Houa Lor

Title: Ashes Of Crown
Episodes: 8-13
Watch: Netflix
**SPOILERS**

I knew it…I knew it was her mother. The very moment she looked at Chu Zhao, I had this inkling inside and I was right. The love story her father and her mother had was so heartbreaking. That very last moment when they finally came together, not to reunite, but to say farewell to each other…oh my bleeding heart!!! And her mother’s sacrifice!!! Goodness, it’s just a bloody showdown now.

But…

In between all these are mysteries yet to be answered. I don’t believe that Xie Yan Lai really intended on poisoning her father at all. He truly believed that what his brother handed him would save a life. He just didn’t know the actual truth behind the family elixir. And now poor Xie Yan Lai is carrying a burden that will bring him to his knees.

Our girl, Chu Zhao, is still at times annoying. As much as she’s strong in certain areas, I still feel that her bitterness is clouding her mind. I am at least glad that she was not absent-minded enough to push her own mother all the way to the end. I mean, 19 years of being lied to, I get it. I also felt sorry for her too.

Goodness gracious, let the heartache begin…

**FROM MY OWN CREATION…NOT FROM THE NOVEL…ASHES OF CROWN, EP. 11**

The darkness of the world swallowed the air completely as Xie Yan Lai made his way toward where Chu Zhao stood. She looked like a small frightened child on the edge of the cliff. He removed the cloak from around him and placed it around her, turning her around to look at her. The brightness in her eyes was replaced with a dark stare that he didn’t like. When he finished tying the strings together, she had tears streaming down her face. Then slowly, she looked up at him and her lips trembled.
“Xie Yan Lai, what do you think a dying man thinks about?” she asked quietly.
He let out a soft breath. He lowered his gaze at his feet and then he replied, “Perhaps unkept promises…unfilled wishes…unlived life.”
“What do you think my father is thinking about?”
He shifted his gaze at her and frowned. She looked guilty. “If you truly want to know, why don’t you ask him that when he wakes up? Stop torturing yourself, Chu Zhao.” He reached for her and forced her to look at him. He watched as she avoided his gaze. Then his hands slowly ran down her arms. “Why do you look like you’ve done something wrong?”
She sniffled and immediately a sob broke through. “I just don’t understand what I did wrong. I have been trying to understand where I made the mistake. Why? Why must my father be ill? What more can I do to save him?” She broke down and nearly fell until he caught her into his arms. He dragged her body against his and she sagged against him, completely letting go. Her sobs tore at his heart and he simply shut his eyes, listening to her cry. Each time she took a breath, her shoulders shook and he tightened his hold around her waist. He had no words to embrace her pain. He simply just held her, held her so that she would have a place to fall.