The two elders wanted to leave with her, but Lu Qingwan blinked, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable, "Am I not good at interacting with elders? Why don't I know what they're here for even now?"
Si Fengwu nuzzled her cheek silently, "Don't overthink it. They are just two guests with whom we share a blood relation. They will leave soon, so you don't need to care too much about their thoughts."
Lu Qingwan thought to herself, those are your parents, how can they be guests? But before she could finish speaking, Li Jin came to report, "Your Highness, Your Highness, the Lord of the Reincarnation Palace has arrived."
Her mind full of questions was interrupted. Si Fengwu replied on Lu Qingwan's behalf, "Please invite them in."
Li Jin retreated quietly, and before long, Liu Xunran appeared with Qingyi and Chengyi. Sensing the low atmosphere in the imperial study, Liu Xunran raised an eyebrow and broke the silence, "What's wrong? Unhappy about ascending the throne?"
Lu Qingwan, nestled in Si Fengwu's arms, said lazily, "When did the Lord of the Reincarnation Palace start interfering in worldly affairs?"
Liu Xunran chuckled and took out a letter from her embrace, handing it to her, "Knowing you don't have the patience to listen to me ramble, everything I need to tell you is in here. Would you like to open it?"
Lu Qingwan and Liu Xunran had no irreconcilable conflicts, so they wouldn't meet each other with hostility. She gestured for Li Su to take the envelope, and Lu Qingwan used Si Fengwu as an automatic reading machine, snuggling in his arms to read the letter Liu Xunran had given her. The beginning was about the recent events in the Southern Qi royal family. Lu Qingwan didn't understand the details, but she wasn't completely unaware. However, the content that followed was somewhat surprising. Lu Qingwan's relaxed body tensed up quickly, "Is everything written here true?"
"The matter has come to this, and all those who knew are gone. But I am willing to believe that what is written here is true." Liu Xunran said with a solemn expression, "At least the content here matches the nature of Liu Hanyan."
"Nangong Che was actually possessed during the palace coup years ago." Lu Qingwan looked at the letter in her hand in disbelief, "Liu Hanyan knew that this Nangong Che was not the original Nangong Che, yet she endured the disgust and lurked by Nangong Che's side for twenty-two years. What was she after?"
Liu Xunran gazed at Lu Qingwan's eyebrows, so similar to Liu Hanyan's, with a complex expression, "Temporal loopholes are never something that can be controlled by humans. Why do you think you were able to mend the temporal loopholes by yourself?"
Lu Qingwan's expression stiffened. Before she could figure anything out, Si Fengwu spoke. "A'wan's mending of the temporal loopholes was to atone for the sins of your Reincarnation Palace. This King doesn't care what Liu Hanyan did; that was her own doing, not her help to A'wan. If the Lord of the Reincarnation Palace is trying to whitewash Liu Hanyan and make A'wan forgive her, then you don't need to speak. Her suffering was not caused by A'wan, but A'wan's every hardship has her part in it. You can pity your daughter, but please don't express your belated affection by making this King's Consort suffer."
Liu Xunran was speechless for a moment, and in the end, she didn't argue with Si Fengwu in front of Lu Qingwan. She only murmured, "Indeed, she was right. Now that things have happened, saying more is futile. Making the Reincarnation Palace yours was her last wish before her death. I won't force you to accept it. If you need anything in the future, contact me anytime." With that, Liu Xunran left sadly.
Qingyi and Chengyi looked at Liu Xunran, then at Lu Qingwan. Chengyi trotted over and placed a letter on the table in front of Lu Qingwan, her round face flushed, "That was just the intelligence compiled by the disciples in the palace. This is a personal letter left for you by Senior Sister. Please take a look." After saying that, she hurried after Liu Xunran.
Lu Qingwan and Si Fengwu exchanged a look, and finally opened Liu Hanyan's personal letter. Lu Qingwan read it word by word, her heart becoming incredibly heavy. After a long while, she said with some helplessness, "In the eight years since I came to this time, the only time I felt the existence of maternal love was in this final letter." She carefully put the letter away and said solemnly, "Erect a tombstone for her in the Marquis Lu's ancestral shrine and burn this letter for her. It can be considered a small comfort in her arduous life."
Liu Hanyan's letter was very detailed and sincere. When she gave birth to Lu Qingwan, she was full of hope for this child. However, her luck was not good, and she was pursued by Nangong Che's enemies during childbirth. After finally finding a safe place for her child, Nangong Che was possessed by a soul from another world. The usurper, using Nangong Che's identity, controlled her divine consciousness under the guise of revenge and wantonly acted within the Reincarnation Palace using her position. By the time she regained consciousness, Liu Hanyan had become a debauched woman whom she herself didn't recognize, ruthless and unrestrained. Her notorious reputation made it impossible for her to face her daughter directly. At the same time, Nangong Che had gone too far, and the people he brought from the temporal loophole were no longer under his control. Those people were controlled by Meng Fuyuan and caused chaos everywhere. Meanwhile, Lu Qingwan had already carved out a bloody path for herself and found her own direction. Therefore, Liu Hanyan made a bold decision to send both Nangong Che and Meng Fuyuan to their doom, leaving Lu Qingwan a peaceful world.
To this day, Lu Qingwan herself didn't know in which aspects she had received Liu Hanyan's unseen help along the way. However, she was very clear about one thing: due to Liu Hanyan's intervention, Southern Qi would not trouble Tian Feng for at least another decade. And a decade was enough time for her and Si Fengwu to establish themselves in various countries.
The facts were laid out before her, and Lu Qingwan was quite willing to believe the content of the letter, but only just believe. As Si Fengwu had said, no matter how difficult Liu Hanyan's fate was, it was not caused by Lu Qingwan. However, the hardships she and the original host had experienced were brought about by Liu Hanyan. She didn't blame the heavens or the earth. To not blame Liu Hanyan for misjudging people was already the greatest consideration; she couldn't demand more of herself. Lu Qingwan even felt that her dwelling on Liu Hanyan's letter was disrespecting her own suffering.
Si Fengwu understood Lu Qingwan's meaning. He didn't object to erecting a tombstone for the original host but couldn't help but add, "Let's erect a tombstone without any inscription, using your name. I feel it's inauspicious." Lu Qingwan playfully hit him, "When did you start believing in such things?" Si Fengwu grumbled and said nothing, but he was strangely stubborn about this matter. Lu Qingwan, who was merely trying to comfort the original host's desolate soul, agreed, "Fine, I'll listen to you. Let's also erect a tombstone for Madam Zhou, so she won't be lonely down there."
As long as it wasn't a tombstone for Lu Qingwan, Si Fengwu had no objections to anything else and happily went to make the arrangements. It was another story that when he returned and saw Lu Qingwan, who was vomiting and looked like a deflated fish that had lost all dreams, he beat his head in self-reproach.