The festival should have ended peacefully.
But Xin Ying felt it—the moment the air changed.
Her hand tightened at her side as she scanned the crowd. Too many unfamiliar faces. Too many eyes linger where they should not.
Something's wrong.
She took a subtle step closer to the empress.
Lantern light flickered. Music continued. Laughter rose and fell like waves, unaware of the storm forming beneath it.
Xin Ying's gaze snapped to the western pavilion.
A man stood too still.
His robe was plain. His posture is wrong.
And in his hands—
"No—"
The sound came first.
A sharp, violent crack that did not belong to drums or firecrackers.
Li Hua felt it only as a sudden rush of movement.
Xin Ying moved.
There was no time to think.
She turned, stepped in front of the throne, and pushed Li Hua back with all her strength.
The gun fired.
Pain exploded through Xin Ying's chest.
The force knocked the air from her lungs as she fell backward, the world spinning, sound vanishing into a distant roar.
Blood bloomed across her robes.
"XIN YING—!"
Li Hua screamed.
The empress dropped to her knees beside her, hands shaking as she pressed against the wound.
"No—no—no—stay with me!" Li Hua cried, her voice breaking completely.
The festival dissolved into chaos.
"CLOSE THE GATES!" Li Yuetong shouted, already drawing her blade. "No one leaves the Palace!"
Guards surged forward. The gunman was tackled to the ground before he could fire again, his weapon clattering across the stone.
Xin Ying's vision blurred.
Above her, Li Hua's face was streaked with tears.
So this is it, Xin Ying thought weakly.
Her chest burned. Each breath hurt more than the last.
The ending came anyway.
But something felt… wrong.
It was supposed to be a knife, she realized dimly.
A blade. A close death.
Her lips trembled into the faintest smile.
"The plot…" she whispered, blood at the corner of her mouth.
"It changed..."
Li Hua leaned down, forehead pressing to Xin Ying's.
"Don't talk," Li Hua begged. "Please—don't leave me."
Xin Ying's hand twitched, finding Li Hua's sleeve.
"I tried..." Xin Ying murmured. "I really tried..."
Li Hua shook her head fiercely. "You're not allowed to die. Not like this. Not at all."
Around them, the snow fell softly—silent witnesses to a moment the world would never forget.
Xin Ying's consciousness faded, her last thought echoing quietly:
Even if the ending is different…
I still protected you.
And for the first time in history, the empress of the Southern Lands knelt before a single person, holding her as if the throne meant nothing at all.
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