As Xiao Zai watched his father drop to his knees behind the throne, the only thought running through his mind was that he wished his dam was there.
He looked around the hall, but he couldn't see Gu Wei anywhere. He must have heard about what was happening. Wouldn't he want to watch?
A childish part of Xiao Zai wanted to run out and find him, bring him by the hand and point towards the shell that once held their tormentor and say: "Look, papa, he bleeds too."
He supposed that part of him would be gone soon too. He didn't have any interest in revisiting the traumas of his childhood after this. He would bury the child he had been with his father, and look forward for the life he was about to build -- for the sake of his own unborn child.
The King continued to kneel pathetically on the dais, looking up at the Queen Dowager's back in empty disbelief.
