WBICDPH Chapter 36 Part 2

I hope you are well.

—

Miss Xu, His Highness does not mind that I am a woman. He has allowed me to remain by his side and entrusted me with important responsibilities. I owe him greatly.

But becoming a consort is impossible. As for being a minister… to be honest, I’m tired of this life.

We’re close to success now. The day I’ve dreamed of is within reach. When it comes, I’ll take my leave and go see the peach blossoms in Jiangnan again.

Would you like to come with me?

I hope you are well.

—

Miss Xu, His Highness—no, he should be called His Majesty now.

The Emperor has promised me that he will gradually loosen the restrictions placed on women in this world. Women will be allowed to take the civil service exams, to hold office, to build careers and families. In time, even the many burdens placed on those of low status will be eased.

He is a man who keeps his word. What he promises, he will fulfill.

In the future, if there are girls like me, they can become minor officials or advisors without having to disguise themselves as men and change their names as I did.

If you hear this news, you’ll surely be happy.

I hope you are well.

—

Miss Xu, I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again.

I resigned from office and left the capital, but not long after exiting the city, I was ambushed.

I saw them clearly. They were the Emperor’s men.

I know too many of his secrets. He is a capable ruler, but not a benevolent one. He must have been wary of me all along—that’s why he asked me that question. Now that I refuse to serve him any longer, refuse to be either his man or his woman, I can only be a dead person.

Fortunately, I escaped this time.

But I don’t know how long I can keep running.

I hope you are well.

—

Miss Xu, I met the servant surnamed Wu at a post station.

I asked him about you. He hesitated and wouldn’t answer, and I knew something was wrong.

So the money never reached you after all.

Wu Ai said his mother was gravely ill and needed money to survive, so he kept the silver for himself. He claimed he felt guilty and spent these years staying at Mantingchun, doing everything he could for you to make up for it. I don’t know if that’s true. I hope it is.

I’m not going to Jiangnan.

I’m going back to Zhongyun City with him. I’m going to find you.

I hope you are well.

—

Miss Xu, my unease has been growing these past few days. I can feel someone following me.

The day has come. His Majesty has no intention of letting me go. He’s determined to eliminate every trace.

They’ve locked onto me. I don’t think I have long to live.

I’ve decided—once I reach Zhongyun City, I’ll go to Second Master Qin first, borrow money from him, and send you away as quickly as possible.

Second Master Qin treats me extremely well. If he knew I was being hunted by the Emperor, he would risk his life to protect me. But I can’t be that selfish. He spent years ruining his own reputation to survive—he’s finally made it through. I can’t provoke the Emperor’s wrath by myself.

My road is short. I won’t see the peach blossoms of Jiangnan again. So next spring, please break off a branch and let it drift down the river. Perhaps it will float back to Zhongyun City, and I’ll be able to see it once more.

Look at me—being foolish again.

I hope you are well.

Lin Jin gently folded the letter.

It was the last one in the box.

Page after yellowed page, filled with rambling, ordinary words, pieced together Chu Ji’s entire life.

As a young girl, she had grand ambitions. Then her family fell from grace, and she was sold into the pleasure quarters. She was later helped to regain her freedom, changed her name, disguised herself as a man, and went to the remote northwest to serve as an obscure prince’s strategist. Over many years, she painstakingly helped him gather power, wagering everything on a single throw—until, at last, they overthrew a foolish emperor.

Her ideals were fulfilled. She saved many people.

But she failed to save the one she wanted to save most.

And in the end, she never saw the peach blossoms of Jiangnan again.

Lin Jin let out a soft sigh and carefully placed the letters back into the box. When he looked up, he realized that the snow that had fallen over Zhongyun City for days and nights had quietly stopped.

The clouds had parted. Dawn broke through the long night.

Without realizing it, he had already left the ghost realm.

Han Ao, Liu Fuxin, Second Master Qin, and the towering guards stood nearby. None of them spoke. They simply remained where they were, silently listening to the letters being read.

In front of him, Xu Dongsi still stood there.

She was thin and fragile, like a flower that could be snapped by the wind at any moment.

This time, it wasn’t his imagination.

Lin Jin could clearly see her figure slowly becoming transparent.

Her remains had been uncovered, and the letters from her old acquaintance had been read aloud. Her obsession was dissolving little by little, and the ghost realm had quietly overlapped with reality.

Obsession was the core of a ghost’s power.

She was growing weaker—too weak to maintain the ghost realm, too weak even to hold her form.

But she didn’t look to be in pain.

At the corner of her lips, Lin Jin glimpsed something like a smile.

Then, for the third time, she reached out her hand toward him.

As before, Lin Jin offered his hand.

This time, however, she did not grasp his wrist.

She only gently supported the back of his hand and, with her icy fingertips, slowly traced a single character into his palm—stroke by careful stroke.

She wrote very slowly.

Lin Jin could clearly see her soul fading as she did.

“Thank you.”

Thank you for reading these to me.
Thank you for letting me see the light again.
Thank you for freeing me from my obsession.
Thank you for showing me that my existence was not meaningless.
Thank you for letting me know that what I wanted to do was truly carried on by someone else.

As she finished the final stroke, Xu Dongsi gently released Lin Jin’s hand.

He looked up instinctively, about to tell her, “There’s no need,” but when he saw her clearly, he froze.

The cold wind surged.

Before his eyes, Xu Dongsi turned to dust and smoke, dispersing into the clear morning after Zhongyun City’s great snowfall.

In the final instant before she vanished, Lin Jin saw it clearly—

Behind the cloth covering her eyes, a single tear seemed to fall.

So ghosts can cry too?

That tear was as clear and brilliant as a diamond. It should have disappeared with her soul, yet for some reason, it condensed into something tangible in midair.

Lin Jin instinctively reached out and caught it.

A piercing cold settled into his palm.

The tear transformed into a small, milky-white bead, lying quietly in his hand.

Lin Jin looked at it for a long time. Finally, he slowly curled his fingers around that icy chill.

Pressing his lips together, he spoke softly—so softly that only he could hear—the words he never had the chance to say to Xu Dongsi:

“What must be done, Miss Xu, needs no thanks.”