Princess Liang (Thirteen)

Everyone present in Prince Liang's Mansion looked at Meng Shizhuang sideways.

Meng Shizhuang had been living in the Liang Wang Mansion for several months, enjoying the best food and clothing. Although his former appearance of starving ghosts had disappeared without a trace, his complexion was still a pale sallow, his brows were gloomy and droopy, and he was dressed in clothes that didn't fit in with the boudoir. He looked like a tomboy that people didn't want to look at again after just one glance.

But for some reason, even Mr. Liu, who loves beautiful things, couldn't take his eyes off it.

Under Meng Shizhuang's dry, grass-like hair, one could still see his straight, somewhat sickly neck. He was like a young bamboo that was gradually recovering its vitality. He was not beautiful, but he had an aura that made people dare not ignore him.

The old doctor didn't understand what was going on. Meng Shizhuang downplayed what he said, and he didn't think anyone else would make the decision in Prince Liang's Mansion, so he was taken away by Qin He with his medicine box on his back.

Song Jingyan followed Meng Shizhuang into the study without saying a word.

The study's windows were wide open on all sides, and the door was wide open as well. Mr. Liu paced a few paces in front of the study, hands behind his back, then turned and headed to the lotus pond carved into the courtyard. At this time of year, the lotus flowers had already withered, and the leaves were showing signs of wilt. The palace had arranged this arrangement when His Majesty summoned them back to the capital, but they hadn't bothered to maintain it since they arrived.

Shao Zheng was also standing by the pond and picked a half-yellow and half-green lotus leaf.

Mr. Liu was bored and stared carefully for a while. He found that General Feiyun, who had always been interested in swords and iron tools, was actually quite dexterous. He could even fold a puppy out of a lotus leaf.

Shao Zheng raised his head amidst his busy schedule and asked Mr. Liu, "Sir, would you like to go in and listen?"

Liu Mengdie replied, "General, why don't you go in and listen?"

The two looked at each other in silence.

After a long moment, Mr. Liu sighed meaningfully, "Flowers bloom in different seasons. There's a reason why our Liang Wang Mansion can only grow delicate flowers but not pine and bamboo."

Shao Zheng's yellow-and-green puppy was finished. He gently placed it into the pond. The puppy slowly unfurled its body, transforming into a wrinkled lotus leaf before sinking quietly to the bottom. He said nothing, and ended his standing as punishment. He turned and headed towards the martial arts training ground.

In the study, Meng Shizhuang didn't say anything polite. He stared at Song Jingyan almost forcefully: "Your Majesty knows that your princess is a man, right?"

Song Jingyan just looked at him silently.

Meng Shizhuang was walking on the line between life and death, and was almost driven crazy by Song Jingyan's attitude.

He frowned and responded in the same jerkish manner: "You all want me to continue making this unclear life-saving money, but I'm sorry, I can't do that!" Then he waved his sleeves and was about to leave.

Only then did Song Jingyan try to stop him.

She gestured to Meng Shizhuang to sit down at the small table by the window. Hengbo, who appeared from nowhere, tiptoed down with hot tea and a small stove, then looked at Song Jingyan hesitantly and tiptoed out.

Meng Shizhuang looked back, the departing Hengbo and Mr. Liu's figure lingering by the pond forming a single line. The study was filled with the murmur of a seething gurgle; it seemed the only place in the entire Liang Palace where people lived. Before Meng Shizhuang lay a chess game with a decided outcome. The black pieces were rampantly occupying the board, while the white pieces surrendered without even a fight.

He spoke lazily on this clearly defined battlefield: "So that's how it is. The Liang Palace is indeed a coward."

Song Jingyan, however, brought up something completely unrelated: "Meng... Ah, your last name is Meng. You said you've never met your parents. Perhaps they aren't just unknown villagers in Daohai City? Have you ever thought about looking for your relatives?"

Meng Shizhuang pretended to be calm and collected, saying, "If you're not in a hurry, I'm not either." In reality, he was practically choking on the frivolous, pretentious manner of these highbrows, nearly choking him to the point of rolling his eyes. His expression matched his mood, and he was convinced that he had truly lived up to the reputation of "youthful recklessness" a few months ago. The Prince of Liang's Mansion wasn't an easy ship to disembark from, so he said impatiently, "No."

Song Jingyan dug deeper: "Why?"

It’s true that the emperor is not anxious, but the eunuch is!

The fire had burned to the bare bottom of Prince Liang's mansion, but Song Jingyan was still asking about the life experience of this fake!

Meng Shizhuang: "My parents said there's nothing to mention or find about them. I don't know who my relatives are, but I've still managed to live this long and enjoy a carefree life. But you all seem to come from wealthy families with ancestral graves, so why are you still so confused as to not know where to go next?"

After all, he is not good at making witty remarks and is easily fooled when he gets anxious.

Song Jingyan pushed a cup of tea, neither salty nor bland: "You are free and easy, but your future is uncertain. What's the difference between you and us?"

She looked at Meng Shizhuang's face, and it suddenly felt familiar. It reminded her of decades ago, when she was still in the imperial court, and there was a minister close to the emperor who looked exactly like Meng Shizhuang. Previously, Meng Shizhuang always kept her neck stiff and her head down, but now, with her head raised, a hint of high spirits appeared, and she instantly remembered that person.

