Seeing Jinlan nodding repeatedly in a panic, Yi Shangyun and Mei Zhixuan felt a terrible premonition.
"Yue'er, no, no, Yue'er..."
In an instant, Mei Zhixuan was in a state of utter confusion. He turned and strode out again, gritting his teeth and muttering hatefully, "Mei Zhihao, what a mess you've made..."
At this moment, Mei Zhixuan's guards, who had just caught up with the two, seemed not to understand what had happened.
The usually calm and composed master was now running out as if possessed, a sight he had never seen before. His gaze, filled with suspicion, met Yi Shangyun's eyes, only to be urgently urged by Yi Shangyun: "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and follow your master! Remember, whatever he tries to do, stop him! Make sure he stays calm, especially right now. The Emperor is furious. Tell him not to confront the Empress. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
However, the guard looked troubled and hesitated, saying, "But I have never seen my master lose his temper like this before. I'm afraid that even if I wanted to stop him, I wouldn't be able to!"
Yi Shangyun still didn't know how long Xuan Yuan Yue had been gone or what had happened. Upon hearing the guard's dejected words, she blurted out, "Even if you can't stop her, you have to find a way to stop her. If either your master or the Third Prince's Consort is in trouble, then your young master's life will be in danger! Don't you understand yet?"
Upon hearing the words "young master" being involved, the guard's eyes widened in surprise, as if he had finally realized the seriousness of the situation. He quickly nodded and replied, "Yes, I understand. For the sake of the young master, I will risk my life to stop Your Highness."
After saying that, he turned around and ran out quickly.
Watching the guard's departing figure, Yi Shangyun looked worried and silently prayed, "God help me, please don't let anything happen!"
Just then, Jinlan reached out and grabbed Yi Shangyun's arm tightly, crying, "Miss Yi, what should we do? What should we do now? Where could the princess go? Could something have happened to her? What if something happens to her?!"
Yi Shangyun frowned and pondered for a moment, then turned to Jinlan and whispered something in her ear with a serious expression.
After listening to her words, Jinlan asked with a puzzled look, "What, what are you trying to do?"
Yi Shangyun took a deep breath, put a hand on her shoulder, and said to her with great confidence, "Jinlan, just do as I say. I promise you, I will definitely find the princess for you in perfect condition."
After all that had happened, Jinlan would probably have collapsed from exhaustion if Yi Shangyun hadn't been there. At this moment, she felt a great deal of regret and remorse towards her: "Miss Yi, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things to you before."
Yi Shangyun pursed her lips, smiled slightly, moved the hand that was on her shoulder to her face and wiped away her tears, saying, "It's okay, I know, you don't need to apologize to me."
Suddenly, Jinlan grabbed the hand on her face that was slowly moving towards her cheek, and said excitedly, "No, you don't know, you don't know anything, you've never known anything!"
Yi Shangyun was stunned by what she saw.
Jinlan recalled with sorrow, "In fact, Princess, she has always been thinking of you, every single day since the day you left the palace. On the day you left, she dared not see you because she had long been accustomed to having you by her side in the palace, and she could not face parting with you. So, that day, the princess stood alone on the corner tower of the palace, watching you leave step by step."
After hearing Jinlan's words, Yi Shangyun suddenly understood.
Jinlan sniffed and continued, "You should know that Your Majesty and the Empress have always been extremely strict with the Princess. But later, when the Princess heard at the Prince of Qin's residence that you had gone to the south of the city alone, she didn't hesitate to ask the Emperor and Empress for permission, and disregarded all consequences to personally go to the south of the city to find you..."
As expected, Xuan Yuan Yue's feelings for him had never changed. As Yi Shang Yun listened, tears gradually blurred his vision.
Jinlan continued whispering in his ear, "If, if it weren't for you, the war in the Northwest wouldn't have broken out prematurely, and Your Highness, Your Highness, wouldn't have..."
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun, who had just been moved and persuaded, suddenly gritted her teeth when she thought about how the real reason for Xuan Yuanhan's death was Emperor Jing, Xuan Yuanyue's father. She clenched her fists tightly, interrupted Jinlan, and said with suppressed emotions, "Alright, stop talking. There's no time to lose. Saving lives is the priority. Hurry up and do as I just said to prepare!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Yi Shangyun turned around with a resolute expression and quickly left.
"His Highness the Prince of Qin wouldn't still be unconscious. If His Highness knew that the person he cherishes so much has become such a stranger, I wonder what he would think, how much pain and disappointment he would feel..."
Jinlan finished speaking to his retreating figure, sighed deeply, wiped away her tears, and quickly walked towards Hai'er's room.
The winter sun was no longer glaring early on; its light quickly softened, and as the sun's outline grew larger, it seemed to get closer to everything on earth.
Soon, night fell.
