“Your Majesty, please put on a coat. The weather has turned cold, and you’ve just recovered from illness. You must not catch a chill!” Mei’er held out an outer garment, advising Su Jieyu.
How could the cold of the weather compare to the coldness of her heart? Su Jieyu looked at the leaves flying across the sky, lamenting how much they resembled her love. At the moment she first met Long Yutian, she had planted a seed that sprouted a tiny shoot. Su Wanli never expected to enter the palace, never expected to encounter that man as tall and distant as the sky, as silent as heaven. Before departing, her father had held her hand, entrusting all his hopes to her. Though everyone remained silent, Su Wanli understood that the fate of her entire family now rested on her shoulders. During the selection day, a fleeting glance made her genuinely joyful – fortunately, it was that man, fortunately the one she loved. According to her father’s intelligence, Long Yutian’s birth mother was not the current empress dowager, but a woman residing in the abandoned palace. Su Wanli orchestrated a staged scene of a fallen kite, deliberately entering to meet the elegantly serene concubine and Long Yutian. The empress dowager ordered Su Wanli’s execution, but Long Yutian prevented it. He argued that Su Wanli’s father had rendered meritorious service in water management and should be rewarded, and killing his daughter would dishearten the court officials.
Thus, Su Wanli drew closer to her beloved, and her father gradually gained control of a province’s military power. She knew the empress dowager did not like her, so she remained low-key, never overstepping boundaries. But then, Mu Xiaoxiao appeared. The nightly favor continued, merely shifting to another, the lover’s exquisite features remained, but the eyes now held a different reflection – how could she bear it! Su Wanli took another risk and went to the abandoned palace. She told the ageless woman about her love, about her profound desolation. The woman listened coldly, her expression unchanged.
