Chapter 1143: The Last Princess of Ji's Tears

After a heart-wrenching cry, Fu Yuxue's sobs gradually subsided, leaving only intermittent sobs.

Her fingertips traced her father's gravestone repeatedly, as if trying to warm the cold stone. Her face was streaked with tears, and her heart was filled with sorrow.

Lin Lang handed over a clean handkerchief, squatted down and gently patted Fu Yuxue's back, his voice extremely soft: "It's good to cry it out. Your father-in-law, if he could see you are well now, would be at ease."

Fu Yuxue took the handkerchief and wiped away her tears. When she looked up, her eyes were still red.

She gazed at the neatly arranged offerings before the monument, the incense already burned down to the bottom of the censer, and her nose stung with tears again: "Father, your daughter will never see you again! Waaah..."

Lin Lang threw a stack of paper money into the fire. The orange flames licked the paper, and it quickly turned into ashes that drifted away with the wind into the depths of the pine and cypress trees.

He turned to look at Fuyu Xue and said with heartache, "My beloved concubine, if you have anything on your mind, just tell your father-in-law. I'll be here with you."

Fu Yuxue nodded, then knelt sadly before her father's grave, recounting the events of the past years.

"Father, I am doing very well in Chang'an. His Majesty treats me extremely well, and Ling'er is obedient and sensible. If you see her, you must praise her intelligence. However..."

"It's just a pity that Father couldn't see his granddaughter, sob sob..."

"I always remember when I was little, my father taught me to paint, to ride and shoot, and to admire the flowers in the palace gardens of Baekje. He treated me like the apple of his eye. Those days before I was married were so wonderful..."

As she spoke, Fuyu Xue's eyes reddened again, but she stopped crying loudly. Instead, she picked up some paper money and began to burn it for her deceased father herself.

As she burned paper money, she spoke in a choked voice to her father's tombstone, as if she had so much to say to her deceased father.

Lin Lang remained quietly by her side until Fu Yuxue finished speaking and the paper money had burned out and the embers had died down. Only then did he slowly say, "My beloved concubine, kneeling on the cold ground for too long is not good for your health. Please get up!"

After Fu Yuxue kowtowed to her deceased father's tombstone with tears in her eyes, Lin Lang helped her up from the ground with heartache.

"My dear concubine, it's time for us to go down the mountain. Ling'er is still waiting in the carriage. Don't let your daughter worry." Lin Lang helped Yu Xue shake off the dust from her skirt.

Fu Yuxue nodded with tears in her eyes, and when her gaze swept over the tombstone, she took another deep look at it.

Lin Lang's heart stirred slightly, but he didn't say much. He simply took Fu Yuxue's hand and walked down the mountain.

The warmth of Lin Lang's palm seeped through his fingertips, calming Fu Yuxue's heart a little more. Having experienced the pain of losing her father, she cherished her husband Lin Lang and daughter even more.

On the return trip, Lin Lang still wanted to carry her on his back, but Fu Yuxue gently shook her head.

She took Lin Lang's arm and said in a choked voice, "Your Majesty, I want to walk by myself, just to accompany my father for a while longer."

Lin Lang didn't force her, but slowed down his pace, letting Fu Yuxue lean against him as they walked down the mountain path step by step.

The mountain wind blew again, stirring up the ashes of the paper money on the ground, as if responding to the longing at the grave.

Looking at Lin Lang beside her, and at his resolute profile, Fu Yuxue suddenly felt that even though her homeland was gone and her loved ones were separated by death, she would no longer be lonely in the days to come because she had such a loving king by her side.

As they approached the foot of the mountain, they could see Qingdai holding Xiaozhiling's hand, standing by the carriage looking around.

As soon as Xiao Zhiling saw the two of them, she immediately ran over on her short legs and threw herself into Fu Yuxue's arms: "Mother! Why have you been gone for so long? Ling'er missed you so much!"

Fu Yuxue squatted down and hugged her daughter. Her eyes welled up with tears again, but she quickly smiled and gently pinched her little nose.

