A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 367 Ending (36)

There was a lot of rain during the Qingming Festival. The rain continued for several hours in the first half of the night until it gradually stopped at dawn.

Empress Dowager Song Zi barely slept all night.

She painted, wrote calligraphy, played the zither, embroidered purses, and even sewed a pair of men's boots by hand.

On the floor of the bedroom were five exquisitely carved vermilion trunks.

Song Zi sat at the round table made of yellow pear wood, her slender, fair fingers stroking the newly made purse and shoes. Thinking of the person in her heart, the fatigue from staying up all night disappeared, leaving only the joy boiling in her heart.

The old woman lifted the pearl curtain and looked at this scene, her eyes stinging with tears.

The Song Zi before me, stripped of her phoenix crown and robes, dressed in a red nightgown, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, her features gentle, shy and timid—where was the once stern and authoritative Empress Dowager now? She resembled a bright young woman awaiting marriage, longing to meet her lover; her joyful, excited, and shy heart had already flown beyond the palace walls…

However, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment, and it may even lead to despair.

Unfortunately, Song Zi, who had been living in a beautiful dream for decades, never wanted to wake up or face reality.

"Mommy!"

Song Zi suddenly turned around, holding up the purse, her eyes brimming with smiles. "I embroidered a three-legged rabbit on this purse. Do you think Brother Yan will recognize it?"

“Your Highness is right…” The old woman walked over, and after recalling for a while, she finally remembered something, “When Your Highness was ten years old, you went hunting with the Duke and found a little black rabbit with only three legs in the forest?”

Song Zi nodded immediately, her bright eyes shining. "Yes, yes, yes, that rabbit fell into the trap, covered in blood, it was so pitiful. I wanted to take it back to the manor to raise it, and Brother Yan jumped into the trap without saying a word and rescued the little rabbit. We stopped its bleeding and bandaged it up, and we even named it 'Benben'. Every day after school and after practicing his skills, Brother Yan would come to my courtyard, and we would play with Benben together. He would push me on the swing, buy me roast goose from the old-established shop in the west of the city, carve hairpins for me, and teach me to write and paint. When I fell into the pond, he disregarded his reputation and the danger, and personally went into the water to save me..."

However, as she spoke, tears welled up in Song Zi's eyes, and the purse in her hand was torn out of shape. "He was so caring towards me, so doting on me like a precious treasure. He clearly said he would be good to me for the rest of his life... Why? Why did he suddenly change his mind? His Song family sent me to the palace and locked me in this cage. He avoids me and won't see me. How can he be so heartless..."

"Your Highness, please get some rest. For your health, don't stay up too late," the nanny said softly, unable to bear hearing her continue. Song Zi suddenly grabbed the nanny's hand, anxiously asking, "Nanny, look at my face! Is my skin dull? Are there any wrinkles or blemishes?"

"Your Highness, rest assured, you took the Muscle Regeneration Pill just the other day, and there's absolutely no problem," the nanny said truthfully after examining you.

Song Zi immediately relaxed, and then she smiled happily, "It doesn't matter. Whether Brother Yan wants to see me or not, he will be back in a few hours. He can't avoid it."

Upon hearing this, the old woman's face showed some worry. "Your Highness, what if the Duke is stubborn and... what if he doesn't appear at the public trial?"

"impossible!"

Song Zi raised an eyebrow, her tone resolute. She slowly smoothed out the crumpled purse in her hand, a cold glint in her eyes. "That little bastard Song Shuyu is a precious gift left to him by his deceased wife, who risked her life for him. Moreover, he looks exactly like his birth mother. Even if he only has half a breath left, he will rush back to rescue Song Shuyu!"

"Your Highness, aren't you afraid that by setting up this scheme to force the Duke back to the capital, he will resent you even more?" The old woman boldly asked, voicing her doubts.

Song Zi paused, slowly raising her eyes to look at the old woman. The coldness in her eyes was like the forked tongue of a venomous snake, making the old woman's breath catch in her throat. "I have waited for him for so many years, but I have not seen him change his mind. Since he does not know what is good for him, then I do not need to care about his feelings anymore! Even if a forced relationship is not sweet, it still has some flavor in the mouth!"

The old woman hurriedly knelt down, "Yes, Your Majesty is wise."

Song Zi put the purse into her wardrobe. There were already eleven purses inside, and with this one, there were twelve in total. This represented the twelve years that Song Yan had been gone from her.

The other four trunks were also full, containing cloaks, capes, long gowns, overcoats, shoes, socks, and undergarments. She carefully and gently placed the shoes and boots inside, as if afraid of damaging even the slightest thing.

"Granny, do you think he'll like the gift I've carefully prepared for him?"

Hearing Song Zi's murmured words, the old woman's face turned pale. Besides these gifts, were the lives of Song Shuyu and Mu Qingcheng, which she held in her hands, also gifts?

Sorry so much! I had to go to Beijing for a literary event and missed two days of updates. I'm really sorry. I'll start updating more tomorrow to speed up the completion process, there's not much content left. Thank you all for your persistent voting, love you all!