In the silent palace, Xuan Yuan Yue, dressed in pure white, stood alone on the high corner tower facing northwest, having remained there for an unknown amount of time.
A cold wind swept over her entire body, ruffling her long hair, and her eyes blinked slightly.
It was almost New Year's Eve. She gazed at the calm lake below the corner tower, where many more lights were reflected than she had ever seen before. It was as if she were seeing again those past years, from childhood to adulthood, in the Kingdom of Dongning. Every New Year's Eve, the palace was filled with fragrant and sumptuous feasts, and her kind and smiling grandmother, her gentle and loving mother, and her long-lost brother. Were they all much happier than she was?
And then there's the ever-stern and cold-faced Emperor, and Uncle Qin...
As she was thinking, she suddenly laughed, realizing that it had been a very, very long time since she had smiled so genuinely.
Now that things have come to this, it seems like I had already foreseen everything, yet I am still so unwilling to accept it.
In the end, she just stared at the distant northwest horizon and murmured to herself, "Father, Mother, Yue'er misses you so much! I'm sorry, Yue'er was wrong, Yue'er regrets not listening to you back then. If Yue'er hadn't left the palace and wandered around, hadn't met him, hadn't been so stubborn, there wouldn't be this unbearable pain today and the helplessness and irreversibility in the long years to come."
Under the candlelight, two lines of glistening tears could be clearly seen silently sliding down.
She paused, her emotions seemingly rising even higher: "In this life, Yue'er can never go back, never return to serve you. Yue'er is unfilial; in the next life, Yue'er will repay Father and Mother tenfold..."
She knew that all she had to do was lift her foot slightly and she would hear a "thump," and her whole world would suddenly become quiet.
Then, her gaze lingered on the northwest for a moment, before she gently closed her eyes and opened her arms: "Father, Mother, see you in the next life..."
Just as she lifted her leg, she suddenly heard someone calling from below the corner tower: "Yue'er, don't..."
"Princess, please don't..."
Upon hearing the voice, she seemed startled by the person's voice and opened her eyes with a "whoosh".
By the bright candlelight beneath the corner tower, a small, frail woman could be seen holding a swaddled baby-like object aloft. Upon closer inspection, it was Yi Shangyun who exclaimed, "It's you! What brings you here?"
Yi Shangyun lifted the swaddled baby high above her head, moved to the brightest and most conspicuous spot, and questioned her: "What do you want to do? Don't you care at all about this ignorant baby who is still in swaddling clothes?"
Xuanyuan Yue then realized that the person she was holding was actually her son. Although her eyes were filled with endless reluctance, she still pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Hai'er, he was born noble and was deeply loved by Father. Even without me, I believe Father will still treat him well."
Yi Shangyun raised her voice and said, "His Majesty is already old and can hardly take care of himself. Even if he loves Hai'er very much, how can you take your place as his birth mother? How can you face your father and mother, and your own flesh and blood, by taking your own life like this! Is the proud Princess of Western Qin that I once knew really going to end her life like this, to be ridiculed by the whole world?"
As memories flooded back, Xuan Yuan Yue gave a cold laugh and said to him, "Hmph... Now that things have come to this, do you really think that my being alive isn't a joke?"
Yi Shangyun said to him with utmost seriousness, "With me here, no one will dare to laugh at you! Besides, nothing has happened, has it?!"
“You…” Xuan Yuan Yue was stunned for a moment, but then, remembering Yi Shang Yun’s consistently hot and cold attitude towards her, she hesitated: “Forget it, the feelings between us are long over for you…”
Yi Shangyun said anxiously, "No, it's not over yet. Everything is not over yet. Jinlan just told me everything. Princess, you have been concerned about me and looking for my whereabouts, haven't you?"
Xuanyuan Yue hesitated and said, "I..."
Yi Shangyun watched from below as Xuan Yuan Yue's robes billowed in the wind, feeling as if she were about to fall from the sky at any moment. He was terrified and pleaded, "Princess Yue, please come down first. Look, Hai'er needs you, and I need you too. Let's all start over, okay?"
"The whole of us? Let's start over properly?"
As Xuan Yuan Yue spoke, she seemed to suddenly sense something amiss, and whirled around to find Mei Zhixuan quietly approaching her from behind. Upon seeing Mei Zhixuan's familiar face, she instantly became agitated: "What are you doing here? Go back, go back now, or else, or else I..."
As she spoke, Xuan Yuan Yue lifted her foot and stepped onto the railing.
Upon seeing this, Mei Zhixuan stopped in his tracks and said, "Yue'er, no! I'm sorry, Yue'er, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm late, I'm sorry, Yue'er, you can't be hurt, you absolutely can't be hurt..."
Just as the two on the corner tower were locked in a stalemate, a sudden "Ah!" came from below...
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