[The Vows of the Yao-Ships]
The Yao-Ships sped through the night, their lanterns flickering like fading memories. Inside, the silence was finally broken by Lin Lie.
"I remember everything she said," he whispered, his voice steady despite his trembling fingers. "In her world, travel connects thousands of miles. I will establish the Yao-Ship works. I won't let myself be idle... because if I do, the despair of missing her will swallow me whole."
Luo Ye looked at the scars on his hands. "Then I will build the soup kitchens and the grain factories. She always said hunger was the cruelest torture. I'll keep that promise for her."
Sang Qi sighed, a bitter smile on his lips. "She wanted me to start the Medical Bureau. I'll have to categorize every specialty—trauma, medicine, diagnostics. I'll need to train apprentices. Honestly, I'd need ten of me to get this done."
Cang Yuan tapped his scabbard. "For me, it's the water. Irrigation for the fields, canals for the towns. It's a massive project, but it was her wish."
Li Yan finally spoke, his voice heavy as a hammer. "I will repair the homes and the roads. No more children growing up in the mud. This task is as vital as any of yours."
They did not speak her name, but Gu Xingyu was in every breath they took. She had walked into the darkness to save them, and in return, they would turn the Yao-world into the paradise she dreamed of.
[The Royal Decree]
At the Palace of Ten Thousand Scales, Crown Prince Si Moyan listened to their report.
"She sacrificed herself to protect you?" he murmured, a shadow of grief crossing his face. But he quickly composed himself. "Then her heart is now the responsibility of this empire. From this day forward, the projects of the Five Yao are national policies!"
He assigned the tasks, opening the treasury and the military labor to support them. "Her will is now my will. But first—tend to your wounds. We cannot build a future with broken men."
[The Brothers' Truce]
In the East Study, the two brothers sat together for the first time in years.
"Moheng," the Prince said firmly. "I need you to personally uproot every shadow agent the Preceptor left in this city. You are the only one who knows where they hide."
Si Moheng sneered. "My former ally? You want me to clean up your mess?"
"Not for me," the Prince replied, his eyes piercing. "For Gu Xingyu. She wanted a world without strife. She wanted the people to be safe. Clearing Feng Mian's rot is the only way."
The name hit Moheng like a physical blow. He touched the braided cord she had given him. "Fine," he rasped. "I will do it. For her."
The Prince then softened his voice. "There is one more thing. Our father... the drugs have destroyed his mind. He no longer recognizes me or the Princess. He thinks the Queen is Mu Yunzhao. He won't recognize you either, Moheng."
He stepped closer to his younger brother. "You don't have to be his blade anymore. Come back. Help me protect this world."
Moheng looked away, a cold, mocking smile on his lips, but his heart was wavering. He remembered her last words: "At least, this time, do not bleed because of me."
"I will consider it," Moheng said coldly. But the Prince knew. For a man as stubborn as Moheng, "considering it" was already a surrender to love. He wasn't doing it for the throne or the King—he was doing it so that if she ever returned, she would find the peaceful world she had risked everything for.