Date: 30/3/2026 

Episode: 40

Post #128
Link: https://weibo.com/8382706065/5282249723085675
Time: 19:25

As I'd wished, I’ve returned to where it all began. #ZhuYu#
*2 gifs of Xie Zheng in his grey Xi Gu Alley outfit, holding the paper umbrella*



Post #129
Link: https://weibo.com/8382706065/5282258462188754
Time: 20:00

The past 17 years felt like a long, damp, and unending cold rain. But at this moment, it finally seems to have stopped. The past and the emotional burdens I have endured and struggled with, have finally come to an end.

In my limited childhood memories, in my eyes, my father was a hero that stood tall and upright. He would often crouch down, and guide me hand in hand as I practised my swordsmanship, his movements steady and powerful. I would look up at him,  my heart filled with admiration. My mother was gentle by nature, she would always smile as she called me “Zheng’er.” In our spare time, she would hold my hand and take me to the courtyard to pick osmanthus flowers. She loved osmanthus cakes the most, and would often make me osmanthus candies.

But in a single night, the Jin Zhou Massacre happened. My father fell in battle on the frontier, choosing death over surrender, guarding the city and holding fast to his loyalty until the very end. I once believed my mother had heartlessly abandoned me and taken her own life. From that day on, I never dared to eat anything sweet again.

In my uncle’s manor, I learned my first lesson. I knew deep in my heart, that if I allowed myself to be weak and easily bullied, no one in this world would come to my aid. So I honed my will day and night, forging myself into a sharp and cold blade.

I inherited my father’s will and went to the battlefield, fighting battle after battle to carve out my own path forward. Not for fame or fortune, but because I never wanted the tragedy of Jin Zhou to ever happen again, and I wished for the civilians to live in peace. I reclaimed Jin Zhou, and set foot once more on that land that was deeply etched into my soul, to honour my father and the fallen soldiers. Walking through battle smoke and moonlight to where I am today, I had always believed I was born for the battlefield, and destined to die on it. I never imagined life could take any other forms.

Until I was gravely wounded and ended up in Lin’An, while my life was hanging by a thread, Fan Chang Yu carried me home on her back. And just like that, in that small yard in Xi Gu Alley, I found a place to stay. Her family had just suffered misfortune, and though her own life was difficult, she still tried her best to earn money to buy medicine for me. Back then, her eyes shone so brightly, and she even said, she would slaughter pigs to support me…

All these years, I forced myself to appear unbreakable. But by her side, it felt as though I could briefly set those burdens aside, and try once more to experience the warmth of this world, to taste the sweetness of life again.

For over a decade on the lonely and cold frontier, I never once felt that I was truly alive. It was only after meeting her, after staying in that small yard filled with the warmth of everyday life, that I realised this world might be worth living in after all.

Later, we parted and then reunited, and step by step became entangled in the old tragedy from 17 years ago. The grudges of our parents’ generation and the complexities of our identities weighed down on us, layer by layer. But thankfully in the end, we still stood firmly together, uncovering the truth of what happened, and finally letting go of all that bounded our hearts.

Now that everything has settled, as I look back, this life has been filled with those who treated me with sincerity. My father taught me to stand upright and just, and my mother loved and protected me; Grand Tutor Tao was both teacher and friend, guiding me in cultivating a righteous mind and learning how to discern truths. My uncle and General He trained me and gave me my skills. Gongsun Yin and the Grand Princess stood with me, united for the people. The soldiers of the Xie army stayed by my side through life and death, never once betraying me.
And Chang Yu, she saved me, and she loved me. In this life, I will never fail her, till death do us apart.

In the past, I stood alone on the distant frontiers.

Now, I have people by my side. If war happens again, we will go to battle together, to protect this land beneath our feet and the countless civilians behind us, even if it costs us our lives, we will have no regrets.

If the world remains at peace, we will stay in this small yard. On clear spring days, we will write New Year couplets and watch fireworks fill the sky. On summer nights with rain, I will be her teacher and teach her to read and write, accompanied by the sound of insects. In the crisp autumn air, we will roast chestnuts and bake sweet persimmons. In the cold of winter, I will help her make cured meat, and we will wait quietly for the snow to fall upon our shoulders.

As the seasons turn, year after year, life after life.
#ZhuYuFinale# #ZhuYuFinaleToday# #ZhuYu#


*Final Weibo background picture: Xie Zheng hugging Chang Yu, from ep.40 end of Chang Yu's dream sequence going back to the village*