"Chang Yu, in a month's time, this king will take Hua Yun Jin's position."
Chang Yu was stunned. "Master, have you truly made up your mind?"
Hua Yun looked into the distance with a calm expression and nodded. "Yes, no matter what, this is his country. I should do something for him, even though he didn't..." Chang Yu couldn't hear the rest of his words.
By the time Chang Yu came to his senses, the room was empty. It was as if his earlier perception had been a mere illusion. Chang Yu shook his head, lying on his bed, and fell asleep fully clothed.
Outside, standing on the eaves with his back to the courtyard, a slender figure stood tall. The wind gently blew, lifting the corner of his robe. Recalling the events of that day, he felt his heart tremble slightly.
The figure that continuously swept through his mind, the face he could not forget. He remembered, he remembered. "Yun Dan, can you forgive me?"
He saw guilt and tenderness in her eyes, all directed at him. Her kind face was exactly as he had seen it in his dreams, yet he had refused!
In truth, he wanted to say that he had already forgiven her, truly forgiven her, and let it go, but he couldn't utter the words then.
"What are you thinking about?" A person appeared behind him. He didn't turn around. "Why are you here?"
"Why can't I be here?" the man asked with a chuckle. "This place is not only yours, but also mine."
"Do you think I did wrong?" He turned and looked at the man in front of him, asking.
The man paused slightly, then said softly, "There is no right or wrong in this world, only a clear conscience."
"A clear conscience?" He scoffed. "You're mocking me."
"I am mocking you, and I am also mocking myself," Bai Sheng said faintly, shaking his head, a hint of imperceptible sadness in his tone.
"I'm going to take your position. Do you have any objections?"
The man was taken aback, then smiled. "I told you back then that I have no desire for power whatsoever. If you want it, take it. It's that simple."
"What exactly do you want?" He couldn't fathom the man, who seemed indifferent to everything, yet seemed to value something deeply.
"Everything is gone. It was gone twenty years ago!" He shook his head, smiling bitterly.
"Actually..."
"Don't say any more. I don't harbor much hate, because I was never a welcome person to begin with."
He vaguely remembered that he was the last of his father's concubines, his mother a singer from a brothel. Through a drunken encounter, his mother became pregnant with him. Although his mother, despite her low status, was able to enter the mansion, she could only be a lowly concubine, even less significant than a maid. He had lived under the judgmental eyes of others since childhood, faring worse than the servants in the mansion. Although his mother was a singer, she was kind-hearted. It was precisely because of this kindness that she suffered a cruel and tragic fate. Yet, even after being harmed and losing her life, she had warned him that one cannot lose their conscience.
After his mother's death, he left the mansion and drifted alone. He endured all sorts of hardships. Finally, through his struggles, he became an assassin. Having experienced brutal situations, he finally established his own assassin organization. Even when the mansion where he was born and raised was annihilated overnight, he did not even blink an eye. He remembered standing outside the mansion, indifferently watching their pleas for help, yet he did nothing. He thought he would continue like this.
"What about Ming Yu? What do you plan to do?" the man asked him.
Hua Yun Dan froze, his gaze becoming somewhat distant.
Seeing this, the man said, "Now, the Empress of Huang Ze and Shen Yun Xuan probably know that Miss Ming is the person of the phoenix destiny. What do you plan to do next?"
After Hua Yun Dan finished speaking, his gaze was somewhat distant, and he didn't reply. The man smiled and said, "Don't tell me you haven't thought it through?"
Hua Yun Dan looked at him and said faintly, "I really haven't thought about what to do."
"Could it be that you want to lose her again?" the man suddenly asked.
Hua Yun Dan's gaze immediately turned icy. He looked at the man coldly. Seeing this, the man said, "I'm not crying wolf. Xue Zi Ning probably knows about Miss Yu's phoenix destiny by now and won't give up easily. She will definitely stir up trouble again. Are you prepared?"
"I won't let them take her away," Hua Yun Dan said word by word.
"Won't? On what grounds? Words? Or military power?" the man asked.
"What exactly do you want to say?" Hua Yun Dan asked coldly.
"I just think that taking my position won't protect Miss Yu," the man suddenly said.
Hua Yun Dan's face turned cold. He looked at the man, his eyes deep like an abyss. After a long moment, he slowly said, "You want me to seize the throne of the Empress of Huang Ze?"
The man laughed. "Yun Dan, the Empress is not accepted by the world. Perhaps no one dares to oppose her now, only because Xue Jing Yun, Wen Yu Xi, and Shen Yun Xuan are by her side. But time is long. Once such people leave her side, what will she be?
Such a person will sooner or later be overthrown. Rather than not knowing who will ascend the throne, it's better for you to sit on it."
Upon hearing this, Hua Yun Dan's brow furrowed, and he said coldly, "I remember you were deeply devoted to the Empress of Huang Ze before. How is it that after so many years, that devotion has vanished?"
Hua Yun Jin's face visibly darkened. "She doesn't cherish my devotion, so why should I keep it?"
"Hua Yun Jin, what exactly do you want to do? You don't want the throne, you don't want devotion either..." At this moment, Hua Yun Dan realized he truly didn't understand Hua Yun Jin.
Although he had lived like Hua Yun Jin's shadow before, now he could stand openly in the sunlight, in front of people. This was something he had once yearned for.
He didn't want this beauty to vanish like smoke.
In the past, he hadn't had much interaction with the Empress of Huang Ze, but he only knew that the Empress of Huang Ze and Hua Yun Jin had once had a fated entanglement.
To call it an entanglement was merely to say it did not end well.
However, not long ago, he had a dream. In his dream, he and the Empress of Huang Ze had some interaction.
That bright and courageous girl, that靈動 (líng dòng - agile and lively/spirited) and imposing woman, made it impossible for him not to be moved.
Therefore, he had not dared to see Ming Yu during this period. He felt a bit strange, developing feelings for someone with whom he had never interacted.
"You don't need to concern yourself with my affairs, Hua Yun Dan. From now on, you are Hua Yun Jin. There is no Hua Yun Dan in this world anymore..."
"Hua Yun Jin, you..."
"Hua Yun Dan, forget your past identity, your name. From now on, you are Hua Yun Jin..."