Seeing that Xuan Yuan Yue's face suddenly turned deathly pale, she looked extremely unwell.

Jinlan, who was tidying up the messy bed, asked anxiously, "What's wrong, Princess? Has some bad news come from Western Qin?"

Xuan Yuan Yue felt her heart skip a beat, and her legs seemed to lose control in an instant, unable to find any strength to support her.

He then slumped down onto the soft couch in the hall, one hand supporting his forehead, and said in a weak, distraught voice, "Something terrible has happened! The Empress Dowager has sent word that the Princess Consort of Qin has passed away!"

"Princess Consort of Qin?"

Jinlan hurriedly recalled that the news had quickly spread throughout the entire palace that Princess Yongle had returned to her country, so this Princess Qin could only...

He immediately realized what she meant, but could not believe it and exclaimed in utter shock, "Your Highness means that Princess Yongning died in Western Qin!"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue's heart grew even heavier: "It was Yi Shang Kun, the head of the Yi family in the west of the city, who personally went to the Qin Prince's mansion to inform Uncle Qin of the death."

Thinking of the news that Mei Zhixuan had just told her that morning, she was clearly quite puzzled: "My mother's letter said that the Princess Consort of Qin had a dispute with Uncle Qin over some trivial matters, which led to her running away from home and causing the accident. Moreover, the Qin Prince's Mansion has already held a funeral, so it must all be true..."

Jinlan shook her head as she recalled, and said, "That's not right. Didn't Lu Yuan, the young city lord of Longhu City, say today that Princess Qin was only swept away by the hurricane and sandstorm in Lu County and went missing?"

Xuan Yuan Yue thought for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Although Yun'er is clever and intelligent, she is still just a mortal. Perhaps that's just Lu Yuan's own unwillingness to face his own stubbornness. Can't you see the young city lord's feelings for Yun'er?"

Jinlan stopped what she was doing and muttered to herself, "What... what should we do?!"

Clearly, even Jinlan was well aware of the current situation: "I heard that during the morning court session this day, the ministers were quite dissatisfied with Princess Yongle being divorced by the King of Qin and were determined to demand an explanation from Western Qin. Fortunately, the new Princess of Qin is Princess Yongning, and I heard that the King of Qin treats her very well and has also provided assistance to Longhu City, which can be considered as helping Dongning once, thus preventing the matter from escalating."

After a pause, Jinlan continued, "Now, if the court learns that Princess Yongning, who has just made such a great contribution, has died in Western Qin, Princess Yongning is deeply loved by the people and is supported by the officials, unlike Princess Yongle. In that case, wouldn't the two countries of Eastern Ning and Western Qin be on the verge of war?"

Jinlan seemed too afraid to think any further: "Then what should we do?"

Even Jinlan could recognize the imminent crisis, so how could Xuanyuan Yue not be even more aware of it than she was?

But at that moment, she felt a mix of emotions.

For her, Yi Shangyun was undoubtedly an extremely important person in her life.

But they never even had a proper goodbye, whether in Western Qin or now in Eastern Ning, and she died so quietly?!

How could she accept this?

...

Seeing that Xuanyuan Yue was lost in her own thoughts and couldn't wake up for a long time, Jinlan anxiously called out to her.

"Princess……"

"Princess……"

Did you hear what I said?

It wasn't until she heard footsteps approaching from afar that Xuan Yuan Yue suddenly became alert and snapped out of her daze.

"Shh..."

"Keep your voice down!"

"Someone's coming!"

So they hissed and quickly lowered their voices to stop Jinlan: "This matter must not be leaked, otherwise the world will really be in chaos."

Jinlan nodded repeatedly, and with practiced ease, she took the letter from Xuanyuan Yue's hand, walked to the side, and quickly lit it on a candle.

All the movements were performed in one smooth motion.

Just then, Mei Zhixuan, carrying his son, strolled in through the door.

He vaguely heard the two talking inside the hall, and as soon as he entered, he asked, "What are you talking about? What do you mean by chaos in the world?"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue tried her best to suppress her nervousness and quickly got up to curtsy to him: "Your Highness..."

Mei Zhixuan scooped Hai'er up in his arms and pulled her to her feet, then looked at her face with great concern and asked, "What's wrong? Why do you look so pale?"

"Cough cough..."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue immediately took out a silk handkerchief, covered her lips, and pretended to cough twice.

Then he said, "It must be because it's only early autumn and you caught a cold without paying attention. It's nothing serious."

He quickly dismissed Jinlan, who was standing to the side looking somewhat at a loss, and said, "Jinlan, it's late. Hurry up and take the little prince to the wet nurse for a bath. Get him settled and rested as soon as possible! Remember to change to a thicker quilt."

"Yes!" Jinlan replied, and hurriedly stepped forward to take Hai'er from Mei Zhixuan's hands and leave.

Seeing Jinlan leave in a noticeably hurried manner, Mei Zhixuan persisted, pressing, "What were you saying just now about the world being in chaos?"

At that time, the maidservants brought up several small dishes and hot porridge.

