bestfiction Chapter 325 Returning to Modern Times
Chapter 325 Returning to Modern Times
In late autumn in the Nanzhao Kingdom, the palace locust leaves fall all over the red steps, and the morning frost dyes the glazed tiles white.
The bronze crane incense burner inside the Jiaofang Palace was filled with the fragrance of agarwood, yet the pervasive sorrow could not be dispelled.
Xiao Chengjun held the withered hand of the Empress Dowager Mu Qingling.
He touched the faded jade bracelet on her wrist—a token that the late Emperor Xiao Han had personally placed on her wrist during the founding ceremony of the nation.
"Jun'er..." Mu Qingling's voice was as soft as a whisper, her cloudy eyes reflecting the phoenix embroidered in gold thread on the tent ceiling.
"Do you remember when you were six years old, you got lost in the Imperial Garden..." She suddenly smiled, tears welling in the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, "I searched for you for three whole hours, only to find you squatting by the lotus pond, wrapping a handkerchief around a little sparrow that had fallen into the water..."
Su Mingyue knelt before the bed, gently wiping the tea stains from the corner of her grandmother's mouth with a silk handkerchief. Since Mu Qingling had been bedridden for half a month, she had stayed by her side every day, and even Qi Cheng had been allowed to study in the corridor outside the bedroom. At this moment, the clear voice of the child reciting his lessons came through the carved window lattice, but it made the atmosphere in the room even more solemn.
Suddenly, a palace servant stumbled in: "The Emperor Emeritus... the Emperor Emeritus has awakened!" Xiao Chengjun abruptly stood up, the hem of his robe sweeping over the celadon medicine bowl on the table. Xiao Han's bedchamber was in the next courtyard. As he passed through the hanging flower gate, the frosty wind swirled with withered leaves against his face, as if it were that snowy night thirty years ago—when he was being chased by assassins, his father Xiao Han carried him for three miles, their blood staining the entire imperial road.
On the rosewood couch, Xiao Han leaned against a gold-embroidered soft pillow, his white hair scattered on his moon-white nightgown. Seeing his son enter, he tremblingly reached out his hand: "Jun'er, come here..." His withered fingers stroked the white hair at Xiao Chengjun's temples, "Back when I placed the heavy responsibility of overseeing the country on your shoulders, you were only this tall..." His gesture froze in mid-air, and a violent cough made the brocade quilt tremble slightly.
That night, both palaces lit their eternal lamps. Xiao Chengjun stayed by his father's bedside until the third quarter of the hour of Yin, listening to his long, drawn-out breaths gradually weaken. When the fourth drumbeat sounded, Xiao Han's hand suddenly gripped his sleeve, a clarity flashing in his cloudy eyes: "Take good care of your mother... and Qicheng..." The last word dissipated into the morning mist, and the Imperial Seal of the State on his wrist dangled beside the pillow, making a crisp sound.
At the same moment, suppressed sobs echoed from the Jiaofang Palace from Su Mingyue. Mu Qingling's palms still held warmth, but between her fingers clutched half a candied plum—the "sweet star" Qi Cheng had secretly slipped to her great-grandmother yesterday. Outside the window, the Nine-Tails perched on the roof ridge, its nine tails cascading like snow-white silk. Gazing at the pale dawn breaking in the east, it murmured softly, "Old friend, our promise... has been fulfilled."
The tragic news spread, and the entire Nanzhao Kingdom observed three days of mourning. Xiao Qicheng, wearing a small mourning cap, held the Empress Dowager's favorite white magnolia blossoms and placed them in a celadon vase before the coffin. "Great-Grandma said that even if the flowers wither, they will bloom again..." the child looked up, his face streaked with tears. "Then when will Great-Grandma and Grandpa Emperor return?"
Xiao Chengjun embraced his son, gazing at the fluttering white banners in the mourning hall. Memories flooded back: Mu Qingling teaching him to decipher the vermilion annotations on memorials, Xiao Han personally instructing him on how to draw a bow and shoot arrows; when Empress Dowager Lin Wanqing was seriously ill, the two elders knelt in the Buddhist hall for an entire night, just to obtain half a folk remedy... Now, she is gone, leaving only the empty Jiaofang Palace, still retaining the lingering scent of medicine and unfinished family letters.
On the day of the funeral, Qi Cheng suddenly broke free from his wet nurse's hand and ran to Xiao Han's coffin. He placed the treasured Soul-Purifying Stone on his grandfather's chest, his voice childish yet incredibly solemn: "Grandpa, with this, you won't be afraid of the dark. When Qi Cheng grows up, he'll definitely chase away all the bad guys and put Grandpa and Great-Grandma at ease."
Xiao Chengjun stood on the steps of the imperial palace, watching the funeral procession slowly leave the city. Paper money, like snowflakes, blanketed the ten-mile-long street. As the coffin disappeared beyond the maple forest, he suddenly recalled a story he had heard as a child at the Empress Dowager's lap—that the ancestors of Nanzhao had transformed into stars, forever watching over this land. Looking up, he saw two stars quietly lighting up the deepening twilight sky, twinkling gently among the clouds.
