Wang Zhice left the capital, and no one knew when he would next emerge from Sangharama Temple.
Shang Xingzhou had also returned to Luoyang, and it would be many years before he left the Monastery of Eternal Spring again.
Before leaving, he went to the Imperial Palace and had a conversation with Yuren.
The first words Yuren gestured to him were: "When the Holy Maiden entered the palace that night, I promised her nothing."
On that night, Prince Chen Liu made an overnight journey to Luoyang.
Shang Xingzhou's silence had persisted from then until today.
From a certain perspective, he had fallen into Xu Yourong's trap.
Xu Yourong had used her momentum to strike at his heart.
Yuren's meaning was loud and clear: 'If Master truly did doubt me, you could have come and asked me beforehand.'
Shang Xingzhou had not asked. He had given a reason for this to Xu Yourong in the Mausoleum of Books:
No letter from the Imperial Palace had come to Luoyang.