Early next morning when the sun had barely risen, Ye An was woken up by an urgent knocking at the door.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I've brought some news from the Imperial Palace." The voice accompanying the knocks was also as urgent if not more so.

Ye An sat up and rubbed the morning drowsiness away from her eyes.

Since Xi Chen was also close to the door, he was woken up as well. "Your Imperial Majesty.."

The other occupants of the room merely tossed in their sleep.

The voice from the other side of the door sounded familiar but Ye An couldn't put a finger on who that voice belonged to under her morning haze. But she quickly smoothed the wrinkles on her clothes before walking over to the doorway to open the door.

"General Shao! What brings you here?"

"I have some grave news to deliver to you, Your Imperial Majesty. You are needed back in the Imperial Palace as soon as possible. The Empress Mother unfortunately passed away last night." General Shao announced in a solemn tone.

Ye An's gripped the door frame for support upon hearing the news. A sudden surge of dizziness hit her as she felt the color draining from her face.

Xi Chen had walked over to the door when he heard Ye An called out General Shao's name. Seeing Ye An's white knuckles on the doorframe, Xi Chen asked. "What is it?"

"The.. the Empress Mother had passed away." Ye An turned to Xi Chen helplessly.

By then, the rest of them had woken up too and all of them heard Ye An's statement.

Ah Lin immediately walked towards Ye An and bowed his condolences to her. "I'm sorry for your loss, Your Imperial Majesty."

Prince Adlai shuddered, remembering the plan that was revealed to him the night before. So this was what that man meant when he said the emperor would be called back to the palace. Sze Chang on the other hand, bowed his condolences as well.

Ye An knew that she didn't have time to mourn and the cogs in her brain started shifting at the speed of light. "Minister Sze."

Sze Chang's face was a picture of empathy and sadness when he answered. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."

Ye An took a deep breath. "Even though I would like to personally attend Chieftain Burat's funeral myself, I think it's better to send you as my representative at this point in time." She was torn about this decision but thought that this was the best decision she could make given the circumstances.

"Yes, of course." Sze Chang bowed reverently.

Ye An then turned to Prince Adlai. "Adlai, my apologies for not going through with what I had initially said about attending your great-grandfather's funeral."

Prince Adlai who was distracted by his own thoughts jerked his eyes back towards Ye An when he heard his name. "It's alright. What matters is your intention. Sending Minister Sze is a good enough gesture. I couldn't even send a representative to your grandmother's funeral on such short notice. And I apologize for that."

"It's alright. As you said, it's the thought that counts. Then we shall part ways after our morning meal."

*******

After a quick breakfast, Prince Adlai and Sze Chang said their goodbyes as they crossed the northern border where Leader Wakhia's men were waiting to escort them to Chieftain Burat's funeral. Afterward, it was time for Ye An, Xi Chen, and General Shao to return to the capital. Ah Lin would remain at the northern border as was initially planned.

However, General Shao stopped Ye An before they disembarked on their journey.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I think there's a decision that must be made now that I'm no longer guarding the Empress Mother."

"What decision?"

"Traditionally, it's the general's duty to ensure the emperor's safety. However, since the Empress Mother was regent for so many years, I automatically became her personal guard and assigned Lieutenant Yun to be yours when you ascended to the throne."

"What I'm trying to say, Your Imperial Majesty, is that you'll need to decide if you want me to guard you instead of Lieutenant Yun. Because one of us has to stay here at the northern border. Captain Zhang has done tremendously to lead the northern troop but it's important that either I or Lieutenant Yun stays here."

Ye An was silent for a while before she answered. "General Shao, I think you know what my decision will be when you asked this question. I admit that it was a rocky start, but I've grown fond of Lieutenant Yun. So I would like to stick with him. However, I know of the nature of the relationship you had with the Empress Mother. I'm not here to judge, I'm merely inviting you to join us back so that you could attend her funeral and only return here afterward."

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Imperial Majesty. But I don't think I have it in me to be at her funeral." General Shao managed to squeeze out some tears as he said those words.

Ye An had mixed feelings. On one hand, she couldn't ignore the fact that her gut was telling her not to trust the general; on the other hand, she couldn't help but sympathize at the sight of a weeping middle-aged man.

