Zhao Ling Xu whispered. "With all of this."
He stepped back, turned, and without a second glance, walked out of the courtyard.
Neither the Empress nor the Prime Minister moved to stop him. The silence left in his wake was unbearable.
The Empress slowly sank onto the stone bench by the koi pond, her strength seeming to leave her all at once. Her trembling hands fell into her lap, and her shoulders slumped forward, the weight of everything crashing down.
The Prime Minister walked slowly to stand beside her, but did not speak. He only looked at her with something unreadable in his gaze.
The wind stirred the trees. The koi swam peacefully in their pond. And the sky overhead remained indifferent to the collapse unfolding below.
...
