After a pause, Cheng Liang continued, "Does Your Highness know who tipped off Tuoba Ze, telling him that the Princess Consort was not dead and had gone to the grasslands?"

Upon hearing that someone actually knew the secret of Yi Shangyun's faked death, Xuan Yuanhan was genuinely surprised and asked, "Who is it?"

"We just received news that our people overheard Miss Lu talking to her maid in the palace today..."

Cheng Liang seemed to have something difficult to say, but after only a moment's hesitation, he said, "Yes... Miss Lu."

Xuan Yuanhan's eyes suddenly turned cold and sharp as he exclaimed in surprise, "It's her?!"

Cheng Liang nodded and continued, "The night the Princess Consort disguised herself to return to the manor to deliver a message, she was spotted by Miss Lu, who had just entered the manor. Miss Lu has been secretly colluding with Tuoba Ze. That night, it was she who covered for the Princess Consort as she evaded the guards' search. She also relayed all this information to Tuoba Ze, which is why he hurriedly returned to the grasslands."

Hearing all this, Xuan Yuanhan clenched his fists tightly, suppressing his immense anger, and said, "Damn it!"

Cheng Liang was completely puzzled and asked with great doubt, "But since Miss Lu is the Empress Dowager's person, it seems that she has not informed the person in the palace about this matter yet. I wonder what she is planning?"

Xuan Yuanhan thought for a moment and explained, "If the palace finds out about this, even though it was Yi Shangkun who reported the death, the Prince's Mansion will inevitably be investigated for negligence and deceiving the emperor. Lu Tianjiao is determined to enter the Prince's Mansion, so she will definitely not tell that person in the palace about this."

Following Xuan Yuanhan's words, Cheng Liang was instantly stunned by his own deduction.

"If that's the case, then she wants to use Tuoba Ze to make the Princess's fake death a reality! The grasslands were originally Tuoba Ze's territory, and even though they are now under our dynasty's jurisdiction, Tuoba Ze's remaining forces are still considerable. Add to that Tuoba Hong's death..."

Cheng Liang didn't even dare to think any further, and anxiously said, "In that case, isn't the Princess Consort doomed this time?"

In the past, Xuanyuan Han might not have thought that Tuoba Ze would have the intention to take Yi Shangyun's life. At most, he would have kept him by his side, but he would never have harmed him.

Because if he wanted to do that, he would have done it already.

But now, just as Cheng Liang feared, Tuoba Hong is dead, and Tuoba Ze is very likely to blame everything on Yi Shangyun.

Upon realizing this, Xuan Yuanhan's unfathomable eyes turned cold.

His eyes flashed with what seemed like a thousand sharp swords about to shoot out, and he sternly ordered Cheng Liang, "Pass down the order: before nightfall tomorrow, I must know exactly where Yun'er is."

"Yes!" Cheng Liang accepted the order and hurriedly withdrew.

Xuanyuan Han said silently, "Yun'er, you must not be hurt."

"Girl..."

"Girl..."

The candlelight flickered dimly, and in the midst of a nightmare, Young Master Yi was suddenly awakened.

He saw that the bed in front of him was empty, and the cloud pattern on his clothes had disappeared.

He sat bolt upright, filled with remorse, and said, "Damn it, how could I fall asleep at a time like this!"

So he rushed out while continuing to call out anxiously.

"Girl..."

"Girl..."

To their surprise, as soon as they stepped out of the tent, they saw Yi Shangyun sitting on the ground with his back against a thick pillar that was stuck into the ground outside.

Seemingly startled by her actions, and also feeling sorry for everything she had gone through, he stopped and watched for a moment before angrily stepping forward and shouting accusations and questions at her.

"Are you crazy? It's so cold!"

"It's snowing so heavily outside, and you just gave birth. Why are you sitting in the snow like this?"

"So what if you lost your child? Is it really worth degrading your body like this?"

"You're still so young, child, you'll have other children in the future..."

Young Master Yi wanted to continue speaking, but Yi Shangyun suddenly interrupted him: "No, never again!"

Young Master Yi was startled and wanted to confirm his understanding of the words again, so he asked in a low voice, "What did you say?"

Now that things have come to this, Yi Shangyun is utterly despondent.

His eyelids remained still as he stared intently at the snowflakes falling from the sky like goose feathers, repeating his words.

"I know that I will never have my own child in this lifetime."

Young Master Yi asked in astonishment, "How did you know?"

Yi Shangyun's lips curled slightly as she said, "How could I not know my own body? My body is not suited for pregnancy. Last time I miscarried and got caught in the rain, which already..."

God knows how heartbroken she was, losing both of her children. She tried to hold back her emotions and finish her sentence, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to say it: "This time again..."

These words were spoken.

For a moment, the two fell silent.