Xuan Yuan Yue pretended to be calm and served Mei Zhi Xuan a portion, handing it over with both hands.

Then she slowly said, "Actually, it's nothing. Yue'er just thinks the same as Young Master Lu. If Princess Yongning hadn't replaced Princess Yongle and won over Uncle Qin, Longhu City would have had a hard time getting enough ephedra. If that had happened, the world would have really been in chaos."

Seeing that Mei Zhixuan had listened to his explanation and slowly swallowed a spoonful of hot porridge, it seemed that he had already believed his words.

After some hesitation, Xuan Yuan Yue then began to probe again.

"Your Highness..."

"Lu Yuan, can he really find Princess Yongning in Western Qin?"

"if……"

"if……"

"Yue'er means if..."

"What would Your Highness do if Princess Yongning really perished in the hurricane and sandstorm in Lu County?"

Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan stopped what he was doing and thought for a moment.

He said, "Lu Yuan said in court today that Dongning can be without anyone, but it cannot be without Yongning. Sooner or later, I will make him see with his own eyes that the truth is not what he said. Only I am the only one on this continent."

He paused, then looked into Xuan Yuan Yue's eyes and added very seriously, "Chaos will break out in the world sooner or later."

For a moment, their eyes met.

Inside the hall, the candlelight flickered, and a gentle evening breeze caressed one's face.

Mei Zhixuan slowly moved closer to Xuan Yuan Yue's soft lips.

The next day, it was dawn.

A sliver of light shone through the window and onto the floor of the hall.

Mei Zhixuan then habitually opened his eyes.

Fearing that he might wake Xuan Yuan Yue, who was still fast asleep in his arms, Mei Zhixuan carefully turned to the side and slowly pulled out one of his arms that had been pressed under her neck.

Then, as was his habit, he gently kissed Xuan Yuan Yue's smooth forehead before lifting the quilt and getting out of bed.

They tiptoed out of the palace gate.

He instructed the maid on night watch at the gate: "Don't let anyone enter the palace to disturb her; let her sleep a little longer!"

"Yes!" the two maids replied.

At this moment, a guard hurried over and reported, "Your Highness, Princess Yongle has been refusing to eat or drink, smashing things, and causing a ruckus all night. She insists on seeing you."

Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan walked away, coldly saying, "Useless, stupid woman. Considering our childhood friendship, I, as the prince, have already shown her more than enough mercy by sparing her life. I won't see her!"

The guard then added, "But Princess Yongle says she has a deal that Your Highness will surely be interested in!"

"This stupid woman, I warned her long ago. Now that she's at her wit's end, what tricks is she trying to pull? Trying to make a last-ditch effort."

Mei Zhixuan thought for a moment, and finally decided to go see her: "Let's go!"

The past day and night.

Mei Xiyuan thought about it a lot, and for a long time.

In the end, he refused to eat or drink, only thinking that he had to see Mei Zhixuan one more time.

Because she was truly unwilling to accept defeat. She had endured hardship and humiliation, finally managing to return to China, only to admit defeat like this.

Unexpectedly, things were ruined at the last step by Lu Yuan, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

At this moment, she was clearly extremely annoyed.

“These barbarians from the barbarian lands are indeed all untrustworthy.”

"After being given a little provocation by the city lord's mansion, he confessed everything."

"We didn't have time to replace the medicine deliverymen with our own people before letting them into the city, which aroused suspicion. We were really careless!"

"However, perhaps they can be used for other purposes..."

"Even if I die, I will definitely drag someone down with me."

Just as I was pondering this, I suddenly heard familiar footsteps approaching.

Mei Xiyuan suddenly smiled and said to herself, "I knew you would come to see me."

As soon as Mei Zhixuan entered, he said arrogantly, "Speak, I, the prince, don't have much time for you!"

Mei Xiyuan stood up and slowly walked to his side, warning him, "All these years, you've really been scheming! But have you ever thought that even if neither I nor your brother were to compete with you, as long as she's alive, your position will always be threatened by her! She could replace you at any time if she wanted to?"

Mei Zhixuan feigned composure and said, "It's your own stupidity that you couldn't win the King of Qin's heart for so long, which gave others an opportunity to take advantage. Now, you're trying to sow discord between us!"

"Ha ha……"

"Hahaha……"

Upon hearing this, Mei Xiyuan laughed, seemingly having already seen through Mei Zhixuan's intentions, and said, "What kind of relationship do you have? And do you not know in your heart whether I am trying to sow discord?"

Then, he paced back and forth in the hall, speaking slowly and deliberately.

"King Qin of Western Qin..."

"The Crown Prince of Nan'an..."

"Now even Lu Yuan, the young city lord of Dragon Tiger City, has become her devoted follower!"

"Tell me, how can you possibly compete with her?"

Seeing Mei Zhixuan remain silent, his fists clenched tightly, Mei Xiyuan knew she had succeeded, so she said, "I can help you..."

Mei Zhixuan glanced at her and said with utter disdain, "You?!"