Elsewhere.
The carriage carrying Song Shihuan was nearing the palace gates when her voice suddenly rang out:
"Turn around. Go to the Pingwang Residence."
A sudden, intense premonition struck her: if Lady Chang had truly killed Song Xiyan, then Lady Chang herself would not choose to live on either.
The palace servant driving the carriage immediately turned the vehicle around, speeding towards the Pingwang Residence. Meanwhile, Song Yu, upon receiving news that Song Shihuan was heading there again, grew concerned and rode out from the palace on horseback.
Standing once more before the gates of the Pingwang Residence, the previous bustle had vanished, replaced by a desolate and lonely courtyard.
Song Shihuan strode towards Song Xiyan's courtyard. The closer she got, the stronger the smell of blood became.
When Song Shihuan pushed open the door to the room, Song Xiyan had already ceased breathing. Lady Chang had covered her eyes with white cloth and arranged her body in a dignified, proper posture.
Only the blood seeping from the five wounds on her body remained starkly, glaringly visible.
At that very moment, Lady Chang was raising a short blade towards her own abdomen. Hearing the door open, she looked up at Song Shihuan with an expression of disbelief, and a smile instantly spread across her face.
In the next second, the short blade plunged into her abdomen, producing the sound of metal piercing flesh.
Baoxia, who was behind Song Shihuan, quickly instructed Liu'er to send word to the palace. Song Shihuan herself stood frozen, staring blankly at Lady Chang, whose abdomen had already begun to bleed.
The person before her, whose life was fading, was her birth mother, and also the person she had hated for two lifetimes.
In Song Shihuan's plans, people like Song Yanzheng and Song Xiyan were to pay with their lives, even including Song Ling. As for Lady Chang, Song Shihuan's plan was for her to live out her days in lonely, bitter regret.
"Ahuan..."
Lady Chang's voice was extremely weak. Lacking the strength to support herself, she slumped against the bedside, only managing to stay upright by leaning on the bed.
"In our past life... it was I who wronged you. I shouldn't have... shouldn't have looked down on you from the start, nor should I have... allowed you to be bullied."
"But it's useless to say any of that now."
Blood-tinged tears began to seep from the corners of Lady Chang's eyes as she let out a long, sorrowful sigh.
After realizing her mistakes, she had tried countless times to make amends. Yet, every time she saw Ahuang's face, she knew that only the price of her own life could atone for this sin.
So from the very beginning, it was destined that she had no face to live on.
"Come... come closer to your mother."
Lady Chang's speech was becoming fragmented. Continuous blood loss rapidly drained the color from her face, turning it deathly pale. She waved away the arriving physician, her eyes seeing only Song Shihuan now.
Beneath her sleeves, Song Shihuan's hands clenched tightly into fists. She walked towards Lady Chang.
Finally stopping before her, Song Shihuan knelt down.
Lady Chang struggled to raise her hand, as if wanting to touch Song Shihuan's face. "So beautiful... It's good that you look like Empress Yuan. It's good to look like Empress Yuan."
"The Crown Prince treats you as his own. When you come of age... I fear he may be unwilling for you to live separately in your own residence. If the Crown Prince takes a wife then, Ahuang... you must not panic. Do not resort to foolish schemes. The Crown Prince is a man of noble character; he will not treat you poorly."
At this moment, Lady Chang was like any ordinary mother, desperately planning for her child's future in the final moments of her life.
"The Great Qi's national power is unprecedentedly prosperous. There is no need for you to marry for political alliance. In the future, you are free to find a suitable husband... find someone... like the Crown Prince..." Lady Chang's eyes were beginning to lose focus. Her hand ultimately lacked the strength to lift any higher.
In the end, she never managed to touch Song Shihuan's face.
"And also... your coming-of-age ceremony gift... it's prepared. In the wooden box on the highest shelf... Inside is also... the recipe for almond tea. From now on, Ahuang will have to brew it for her own children."
"In the next life... I still want to be your mother."
This was her only selfish wish.
In this life, she was willing to atone with her life. Could she be Ahuang's mother again in the next life?
The sound of hurried footsteps arose, and Song Yu's figure appeared before Lady Chang's eyes. Seeing him, she smiled even more contentedly.
With His Highness protecting Ahuang so, she could die in peace.
If the Chang family hadn't been ensnared by the deposed Empress's schemes, if she had married Song Yu as her father had arranged in the bloom of her youth, would everything have been different?
What a true pity...
With her last ounce of strength, Lady Chang whispered softly:
"Ahuang... could you... call me 'Mother' once?"
Song Shihuan lowered her eyes, but her lips remained firmly shut.
Lady Chang seemed to let out a faint sigh of regret. Then, her eyes slowly closed, and her body slumped forward uncontrollably, leaning against Song Shihuan.
Feeling the sudden weight, Song Shihuan's kneeling legs slowly gave way, and she knelt fully, feeling the warmth gradually fade from Lady Chang's body.
After a long while, Song Yu finally stepped forward. "Ahuang, let's lay the consort on the bed."
Song Shihuan nodded somewhat numbly, watching as Song Yu and Liuxi together lifted Lady Chang's body onto another bed.
A wail of grief erupted.
Chang Ling'er stumbled and rushed towards Lady Chang's body, weeping as if her heart would break.
"Ahuang, this was her own choice."
Song Yu took Song Shihuan's hand. The warmth from his touch slowly eased the stiffness from her body.
"Father, I know."
"Let's return to the Eastern Palace."
...
Before leaving, Song Yu noticed a piece of paper on the desk in the room, a corner fluttering in the breeze. Walking over to look, even Song Yu was momentarily dazed.
"She has written down the entire process of how Song Hui used Song Xiyan."
Song Shihuan also looked at the paper. The handwriting was not the delicate, floral style common among young women of good families, but rather carried a sharp, forceful quality.
Song Shihuan suddenly remembered Lady Chang saying she also loved reading history books.
Perhaps those who love history mostly share a stubborn nature, insisting on settling accounts clearly, even if the cost is their own life.
"Take it. It will be useful against Prince Heng and his faction."
Hearing Song Yu's words, Song Shihuan nodded and stored the paper away.
"I want to go to her courtyard."
Arriving at Li Garden, Song Shihuan went straight to the wooden box on the highest shelf. Opening it, she found a hairpin lying quietly inside, along with a sheet of paper that had already yellowed with age.
Small characters were inscribed at the base of the hairpin. Song Shihuan looked closely.
'For my daughter, Ahuang.'
Song Yu reached out and ruffled Song Shihuan's hair. Seeing the little one's obvious, yet stubbornly suppressed, sorrow, he simply reached out with a large hand, closed the box, and handed it to Liuxi.
"Come, accompany your father to the palace to see your Imperial Grandfather."
Seeing Song Shihuan look at him with some confusion, Song Yu curved the corner of his mouth into a slight smile:
"For our Ahuang's sake, I will personally request an imperial favor for Lady Chang—to have her buried with the rites of a principal consort."
A daughter of the Chang family, raised in utmost privilege and honor, should depart this world with dignity and grandeur.
And she had also rid Ahuang of Song Xiyan.
This was Song Yu's gesture of gratitude.