"Mr. Liu, you probably didn't go into detail about the events during the reign of Emperor Ling. During the reign of the late Emperor, the capital's defense officer was named Meng. He was Emperor Ling's tutor during his time as the Crown Prince, and was considered one of the late Emperor's closest confidants..."

Meng Shizhuang, overcome by the bitterness of the clear yellow tea, continued, "It was this confidant who nearly cut off the late emperor's head."

The stories of the heroic pioneers of Sujian Mountain, so famous that they had spread across several mountaintops, revolved in his mind. Meng Shizhuang immediately stopped, unwilling to give it any further thought. Then, half-seriously, he said to Song Jingyan, "If I really have any blood relationship with this traitor, then my relationship with you, the deceitful Prince Liang's Mansion, can be considered a 'marriage connected by a thread of fate'."

"However, if I really had his courage, I should have turned around and attacked Ming Hunzhou and returned to Xiliuhai, instead of nearly dying to save two strangers and finally dancing in the capital with my head hanging on my toes."

He read a lot of books, but his knowledge didn't improve much. Instead, he gradually became more skilled in being mean.

Song Jingyan didn't take it seriously and finally got to the point. "When your highness was born, the imperial envoy sent from the capital to mourn the old prince arrived. Ever since the prince decided to leave the capital, he had a feud with the emperor and the officials in the capital. The imperial envoy wanted to take advantage of the palace's leaderlessness to recruit the prince's elite men. So he tricked the princess into believing that the emperor's decree had arrived to punish the palace and that no one in the family would be spared. If it was a boy, he would be executed on the spot. The princess had no choice but to lie and say she had given birth to a girl."

Meng Shizhuang wasn't fooled by her words. "Where's the imperial envoy? Who is he in the capital now?"

Song Jingyan paused. "This imperial envoy was convicted in the early years of the Sheng Yuan Dynasty and died on the road to exile."

Meng Shizhuang stared at her closely. "So you've been lying to me all along. His Majesty isn't that ruthless, and he had no intention of killing Prince Liang. You've frightened yourselves and made things worse. Now you're looking for a piece of shit like me to cover up the truth, but you haven't said a word of truth. You're cowards, and you're full of tricks!"

"You're the head of the palace, but you can't enter the palace right now. Sister Song—" Meng Shizhuang practically gritted her teeth, "If you don't tell the truth, don't blame me for pretending. Anyway, I don't know whether the old man I'm worried about is dead or alive. I'm a wretch, and I already know what death feels like. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"But the same cannot be said for those sons of bitches under you."

"You want me to help you, but you won't say a word. I'm sorry, I can't do anything!"

Song Jingyan looked at him, her expression finally showing a hint of sincerity: "Ah, there are so many entanglements, I'm afraid you won't understand even if I tell you."

Meng Shizhuang said expressionlessly: "I don't need to understand, do you want to tell me or not?"

He was about to quit, so Song Jingyan had to drag everything out.

Meng Shizhuang started listening with a numb face, and finished listening with a numb face - His Majesty and the old King Liang had no hatred for each other for killing their father, nor did they have hatred for each other for stealing their wife. Everything was just due to suspicion.

Princess Liang lied about the sex of her posthumous child. At the time, Song Jingyan was leading troops abroad. Upon receiving a letter from the palace, she and General Feiyun hurried back, only to save Bian Hongqiu, who had nearly perished. Seeing the fury of the Liang palace's former subordinates, the imperial envoy knew his unnecessary actions would be punished. To save his life, he rushed back to the capital and exaggerated the story, claiming that suspicion within the Liang palace had led to the false report of the "princess."

I don’t know what Your Majesty is thinking, but he has made the same mistake over and over again for so many years.

As time goes by, things have changed. Until now, small things have become big things.

A light suddenly flashed in Meng Shizhuang's brain, which she never used. "Your Majesty doesn't really want to abolish the female official system, does he?"

Song Jingyan was very surprised at his sharpness in understanding certain important matters and nodded, "Your Majesty and the late emperor are true father and son. You grew up by the late emperor's side. Even if you have different opinions on the late emperor's political views, you wouldn't do this."

Meng Shizhuang took another sip of the bitter tea and said, "It's a pity that the country is about to be destroyed, and he can only be a bastard son."

Song Jingyan didn't correct his outrageous words.

It was already difficult for Meng Shizhuang to pry into the private affairs of Prince Liang's mansion, and now she was dealing with the emperor. Her mind was at a loss, and she spoke bluntly, "Since you dared to bring them back to the capital and use me as a substitute, you should have thought about what to do, right? Tell me, what should I do?"

Song Jingyan: "The current situation in the country is already against your Majesty, but it is just that a few blind people cannot see it clearly. The one who worries your Majesty the most and can give the Liang Palace a glimmer of hope is the King of Jingxi."

Meng Shizhuang thought about it, forgetting where he heard it from. "Didn't he say he was retreating further and further away?"

Song Jingyan nodded first, then asked, "When you entered the palace today, did you see Master Puyang who is beside His Majesty?"

Meng Shizhuang said, "He was the one who brought us into the palace. Mr. Liu said he was the male favorite of His Majesty."

Song Jingyan: "Then Mr. Liu must have told you that His Majesty originally exchanged Zuo Dan's Eighteen Continents for him, right?"

Sunlight shone softly in front of Meng Shizhuang. He looked at Song Jingyan's face and suddenly realized that she was about to blurt out something important. As expected, he heard Song Jingyan say, "Then he probably wouldn't dare tell you. His Majesty might have traded the Imperial Seal for him."