Mulberry Song

In The End p.2

My heart clenches but sees Zi Wu also look over desperately, his expression filled with nervousness, he does not see me.

"You can see her? You can see her?" Zi Wu keeps on asking, "Is she well? Is she still waiting for me? Is she......is she?" Following on, he actually grows so overwhelming anxious, that he does not even know what to say.

My eyes were overcome with absolute swelling pain, should I still be able to cry, I would already be choking back my sobs.

The old priest looks me over, saying: "The Empress has been swallowed in severe attachment, thus become a ghost. Should she still not relieve her soul and reincarnate, I'm afraid she will be confined to the human realm for eternity, reduced to an evil spirit."

Severe attachment?

Since when did I have a severe attachment? My eyes turn to see Zi Wu, struck with the sudden realisation, so it is not that had no attachment, but because being overly attached, I have actually let go of self-importance. Attached to An Zi Wu, persistently awaiting him. Awaiting him through the aging years, standing by him, watching over him.

Zi Wu upon hearing Reverend Tai Xu's words, freezes, asking: "How to relieve?"

"With no attachment left, without relieving, can also reach reincarnation."

"What attachment does Sang Ge have?"

"This, your majesty will have to ask yourself."

Zi Wu once again freezes, mouth softly whispering the two words "severe attachment", abruptly dumbfounded: "She's waiting for me, she's indeed waiting for me." The exhilarated joy in his words difficult to conceal.

Reverent Tai Xu leaves with a smile.

That night, Zi Wu's bedchambers have not one person guarding it, I stand under the plum tree in the courtyard, silently gazing at the hazy moon scene.

The breathing of the person inside the chamber grows a little heavier, I turn my head back, and sees him quietly leaning by the window, those features lit with a warm smile. Just like the very first encounter amongst the misty rain in Jiangnan.

I, a forsaken songstress, he a dandy marquis, beautiful like the dreamlike first meeting.

The plum blossoms behind in full bloom, the descending of petals like pink snow paving the land.

"Sang Ge." He says, "I'm home."

On the third month of Yong Ge tenth year, the emperor passes away.

......the end.

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This following was written by the original translator!

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Finally, after a decade of waiting, a decade of longing, the two are finally together.

I love how after all this time, there is nothing else to be said in that precious moment other than that one phrase of "I'm home". For Zi Wu, after all that worrying of whether she is still waiting for him, also those questions of panic, and the explanations he wanted to ease her 'anger' within chapter 3, he spent seven whole years trying to reach out to her again, just to get another little look of her, and thanks to the reassurance from the godly Reverend Tai Xu's words, he comes to realise she is still the Sang Ge who was always waiting for him, so all that was left for him from that very point, was only to return to her side, to finally end her waiting. As for Sang Ge, she has watched over him this entire time and has personally seen his devotion to her alone. No words are needed to tell her how much she actually means to him, no words can exceed the devotion he has displayed throughout his ten years of reign. And so, with those very words coming from his lips, she really could not ask for anything more. Because all along, this is all she wanted, to be able to wait for him to return to her.

Actually, Zi Wu's "I'm home" sounds so much more softer and sweeter in Chinese (wǒ huí lái le / 我回来了) the more accurate translations would actually be "I'm back", but excuse me for changing it to a less accurate translation, because I personally found it sounds a tad too comical this way, all I could think of was The Terminator when I typed it out at first – talk about ruining the mood XD So I took it upon myself to change it to "I'm home", hoping that it sounds sweeter in its own right...only by Sang Ge's side is Zi Wu at home

......either way, please understand this little alteration haha, but if anyone has any ideas for a better way to put it, I will gladly accept your suggestions ^_^

Also, I just noticed that the author first introduces Zi Wu's country as Cháng Gē / 长歌 which means long song, but in chapters three and four, the country or the reigning era seems to be called Yǒng Gē / 永歌 which means everlasting song. Yong Ge is definitely the more meaningful name, not to mention the more auspicious name for a country too, but both are named after Sang Ge anyways – a homage that represents Zi Wu's everlasting love, longing and gratitude towards her, such that would continue to be passed down through generations, even if a day comes when Yong Ge perishes, this reigning era that had once existed would still continue to go down in history, as will the story of the empress whose noble death lead to the rise of this era, and the emperor whose undying love for her lead to a lifetime of longing, a lifetime of remarkable devotion, with not a single woman setting foot in his back palace throughout his entire reign...this in itself is a godly feat considering the hundreds of concubines that occupy the back palace back then, but of course, such devoted emperor only exists in fiction haha