He looked at her without saying anything else, only recited a poem, then turned to the emperor and said, 'Treat Yiran well,' before snatching a large knife from a soldier. Everyone did not expect him to take such an action and rushed to protect the emperor, but the knife plunged into his own chest. In that instant, he suddenly understood a truth: there are things in this world that power cannot achieve, and that is love. The King of Huainan was dead, yet no one present was happy. Perhaps it was hard to believe that the once mighty war god could die so easily. The emperor's eyes also held surprise; he… had truly fallen in love with Yiran. Even dying so miserably, does this world finally completely belong to him? Looking at the body, Yiran found it hard to believe. Had she really killed him? But why did her heart hurt so much? Later, the emperor had the King of Huainan hastily buried and announced publicly that he had died suddenly in the previous night due to a serious illness. This news immediately caused a stir throughout the city. No one could believe the King of Huainan was really dead. The moonlight was hazy, and the fragrance of flowers intoxicating. Yiran stood in the central courtyard looking at the night sky, unable to hold back her tears. Suddenly, she felt a weight on her shoulder, and it was the emperor who, fearing she might catch a cold, had put his coat over her. 'I plan to announce tomorrow to the world and confer upon you the title of Consort Ran. How do you feel about that?' he said. Yiran was no longer as whole as she once was and was afraid she could not serve the emperor. She raised her hand to wipe away her tears and looked at the emperor with calmness. 'I don't care.' 'I am tired. Now I just want to live an ordinary life well. I hope Your Majesty will grant me this.' 'Yiran, you… oh, do as you wish.' Yiran did not know how she left the palace, nor how she arrived at the King of Huainan's estate. She only looked at the empty gates of the mansion, and it felt as if the former splendor was still as vivid as yesterday. The gilded plaque of the King of Huainan's mansion was now covered in dust, teetering as if it could fall at any moment. Arriving at the Qingtan Garden, under that peach tree, she remembered that the day he watched her dance from outside the garden and the day he gave her the hibiscus hairpin, he had been standing right there. She knew that from then on he had always followed her, buying every item she looked at at the market, regardless of whether she liked it, simply because he cared. Even the dagger that wounded him that day had been a gift from him. She remembered him giving her the snow lotus and having Liuzhou Canglan teach her to dance. She was indeed moved, but at that time her heart still belonged to the emperor, and she could not betray him, so she had said words against her feelings.During the six months he went on campaign, the emperor visited their residence several times. He wanted her to help him eliminate the King of Huainan, but she hesitated. When he found out that she was meeting the emperor in private, he was furious; he hit her, demanding that she tell him she had done nothing inappropriate with the emperor. But she replied, 'Even if I did, so what? I have never loved you.' She knew she could never love him, so after he violated her, she agreed to the emperor's request. She deceived him into going south with her, all to allow the emperor to strip him of his power.
During the six months they spent together in Anyang, she realized that she didn't hate him as much as she had imagined. The six months passed in a flash, and she said she wanted to return. Six months was enough to uproot him completely. On the journey back, she repeatedly pondered whether what she was doing was right or wrong. Yet she followed the agreement with the emperor and plunged the dagger into his body. It was supposed to be his heart, but she didn't know why she stabbed his back instead—perhaps the back was not lethal enough.
When he saw it was her, a fleeting sorrow flashed in his eyes. He did not hate her, as the poem he had recited to her had indicated. Suddenly, she felt like an idiot. He seized the guard's sword; she expected him to resist, but he only said four words to the emperor: 'Be kind to her.' On hearing this, she felt as if struck by thunder—so proud, how could he bear betrayal from others?
In the end, he died, hanging himself in front of everyone. People said the once-so-powerful King of Huainan had died so easily. Yet only she knew that this was him leaving behind his last dignity. It was not until the very last moment that she realized she truly loved him.
She lifted her delicate hand to remove the jade hairpin from her hair. The white jade was crystal-clear, without a single flaw. The hairpin was formed in a wave-like shape, with a few hibiscus flowers carved at the end; it was the very hairpin she had seen in the Muran Pavilion, which he had bought back for her. But now he was gone, the building empty. She was left alone. (The End)
Finally, here is a poem:
King of Huainan, First Meeting
At first meeting, still dances like a city-toppling beauty,
Graceful figure like an immortal.
Under the flowering trees, spring winds stir,
Visitors outside the garden wake from thrilling dreams.
Wholehearted desire to protect the beauty,
Yet mistakenly lets her down.
Battlefield roars like hell,
Wasted youth in this life and the next.
