Also speaking of Jing Qi faking his death, it's just another way that Priest forces characters to either let go of their obsessions or have the objects of their obsessions be forcibly taken from them... Helian Yi could not have gone on to be a fully invested, decisive, and fair ruler if Jing Qi stayed behind with him. He clings to his obsession and is punished so severely for it (dies heartsick and lonely), but it's only because he is forced to keep his distance, that he is isolated in power and lonely at the top, that the empire thrives