HNYWEF -Chapter 201 Renewing Old Bonds

A few hours earlier.

The moment Zhou Xiong’s carriage appeared on the official road, news had already flown into the imperial palace.

At the city gate, the cavalry officer ran all the way, passing the message along— from the Zhuque Gate to the Taiji Hall, and then to the Liangyi Hall. By the time it reached Emperor Taizong of Tang, Zhou Xiong’s carriage had not even entered the city yet.

Inside the Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin was reviewing memorials.

When he heard the report from the eunuch, his hand paused. The vermilion brush rested on the inkstone—neither lifted nor put down.

He sat there, looking at the unfinished memorial on the desk, silent for two breaths.

“Where is he now?”

“Your Majesty, he has just reached the southern gate.”

Li Shimin nodded. He set the brush down, stood up, and walked to the window.

Outside, the sky was clear blue with almost no clouds. Cicadas screamed relentlessly in the heat. He stood there for a moment, then turned back to the eunuch below.

“Go invite the Empress. Also call the Princess of Changle.”

The eunuch hurried off.

Li Shimin returned to the desk and sat down. He picked up the unfinished memorial, glanced at it, and put it down again.

His fingers tapped the desk twice, then stopped.

Empress Zhangsun arrived quickly. She wore ordinary home attire, her hair casually pinned up, as if she had come directly from the inner palace.

When she entered, she glanced at Li Shimin but said nothing, taking a seat beside him.

Princess Li Lizhi arrived a little later. When she entered, there was still a trace of fatigue on her face, but her eyes were bright.

She stood in the hall and bowed.

“Father Emperor.”

Li Shimin nodded and gestured for her to sit.

Li Lizhi sat down, looking between Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun.

“What is it?”

Li Shimin was silent for a moment. He looked out the window. The cicadas were still screaming, irritatingly continuous. He finally spoke, his voice lower than usual.

“Zhou Xiong has returned.”

Li Lizhi’s eyes lit up slightly.

But Li Shimin did not look at her. Still gazing outside, he continued.

“He has reached the southern gate.”

Empress Zhangsun said nothing.

She looked at Li Shimin’s profile—his expressionless face, the fingers resting on the desk, slightly curled as if holding something that wasn’t there.

“I almost thought,” Li Shimin said after a pause, “that he would never return.”

The hall fell silent.

Li Lizhi’s lips moved as if she wanted to speak, but she held back.

Li Shimin withdrew his gaze and looked at the scattered memorials on the desk.

Half were finished, half unfinished, messy and disordered. He did not care.

“I had his wife’s grave repaired,” he murmured as if speaking to himself. “I even made Zhou Yi take an additional post in the Ministry of Works. When he returns… will he still be half-sane, half-mad?”

No one answered.

Cicadas continued screaming outside the window.

Empress Zhangsun watched him for a while, then spoke calmly.

“Your Majesty, what are you worried about?”

Li Shimin did not respond immediately.

After a long silence, he looked up at her, then at Li Lizhi.

“I don’t know.”

His voice was very soft.

“I just don’t know what he will be like when he returns. I don’t know how to speak to him. I don’t know whether I should ask how his journey was, or pretend nothing happened. I don’t know whether he will become that way again…”

He paused.

“I don’t know.”

Li Lizhi listened quietly. She had never heard her father speak like this before—not as an emperor to his officials, not as a father to his daughter, but as someone genuinely uncertain what to do.

She spoke.

“Father, you’re overthinking it.”

Li Shimin looked at her.

Li Lizhi continued, “He’s come back. That’s enough. As for what he’s like, you’ll know when you see him. What’s the use of thinking so much now?”

Li Shimin froze slightly.

Looking at his daughter’s sleepy yet calm face, at her steady eyes, he suddenly felt she was right.

He was indeed overthinking it.

Ever since Zhou Xiong had left Chang’an, he had been thinking—whether he would die on the road, whether he could find his destination, whether he would relapse into madness, how he should face him upon return.

He had even felt his hair turning white from it.

Yet Zhou Xiong had not even entered the city, and he already did not know how to face him.

He let out a faint laugh.

“You’re right.”

Li Lizhi looked at him, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly, but she did not smile.

Empress Zhangsun stood up and walked over to Li Shimin, placing a hand on his shoulder. She said nothing—just rested it there.

Li Shimin raised his head and looked toward the doorway.

The door was open. Sunlight poured in, bright and glaring on the floor.

He stared at that light for a long time.

Then he spoke, his voice steadier than before.

“Let’s wait.”

He paused.

“When we see him, we’ll know.”