After an unknown amount of time, Young Master Yi slowly moved over and sat down next to Yi Shangyun.

Facing the falling snowflakes together, he earnestly said, "I'm sorry, I ultimately failed to keep my promise to you."

Yi Shangyun said softly, "It's not your fault. It's just that I've never been destined to be with that child."

For a moment, Young Master Yi seemed to be at a loss for words, and simply sat quietly beside her, completely unaware of what she was thinking.

After a while, Yi Shangyun suddenly blurted out, "Third Young Master, take me back to Western Qin!"

Upon hearing this, Young Master Yi looked at her pale, bloodless profile and asked, "Do you still have lingering feelings for Prince Qin, Xuan Yuanhan? You know perfectly well that he will only bring you endless pain and disaster."

Yi Shangyun vehemently denied it, saying, "It wasn't him!"

"Not because of him?"

Young Master Yi paused for a moment, then said with some doubt, "Then why are you going back to Western Qin? Since everyone knows that the Princess Consort of Qin is dead, why don't you change your identity and come back to Nan'an with me?"

Remembering that Dingxiang was still trapped because of him, Yi Shangyun insisted on his own idea, saying, "Third Young Master, I know you mean well. However, there are still things I haven't finished in Western Qin, and I must go back."

Young Master Yi knew all along that Yi Shangyun would not agree, but he was still unwilling to give up, so he could only ask again to confirm: "Is it really none of his business this time?"

Yi Shangyun thought for a moment, then asked him in return, "The Princess Consort of Qin is already dead, isn't she?"

Young Master Yi thought it over carefully, and finally made up his mind: "As long as you promise me that you will not ruin your body again, wherever you want to go, I will go with you. Even if it means going through fire and water, I will do it without hesitation..."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun looked into his eyes, moved, and said, "Third Young Master, I..."

But Young Master Yi spoke first, cutting off all the rest of the conversation.

"If you still want to thank me, then don't. In this life, just being able to see you is enough for me."

The next day, it was dawn.

A maidservant hurried in, went to Yi Shangyun's side, and handed her a letter with both hands.

Yi Shangyun was at her desk, writing something, but seemed a little tired. She asked the maid, "What is this?"

The maid recalled, "Just now, on my way to the clinic to deliver food to you, young lady, there was a man who didn't look like he was from the grasslands and whose accent wasn't local. He asked me to personally deliver this letter to you, young lady."

Although Yi Shangyun felt a little puzzled, she quickly took it and unfolded it.

"Princess Consort of Qin, return to the palace immediately!"

The few words written on the paper were enough to make her panic.

Yi Shangyun's eyes widened, and she hurriedly and cautiously asked the maid, "Does anyone else know about this letter?"

The maid hurriedly shook her head like a rattle-drum, pointing to the sky and swearing, "I swear, I only gave this letter to you, Miss, and no one else knows about it."

Yi Shangyun finally calmed down and sent the maid away: "You can go out now!"

The maid replied, "But I haven't served you your meal yet, Miss."

Yi Shangyun rubbed her forehead and said, "I suddenly feel a little unwell. You can leave it there for now. I'll make something for myself when I get hungry."

The maid pursed her lips and said, "Alright then, the food will get cold easily in this cold weather, so please remember to eat it as soon as possible, Miss."

Yi Shangyun smiled and nodded at her, watching as the maid finally left.

He frowned, then looked at those words again, and finally muttered to himself.

"Does he already know that I am the Princess Consort of Qin?"

"Who exactly is it?"

"That damned emperor is truly untrustworthy. He changed his mind a month or so before the agreed-upon six-month period was even over. It seems Dingxiang must have suffered a lot..."

"It really is time to go back!"

"I promised him I would stay here to atone for my sins, but now, how am I supposed to bring it up with him?"

"What should we do?"

What Yi Shangyun didn't know was that at the same time...

This morning, Tuoba Ze also received a message that he had been eagerly awaiting.

Having just finished his early morning training, a guard hurriedly entered Tuoba Ze's tent with a secret letter in his hand: "Your Highness, has there finally been news from Princess Yongle?"

In an instant, the look that had been absent for who knows how long reappeared on Tuoba Ze's face returned.

He took the secret letter and read it, muttering to himself, "Mei Xiyuan actually succeeded! She asked me to meet her in Western Qin to discuss our grand plan!"

The guard was overjoyed and congratulated him, saying, "Congratulations, Your Highness! All our efforts have finally paid off."

However, when the long-awaited result finally arrived, Tuoba Ze hesitated: "I finally managed to keep this woman here, but how should I, as the prince, bring this up with her?"

Hesitantly, he slowly got up and unknowingly arrived at the entrance of the Cloud Clinic.

Unexpectedly, they bumped into Young Master Yi, who had also just arrived...