"You?!"

Mei Xiyuan simply smiled in response to Mei Zhixuan's disdainful question.

Then she slowly said, "I am a weak woman, born destined to be neither able to serve the king in the court nor to achieve military merit on the battlefield. I naturally lack the ability. But, does my third brother still remember the eldest prince of the Northern Lie Kingdom, Tuoba Ze...?"

Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan was genuinely startled and asked, "You mean, the eldest prince of Beilie, Tuoba Ze... is still alive?"

Seeing that Mei Zhixuan was indeed quite interested in the bargaining chip she had offered, Mei Xiyuan continued, "Everyone knows that the eldest prince of Beilie Kingdom is ruthless and brave in battle, and Beilie's warhorses are unmatched on the Lingkong Continent. Yet now he is truly a fallen kingdom, like a stray dog, but even so, he is still single-mindedly focused on revenge and reclaiming his rightful grasslands! I wonder, if we could gain his assistance, Third Brother, do you think we would have a better chance of winning?!"

Mei Zhixuan pondered this to himself for a moment, then immediately pressed on anxiously, "You...you don't know where Tuoba Ze is, do you?"

Mei Xiyuan snorted at him and said, "Of course I know, otherwise why would it be the Beilie people who robbed and delivered that batch of ephedra to Longhu City for me? How could I have discussed this transaction with you today?"

After a pause, she suddenly leaned down and whispered in Mei Zhixuan's ear.

After a moment, he seemed quite satisfied with Mei Xiyuan's plan.

After she straightened up again, Mei Zhixuan asked her, "Since this is a transaction, you've told me all this, so what do you want from me, the prince?"

Mei Xiyuan took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and asked herself, "What do I want?"

Originally, she thought she possessed all the good things in the world.

She had a loving father and mother, an incomparably noble princess status, and a carefree life of luxury.

When she grew up, all she wanted was a perfect husband who could match her and be the envy of all women in the world.

Until the appearance of King Xuanyuan Han of Qin, he almost met all her fantasies about her ideal husband.

So she traveled a great distance, full of joy, to run towards him.

I never imagined that this would be the outcome!

And now, it seems that the only thing she wanted but could not obtain in this life was to be born into an imperial family.

Everything else, clearly, vanished in an instant because of the appearance of the cloud on the clothes.

Her pride was trampled underfoot from that moment on, and she could never rise again.

Mei Xiyuan seemed to be deep in thought, and her expression gradually darkened, becoming quite cold and stern. She said fiercely, "After this is done, I will personally deal with that bitch Yi Shangyun. All the humiliation I have suffered today is thanks to her, and I will make her pay a thousand times over."

Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan seemed to finally understand the hatred in her heart, but then felt that given her personality, what she wanted shouldn't be just this, so he asked her again to confirm: "That's all?!"

Mei Xiyuan took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and said, "Actually, we didn't necessarily want to fight you for the throne at the beginning. As long as you are willing to grant the east and south of the city to us, my son and I, I guarantee that we will absolutely settle things peacefully and never fight you again."

The Kingdom of Dongning has always been blessed with natural advantages. The land south of the city is fertile, and the coastal area to the east is a prosperous place where merchants gather.

Seeing that Mei Xiyuan was clearly making an outrageous demand, Mei Zhixuan thought to himself, "Indeed, your plan is far too shrewd."

Then he paused, smiled, and said, "So, you didn't give up on your own initiative to avoid competing with me; instead, you wanted to share the world with me."

Mei Xiyuan feigned surprise and said, "Why do you say that, Your Majesty? How can this be called an equal division? Even if the south and east parts of the city are divided up, we will still receive the same share that we have to pay to the court every year."

Mei Zhixuan's expression suddenly turned stern. He said, "Everyone knows that the reason why Dongning is considered one of the wealthiest regions on the Lingkong Continent is because of the fertile lands south of the city and the bustling trade east of the city. You want me to grant these two places to you and your mother and sons? Wouldn't that mean I'd be living off my wealth? How would I govern Dongning in the future? With the meager amount you pay?"

Seeing that her thoughts would soon be exposed, Mei Xiyuan was unwilling to back down, unwilling to compromise with him, and unwilling to say anything more to him.

So he bluntly said, "If you want to play, you have to be able to afford to play. If you can't afford to pay the stakes, then you might as well hide in your own little world and be a coward, living in constant fear and waiting to be replaced."

The room fell silent after these words were spoken.

Both of them fell silent, and neither of them spoke.

Time passed, second by second.

Mei Xiyuan gave him a final reminder: "The time I agreed with Tuoba Ze is running out. If you don't receive my reply by then, he won't be an asset to you. In fact, he might resent my decision to back out, and he might even take Dongning as a target for his revenge. Wouldn't Dongning then have another enemy?!"

