Your Majesty the Empress Dowager:
Seeing these words is like seeing the person in person.
As the sage said: There are three kinds of filial piety. The highest is to honor one's parents, the next is not to disgrace them, and the lowest is to provide for them.
Your son is deeply indebted to your parents and should be grateful and happy to be by their side.
In reality, he was thousands of miles away, unable to share any of his father's or mother's worries, and unable to even fulfill the lowest of the three filial duties.
All I can do now is pray to God every day for my father and mother to be healthy and happy!
Your son sighs that time flies like an arrow, and several years have passed since we parted. Watching Hai'er grow up day by day, I realize how hard it has been for parents to go through all this.
I wonder when I will be able to see my father and mother again...
Before Xuan Yuan Yue could finish writing, Mei Zhi Xuan had already quietly entered the hall.
Jinlan was startled when she saw him appear.
He then hurriedly curtsied and was about to greet him.
Suddenly, Mei Zhixuan stretched out a hand to block it.
Jinlan still seemed a little uneasy, so she glanced at the pile of letters on Xuanyuan Yue's desk, but in the end she had no choice but to retreat and gently close the door for the two of them.
Mei Zhixuan quietly approached Xuan Yuan Yue from behind, looking at the longing she had written down deep in her heart, and asked softly, "Yue'er, are you homesick?"
Xuan Yuan Yue had actually anticipated this scene and had already sensed Mei Zhi Xuan's arrival.
Hearing the sound, he still pretended to know nothing.
She even stood up in a bit of a panic, bowed to him, and said, "When did Your Highness come in? How come Yue'er didn't know?"
"Jinlan, why didn't you announce His Highness's arrival?"
As he spoke, he glanced at the spot where Jinlan had just been standing.
Mei Zhixuan said, "I have already dismissed Jinlan, so there is no need to look for Yue'er anymore."
I saw Mei Zhixuan staring intently at the pile of letters.
Xuanyuan Yue pretended not to notice and tentatively asked, "I heard that Princess Yongle was making a fuss all night last night and started demanding to see Your Highness first thing this morning. Is the princess... alright?"
Mei Zhixuan acted as if nothing had happened, saying, "It's alright, Yue'er, don't worry."
Xuan Yuan Yue could tell at a glance that he was definitely hiding something from her, but since Mei Zhi Xuan wouldn't say anything, she naturally couldn't ask.
In the end, he could only smile and say, "It's good that she's alright. In any case, now that the princess has returned to her country, Your Highness must make sure she is well taken care of to avoid giving others cause for gossip."
Mei Zhixuan did not answer her again, and his gaze remained fixed on the pile of letters on the table.
After a long pause, he asked, seemingly surprised, "So many letters, all written to you by the Empress Dowager?"
Xuan Yuan Yue then snapped out of her daze and quickly picked out a letter at random, opening it in front of Mei Zhi Xuan.
She said, "Yes, though the letter is short, the sentiment is long. Every season, every letter here is a testament to the Empress Dowager's longing for Yue'er."
She then unfolded it and deliberately moved closer to Mei Zhixuan, saying, "Your Highness, look quickly, this is what the Empress Dowager wrote to Yue'er last autumn."
"The Empress told Yue'er that the persimmon trees in Fenghua Palace had grown very well this year, with abundant fruit. From a distance, they looked like little red lanterns, bending the branches. All the palace maids and eunuchs ran up the trees to pick persimmons, and it was quite a lively scene."
As she spoke, Xuan Yuan Yue's eyes suddenly filled with tears, and her voice grew lower and lower: "It's just a pity that Yue'er will never be able to climb that tree again in this life, and will never be able to eat persimmons that are bigger, softer, and sweeter than those on the persimmon tree in Feng Hua Palace."
Fearing that tears would fall, Xuan Yuan Yue quietly wiped them away before handing the letter to Mei Zhi Xuan beside her.
He then pulled out another letter: "Your Highness, please look at this one... This was written to me by my mother last winter."
"I'm talking about the green plum blossoms in Fenghua Palace. Yue'er planted them herself when she came of age, and they actually bloomed last December."
Suddenly, Xuan Yuan Yue seemed to become very interested again: "Your Highness, do you know that the green plum is the plum blossom with the most gentlemanly qualities? The green plum blossoms are white with green calyxes, naturally like jade, beautiful without flaws, and the most extraordinary and refined."
Just thinking about it fills me with joy: "Naturally smooth and fragrant, it leans against the east wind, its delicate beauty shining through. In Western Qin, the green plum symbolizes resilience. Even in the coldest winter, it can still stand proudly on the branches, and no matter how harsh the environment, it cannot stop its blooming!"
As she spoke, her eyes filled with hope, she said, "Yue'er really wants to see the green plum tree she planted bloom with her own eyes. Even just a glimpse would be enough."
After a moment of silence, accompanied by her own imagination, Xuan Yuan Yue took out another letter.
He handed the same letter to Mei Zhixuan and unfolded a new one: "This was after the beginning of spring this year..."
Upon opening the letter, Xuan Yuan Yue's face immediately fell with worry. She then said in a very low voice, "Just after the New Year, my mother said that she had been seriously ill some time ago. She didn't want to tell me anymore, but she felt that in this vast world, only my mother and I are truly connected, so she couldn't help but tell me..."