"Is that your final decision?" Ye An asked.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Alright, then we shall be off. Let's go, Lieutenant Yun." Ye An said as she entered the royal chariot with Xi Chen.

*******

As they entered the capital, Ye An could hear the wailing and cries of grief by the commoners through the curtains over the windows. She didn't need to peel the curtains off to know that those people were on their knees and bowing at the royal chariot with abandonment. But Ye An's eyes were as dry as the desert in the West as she looked ahead. Xi Chen who was by her side peered in her direction in concern.

Ye An finally looked at Xi Chen after a long and silent journey. "Lieutenant Yun, you're looking at me as if I'm the one who's dead."

"Your Imperial Majesty, don't speak ill of yourself!" Xi Chen scolded, but his tone remained gentle.

Ye An smirked humorlessly. "That's probably one of the few times I've heard you reprimanding me."

"My apologies if I've overstepped."

"No matter." Ye An waved a hand weakly and the rest of their journey continued in more silence.

When they finally arrived at the Imperial Palace, Ye An requested for the chariot to be driven to the West Palace where the Empress Mother's body was still at. Ye An couldn't remember how she had disembarked the chariot. Every step felt like she was floating and every second of it felt as unreal as the dreams she had at night. When Ye An entered the Empress Mother's private chambers, servants were reaching into an exquisitely made coffin to put the finishing touches on the Empress Mother's makeup. She stood still at the entrance and waved the servants away. When Ye An was alone, she finally walked up to the cold body of the Empress Mother.

It was only a few steps away but each step felt like she was wading through invisible sludge. When she finally reached the coffin, she took a deep breath before landing her sight on the Empress Mother.

Since hearing about the news of the Empress Mother's death that morning, Ye An had pictured how the elderly royal would look like. But now she could see that the Empress Mother merely looked as though she was peacefully asleep. The servants did a good job concealing the pallid complexion of someone whose soul had left the living world. Ye An was grateful of that.

There was a mountain of unuttered emotions clashing with each other inside her ribs but Ye An's eyes were still dry as the bald branches swaying gently in the cold courtyard. It was as if her mind and emotions had not come to terms with each other. In the end, she only stood there and stared at the Empress Mother's pale face without a word.

Ye An lost track of time until a soft knock at the door brought her back into reality. It was already night and the room had darkened.

"Your Imperial Majesty?"

Ye An immediately recognized Governess Hsu's soft voice.

"Come in." Ye An noticed the hollowness in her own voice for the first time.

The creaking of the door hinges as the governess opened the door sounded especially deafening in the dark stillness.

Governess Hsu's eyes softened when she saw how Ye An didn't take her eyes off the Empress Mother. She gave a small sigh. "Your Imperial Majesty, have you eaten?"

Ye An didn't answer right away. "I'm not hungry."

Governess Hsu walked over to Ye An's side and lightly touched her arm. "You need to eat, Your Imperial Majesty."

Ye An didn't answer.

Governess Hsu continued in her soft tone. "And the servants need to move Her Majesty into the prayer hall. The monks would be arriving soon."

Ye An knew that once the Empress Mother's body was moved to the prayer hall, her coffin would be sealed shut. That thought held a sense of finality. Looking at the grey hair and paper-like complexion of the Empress Mother, the fragile porcelain bowl that was desperately holding all of Ye An's emotions in finally cracked. Ye An heaved a loud sob and crumpled to the floor, covering her face with trembling hands as fat tears finally fell.

"Oh, Ye An.." Governess Hsu exclaimed softly as she crouched down and enveloped Ye An's trembling frame into her embrace.

The governess gently patted Ye An's head until her loud sobs gradually subsided. When it was quiet, Governess Hsu continued to hold Ye An before gently pulling her away from her embrace. The governess looked into Ye An's eyes. She wiped the remaining tears away with the pads of her thumbs and said softly, "Let's go have some food. The Empress Mother would disapprove of an emperor who mops around, don't you think?"

Ye An swallowed the last of her tears and quietly nodded before standing back up and straightening her clothes. She took one last look at the Empress Mother with her still teary eyes before turning away and wiping her eyes dry with the edge of her sleeve, her composure already returning. "Let's go, Governess Hsu."

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