Princess Liang (Fourteen)

After Song Jingyan finished speaking, her expression remained calm as she took a sip of tea slowly.

Meng Shizhuang stared at her face for a moment, his mind racing through every word of Mr. Liu's lessons. His face, like a parrot, tried to imitate Song Jingyan's indifference. Unfortunately, his imitation was too rigid, and in Song Jingyan's eyes, it looked like a mask that couldn't be completely torn or covered.

Just when she thought the child, whose innate sharpness had been activated since arriving in the capital, was about to faint from the shock of her words, he reached out and swept all the black and white pieces on the chessboard into the chess box, then uttered in a stifled voice, "Oh, the imperial seal."

Song Jingyan leaned back slightly and found that the child was actually cute when he became childish.

She was not as relaxed as she looked, but to be honest, she didn't know why she was so anxious.

Back in Ming Hunzhou, she was filled with despair. The lives of everyone in the Liang Palace weighed heavily on her shoulders. She could only firmly believe that Bian Hongqiu would survive, deceiving herself and hoping to reach the capital, where her dream would come true. Unfortunately, the saying "times have changed" is not without reason; even people's mindsets must change with the tide.

She had been like a tightly stretched bowstring all along the way, only to realize at some point that the string had slackened without her noticing. It hadn't snapped, still tethered between her and His Highness, like a swing, letting loose until perhaps the day they'd never meet again.

So the busier she was, the more tired she became, and the less she knew what she was doing.

Be it herself, the other people in Prince Liang's Mansion, or the inexplicable friendship between His Majesty and the old Prince Liang, all of them had no one to rely on.

At this moment, facing Meng Shizhuang's anxious eyes, she actually wanted to give up for a moment and wanted to say to him: "Ashi, go away, go far away. It is better to go away than to risk your life for a deal that has no beginning or end."

A long sigh escaped her heart. Meng Shizhuang, who had been thinking about Mr. Liu's words "The Jade Seal is more valuable than the heads of all emperors," suddenly came out of her anxious state and looked at her strangely: "Why are you letting down your temper?"

Song Jingyan stared at him, the words of giving up teetering on the verge of falling out, but she still laid the groundwork briefly: "The road ahead is very dangerous."

Meng Shizhuang felt even more strange. He reminded Song Jingyan in a self-deprecating way: "I knew this a long time ago. I knew everything. You shouldn't have known it until today."

Song Jingyan said, "The Prince of Liang's Mansion has been stationed at the border in Shangyang for decades. If it were a normal deployment, the simplest solution would be to issue an imperial decree to dispatch us where we are needed. But Your Majesty summoned us all the way back to the capital, without even explaining what the purpose was. Ah, do you understand? The disaster left behind by these two generations of the Great Yu Emperors is too great."

“Such a catastrophe cannot be explained to the world by taking back the territory or even crushing the King of Jingxi. Your Majesty does not care about your reputation after death and gives the late emperor a bad posthumous title. This means that countless innocent and not innocent people will bear the blame on the road to Dayu's return to its heyday.” Your Majesty has included himself in this, so would he still have pity on the Prince of Liang's Mansion that abandoned him in times of crisis?

"When the old Prince of Liang left the capital to guard the border during a time of national crisis, his merits and demerits are now solely determined by the mouths of Your Majesty and the historians."

The tea in Song Jingyan's palm was turned cold by her.

"If we can be of use to Your Majesty, this trip to the capital will be a sign of reinstatement; if we cannot, then the several prefectures in Dayu that cannot be defended will be grounds for the entire Liang Wang family to be convicted."

Meng Shizhuang heard this, but she couldn't understand it even more.

"So the Liang Palace must either publicly defeat the Western King, or quietly retrieve the Imperial Seal and spare His Majesty the infamy. You know what to do, so why worry?"

“Because this road is not easy to walk on.”

Meng Shizhuang nodded. "Death is a good thing, but you still let me into Prince Liang's mansion, proving you're unwilling to accept it. You're just like what Mr. Liu said, taking one step and considering a hundred steps ahead. But since there's no other way to go, why not burn your boats?"

He couldn't really understand the thoughts of those who constantly immersed themselves in a tangled mess of worries, but that was his nature. Once he thought too much, he felt panicky and his anger would be released, which could make a seven-foot-tall person look like a seven-inch person. So he never forced himself to think, and sometimes he even forced himself not to think.

If he still hesitated because of the consequences on his last day at Sujian Mountain, then even if he did not swing his sword decisively, his life would be lost decisively.

As Meng Shizhuang thought about it, he recalled the night when Sujian Mountain was bathed in rain and blood, and the memory of the body he had buried with his own hands, which had recently suffered hypothermia. His throat tightened. He forced himself to stop thinking about it. Song Jingyan was still in a daze—she didn't realize it, but Meng Shizhuang could sense it. Whenever he saw Song Jingyan in the Liang Palace, she was usually in this state.

This was completely different from the way we came to the capital, especially the first time we met in Daohai City, when he was determined and calm.

He felt there was no other reason except that pink butterfly.

