"How could this happen? Why did this happen? At that time, Father Emperor had already disregarded Mother's feelings and made her Empress. That position was already hers. Why would she still do such a cruel thing?"
The young maidservant thought for a moment and slowly said, "Over the years, I have also been puzzled. The Empress Dowager is now the Empress Dowager. In this palace, no one can threaten the position of her and her son. Why would she still take such a risky move?"
As she spoke, she looked around warily once again.
After confirming that no one else was around, she lowered her voice and said, "Until recently, Uncle Shou and that young master surnamed Long came to the other courtyard. One night, when I was changing shifts, I happened to pass by and overheard the two talking inside. Uncle Shou was talking about the current emperor in the palace, he...he..."
The little girl seemed unable to believe the shocking secret she had accidentally discovered, and began to stammer out her story.
Finally, she mustered the courage to say it again: "The current emperor... is not the son of the Empress Dowager."
"What did you say?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang exclaimed in surprise.
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan immediately glared angrily at Cheng Liang, who realized his mistake and immediately shut his mouth.
The young girl nodded and continued, "Uncle Shou also said that in this world, only Young Master Long is the Empress Dowager's only blood relative. But if this matter is exposed, the late Emperor will surely make her suffer eternal damnation. The Empress Dowager is afraid that things might get complicated if things drag on, so she decided to strike first..."
The little girl clearly didn't dare to continue speaking at this point.
Xuanyuan Han also learned the truth and was instantly enraged, but he tried his best to suppress it and secretly clenched his fists, his heart filled with anger.
Just then.
Not far away, another woman appeared, dressed the same as the little girl, but looking a few years younger than her.
As she walked towards the three of them, she called out, "Zhen'er, Zhen'er..."
The little girl was startled and snapped back to reality upon hearing the sound.
He glanced back at him quickly, then hurriedly said goodbye to Xuan Yuanhan: "Your Highness, someone is calling me. I have to go back quickly to avoid being discovered."
Xuanyuan Han suppressed his anger and nodded slightly.
"I'm here!"
The little girl quickly agreed and ran towards the brightly lit area.
As soon as the woman saw Zhen'er appear, she asked her, "Zhen'er, I've been looking for you for ages! How come you disappeared as soon as it got dark? Where did you go?"
As she spoke, the woman curiously looked in the direction where Zhen'er had just come out and asked, "What were you doing in that dark corner? I think I saw a figure there just now!"
Upon hearing this, Zhen'er became nervous. She smiled, but couldn't hide her slight unease as she glanced back. Seeing that Xuan Yuanhan was already gone, she pulled the woman along as they went back, lying all the while.
"Don't talk nonsense, there's no one there! It's just that summer's here! I wanted to look around for fireflies. If I find any, I'll catch some to surprise you!"
Upon hearing this, the woman became genuinely interested, and her eyes lit up as she asked in surprise, "So, do they exist or not? Did you find any fireflies?"
Zhen'er said, "No, no, perhaps the fireflies are still too small. I'll go find some for you again in a while!"
The woman pleaded, "Then you must take me with you next time!"
The two of them continued talking like this, one sentence after the other, as they walked back to the backyard.
Only after seeing that Zhen'er had left safely did the master and servant slowly reveal themselves again from the shadows.
"Your Highness..."
At this moment, Cheng Liang seemed to want to say something indignantly, but Xuan Yuanhan stretched out a hand and blocked him in mid-air.
He simply ordered in a cold voice, "Return to the manor."
In the dead of night, the winds rose and the clouds surged.
The Qin Prince's Mansion was covered with fallen petals.
As soon as Xuanyuan Han returned to Lin Yuexuan, all he could hear and see on his way back were the unknown mystery of his father's death, the countless grievances he and his mother had suffered at the hands of the Empress Dowager over the years, and the suppression he had endured from Emperor Jing.
Enraged, his eyes seemed to be turning into demonic rage, bloodshot with fury. He drew his sword and charged out of the bedchamber, gathering all his strength to leap up and wield it in the courtyard.
In the darkness, flashes of sword light could be seen, seemingly capable of swallowing mountains and rivers.
His every move was meticulous and deadly, his sword energy as fierce as a tiger.
The sword energy surged forth, unstoppable, as if it were about to pierce the unchanging sky above.
Even on the battlefield, he had never seen him so fierce. Cheng Liang had been observing him silently for a long time. He knew that his master was extremely distressed and needed to relieve his pain.
But now Xuanyuan Han seems to be completely possessed, and I'm afraid that if this continues, he will definitely hurt himself.
After worrying for a long time, he finally couldn't help but draw his sword and rush forward, trying to stop his master from venting his anger: "Your Highness, please stop!"
However, before even a single round had passed, he was defeated by a powerful sword aura emanating from it.
He was knocked down heavily, fell to the ground, and spat out a mouthful of blood, which sprayed onto the dark, cold ground.
He braced himself with one hand on the ground and the other on his aching chest, as if it would be difficult for him to stand up again.
