A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated 4

24

The inside of the tent was dimly lit by candle.

Chu Beijie led Pingting through the tent flap, immediately seeing the Queen lying on the bed. Her once silky black hair had almost gone completely white.

This graceful queen of a country's face was gray and defeated. Fine wrinkles had formed due to worry, covering her once exquisite and beautiful face.

She had accompanied the King through his final years and suffered more than enough torment as Dong Lin fell.

"Sister-in-Law." Chu Beijie tiptoed towards the bedside, whispering softly.

The Queen's long lashes began to flutter as she opened her eyes that had its former glory. It took a while before the face she saw came into focus.

"You've returned." The Queen weakly breathed in, not having strength to articulate her words. "I heard you drove away the Yun Chang soldiers surrounding us."

"Sister-In-Law, you've been suffering."

The Queen shook her head, squeezing a wry smile onto her face. Her gaze shifted beyond Chu Beijie and was suddenly surprised.

Chu Beijie seemed to notice. He took a step back and held onto Pingting's limp hand to calm her down.

The atmosphere in the tent began to feel unusually stiff.

The Queen's gaze stopped on Pingting for a very long time.

"Bai Pingting?" Her voice was very low as she slowly spat out the three syllables between her teeth, a past that had chewed at her for so long.

Pingting bent down, bowing deeply. "Queen."

"Bai Pingting, Miss Bai..." The Queen said, "Please come here, let me look at you."

Pingting answered, stepping forward and stopping in front of the Queen's bed.

In the dim candlelight, two complicated expressions met.

This was the first time they had clearly seen the other's face.

While the past disappeared with the wind, memories didn't easily fade.

There was so much pain, love and hate. From being forced to leave the secluded residence, the queen losing her son, Chu Beijie losing Pingting and Dong Lin losing Chu Beijie.

And under the hooves of Yun Chang's invasion, Dong Lin too had lost Dong Lin.

They had been tangled by fate, hurting others and hurting themselves, but only today did they finally know the other's face.

The Queen quietly looked at Pingting, asking, "Do you hate me?"

Pingting answered with another question, "Does Queen hate me?"

All of the past in their mind was like a rock in lightning, disappearing in a single moment, leaving the witness to sigh at the remnants. It was no more than a handful of smoke.

The Queen's gaze shifted away from Pingting's face, stopping on Chu Beijie beside her. She faintly sighed.

"When the King died, he asked me a question." The Queen's lonely expression contained her memories, "The King asked that if we too, were born between enemy countries and directly opposing positions, would we still be willing to stay by each other?"

She didn't go on and her face revealed that she was deeply in recollection.

"What did Sister-In-Law reply?" After what seemed a long time, Chu Beijie finally opened his mouth to ask.

The Queen looked at Chu Beijie, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his lips. She didn't answer Chu Beijie's question, whispering, "The King had always been hoping that the Duke of Zhen-Bei would return to succeed Dong Lin's throne. I can finally be reassured and go now."