Meng Shizhuang had a bad feeling. Song Jingyan's hesitation was too obvious. She had clearly started the conversation just now to get him to stay, but as she spoke, she became more and more hesitant. The other people in the mansion were the same. They seemed to have lost their souls, going through the motions every day without knowing what they were doing.

He slowly lowered his head and then raised it again.

Song Jingyan couldn't easily regain the breath she'd lost. She was exhausted and didn't want to say anything more. Seeing Meng Shizhuang's uncertain expression, she was about to ask a casual question to end the conversation, but she heard Meng Shizhuang's frank answer: "I was wondering, if you really quit, how would I get away with the medicine and the doctor?"

Song Jingyan was stunned at first, then smiled.

Her smile was frozen in a certain arc, and in Meng Shizhuang's eyes, one could see the vitality as vigorous as a wildfire.

This young man who looks lifeless every day actually has a light in his eyes that is stronger than anyone else's.

Song Jingyan felt a very strange feeling in her heart. Her fatigue did not ease, but she couldn't bring herself to give up, so she just asked Meng Shizhuang to go back to her room to rest.

Meng Shizhuang felt like he'd been tricked, fed a bellyful of bitter tea, and finally tied up with a group of people in Prince Liang's mansion who didn't know whether they wanted to die or not, but who showed no desire to live. He tossed and turned in his bedroom all night, only finding a moment of peace when he held the Mulan Sword. In the end, his eyes were covered in bruises that were too dark to be seen.

He thought, why not take advantage of the proximity and borrow the limited ability of Prince Liang's Mansion to forge a pass, and then he could just sit back and relax, thinking that it would be better than being dragged to death here.

Unfortunately, I don’t know if his mouth was blessed the day before.

Song Jingyan was probably afraid that he would bother the people in Prince Liang's Mansion when he was free, so she took on several banquets in one day, and this went on for more than ten days.

Meng Shizhuang's cheeks were stiff with laughter among the fairies. It was hard to say whether his face had changed, but at these banquets he had learned how to fan himself, lift his skirt, and even learned to embroider. He looked in the diamond-shaped mirror and felt that he now looked quite capable of dressing as a woman. Although his features were still hard, they were much more similar.

On this day, he was going to attend Miss Fang's birthday party.

It was the one that Miss Li from the Shangshu Mansion had mentioned to him.

What a coincidence, this recipe is the same one used by the Duke of Zhenguo.

Meng Shizhuang got off the carriage with her skirt lifted up, and when she looked up, she bumped into Fang Changjun's face, which was still bruised.

Fang Changjun was even worse. He thought he had recovered from his depression in just two days and stood up to show off for his sister. However, he didn't greet many people and many laughed at him. He even ran into Meng Shizhuang, the culprit, before he knew it.

In a rage, Fang Changjun couldn't hold back his saliva again. He covered his chubby face with his hands and kicked a servant, trying to drive him out.

Meng Shizhuang, still undeterred by the previous day's entanglement with the Liangwang Mansion and the Zhenguogong Mansion, observed Fang Changjun's antics with great interest. The owner of the Zhenguogong Mansion was slow to greet the guests, and the visitors were blocked at the door to watch Fang Changjun's unique "dance". Meng Shizhuang looked around and found that the guests were much smaller than those he had attended before, and the host was even more disorganized.

The next moment, Miss Fang, who arrived late, confirmed his impression of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

Miss Fang was dressed in white, her expression cold and serene, as if she were about to ascend to heaven. Behind her were a throng of maids and nannies, all with their noses pointed skyward. Then, this "cold beauty" glanced lightly at Meng Shizhuang, then at her disappointing brother and the guests who were secretly watching the fun, and said to them all in the same tone, "What a bummer! There's nothing good about this birthday today. Get them all out."

Then he turned and left.

Meng Shizhuang didn't react at first until the people who had been welcomed in earlier came out with gifts in hand and looked gloomy.

He was surprised, but saw that everyone around him looked at him with an "as expected" expression and turned away.

Since he was outside, he didn't want to ask too many questions. He returned to the carriage and saw that it was still early, so he told Qin He that he wanted to go for a walk in the suburbs - he could still make the decision on such a small matter. He didn't want to enjoy the scenery, but he felt that one day he might have to use extraordinary methods, so he went to scout the place in advance.

The carriage went in the opposite direction of the dignitaries who were returning home, and headed towards the outskirts of the city with a "da da da" sound.

Meng Shizhuang lifted the curtain of the carriage and memorized the route without blinking. She decided to make a few more trips, and if necessary, she would memorize some small roads to sneak out of the house.

Qin He was so absorbed in driving the carriage, unaware of what Meng Shizhuang was doing, that he closed his ears, oblivious to the outside world. His riding skills were merely passable, and he dared not be distracted. Meng Shizhuang, however, was quicker to detect a commotion. It was a complex commotion, a familiar mix of an old woman's voice and the crisp voice of a young boy, but he didn't think much of it.

——Until the cough that had accompanied him for many years began.

Meng Shizhuang's heart was beating faster than her brain and started beating wildly in an instant.

He immediately lowered the curtain and went to the other side. Outside the carriage, Lao Ju appeared in front of him, leaning on two swords with his back slightly bent.

Meng Shizhuang almost thought it was a dream.