chaos.

Zhongli Luo's shot had been risky, but it could be counted as a deed of rescue. The merely eighteen-ish Crown Prince waved off this trivial matter from being overwrought in general, but after being reminded of it and thinking of an opportunity, he nodded. “Alright, fourth-rank Loyal General Zhongli Luo has committed an act of rescue and deserves reward…”

Taking advantage of the time it took him to think of how to reward her efforts, Zhongli Luo quickly knelt down. “Your Majesty the Prince, His Majesty the Emperor is the foundation of our country. This humble servant a.s.sisting his rescue is a matter of course, and does not require reward.”

The Prince raised his brows, finding that somewhat unexpected. “General Zhongli is actually so n.o.ble.”

“I don't deserve Your Majesty's praise. However… this servant does still have a tiny wish.”

“Say it plainly, General.”

“This servant… has admired the Young Mistress of Marquis Zhenguo's Estate for a long time,” she says with some embarra.s.sment.

“I understand. When my father wakes, I will personally ask him to bestow the two of you a marriage,” the Prince replies.

That sentence promptly dumbfounds Zhongli Luo. She's seen His Majesty's situation; he'd only be getting better if a G.o.d showed up and made a miracle happen. Furthermore, if he dies, then the whole country will have to mourn for three years…

She sighs, blaming herself for finding a good angle too slowly.

Though she had politely declined reward to impatiently demand a marriage, the Prince didn't actually not grant her anything. She saved the current Emperor, so how would people not be talking about her lack of reward for a very long time to come? Zhongli Luo still ended up getting promoted to third-rank Major Discerning General. [2]

The publicly regicidal Mu Qian had stopped breathing long ago, and in the Crown Prince's wrath, his body was pulverized into ashes. As for the Mu family, he remembered their past martyrdom for the country and didn't execute them all to the third generation, but he did have every last one of them exiled. It's fortunate that Old General Mu pa.s.sed away long ago, or a faithful patriot like him would have certainly died of anger from his beloved, painstakingly educated son turning into a regicidal and unfilial one.

The day after Mu Qian's obliteration, Madam Marquis Zhenguo, Mrs. Yu, took Rong Jiahui with her to the imperial burial grounds to pay respects to her cousin, You Jinru.

They stood before her tomb. Mrs. Yu lowers her head, then draws out a small blue and white bottle from her sleeve, along with the broken branch that You Jinru had given to her.

Relying on a connection, she managed to keep a tiny amount of Mu Qian's ashes. As family, this is the only thing she can do for Jinru.

“Mom, is that… what General Mu gave to my aunt?” Jiahui asked as she looked at the branch. She had asked her about it before and never got an answer, but now, she feels that her mother will tell.

Mrs. Yu also felt that she didn't need to keep things from her, and nodded. “Yes. This is the object they professed their love with. Jinru fell seriously ill and didn't know how much time she had left, so she gave it to me, in the hopes that I could give it back to Mu Qian one day.”

Thinking of the star-crossed lovers has Mrs. Yu sighing. “Your aunt was a fool. His Majesty loved her so dearly for more than a decade, and all anyone ever saw was her smiling. Even I thought her happiness was real, yet it turned out she was actually thinking of Mu Qian up until her death. As for him, he's even more of a fool. His handmade calamity lead to him not even having bones left. Those two… were really a natural-born pair.”

Jiahui was immediately very upset. Had she not naively spoken the truth to him, things wouldn't have turned out this way. General Mu would have likely spent the rest of his life alone in the Northwest, but even that's better than having his body turned to dust. Those two were destined to tragedy, in the end.

She's met her aunt prior, of course. Before You Jinru's marriage, she would often come over to play with her cousin's two children, and she was as Mrs. Yu described; there was always a smile hanging on her face, and she had a bit of a childish air. Jiahui thinks that n.o.body would dislike how sweet Jinru looked while smiling, even His Majesty the Emperor who had suffered Mu Qian's malicious revenge. His feelings for her weren't false at all, as otherwise, he wouldn't have treated her as if she were his everything for more than a decade. There isn't anyone that doesn't know she was his most cherished Imperial Concubine. If it was said that all of that was only because he promised Mu Qian so, who'd believe it? Was the Emperor that sort of person?

The mother-daughter pair didn't want to mourn for too long, lest someone saw what they were doing. Taking the opportunity of there being no one around, they stealthily buried the bottle with the bit of ash and the broken branch to the side of You Jinru's tomb, in a way that could be considered being buried in the same grave.

The translator says: Came here for CUTE LESBIANS but what I got was TRAGIC STRAIGHTS

(Also, slight translation update: in chapter 36, there was a character for a hairpin in there when describing the branch… but apparently it's not a pin at all? A'ight.)

[1] This is a semi-common named wuxia move, Cloud Piercing Arrow. It's a very concentrated arrow shot. That's about it.

[2] Huaihua is also a place name, but the literal translation is something like “mind/heart changing”.