"Useless, utterly useless!"
Mei Zhihao spoke as if he were possessed, and then snatched the sword that was raised high in the hand of the guard next to him, and threw it hard at Yi Shangyun's left chest.
With a "whoosh".
As the sunlight, now even brighter than what she had seen on her way here, shone down, a dazzling sword suddenly flew straight toward Yi Shangyun.
At that moment, everything around seemed to stand still, even the air itself.
Yi Shangyun had no time to dodge, and as if by instinct, she closed her eyes and turned her face away. Just as everyone held their breath, watching in terror as the tragedy that was about to happen, a "clang" was heard.
A crisp sound suddenly rang in her ears. Almost simultaneously, the sharp sword in the air was struck down by an unknown force and broke into two pieces, landing on the ground in front of Yi Shangyun.
Before anyone could react to what was happening, a thunderous voice boomed from across the lake: "The Emperor has arrived!"
Upon hearing this, chaos erupted in the surrounding area.
"Your Majesty..." Everyone trembled and knelt down with a thud, bowing their heads to the newcomer: "Your servants pay their respects to Your Majesty!"
Upon seeing this, Mei Zhihao, still shaken as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight, had wide eyes and was stammering incoherently, "Your Majesty... Father... Father is here, Father..."
Seeing that he finally came to his senses and was about to kneel down before that majestic figure, his mouth still trembling as he said, "Your subject... Your subject... Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty!"
Qi Liao had barely finished speaking when the old king of Dongning, who had just arrived, kicked him hard, sending him sprawling to the ground with a thud.
Mei Zhihao looked up at him with great fear and said, "Father... what are you doing...?"
Before he could finish speaking, the old king, enraged, interrupted him sharply, saying, "Shut up! I don't have a son as beastly as you. I know your mother always indulges your whims, but I never knew you'd stooped to such an outrageous level. You say you can't have any woman you want? No matter what, the Third Prince's wife is still your brother's wife, my daughter-in-law. In broad daylight, under the clear sky, you actually did this to her! You are simply... you are..."
As they were talking, the old king suddenly felt dizzy, staggered, and swayed twice. Seeing this, everyone rushed to his side, saying with concern, "Your Majesty..."
After a while, the old king could no longer speak, and due to a sudden surge of anger, he seemed to be unable to support himself, so he hurriedly placed one hand on his chest.
He turned his gaze and glared at the two servants hiding behind Mei Zhihao, who were already burying their heads and trembling uncontrollably. He said, "Guards, I never want to see these two people in the palace again. Take these two ignorant fools away and execute them."
Upon hearing the sound, four guards immediately stepped forward, grabbed the two men behind Mei Zhihao, and dragged them away, saying, "Yes, sir!"
Even now, the two men were still crying out in agony, trying to beg for mercy: "Your Majesty, spare our lives! Your Majesty, spare our lives!"
However, no one paid any attention.
Upon seeing this, Mei Zhihao knelt before the old king, tugging at the corner of his bright yellow robe and begging for forgiveness: "Father, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me this time. It's all my fault for being instigated by those two servants. I was blinded by greed and did something wrong, offending my sister-in-law."
The King of Dongning slowly closed his eyes, filled with disappointment. Finally, he reached out and snatched the corner of his robe from the other man's hand. Mei Zhihao collapsed to the side, tears streaming down his face.
The old king, with a stern expression, turned to him and said slowly and mercilessly, "From this day forward, the Second Prince shall be confined to his own palace. Without my permission, he shall not step out of the palace gates, nor shall anyone be allowed to visit him."
Upon hearing this, Mei Zhihao panicked and immediately crawled over to hug the old king's leg, begging for mercy: "Father, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me, Father. Don't lock me up. Father, please forgive me..."
The King of Dongning was utterly disappointed and frustrated. Finally, he angrily ordered, "Take him away..."
Even so, Mei Zhihao continued to plead loudly with the guards as they dragged him along, "Father, Father, Father..."
At this point, Yi Shangyun, who had been firmly protected by several guards, stepped forward and bowed to the old king, saying, "Thanks to Your Majesty's timely arrival, Yun'er's life was saved. Yun'er is extremely grateful!"
Seeing the old king silently watching the distraught Xuan Yuan Yue, Yi Shang Yun pursed her lips. She knew, of course, that the elderly king's eyes and heart were filled with unspeakable disappointment and helplessness. So she gently comforted him, "Your Majesty, are you alright?"
In the end, the old king suppressed his grief and indignation, paused for a moment, and finally said in a low voice, "I'm fine. Go and see Yue'er! She must be terrified. I'm a little tired, so I'll go back to Qingxin Palace first!"
