The bright moon hangs high, beckoning him down from his pedestal.

On the other side of Jiaofang Palace, no matter how much Wulan Yun hated it in her heart, on the surface, she finally kept quiet for the time being and dared not cause any more trouble openly.

The night was deep, inside the ancestral hall of Yunfu in the capital.

The flickering candlelight illuminated the two characters "Yun Wan" on the memorial tablet.

Wei Zheng sat alone on a futon, with several empty wine jugs scattered around his feet and one clutched in his hand.

He tilted his head back and gulped down a mouthful of spicy liquid. The burning sensation spread from his throat all the way to his stomach, but it couldn't suppress the dull pain in his heart.

"Wan'er..." His voice was hoarse as he spoke to the cold memorial tablet, as if talking to himself, or perhaps pouring out his heart, "I'm so sorry."

"I couldn't protect you, leaving you alone in a foreign land, enduring cold stares and dying in despair."

He closed his eyes, and the image of that beautiful woman from his memory seemed to appear before him, but in the end she became haggard and pale, and her life faded away.

"Now, our only child, Aruo..." He choked up, and after a long while, he continued with difficulty, "I couldn't protect her either, and she was taken by Shen Wangxi."

"How old is she? She didn't even have a proper coming-of-age ceremony, and she's hardly ever seen any young men her own age. The two emperors she married, Emperor Liang and Shen Wangxi, were both much older than her."

Wei Zheng's voice was filled with suppressed anger and helplessness.

"She deserved a better life, to find a husband of similar age who was kind and caring, and to live a peaceful and happy life."

"But now I'm trapped deep within the palace..."

"It's all my fault for being useless."

Yun Wenhan had been standing outside the ancestral hall for an unknown amount of time.

He listened to the whispers coming from inside, his face full of complex emotions, which finally turned into a sigh as he gently pushed open the door and went in.

"The dead are gone, and there's no use in regretting the past." Yun Wenhan walked to Wei Zheng's side, bent down to pick up an empty wine jug that had rolled off the ground, and spoke with a clear voice that reflected the wisdom gained from experiencing life's vicissitudes.

Wei Zheng didn't look up, still staring at Yun Wan's memorial tablet, and said in a hoarse voice, "But my heart aches, I aches for Wan'er, and I aches for Aruo."

Yun Wenhan sat down on the futon beside him, looking at his daughter's name. A flash of pain crossed his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it and patted Wei Zheng's shoulder: "I know."

"As a father and a husband, I understand how you feel."

"But now, what's done is done. We can both see the trend in the palace clearly: the Imperial Concubine enjoys exclusive favor."

"Although Shen Wangxi is ruthless, he seems to care about Aruo, at least for now, and has not mistreated her."

"That child, Aruo, doesn't seem to be completely without ideas. Her life in the palace may not be as difficult as we think."

"Taking it to heart?" Wei Zheng suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot, still unwilling to give up.

"Is that what you call taking it to heart?"

"He only coveted Aruo's beauty and harbored a desire to possess her. Shen Wangxi still has the Empress, and grown princes and princesses. How could he truly be in love with her?"

"Watch your words!" Yun Wenhan interrupted him, glancing sternly at the doorway before lowering his voice, "Walls have ears! Now that we're in the capital, we need to be even more careful with our words and actions."

Wei Zheng's chest heaved violently, and he finally lowered his head in despair, ran his hands through his hair, and slumped his shoulders.

Seeing his expression, Yun Wenhan softened his tone:

"Shen Wangxi is a powerful and ambitious man. Under his rule, the Great Zhou Dynasty is indeed thriving."

"Although it wasn't our original wish for Aruo to go with him, at least her life is safe and she will have no shortage of wealth and honor."

"Right now, what we can do is to gain a foothold in the court and become her support, so that she can have more confidence in the harem."

"This is the best way to comfort Wan'er and Aruo."

Wei Zheng remained silent for a long time, so long that the candlelight crackled.

He suddenly stood up unsteadily, walked to Yun Wan's memorial tablet, and knelt down straight down.

His voice was firm, "Grand Tutor, I, Wei Zheng, have failed Wan'er in this life, and have not been able to grow old with her."

"Now I ask for nothing more than that you promise me that a hundred years from now, you will reserve a place for me next to Wan'er's grave."

"I won't be buried in the Wei family's ancestral tomb. I want to marry into the Yun family. I couldn't be with her in life, so let me stay with her forever after death, okay?"

Looking at the once spirited general kneeling before him, who was now willing to give up his final resting place for the sake of his deceased daughter, Yun Wenhan felt a pang of emotion.

He nodded: "Okay, I promise you."

"If Wan'er knew this in the afterlife, she would be happy."

Having received the promise, Wei Zheng kowtowed three times deeply before Yun Wan's memorial tablet.