"you……"

Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan was furious.

After thinking about it again, it seemed that the only option was to simply agree: "Okay...deal!"

At this moment, Mei Xiyuan was extremely proud, both in her heart and in her eyes.

So he immediately began to flatter him.

"That's more like it! Such decisiveness and efficiency is exactly how a king whose word is law!"

"However, words are not enough. I'll have to trouble you, Third Brother, to remember to send someone over as soon as possible."

"Otherwise, if Tuoba Ze gets angry..."

"Third brother..."

"Then let's..."

"It's a pleasure doing business with you..."

In the end, Mei Zhixuan finally understood what had happened during today's conversation. It turned out that Mei Xiyuan had dug a huge pit for herself before returning to China.

From the very beginning, I had absolutely no choice in anything.

In the end, he walked out of Mei Xiyuan's palace, burning with anger.

The bodyguard who was always by Mei Zhixuan's side asked, "Your Highness, Princess Yongle was clearly making an exorbitant demand just now. How could Your Highness fall for her trick? That's land in the south and east of the city..."

Mei Zhixuan said angrily, "How could I not know? But right now, we must appease her first. She is right about some things. Right now, Tuoba Ze is indeed a good ally. Rather than letting him harbor resentment and turn against us, it is better to use him for my purposes."

The guard seemed somewhat hesitant, stammering, "But that imperial edict..."

Mei Zhixuan said, "Give it to her! Let's see if she and her two children will live to see the day they are granted fiefdoms, and whether they will even have the chance to enjoy them."

Upon hearing this, the guard immediately understood and said urgently, "I understand, I will have someone write the imperial edict right away."

Enraged by Mei Xiyuan, Mei Zhixuan seemed to have gone mad, thinking fiercely, "No one can threaten this prince! Anything I cannot have, I would rather destroy than let anyone have it! Including her..."

With this thought in mind, he ordered the guard beside him: "Go and inform the people Lu Yuan brought with us that if they find Princess Yongning, they should take care of her secretly. Remember, Lu Yuan must not find out."

The guard thought for a moment and said, "That Lu Yuan is a traitor who doesn't respect Your Highness at all. He keeps mentioning Princess Yongning. Why doesn't Your Highness take this opportunity to get rid of him as well?"

As Mei Zhixuan walked, he pondered for a moment and said, "Now, in the entire court, because only I believe in and fully support him in finding Yongning, he has already developed a good impression of me. If we want to defend Dongning and secure that position, Longhu City is crucial. I will still have to rely on him for a long time to come!"

Upon hearing this, the guard immediately realized his mistake and hurriedly apologized, "I understand, it was my oversight."

At this moment, Mei Zhixuan suddenly asked, "By the way, what is Your Majesty doing now?"

The guard thought for a moment and said, "I just heard Jinlan say that Her Majesty's motherland sent another letter to Her Majesty yesterday. Her Majesty must be replying to the letter at this time."

Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan stopped abruptly, turned to the guard, and confirmed again: "A reply..."

The guard replied confidently, "Yes, it should be a reply."

Mei Zhixuan thought for a moment, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes, and then ordered, "Let's go and take a look."

At this moment, Xuan Yuan Yue was lying on the table, holding a pen in her hand, lost in thought, not knowing what she was thinking.

It's been a whole morning, and that pen has been picked up, put down, put down, and picked up again.

Over and over again, I don't know how many times it has happened.

It seems that even now, the mere thought of the contents of yesterday's letter still makes her uneasy.

A long time has passed, yet I still don't know how to begin writing.

Jinlan, who was grinding ink for her, asked, "It's been a whole morning, Princess, have you still not figured out how to reply to Her Majesty the Empress's letter?"

It was as if this one simple sentence was enough to interrupt all of Xuan Yuan Yue's thoughts, so she put the pen back once again.

Jinlan asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Xuanyuan Yue thought for a moment and said, "Jinlan, hurry up and bring over all the letters we've been keeping."

Jinlan frowned, puzzled, and asked, "What does the princess need those letters for?"

Xuanyuan Yue urged, "I have a use for it, go and get it quickly."

Soon, Jinlan took a thick stack of letters from a shelf on the dressing table and handed them to Xuanyuan Yue.

As Xuanyuan Yue took it, she instructed Jinlan, "Jinlan, quickly open a few more envelopes for me."

As they spoke, the two quickly pulled out a few of the letters within letters and spread them out on the table.

Xuanyuan Yue then sat down at the desk again, picked up her pen, and wrote.

Your Majesty the Empress Dowager:

...