The powerful force emanating from Xuanyuan Han truly shocked him. He never expected that his master, who was already invincible, could have such a terrifying level of swordsmanship.
Even though he was already seriously injured and unable to get up, Cheng Liang was still worried: "No, I must find a way to stop His Highness. If this continues, he will definitely hurt himself."
But how can we stop him...?
"By the way..."
After much thought, he finally remembered a person and an event.
Despite the excruciating pain, Sui cried out, "Your Highness, we don't have much time left. Have you forgotten that someone at the morning court said that an even bigger sandstorm will hit Lu County in less than three months? The Princess Consort is already rushing to Lu County with the disaster victims. Does Your Highness really intend to waste all your time on this pointless venting and leave the Princess Consort to face the danger alone?"
Sure enough, only the safety of Yi Shangyun could awaken his consciousness.
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan's eyes, which were burning with anger, froze for a moment, and he muttered, "Yun'er..."
Finally, it gradually came to a stop and slowly descended from mid-air.
Seeing this, Cheng Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After Xuan Yuanhan stood still, he noticed Cheng Liang lying on the ground to the side, with traces of blood still remaining at the corner of his mouth. He went over and knelt down to ask with concern, "How are you?"
Cheng Liang looked at him and reminded him, "I'm fine, Your Highness, business is more important!"
"Hmm," Xuan Yuanhan said after calming down, then helped Cheng Liang up and led him into the hall to treat his injuries.
Seeing that Cheng Liang was so badly injured by him, and that he probably wouldn't be able to get out of bed for at least ten days to half a month, Xuan Yuanhan felt extremely guilty.
After personally performing a thorough and meticulous healing procedure on him, he stood up and instructed, "You should rest well in the manor for the next few days and recover your health!"
Cheng Liang said urgently, "I'm fine, but time is of the essence. We must find out the whereabouts of Shoubo and his servant as soon as possible! And what about the Emperor..."
Seeing that Cheng Liang clearly didn't care about his injuries at all, Xuan Yuanhan angrily rebuked him, "Alright, you don't need to worry about this for now. I will handle it myself."
"Yes," Cheng Liang replied, realizing he couldn't disobey his master.
Xuanyuan Han concluded by saying, "Get some rest."
Then he turned and left.
Upon returning to his own palace, Xuan Yuanhan's heart was once again filled with turmoil, a feeling of overwhelming grief and indignation that lingered for a long time.
Suddenly seeing the ancient zither in the hall that he hadn't played in a long time, he couldn't help but recall the scene when his father personally taught him to play the zither when he was a child. That was probably the warmest and most beautiful time of his childhood.
So he slowly walked over to him, lifted the hem of his robe, and sat down.
Under the dim light of a solitary lamp, the melodious sound of a zither gently pushed away his extremely depressed mood.
Time flies by in the blink of an eye.
On the northwestern border of the Western Qin Kingdom lies a region of high terrain, mostly plateaus and mountains, with vast deserts and Gobi, and a complex topography.
Lu County.
The most frequent and fiercest sandstorms in the area occur when black winds suddenly rise, the sky closes in, sand and dust fill the air, trees fall, houses collapse, and there are heavy casualties among people and livestock.
Yi Shangyun followed the disaster victims to this place. Seeing the suffering of the people in dire straits, he made a firm decision to overcome the sandstorm and lead the local people in the fight against the yellow sand, determined not to return until victory was achieved.
In just over a month, the desertification control work here has been carried out in an orderly manner.
Nowadays, everywhere in the fields and villages, there are voices praising and admiring it.
"Her Highness the Princess is truly a living bodhisattva who saves people from suffering in this world!"
"Our homeland is finally saved!"
"It is unbelievable that a frail woman could come up with so many desertification control methods that we have never seen or even heard of before in just over a month."
"Who can argue with that!"
"This is all thanks to His Highness the King of Qin!"
"Yes, yes, our Prince Qin is truly discerning, to be able to marry such a wise and intelligent woman."
Yi Shangyun continues to advocate for the use of the most fundamental and cost-effective plant-based sand-fixing measures. This is because sand-fixing plants can also provide fuel and fodder for people and livestock in sandy areas, while simultaneously restoring and improving the environment.
However, when controlling shifting sand, materials such as firewood, clay, and pebbles are used to set up obstacles or lay down to cover and block the sand.
To stabilize the sand, she instructed people to spray some cementing material on the shifting sand to form a protective shell of a certain strength on the sand surface, which would isolate the sand surface from the direct action of airflow, thereby improving the sand surface's resistance to wind erosion.
However, the local water resources are extremely scarce, which has become the main challenge in desertification control.
Yi Shangyun then worked day and night to study the water, personally inspecting the site. In the end, he developed many water-saving methods, such as preventing seepage in the canals, making various sprinkler and micro-irrigation tools that people had never seen before, and changing large ridges to small ridges, long ridges to short ridges, and wide ridges to narrow ridges to speed up water flow and save water in the fields.
But right now, she has encountered a very tricky problem.
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