Yi Shangyun curtsied and watched the old king leave, saying, "Yes! Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty!"
As expected, after being greatly frightened by Mei Zhihao during the day, Xuan Yuan Yue returned to the palace accompanied by Yi Shang Yun. Even after nightfall, she neither ate nor drank, neither cried nor laughed, as if she were possessed. Her eyes remained unblinking, and she stood blankly by Hai'er's side with a blank expression.
Throughout the day, Yi Shangyun called out to her in great concern countless times, "Third Prince's Consort..."
He called her again: "Princess Yue..."
Call her again: "Yue'er..."
No matter what she said or did, Xuan Yuan Yue remained completely absorbed in her own world with her beloved son, as if everything else around her didn't exist. She couldn't hear or see anything...
Seeing this, Yi Shangyun was extremely worried.
She stayed by the mother and child's side without leaving for a moment, calling her by almost every name she had ever been called in the past, but none of them could wake her up. It seemed that it was of no use at all.
Finally, she could only sit silently beside Xuan Yuan Yue, tightly gripping Xuan Yuan Yue's hands in her own, and said hatefully, "Damn Mei Zhihao, if anything happens to her because of this, I will make you wish you were dead."
Seeing that nothing seemed to work, Yi Shangyun suddenly thought of someone and muttered to herself, "At this moment, perhaps only he can awaken Princess Yue!"
With this thought in mind, she suddenly got up, walked to the door, and called softly, "Jinlan, Jinlan. Come into the room and watch over Princess Yue carefully. You must not leave her side for even a moment."
Jinlan asked inwardly, puzzled, "I'll stay here? Where are you going? Don't go! I'm so scared! I'm afraid something will happen to the princess! Please don't go!"
Seeing Jinlan clutching her hand tightly as if grasping at the last straw, she was at a loss. In fact, she had already cried out of worry.
Seeing this, Yi Shangyun quickly comforted her, saying, "Jinlan, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I'm here, the princess will be alright. I just wanted to go out and check on the Third Prince's whereabouts! It's been a whole day, and if the princess continues like this, I'm afraid something really will happen to her. I think that at this point, only His Highness the Third Prince can bring the princess back!"
Upon hearing this, Jinlan finally breathed a long sigh of relief: "I see, then you should go quickly!"
"Okay!" Yi Shangyun smiled and nodded at him before walking out.
"Miss Yi, thank you."
Just as Yi Shangyun strode to the door, he suddenly heard Jinlan speak from behind him.
Yi Shangyun stopped, turned around and smiled slightly at him before stepping out the door.
Unexpectedly, Yi Shangyun waited all night, shivering in the cold wind in the pitch-black winter night.
As dawn approached, Mei Zhixuan and his guards finally appeared slowly.
Yi Shangyun was huddled in a corner of the palace gate. As soon as she saw Mei Zhixuan, she suddenly got up and ran straight towards him, angrily saying, "Why are you only coming back now?"
Mei Zhixuan had just dismounted from his horse when he asked in surprise, "What are you doing here in this freezing weather, before dawn? What happened?"
Yi Shangyun didn't have time to explain further, so she went straight to the point: "You should go back and check on Yue'er right away, something has happened to her!"
"What?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan frowned, then mounted his horse again, grabbed Yi Shangyun and placed her on its back, then galloped off towards his residence.
As soon as Qi Liao arrived at the palace gate, Mei Zhixuan dismounted and bumped into Jinlan, who was rushing out from inside.
Yi Shangyun asked, puzzled, "Jinlan, didn't I tell you to stay by the princess's side at all times? Why did you run off alone? Where is the princess?"
Jinlan looked up and saw that Yi Shangyun had indeed brought back Mei Zhixuan, who had rushed back covered in dust. She hurriedly cried out, "Something terrible has happened! The princess is missing!"
"What? Yue'er is missing!"
"What did you say? The princess is missing!"
Yi Shangyun and Mei Zhixuan looked at each other and said in unison.
Then, Mei Zhixuan reached out and grabbed Jinlan's arms tightly, questioning, "Jinlan, what exactly happened? What's wrong with Yue'er?"
Jinlan was filled with remorse and regret, already sobbing uncontrollably. She apologized, "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. I didn't listen to you and keep an eye on the princess. I was so tired last night that I only managed to doze off. When I opened my eyes, the princess, the princess, the princess was gone... Waaah..."
Jinlan was already sobbing uncontrollably, and Yishangyun hurriedly asked again, "Where is the child? Is the child here?"
Jinlan could only nod repeatedly.
Upon seeing this, a bad feeling immediately welled up in their hearts.
"Yue'er, no, no, Yue'er..." Mei Zhixuan was in a state of utter confusion, and with that, he turned and ran outside again...
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