At that moment, Xuan Yuan Yue felt a sudden pang of emotion and finally couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
Tears instantly blurred my vision.
Mei Zhixuan held in his hand the letter that Xuan Yuanyue had handed him, a letter that had been written in late autumn.
As before, I looked at the letter over and over again, but I didn't seem to find anything wrong with it.
Suddenly noticing her tears, he put down the letter in his hand, silently reached out, and gently patted her shoulder.
Then he pulled her into his arms and comforted her, "Yue'er, don't be sad. I believe your mother will be alright."
Xuanyuan Yue nestled in Mei Zhixuan's arms, sobbing as she said, "Back in Xiqin, from childhood to adulthood, Yue'er always felt that she could get whatever she wanted and do whatever she wanted without any constraints."
She paused, then continued, "But here, Yue'er has to be careful and cautious in everything she does. Over the years, Yue'er has truly felt very tired, very tired."
Mei Zhixuan thought for a moment, then said confidently in her ear, "Yue'er, just bear with it for a few more days. Soon, we won't have to bear it anymore!"
Comfort Xuanyuan Yue.
As soon as he stepped outside, Mei Zhixuan silently affirmed in his heart: "Those letters do seem to have no problems. Perhaps I was just being paranoid! I shouldn't have doubted Yue'er. She left her hometown to marry here for me, and her sincerity towards me must be genuine."
"Jinlan..."
Only when she stood on the steps outside the door, her brows furrowed, and watched with her own eyes as Mei Zhixuan truly left the courtyard, did Xuan Yuan Yue finally relax. She quickly turned back and called Jin Lan inside as well.
As soon as Jinlan entered, she asked anxiously, "Your Highness didn't find anything, did you?"
Xuanyuan Yue and Jinlan sorted through the letters on the table together, and Xuanyuan Yue said, "Fortunately, I had taken precautions before my marriage and had given my mother some instructions. Every letter I write to her is in two parts. One is a normal family letter written on normal Xuan paper, and the other is a message conveyed on paper as thin as a cicada's wing. The normal family letter is kept for backup, and the message on the paper is burned immediately after reading it. With such a hidden folding method, there are no flaws that can be seen, so it should not be discovered!"
"Your Highness is so clever! I was almost scared to death!" Upon hearing this, Jinlan finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
Xuan Yuan Yue felt a chill run down her spine whenever she recalled the look in Mei Zhi Xuan's eyes as he questioned her about her correspondence with her motherland.
So he said, "Instead of letting him always be curious and thinking about it, let him see it with his own eyes. That way, his curiosity won't be so strong anymore."
Jinlan, however, had been puzzled from the very beginning and asked, "How could the princess have known that the Third Prince would come at this time?"
Xuanyuan Yue thought for a moment and said, "Because his eyes have already told me of his suspicions. In addition, many things have happened recently, which has forced him to be more careful in everything he does."
Jinlan then asked, "Does that mean that from now on, Your Highness will have absolute trust in the Princess?"
Xuanyuan Yue chuckled and said, "Of course not. On the contrary, we must be even more careful in the future."
As Jinlan put the letters they had sorted back in their place, she sighed, "When will this constant anxiety ever end?"
"Yes, how could this princess not want to know when this will end?"
After saying that, he picked up his pen again, intending to finish writing the letter he had just written.
At this moment, Jinlan, standing by the bookshelf, placed her hand on a wooden box and asked, "Princess, do we still need the cicada wing paper we brought from Western Qin this time?"
Xuan Yuan Yue paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and said, "Just in case, it's best not to use it for now."
Jinlan pursed her lips and withdrew her hand.
At this point, the room fell silent, and neither the master nor the servant spoke again.
A few days later.
As expected, the imperial edict granting fiefdoms was delivered to Mei Xiyuan as she had hoped.
Mei Xiyuan was overjoyed, and she carefully examined every word on the imperial edict.
Again and again.
He was afraid that Mei Zhixuan would have someone tamper with the imperial edict, and that in the end he would have worked for nothing.
She knew this was her last chance to turn her life around.
After an unknown amount of time, Mei Zhixuan seemed unable to bear it any longer and simply told her directly, "Stop looking at it. This imperial edict is absolutely genuine and there is no problem with it!"
Upon hearing this, Mei Xiyuan finally put away the imperial edict in her hand and exclaimed, "I knew I was right! Third Brother is indeed a man of great courage and vision. I believe he will be a good ruler in the future!"
Now that things have come to this, Mei Zhixuan didn't bother with any more words: "Enough with the nonsense, can you tell me where Tuoba Ze is now?! Where should I look for him?"
Mei Xiyuan suddenly said slowly, "Third brother, don't be anxious! I didn't say I was going to tell you where Tuoba Ze is!"
Upon hearing this provocation, Mei Zhixuan immediately raised his voice and shouted at him, "How dare you plot against this prince?"
Mei Xiyuan thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'll go and bring him back myself!"
Mei Zhixuan looked at her in surprise and asked, "What did you say?"
At this moment, Mei Xiyuan suddenly made another request...
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