I can rest assured.” His voice grew weaker. “But, even if you marry someone else, you must always think of me.” I pushed him playfully. “Yes, yes, I’ll think of you.” He fell silent. I became anxious and shook his hand. He then slowly continued: “I thought about it, and I can’t let you marry someone else.” “You—” I was both amused and exasperated. He continued on his own: “If you marry someone else and still think of me, you’ll definitely be unhappy. But—if someone can make you forget me, then marry him.” What nonsense is this? “Stop talking nonsense. Don’t say anymore.” He mumbled in response. “A Yao. I’m a bit tired, I’ll sleep for a while.” How could he sleep in this situation? I suddenly realized something and reached out to touch his body. As soon as my hand touched his chest and abdomen, the slippery, sticky sensation made me panic. “Don’t sleep!” I shook him lightly in fear. “Brother Jin, please don’t sleep, don’t scare me… What injury did you suffer? Why is there so much blood on you?” He didn’t answer. I didn’t dare to move him forcefully, just tremblingly bringing my hand near his nose. Fortunately, he was still breathing, though very weakly. He had probably just passed out. But in the darkness, I didn’t know exactly where he was injured. I could only tear off my clothing to roughly bandage him, praying for rescuers to arrive soon. In the darkness, the passage of time seemed to have stopped.
If not for the sound of water droplets and the faint sound of stones being knocked, I would have almost thought I had lost consciousness. I suddenly became alert, trying to discern the direction of the sound, tentatively asking, “Who? Is anyone there?” No one answered, but the knocking sound grew louder and faster. I determined the sound was coming from ahead and tried to drag my leg towards it. After moving for a while, I touched a hard stone wall, and the sound seemed to be coming from the other side. “Who?” The knocking stopped, replaced by a faint female voice. “Ayao…” “Yunqiao?!” I recognized the voice, feeling a surge of joy. “She’s still alive. Yunqiao, is that you?” “It’s me…” She paused. “How did you…” “I came for disaster relief. I heard you hadn’t returned, so I came looking for you. Who would have thought we’d encounter an aftershock? An Jin and I fell down. But I brought people with me, they’ll rescue us soon!” “That’s… good.” She seemed to speak with difficulty. “Otherwise, I’d have implicated you…” “Don’t talk nonsense,” I sighed with relief. “Are you hurt? How badly?” “Ayao, I’m sorry about before,” she sighed, speaking intermittently. “There’s something… I’m afraid I must trouble you with.” “What is it?” “Take care of the imperial consort and Afu.” “Yunqiao, hold on,” I was anxious, unable to see her situation. “People who can save us are coming soon. Hold on.”
The imperial consort and Afu are waiting for you to return, and—and Xia Zhiyuan, don’t you want to see him again?” Yunqiao took a long time to answer, her voice weak but calm. “He’s right beside me.” I was stunned, with a bad feeling. “He…” ”He can finally be quiet, not having to think about anything,” she said tenderly. “Though we did not share a bed in life, sharing a tomb in death is not bad.” ”What are you talking about?” Xia Zhiyuan was likely dead, but I couldn’t let Yunqiao give up hope. “If you go like this, what will the imperial consort do? What will Afu think? He’ll believe his mother abandoned him for a man! You’re already irresponsible; do you want to end up being hated by your own child?” She didn’t respond. ”Say something!” I frantically clawed at the stone wall, wishing I could create a crack. “You’re so weak! Irresponsible, are you even worthy of being a Jiang family daughter? For a man—” ”I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I—have no choice left. Ayao… please tell them I’m sorry.” I heard her breathing gradually calm. Silence returned, with only the sound of water droplets, drip, drop. I waited a while, hearing nothing else, my mind blank. After sitting dazedly for a while, I moved back to An Jin’s side, hugging his waist. His breathing was faint but continued. If not for this, I might have completely collapsed. ”Brother Jin…” I lay on his shoulder. “If you leave me, I won’t be able to live either.
” After saying this, I felt somewhat calmer. I closed my eyes, holding his arm. ”Ayao.” When I heard this voice, I thought it was a hallucination. Only when he held my hand did I realize he had truly awakened. ”Ayao, don’t be afraid,” he patted my hand. Just as I was surprised, I heard sounds from above. ”Your Majesty!” A voice nearby sounded like a heavenly melody. “Your Majesty, are you down there?” … I thought we had been down there for several hours, but we were only there for less than half an hour. When the aftershock began and An Jin jumped down with me, rescue was already nearly there. They watched An Jin follow me into the crevice. The tremor lasted only a short time. Once everything was calm, they immediately found ropes to rescue us. An Jin and I were pulled up, and another group was rescuing Jiang Yunqiao. An Jin had a horrific wound as if pierced by a tree branch, but his life was not in danger. I only had a broken right leg. Yunqiao and Xia Zhiyuan were carried out. They were pressed under a stone slab, hands tightly clasped, without breath but still warm. The accompanying doctor said Xia Zhiyuan died slightly earlier, Yunqiao a bit later, both within half an hour. If I’m not mistaken, they had been trapped in the crevice for several days and hadn’t died. The previous aftershock caused the stone slab to fall, taking their lives. “
If we could have rescued her earlier, perhaps this tragedy would never have occurred. Yunqiao’s eyes were closed, her expression frozen at the moment of departure, half sorrowful, half joyful, perhaps representing her heart.
Returning to Rao City, I executed the city official, but this did not ease my mood. After An Jin’s injuries improved, I took the imperial consort and Afu, along with Yunqiao and Xia Zhiyuan’s remains, back to Feng Zhu.
Upon hearing the news, the Emperor locked himself in his royal chambers for three days and nights, emerging looking ten years older. He never mentioned dealing with An Jin again and even delegated most political affairs to me.
A year later, he formally passed the throne to me. After my ascension, I made An Jin the empress, adopted Yunqiao’s firstborn Afu as the crown prince, and made the previous emperor the supporting king, replacing the former prime minister to continue assisting in court affairs. Thus, the Southern Rui court transformed from the open conflict between Liu Hua and the former prime minister to the subtle, unresolvable but carefully managed struggle between An Jin and the supporting king.
My life has finally calmed down, though this peace was not easily obtained. Fortunately, An Jin is still by my side, and we still have each other.
After reading through the article, I have identified some content that does not contribute to the plot or the main theme and have removed it to improve the flow and coherence of the story.
Here is the edited article:
Chapter Seventy-Seven: A New Opportunity (Grand Finale)
“That hateful old fellow!” An Jin quickly walked into the imperial study, throwing a secret report onto the desk, his fine eyebrows tightly furrowed. “He’s actually instigating those mediocre ministers to discuss filling the harem again! Indeed, if I don’t deal with him for three days, he dares to climb up and tear down the roof!”
“Don’t speak about my imperial uncle like that,” I secretly laughed, putting down the memorial. “Alright, alright, Your Majesty, please calm down. He does this every year, I’m sure you’re already used to it.”
