Chapter 465

Hongjun was incomparably clear that the suffering Tang An had endured at Lingshan had to be settled in full today, no matter what.

In order to ensure the Saints would not fall and the foundation of the Heavenly Dao would remain intact, he could only choose to let Jieyin also kneel and beg for forgiveness.

"Kneel!"

The pressure of the Heavenly Dao was forcibly applied to Jieyin. His cultivation was slightly higher than Zhunti's, so he could barely hold on, unwilling to kneel to Tang An.

"Dao Ancestor, I have a method to reconsolidate the Merit Golden Lotus, revitalize the Western Sect's fortune, and supplement the power of the Heavenly Dao. I beg the Dao Ancestor for mercy."

Hongjun had not expected Jieyin to still have a trump card.

Taking advantage of the moment Hongjun did not increase the pressure, Jieyin looked toward the East.

In the imperial palace, Wu Zhao was holding court when suddenly, she vomited blood and was struck by a sudden, severe illness. She struggled, clawing at the armrests of the phoenix chair, unable to catch her breath.

This was the critical moment for the merger of the Women's Kingdom and the Great Tang; she could not die!

"Your Majesty?"

"Your Majesty!"

Inside the palace, everyone was in a state of chaotic panic. The imperial physicians ran toward her carrying their boxes, their hats falling off, but they had no time to pick them up.

After all, if the Queen could not be saved in time, it wouldn't just be their official caps they lost, but their very heads.

Wu Zhao looked up into the sky; her ears were ringing, and her vision began to blur more and more.

She pounded her chest, but it did not alleviate the pain in the slightest; her breathing became even more rapid.

In a trance, she saw a figure appear in the great hall.

"You..."

"You came..."

As soon as Wu Zhao opened her mouth, the blood surged even more violently.

She pushed away the imperial physicians and everyone surrounding her. As if guided by some unseen force, she walked down from the phoenix chair. The pain of death vanished from her face, replaced by a bitter smile filled with endless longing.

"I never thought that before dying, I would still be able to... cough, cough..."

Wu Zhao wanted to reach out and grab her sleeve, but she lost her strength and collapsed to the ground.

"It is... it is fake..." She laughed, and as she laughed, hot tears flowed down.

"In this life, I could mount a warhorse, I could wield the imperial seal, I could decide the life and death of officials, and I could determine the livelihood of the world."

"I did not let you down. The women in the Women's Kingdom have lived, have..."

She stretched out her hand, wanting to touch that illusory figure, but her hand was stained with blood, and she dared not touch her.

In her memories, she was still so beautiful, so clever, and so fond of laughing.

"I really want to see you... one... last time."

Tang An, who was above Lingshan, suddenly seemed to sense something and sat up abruptly.

"You touched her!"

"Master!"

The Dharma body of Tongtian Jiaozhu appeared from within the clouds. "I am here; you may go."

Tang An needed someone to step forward to help her hold the current situation. And that person had to be someone she could trust, someone capable of suppressing the Heavenly Dao and the two Western Saints.

As soon as Tongtian Jiaozhu appeared, Tang An's figure vanished from the sky.

When she appeared again, it was inside the palace of the Women's Kingdom.

"Wu Zhao."

This call made the corners of Wu Zhao's mouth lift slightly as she closed her eyes.

When Tang An flashed before her, she only managed to catch Wu Zhao's falling hand.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty~"

The imperial physicians and the civil and military officials all knelt, overcome with grief.

And Wu Zhao, in the end, did not get to see Tang An one last time.

Tang An grabbed Wu Zhao's hand, lifted her up, and held her in her arms. "I'm sorry, it was I who implicated you." Her chest heaved, and she could not hide the guilt in her eyes.

Above the Women's Kingdom, following Wu Zhao's passing, auspicious clouds gathered—it was an auspicious celestial phenomenon.

Wu Zhao's Primordial Spirit flew out of her body and ascended, slowly condensing into another person.

Jin Chanzi.

Tang An glanced at Jin Chanzi but ignored him, instead laying Wu Zhao down steadily. The guilt in her eyes transformed into overflowing killing intent.

No wonder Jieyin said he could reconsolidate the Merit Golden Lotus; so this was the scheme he had in mind. Using Jin Chanzi's merit to revitalize the Western Sect's fortune.

But that merit was clearly created by Wu Zhao through her tireless, blood-and-sweat efforts day and night. Why should she be killed by Jieyin for no reason, and why should the merit all return to the Western Sect!

"Princess Chang'an?"

A female official recognized Tang An. "Are you Princess Chang'an?"

"Hmm?"

The female official hurriedly prostrated herself in a grand salute. "Princess Chang'an, you have come; you have finally come."

"What happened?"

The female official climbed up from the ground and stumbled toward the side hall.

Before long, she ran out from the side hall, holding a tray full of envelopes that had been very well preserved.

"These are the letters Her Majesty wrote to you over the years. Now that Her Majesty has passed, if I can deliver these letters to your hands, it can be considered fulfilling Her Majesty's wish of over ten years."

Tang An took the outermost envelope and opened it to read.

The letter was filled with dense writing, like a diary, recording what had happened in recent days.

And at the end of the letter, a striking sentence was written: "May you be safe, happy, and free from all taboos."

Tang An then opened one letter, and then another.

Every one was the same, written like a diary of her innermost thoughts, with the same sentence added at the end: "May you be safe, happy, and free from all taboos."

Tang An let out a long sigh, tears swirling in her eyes.

She looked at Wu Zhao's corpse and laughed at herself. "What is so good about me that is worth you missing me for so many years?"

"Even your obsession before death was just to see me one more time."

The female official immediately knelt and said, "Her Majesty the Queen once said that if the day came when she was exhausted, her only hope was for you to write the epitaph for her."

"Please, Princess Chang'an, fulfill Her Majesty's wish."

The civil and military officials all knelt and repeated, "Please, Princess Chang'an, fulfill Her Majesty's wish."

Tang An put those letters into her Wealth Gathering Ring and hesitated for a long time, not knowing how to write the epitaph.

She had originally thought that Wu Zhao's feelings for her would fade with the long time spent apart. She had not expected that with the passage of time, the longing would grow wildly, never changing.

Tang An wondered how she should respond to Wu Zhao, what kind of epitaph to erect before her grave.

But after thinking and thinking, she was speechless.

"A wordless stele—so it is not that there are no words to write, but that there are thousands upon thousands of words, yet they are stuck in the throat, and there are no words that can clearly express them."

Tang An turned to look at Wu Zhao's corpse beside her. "Erect a wordless stele for her. Let the historians record her life in detail; keep one copy, and bury the other with her in the tomb."

"Yes..."

The officials saluted again, and faint sounds of weeping filled the hall; they were all heartbroken over Wu Zhao's sudden death.

Tang An found a location with good feng shui for Wu Zhao and left the location of the tomb for the female official.

"Although I know you may not have a next life, I still hope the feng shui will nourish you, allowing you to generate a trace of a soul to be reincarnated."

"Don't be so tired in your next life, and don't meet me again."

Tang An left a trace of Dharma power on Wu Zhao's corpse to keep her body from decaying.

"Leave the remaining matters for you all to handle yourselves."

Tang An looked at Wu Zhao and sighed, then resolutely departed.

After Tang An left, the female official cried as she knelt forward and picked up Wu Zhao.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

"Do you see? Princess Chang'an has come. She found a tomb for you and decided on a wordless stele."

"You did not wait in vain for so many years; she has returned, she has come to see you."