The queen was instructing the cook to bring down the steamer when she heard the emperor calling for a letter from home, and the handkerchief in her hand fell to the ground.
She didn't bother to pick up Xia Miaoyuan, she just lifted her skirt and walked out.
The war in the northern border has been going on for several months, and his sons, father, brothers, and nephews are all on the battlefield.
She is always concerned about their safety.
"Mother! Wait for me!" Xia Miaoyuan stretched out his short legs and ran out with all his might.
When the family of three arrived at the main hall, the queen quickly unfolded the letter and read it carefully.
She first read the letter from the second prince. After reading it, her expression relaxed a little, and then she unfolded the letter from Xiao Tiehan.
But before she could read it, Xia Zhengqi held her hand and whispered, "Forget it, I'll tell you first!"
"You have to be prepared for some bad news."
The Queen froze. "Did something happen to my brother or nephew?"
Xia Zhengqi shook his head: "No. Something happened to your little sister Xiao Zilan."
The queen felt as if someone was clutching her heart tightly.
Empress Xiao Ruoyu had a younger sister from the same mother named Xiao Zilan, who was eight years younger than her.
Because the two sisters have a big age gap, Xiao Zilan was almost raised by Xiao Ruoyu when she was young.
Xiao Zilan regards his second sister Xiao Ruoyu as half a mother.
The two sisters have a deep bond.
"What happened to Zi Lan? Is she dead or sick?" the queen asked in a hoarse voice.
Seeing that the queen was so anxious, Xia Zhengqi held her hand with heartache.
"No, Ruoyu, she's probably not dead, she's just missing."
However, this statement did not alleviate the Queen's anxiety. She lost her composure and shouted, "What do you mean she's not dead? What happened to her?"
After a slight pause, the queen unfolded the letter, staring at it with her eyes, searching for the information she wanted to know.
Xia Miaoyuan was also shocked by his mother's inappropriate words and actions, and stood at the door in a daze.
The Queen usually attaches great importance to etiquette. Even when faced with a major event, she would suppress her emotions and show a calm and dignified side. However, this time, even as calm as she was, she still lost her composure.
[Xiao Zilan? Isn't that my aunt?]
[I remember that she married a tribal leader in the northern border as a concubine.]
[At that time, the Xiaolin tribe was weak and was very wary of several powerful tribes in the northern border.]
A warlike chief took a fancy to my aunt and proposed marriage. Although my aunt, a beautiful woman, was unwilling to marry her, she agreed to do so for the sake of the tribe's peace.
[Later, my mother and two brothers were all killed. Soon, Xiao Lin's tribe was also wiped out by the Daxia army on charges of treason.]
Life as my aunt's concubine was already difficult, and after her natal family's support was completely gone, her husband and other wives and concubines became even more unscrupulous in their cruelty and abuse of her.
[I can’t remember her final outcome, but it was tragic anyway.]
[Alas, could it be that even if she were to be reborn, she would still be unable to escape her fate? ]
Xia Miaoyuan looked at the letter in the queen's hand worriedly.
As the queen read the letter and listened to her daughter's thoughts, she felt even more upset.
No, no, no! Even if Xiao Zilan was like what his daughter said in his previous life, in this life, he and Emperor Mingxi were trying their best to turn the situation around, and the results were very good.
Then, Xiao Zilan's fate should also change.
She will be fine.
The queen tried to calm down and read the letter.
Xiao Tiehan said in the letter that before the war, he had sent someone to pick up Xiao Zilan and take her back to her parents' home, but his brother-in-law interfered and the trip failed.
At the beginning of the war, Xiao Tiehan sent people to rescue Xiao Zilan, but was chased by troops sent by his brother-in-law.
Xiao Zilan fell off his horse in the chaos, and at this moment, a sandstorm suddenly hit, and the yellow wind blew wildly, covering the sky and the sun.
After the sandstorm passed, everyone looked for Xiao Zilan but couldn't find him anywhere.
Nowadays, no one is seen alive, and no body is seen after death.
"My Zi Lan!" The queen exclaimed in pain, slumped in her chair, clutching the pages of the letter tightly in her hands.
Xia Zhengqi hugged the queen's shoulders distressedly and said softly, "Ruoyu, you must cheer up."
"I will send someone to help my father-in-law and the others search for Zi Lan."
"However, you also have to be mentally prepared. In that situation, surviving is very difficult. You have to be mentally prepared that she is no longer here."
"Even if you can't find her, you have to take care of yourself."
The queen was not a brainless woman. She had already thought of what Xia Zhengqi said.
But when she heard what Xia Zhengqi said, she felt even more depressed and couldn't help sobbing with her face covered.
She and Zi Lan had a deep relationship. When she first married into Da Xia, Zi Lan was only a nine-year-old girl.
On the day she left home, Zi Lan burst into tears and ran after the carriage for four or five miles. No matter how people tried to persuade her, she refused to stop.
It wasn't until he couldn't run anymore that he collapsed on the ground and cried.
Later, the sisters could only see each other once in a long time.
The last time I saw her was five years ago.
I didn’t expect that the farewell five years ago would become a farewell forever.
She really couldn't believe it, and didn't want to believe that Zi Lan, who was only in her twenties, had left her like this.
When the queen thought of this, she burst into tears.
"Mother..." Xia Miaoyuan stood on the other side of the queen and hugged the queen's shoulder tightly.
[Hmm, that's not right. My aunt shouldn't be dead yet.] Xia Miaoyuan tried hard to recall.
The queen was startled and her crying suddenly became softer.
[I remember my aunt in the book, although she suffered a miserable fate, she didn't die so quickly.]
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
