After returning to the mansion from the palace, Song Zhiyuan changed his clothes and went to Chunhui Hall. When he saw Song Ci and young Dan playing, he also teased his little son for a moment before letting the nurse carry him away.
Mother and son each held a cup of tea and sat on the Arhat bed, speaking softly about Empress Dowager Wang's illness.
"Coughing up blood?" Song Ci was shocked. "How could it be this severe? Empress Dowager's health has always been good."
Song Zhiyuan sighed, "Empress Dowager has also aged, four years older than you, mother, and is 63 this year. Illness comes like a landslide, not even an Immortal can save from it."
Song Ci was silent. Indeed, like herself, her heart was that of a resilient young woman, but reality was she was a frail old lady.
Old ailments, no cure for them.
Eternal youth is all fiction, not to be trusted.