"Mother just talked to your grandfather a lot. Now that he knows Ling'er is smart and well-behaved, he must be very happy."

Xiao Zhiling nodded as if she understood, then looked up at Lin Lang and asked, "Father, what does my grandfather's tomb look like?"

Lin Lang gently patted his daughter's head and replied tenderly, "When Ling'er is a little older, your father and mother will take her to pay respects to her maternal grandfather, okay?"

"Okay!" Xiao Zhiling clapped her hands with a smile.

Fu Yuxue looked at her personal maid Qingdai, "Just now, nothing happened, right?"

Qingdai quickly shook her head: "Your Majesty, although some villagers passed by and glanced at the carriage procession out of curiosity, they were all ordinary farmers and left quickly. The horses were also very well-behaved and stayed in the same place."

Lin Lang nodded, gesturing for everyone to get into the car.

Fu Yuxue carried Zhiling into the carriage, lifted the curtain and glanced back at the depths of Mangshan, where the person she missed most was, and where she couldn't let go of her sorrow.

Qingdai also got into the carriage.

Lin Lang personally sat in the driver's seat, activated his beast-taming skill, and softly uttered a single word: "Giddy up!"

A dozen or so carriages moved slowly, their wheels crunching through the dust with a soft, rustling sound.

Inside the carriage, Fu Yuxue held her daughter on her lap, her eyes full of tenderness: "Ling'er, we're going to Phoenix Terrace Village now to visit your maternal grandmother and uncles."

Little Zhiling said in her childish voice, "Ling'er gave my favorite candied fruit to Grandma."

"Ling'er is such a good girl, Grandma will definitely love you!" Fu Yuxue kissed her daughter's little face.

"Hehe..." Xiao Zhiling smiled sweetly and adorably.

Feeling the warmth of her daughter in her arms, Fu Yuxue suddenly realized that this is what happiness is all about: having a loved one by your side to protect you, and a daughter in your arms. Even after going through hardships, you can still find a safe haven.

However, there is a saying that misfortunes never come singly.

As Lin Lang drove the carriage to the large house in Luoyang belonging to Fuyu Xueniang's family in Fenghuangtai Village, he heard a heart-wrenching cry coming from the courtyard.

"Mother, Father's body is still warm, you cannot follow him in death!" Fu Yuxiao's cries echoed in the courtyard.

Upon hearing this, Fu Yu Xue, who was sitting in the carriage, felt a jolt in her heart. She vaguely recognized the familiar voice of her second brother, Fu Yu Xiao.

Immediately afterwards, Fuyu Long was heard crying and scolding, "The Empress Dowager is not dead yet, why are you crying? I will go to Luoyang right now and hire the best doctor at a high price to treat the Empress Dowager."

Upon hearing her elder brother Buyeo Ryong's voice, Buyeo Seol's tears immediately fell.

She anxiously lifted the carriage curtain and cried, "Your Majesty, is my mother critically ill? I heard my brother crying."

Upon hearing this, Lin Lang's heart tightened, and he quickly jumped off the carriage.

The system notification reads: "Eungo, the last queen of Baekje, who was already suffering from tuberculosis, developed a severe lung infection due to excessive grief over the loss of her husband and exposure to cold. She was on the verge of death after coughing up blood with white lung, and there was no way to save her with the medical conditions of ancient times."

After reading the text, Lin Lang first helped the maid Qingdai down from the carriage and instructed, "Quickly go and report that Princess Yazhi has returned to her parents' home."

"Yes, sir." Qingdai hurriedly complied.

Then, Lin Lang first helped his daughter down from the carriage, and then helped Fuyu Xue down from the carriage, comforting her, "My dear consort, don't rush, let's see your mother-in-law first."

Fuyu Xue, who was helped down from the carriage, was so saddened by her mother's serious illness that her legs went weak.

If it weren't for Lin Lang supporting her, Fu Yu Xue, who had suffered another blow, would have been unable to stand.