On the carriage back to the palace, Qi Cheng curled up in his mother's arms and fell into a deep sleep. Su Mingyue gently stroked her son's head and whispered, "I heard that before the Empress Dowager passed away, she kept saying she wanted to embroider a tiger-head hat for Qi Cheng..." Her voice choked with emotion, "Even though her eyesight was failing..."
Xiao Chengjun held his wife's hand, his fingertips tracing the calluses on her palm. Outside the carriage window, the palace walls and willow shadows swayed gently, like the rustling sound of Mu Qingling's sleeves brushing against the Xuan paper when she taught him calligraphy. He suddenly understood that the so-called inheritance was not only the jade seal on the dragon throne, but also the benevolence flowing in his blood, the protection etched into his bones.
That night, Xiao Chengjun came alone to Weiyang Palace. Here, the edicts of past emperors were sealed. The flickering candlelight illuminated a portrait of Mu Qingling in her youth—the woman in the painting wore a phoenix crown, her eyes smiling, and the love knot tied at her waist was exactly the same as the heirloom from his mother that he treasured in his arms. "Grandmother, your grandson will surely protect the empire you and grandfather built," he whispered to the portrait. Moonlight streamed through the window, casting long shadows on the blue bricks, as if his beloved had never truly left.
A Journey Through Time and Space: Parting from Home and Friends is Hard to Bear.
In late spring in Jiangnan, the air was misty with the fragrance of wisteria blossoms. Xiao Jingchuan stood in the Wuzhu Youju Pavilion in the Humble Administrator's Garden, gazing at the ripples on the lake, a strangely shaped metal object in his hand—a time-space locator from the 21st century, gleaming coldly in the morning light. Gu Liuli, holding an oil-paper umbrella, strolled in gracefully, her dark skirt sweeping across the bluestone slabs, startling a few koi carp.
"Looking at this again?" Gu Liuli gently leaned her umbrella against the vermilion pillar, her gaze falling on the locator in her husband's palm. "That boy Qicheng has come up with another new gadget at the Academy of Mechanical Arts today, and he insisted on dragging us to see it." Her voice carried a barely perceptible sigh, as the rain slanted in from outside the pavilion, dampening the pearl hairpin at her temple.
Xiao Jingchuan put away the locator and held his wife's hand: "Liuli, the peaceful and prosperous era of Nanzhao has arrived. Qicheng is exceptionally intelligent. With the assistance of Chengjun and his wife and Jiulimao, they will surely be able to protect the country." He paused, his eyes filled with a tender light of reminiscence, "We have been away from the 21st century for too long. It's time to go back and see what the original world has become."
Gu Liuli withdrew her hand and turned to look at the artificial hill in the distance: "Have you forgotten? Back then, we traveled through time to Nanzhao because they needed us. Now..." Her voice suddenly choked up, "Now, every time Qicheng sees us, he pesters me to learn new mechanical arts; Su Mingyue even said she wants to work with me to compile new textbooks for girls' education; and Jiu Li Mao was talking about taking Qicheng to the northern desert yesterday..."
Before the words were finished, a clear laugh came from afar. Six-year-old Xiao Qicheng came running over, holding a homemade bamboo dragonfly, his hair still covered with bits of grass: "Great-Grandpa! Great-Grandma! Look! My flying kite can fly this high!" He stood on tiptoe and tossed the bamboo dragonfly into the air. The little object fluttered across the lake, startling a flock of egrets.
Xiao Jingchuan bent down and picked up the child. Qi Cheng carried a faint scent of ink and grass: "What do you want to be when you grow up, Qi'er?"
"I want to be the greatest mechanical master in the world!" Qi Cheng waved his little hand. "And I want to protect Nanzhao and defeat all the bad guys, just like my great-grandfather and great-grandmother!" He suddenly leaned close to Xiao Jingchuan's ear and whispered, "But... Qi'er wants my great-grandfather and great-grandmother to stay with me forever."
These words struck Xiao Jingchuan's heart like a heavy hammer. Gu Liuli turned her face away, secretly wiping her eyes. Since they came to Nanzhao, from assisting Xiao Chengjun in ascending the throne to educating Qicheng, they had long regarded this place as their second home. How could the time-space locator easily sever those days and nights fighting alongside their families, those times watching the people of Nanzhao live in peace and prosperity?
That night, the Nine-Tails suddenly appeared at their dwelling. It leaped onto the carved bed, its nine tails drooping onto the brocade quilt: "I knew you were going to leave." Its voice was unusually low, "When you traveled through time, the spacetime rift was already unstable. If you force your way back now..." Its amber eyes stared at the locator, "I'm afraid you'll never return."
Xiao Jingchuan and Gu Liuli exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and worry in each other's eyes. Jiuli Mao continued, "Moreover, although the Netherworld Pavilion is temporarily dormant, fragments of the *Tai Su Gui Lu* still exist in the world. Although Qi Cheng is exceptionally talented, he is still young..."
"I understand."
Xiao Jingchuan breathed a sigh of relief and put the locator back into the hidden compartment.
"We will not leave as long as Nanzhao is in turmoil."
He turned to look at his wife.
Gu Liuli was gently stroking the bamboo dragonfly that Qi Cheng had given her during the day, a smile on her face.