Qi State’s imperial capital.

Qin’s great army had already entered the city.

According to the military law Xiao Mo had established, Qin’s troops were uniformly forbidden to disturb the common people. Violators would be punished severely.

After breaking into the imperial palace, Qin’s army executed every last member of Qi’s royal clan, leaving none alive.

At this time, Qin’s army was managed by Xiahou Nan and Fang Weiming.

Just as Xiao Mo had done before, the two of them sorted and compiled Qi’s geomantic maps of mountains and rivers, household registers of the people, rosters of officials, and other books, and rushed them back to Qin’s imperial palace first, as quickly as possible.

After completing all of that, Xiahou Nan and Fang Weiming arranged the city defenses. They left Ma Jinpeng and Su Lei, along with some famed Northern Wasteland generals, to garrison Qi’s imperial capital.

On the seventh day after Qi fell,

Xiahou Nan held a long spear and a clay figurine in his arms, and walked step by step out beyond Qi’s capital.

The long spear was the Ten-Calamities Spear.

With its master’s death, the divine-soul imprint on the Ten-Calamities Spear had already vanished.

But even so, the Ten-Calamities Spear still trembled faintly from time to time, as if remembering its master’s departure and grieving.

As for that small clay figurine, it was not some magical artifact—only an ordinary clay carving.

Yet it was precisely such a clay carving

that the Frost King had protected even at the very end of his life.

Xiahou Nan did not know what was special about the little clay figurine, but he knew that to the Frost King, its meaning had to be extraordinary.

After leaving Qi’s imperial capital,

outside the city gate, a million soldiers of Qin’s army all wore white cloth on their heads, lined up in ranks on both sides of the gate.

Every soldier’s eyes were red. They stood tall, gripping their weapons tightly.

“General.”

Xiahou Nan looked at the relics in his hands. Even though he had endured partings of life and death more than once, his eyes reddened at this moment as well.

“The great war is over.

We—

are going back!”

...

Two months later...

“Qin’s army has returned in triumph!”

“Our Qin soldiers are back!”

“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Go look!”

“If you don’t go now, there won’t be any space left.”

“Qin’s army is back? Wonderful—I can see the Frost King again.”

“What’s the point of seeing him? This time the Frost King is really going to marry His Majesty.”

“So what? I still like the Frost King. If you’ve got the guts, don’t go.”

“Wait for me—I want to go see the Frost King too...”

That day, as Qin’s great army was about to return to Qin’s imperial capital, the news spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and quickly reached every corner of the capital.

Just like every previous time Qin’s army returned to the city, the common people stood on both sides of the streets, welcoming the army’s triumphant return.

The gates of the imperial city opened, and the army returned to the imperial city.

Many women craned their necks, hoping to catch another glimpse of the Frost King’s face.

But they waited for a long time and never did.

All they saw was Qin’s soldiers wearing white cloth on their heads, their expressions solemn.

And at the very front, soldiers carried a coffin.

Step by step, they walked forward.

...

In the back courtyard of the Xiao Residence, Qin Siyao sat beside her mother-in-law’s bed. She held a bowl of medicine in her hands and fed her mother-in-law carefully, sip by {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} sip.

Today, just as dawn broke, Qin Siyao had come to the Xiao Residence.

Because the imperial physician who had been keeping watch beside Zhou Ruoxi had told Cuicui to hurry into the palace and inform His Majesty—

Madam Zhou likely would not make it through today.

After feeding her the medicine, Qin Siyao set the bowl down. She took a handkerchief and gently wiped the medicinal residue from her mother-in-law’s lip.

“Siyao, these days... you’ve truly worked hard.”

Zhou Ruoxi smiled at her daughter-in-law.

Even though Zhou Ruoxi was advanced in years and her hair was already completely white, this madam seemed, from beginning to end, as gentle as ever.

“Mother, this is what I should do. I’m not tired.”

Feeling her mother-in-law’s life-flame, Qin Siyao could not help lowering her delicate head, her small hand tightening.

Zhou Ruoxi reached out and softly stroked Qin Siyao’s hair, smiling as she said,

“Silly child, don’t frown all day. Everyone has their fate. There’s no need to force it.

“And in my life, I’ve already lived very, very well.

“The two happiest things in my life were, first, having Mo’er as my child, and second, having you as my daughter-in-law.

“After Mother is gone, the two of you must live well.

“Mother knows that husbands and wives will inevitably quarrel. What couple in this world never quarrels?

“But you quarrel at the bedside and make up at the foot of the bed. And you—you shouldn’t hold it against that dullard Mo’er.

“Leave him alone for two days, and he’ll know he was wrong.”

“Mother, I know...” Qin Siyao’s eyes reddened as she smiled. “Don’t worry. I will live well with my husband, and I definitely won’t make you worry.”

“Mmm... this is good... this is good... as long as the two of you are well, that’s better than anything...”

As she spoke, Zhou Ruoxi felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier, her breath weaker and weaker.

Zhou Ruoxi wanted to sleep.

But she also knew that if she slept this time, she would never wake again.

“Siyao... Mother seems to hear that it’s very lively outside. Did something happen?”

Zhou Ruoxi tried to force herself awake and asked Siyao.

Qin Siyao looked through the window toward the street, separated by only a single wall. Hearing the faint clamor, her voice caught with a sob.

“Mother, my husband... is back.”

“Mo’er is back... that’s wonderful...”

Zhou Ruoxi’s consciousness grew more and more hazy, her voice light, as if she were talking in her sleep.

“After this great war, Mo’er... he shouldn’t have to go out to fight anymore, right? He should be able to stay in the imperial capital longer, right...”

“Mmm... Mother, after my husband returns... after he returns, he won’t have to go out again. The world won’t have to fight wars anymore. Everything is over...”

As Qin Siyao spoke, tears kept falling uncontrollably.

“From now on, my husband and I can always stay with you.

“Soon we’ll get married. My husband said he wants three or four children. When they grow up, they’ll all call you Grandmother...”

“So good... so good...”

The corners of Zhou Ruoxi’s lips lifted slightly, her pupils gradually spreading.

Her gaze moved away from Qin Siyao and toward behind Qin Siyao, and she asked,

“Eh? Siyao, look—has Mo’er come to see me...? My eyes... I can’t quite see...”

Qin Siyao turned around.

Behind her was an empty courtyard. There was no one in it at all.

“Yes, Mother.” Qin Siyao wiped the tears at the corners of her eyes in a rush, forcing herself into a smile through tears. “My husband came to see you... my husband is back...”

“Back is good... back is good...”

Zhou Ruoxi slowly closed her eyes.

In the darkness, Zhou Ruoxi’s vision seemed to gradually become clear again.

Zhou Ruoxi returned once more to that winter night.

That day, her child came into the world.

That day, her life was filled with color, stroke by stroke, by her child’s small hands.

Her child’s first cry—her own flustered helplessness.

Her child’s first smile—her own joy.

Her child’s first babbling—her own delight.

Her child’s first steps—her own worry.

Her child’s first steps in the snow—her own heartache.

The first birthday... her own anticipation...

“Mo’er, this is Mother’s one-year gift to you.”

Zhou Ruoxi hung a peace-jade plaque around the child’s neck.

“Mother doesn’t care what achievements you make in the future.

“Mother only hopes that Mo’er, in the future...”

...

“Mother, what did you say?”

Seeing Zhou Ruoxi’s lips tremble slightly, Qin Siyao hurriedly leaned in close.

“Year after year... year after year...”

“Year after...”

“Safe...”