At the same time, Baekje maid Qingdai ran into the courtyard and happened to come face to face with Buyeo Long, who was dressed in the official robes of the Tang Dynasty's Minister of Agriculture.

Upon seeing the former crown prince, Qingdai bowed with tears in her eyes and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor of Shanghai has taken Princess Yazhi back to Luoyang for her funeral. Her carriage is just outside the gate."

For many years, no one had addressed him as "Your Highness the Crown Prince." Buyeo Longxian, the last crown prince of Baekje, stopped in his tracks, completely taken aback.

When Buyeo Long realized that the palace maid Qingdai in front of him was the Baekje personal maid who accompanied his younger sister Buyeo Seol when she got married, his already reddened eyes turned even redder.

With tears welling in his eyes, he turned around and shouted, "Second brother, hurry inside and tell the younger brothers that our little sister has gone back to her parents' home for her funeral! Go and welcome her!"

Fu Yuxiao, who was squatting on the steps and crying bitterly, was shocked to hear that his only younger sister had come to Luoyang to attend her father's funeral. He immediately stood up and ran crying to his mother's room.

At the same time, the air inside the room was stagnant, like a damp cotton wad, making it hard to breathe.

Mrs. Eun, who was terminally ill, lay on her sickbed. Her once graceful body was now very thin. She was covered with a blanket, and her chest rose and fell gently with her weak breathing.

Her face was deathly pale, devoid of any life, and even her lips were cracked and chapped with dark brown lines. A few strands of dry hair clung to her forehead, completely devoid of the majesty she once possessed as the Queen of Baekje.

At this moment, Enshi had already fallen into a deep coma, her eyelashes tightly closed. If it weren't for the faint tremor at the corners of her nose, one would almost think that she had already stopped breathing.

The breath was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, each rise and fall so light it seemed as if it would vanish completely in the next second.

The medicine bowl beside the bed had long since gone cold, and the brown dregs remaining at the bottom were the last effort the sons could make under these ancient medical conditions.

Before the sickbed, the three brothers, Fu Yu Tai (third brother), Fu Yu Yan (fourth brother), Fu Yu Feng (fifth brother), and Fu Yu Yong (youngest brother), knelt upright, their knees soaked with tears.

The third brother, Fuyu Tai, was dressed in a plain-colored long robe, the cuffs of which were crumpled from repeatedly wiping away tears. His voice was choked with sobs and incoherent: "Mother, you must hold on!"

The fourth brother, Buyeo Yeon, was naturally reserved, but now he was crying so hard that his shoulders were trembling violently, his head was pressed against the edge of the bed, and suppressed sobs rolled out from his throat, like the low weeping of a wounded beast.

Fifth brother Fuyu Feng's eyes were red and filled with fear. He knelt before the bed, holding his mother's cold hand, and whispered again and again, "Mother, wake up... look at your son again..."

The sixth brother, Fu Yuyong, cried the most heartbreakingly, tears and snot streaming down his face. He wanted to reach out and touch his mother, but he was afraid of disturbing her, so he could only hold his hand in mid-air, his voice filled with heavy sobs.

"Mother, Father's body is still warm, you can't abandon us... Your son already has no father, and cannot lose Mother too! Waaah..."

Just then, Fu Yuxiao ran into the house crying, his stumbling voice saying, "Third brother, fourth brother, fifth brother, sixth brother, Huang Linlang from Shanghai has taken our sister back to Luoyang for her funeral. They're right outside the gate, hurry and welcome them!"

These words were like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the despair within the room.

The four brothers looked up abruptly, their eyes still veiled with tears, and froze in unison.

Fu Yutai was the first to react. He wiped away his tears, his voice trembling with disbelief and a hint of ecstasy: "Really...really? Little sister Xue'er is back?"

"That's great!" Fu Yuyan suddenly stood up, his knees were numb from kneeling for a long time, and he staggered before regaining his balance. He grabbed Fu Yutai's arm and said urgently.

"Mother is hoping to see my little sister one last time before she leaves. She always worries about how Xue'er is doing in Chang'an... Quickly, let's go welcome her!"