When grief strikes, the voice tends toward extremes—either raspy or piercing. Outside, the roar of the crowd grew with every passing moment. Despite the deafening noise, Zhao Yan could clearly hear the people’s pleas for him to stay. A carriage is no soundproof chamber; the people's reluctance to let him go was laid bare in this moment.
While the adults understood the melancholy of parting, the children huddled together in fear. The clamor made them timid. Gu Muling pulled both children into her arms, soothing them with soft, gentle whispers. As they gradually calmed down, they listlessly played with their own small hands.
"A-Yan, let me watch the children. You should go out and say a proper goodbye to the people." Gu Muling understood the sorrow in Zhao Yan’s heart. Anyone who had given their all for three years would feel a deep attachment. To be leaving a place where he had poured out his spirit for so long, Zhao Yan had already been remarkably strong.
Chapter 482