Chapter 149 Losing her composure before the Emperor, for whom is she so distraught?

The Meng family.

Mencius' father stumbled into the room, and Mencius' mother immediately noticed something was wrong. She rushed over and supported him, asking, "Master, what's wrong? What happened to you?"

"It's nothing." Father Meng would never reveal something as shameful as being forced to kneel as punishment in the palace.

Seeing her father like this, Meng Anxian felt extremely distressed and hurriedly came over, whispering, "Father, is your leg injured?"

"I already said it's nothing, go back to your own courtyard!" Father Meng was no longer in a good mood when he saw Meng Anxian.

Previously, Meng's father always thought that Meng Anxian was a well-behaved and obedient daughter. But now, looking at Meng Anxian thinking about Meng Yanzhi, he suddenly realized that the contrast between the two daughters was too obvious. Although Meng Yanzhi seemed cold, she was thinking of him and the future of the Meng family.

But Meng Anxian only had eyes for her, and only wanted to climb higher and higher by standing on the Meng family's pedestal!

"Father, what's wrong?"

Meng Anxian felt completely bewildered and looked at her father with a wronged expression. She was just concerned about her father, so why was she being scolded by him like this?

She didn't understand, she really didn't understand.

But without saying anything else, Meng's father got up and went to Aunt Chen's courtyard.

Ever since Aunt Chen returned with her child, Father Meng has become increasingly fond of the mother and son, which even Mother Meng sees and feels envious of.

Her eyebrows furrowed tightly before she spoke unhappily, "That shameless Chen is only good at seducing your father. I think your father only has eyes for the two of them, not for us."

"Mother, don't be angry. Father is in a bad mood today, so it's good to let Madam Chen handle it." Meng Anxian held her mother's hand and said with a smile, "Brother Crown Prince will be back soon. Mother, what should I wear to greet him?"

Meng's mother was now beset by internal and external troubles and was exhausted, but she never expected that Meng Anxian was only concerned about such a trivial matter, as if she was completely blind to her difficult situation.

For some reason, Mencius' mother felt a little disappointed in her daughter for the first time.

Seeing Meng Anxian's expression, Meng's mother's face changed, and she said, "You have so many new clothes, why do you need to ask me? Choose for yourself!"

Luochen Courtyard.

Seeing Meng's father limping in, Aunt Chen hurriedly went to greet him and helped him up: "Oh dear, sir, what happened to you? Are you injured?"

"Yes, my knees hurt a lot." Mr. Meng sighed, then sat down on a chair nearby.

Aunt Chen immediately knelt on the ground and began to examine Meng's father's knees. Seeing the bruises, she felt a pang of heartache and hurriedly applied some ointment. As for why he was injured, Aunt Chen didn't ask a single question.

She could tell at a glance that this was due to being forced to kneel as punishment. If Meng's father had returned from the palace and was forced to kneel as punishment, it must have been incredibly humiliating, so she figured he probably didn't want to talk about it.

After applying the medicine to Meng's father, Aunt Chen immediately brought her youngest son over and smiled at him, saying, "Sir, look, our child has grown quite a bit. He's been eating and sleeping well lately, so he's easy to take care of. Sir, could you please give our child a name?"

"Then let's call him An Nian, Meng An Nian, okay?" Father Meng smiled gently, held the child in his arms, and tenderly pinched his cheek: "An Nian, do you hear me? From now on, you are Meng An Nian!"

Aunt Chen nodded happily upon hearing the name, and said with a smile, "Good, An Nian, it sounds so nice, what a wonderful name! Thank you, Master, for giving the child such a good name."

Mr. Meng was in a bad mood today, but Aunt Chen was so good at providing emotional support that he felt much better and decided to rest here.

One month later.

Xiao Ce finally returned from the south, looking much more mature, though he was tanned dark and had a white bandage wrapped around his arm, indicating he was injured.

His return went unnoticed; he came back quietly and immediately went to the Imperial Study to report the situation.

Meng Yanzhi was serving tea in the imperial study when she was startled to see Xiao Ce walk in like this.

"Your Highness, how did you get injured?"

"Your Majesty, please summon the imperial physician immediately!"

Meng Yanzhi quickly realized what was happening and looked anxiously at Xiao Ce.

Xiao Ce then spoke up, saying, "These are all superficial wounds. Your subject has important matters to report!"

Meng Yanzhi belatedly realized that she had been too nervous and had overstepped the bounds of propriety. She immediately bowed to Xiao Xingyuan and said, "Your Majesty, I have misspoke. Please forgive me! I will take my leave now."

After saying that, Meng Yanzhi hurriedly turned around and walked outside.

Watching Meng Yanzhi's retreating figure, Xiao Xingyuan's eyes darkened. He knew Meng Yanzhi's personality better than anyone else. She was usually very composed in her actions, so why did she suddenly panic now?

"Father..."

Xiao Ce hurriedly began to report on his gains this time.

After returning to her room, Meng Yanzhi finally came to her senses. After thinking for a moment, she called Mingchu over and said, "Go out of the palace and visit the Zhang family. How is the master?"

"I'm fine." Zhang Xuanyun walked in and looked at Meng Yanzhi gently.

After not seeing each other for several months, Zhang Xuanyun looked much older.

"gentlemen!"

Meng Yanzhi cheered and went over to carefully examine Zhang Xuanyun's body. She breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Zhang Xuanyun was not injured.

She hurriedly handed Zhang Xuanyun a piece of osmanthus cake, smiled gently, and said softly, "Sir, I was very worried about you!"

Holding the osmanthus cake that still held Meng Yanzhi's warmth, Zhang Xuanyun felt a pang of sadness. He smiled gently, then popped the cake into his mouth and said softly, "It's delicious and sweet. Your cooking skills are getting better and better."

"Sir, are you really alright?" Meng Yanzhi was still a little worried.

Xiao Ce was injured, how could he really be completely unharmed?

Seeing Meng Yanzhi's anxious expression, Zhang Xuanyun felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He smiled gently and said, "It's nothing, really nothing. Look at me, I'm perfectly fine."

Upon hearing this, Meng Yanzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled gently and said, "That's good. It's good that you're not hurt. You're a delicate scholar; you can't get hurt!"

"He can't get hurt, so I'll be fine?" Xiao Ce came out of the imperial study, looking at Meng Yanzhi with a half-smile.