Hearing Ling'er's words, Xuan Yuanhan also looked at the place that was almost the shape of a peach blossom with great doubt. He hurriedly called over the deputy general beside him and said, "Cheng Liang, come and take a look. What is this place? Is anyone living here?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang rushed forward, carefully looking around and recalling the details. After a while, he said, "This place... seems to be a small village called Peach Blossom Village. Because it is located on the border with Nan'an Kingdom, it is still undecided whether it belongs to my Western Qin or Nan'an."
Just then, Ling'er suddenly broke free from Xuan Yuanhan's embrace and rushed to Zhang Mama's side, hugging Zhang Mama's leg tightly. She exclaimed with great joy, "Zhang Mama, Zhang Mama, can you hear that? There really is a Peach Blossom Village that looks like a peach blossom in the south on the map! Sister Yun must be there!"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan immediately looked at Ling'er and Granny Zhao with a surprised expression and asked, "What peach blossoms? Who is definitely there? What is Ling'er talking about?"
Granny Zhao quickly put her arm around Ling'er's shoulder and explained, "Your Highness, a while ago, Ling'er was playing in the backyard when she saw a snow-white cloud floating in the sky, with five peach-petal-like clouds around it. She said that if the cloud in the north was her father who had not yet returned, then the peach-petal cloud in the south was her missing daughter, Yi, because she felt that only Yi could be as beautiful as that peach-petal cloud. This is just children playing around; perhaps she misses them too much and is just making things up. Your Highness, please don't take her nonsense seriously!"
As Xuanyuan Han was gazing at the terrain in thought, Ling'er suddenly widened her eyes and stared at Zhang Mama, loudly arguing with her, "No, Ling'er isn't making this up! Not only that, Ling'er also dreamed of Sister Yun! Her place is like a paradise, secluded from the world, with an extremely beautiful ten-mile peach forest."
Ling'er slowly released her small hands from Zhang Mama's legs, pouted, frowned slightly, and lowered her head, saying sadly, "But, deep in that peach grove, Sister Yun... Sister Yun doesn't remember Ling'er. No matter what Ling'er tells her—Grandma, Zhang Mama, General Cheng, His Highness Prince Qin... she can't remember anything. Waaah... She only told Ling'er that she was about to leave... Your Highness Prince Qin, Sister Yun must still be at that spot on the map, where the peach blossoms are. You must send someone to find her and bring her back quickly! If you're too late, you'll never see her again! Waaah... Ling'er wants Sister Yun, Ling'er wants Sister Yun, Sister Yun..."
Ling'er burst into tears as she recalled her dream.
Seeing this, Granny Zhang quickly knelt down to help her wipe away her tears and comfort her, saying, "Ling'er, don't cry. Dreams are always the opposite of reality. Your sister Yun won't forget you. Our Ling'er is so cute, so well-behaved, so obedient. How could she bear to disown you? Don't cry, don't cry. Here, see what Granny Zhang has. How about this is for little Ling'er to play with? Don't cry..."
Little Ling'er's cries grew more and more heart-wrenching, and Xuan Yuanhan's heart was also gripped by the sound. For a moment, he didn't know how to comfort her, so he and Cheng Liang stood there helplessly watching her cry so pitifully. The scene was in complete chaos.
At this moment, in a moment of urgency, Granny Zhang hurriedly reached out and took off a sandalwood bead that appeared to be quite rare in both color and texture, which was hanging around Ling'er's neck and hidden inside her clothes, and handed it to her.
Seeing Ling'er finally choke up as she held the sandalwood bead, everyone present couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief.
At this moment, Xuan Yuanhan stared blankly at the thing in Ling'er's hand, looking thoughtful. He vaguely felt that the sandalwood bead looked very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
“If Your Highness has no other instructions, this old servant will take Ling’er away. The child has been feeling unwell these past two days and is always crying and fussing. Let’s not let her disturb Your Highness any further.” To prevent Ling’er from causing any more trouble while she was here, Zhang Mama bowed to her mistress and prepared to take her leave.
However, Xuan Yuanhan seemed not to have heard what she said. He slowly stood up, staring at Ling'er's hand, and walked down the steps in a daze, heading towards her.
As he drew closer, he finally saw clearly the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand: on those long-lost sandalwood beads, the Buddhist scripture he had painstakingly carved for his mother when he was a child was still clearly visible. He also instantly remembered that his father had praised him for the first time in his life because of it. But now, everything had changed, and all was lost.
A wave of desolation washed over him, and Xuan Yuanhan was startled. He asked, "Granny Zhang, where did you get this sandalwood bead?"
Upon hearing this, Granny Zhang quickly snatched the string of beads back from Ling'er's hands and presented it to Xuan Yuanhan with both hands, saying, "Your Highness, don't you remember this string of beads? When the Dowager Consort gave birth to Your Highness in the palace, the late Emperor specially invited a highly virtuous monk from the City God Temple in the south of the city to consecrate this unique string of sandalwood prayer beads before bestowing it upon the Dowager Consort. The Dowager Consort cherished it greatly and always carried it with her. As for this string of beads, it was broken eight years ago, on the night before the Dowager Consort's unfortunate passing, when she was praying for blessings at the City God Temple. Before she could have it repaired, the Dowager Consort passed away... Later, this old servant took the liberty of keeping this string of beads as a memento, and I hope Your Highness will not be offended!"
"What about the other scattered beads? Why is there only this one?" Xuan Yuanhan asked, puzzled.
Granny Zhang wiped her already slightly moist eyes and replied, "Your Highness, you may not know this, but because Her Majesty said it was inconvenient to disturb the high monk during the night, she asked this old servant to string the beads together and wear them for now. However, when only this one sandalwood bead was left, the string was too short, and she couldn't string it on no matter what she did. So, Her Majesty told this old servant to keep this bead and go to the high monk to have him look at it in the morning, but who knew..."
Granny Zhang could no longer speak; she kept wiping away tears, and even her voice became choked with sobs.
Xuanyuan Han held the sandalwood prayer beads tightly in his hand, recalling everything that had happened in the past. Even his eyes gradually narrowed, as if a powerful anger was burning in his heart.
In the end, he managed to calm down and handed the prayer beads back to Xiao Ling'er, who was staring wide-eyed and wondering what had happened.
Looking into Xiao Ling'er's innocent big eyes, Xuan Yuanhan suddenly seemed to remember something and asked her again to confirm, "Zhang Mama, are you sure that Mother Consort really wore that string of sandalwood prayer beads on the night she met with misfortune?"
Without a second thought, Zhang Mama blurted out, "Your Highness, ever since the late Emperor bestowed that string of sandalwood prayer beads upon the Imperial Concubine, Your Highness personally carved Buddhist scriptures into it on her birthday. Since then, the Imperial Concubine has never taken it off, not even when she goes to bed. Without it, she cannot sleep peacefully. This old servant has been keeping these beads safe for her every day; how could I possibly be mistaken!"
At this moment, Cheng Liang, who had been silently standing aside, seemed to suddenly notice something amiss and hurriedly stepped forward to ask, "Your Highness, is there something wrong with that string of sandalwood prayer beads?"
As Xuanyuan Han turned back to the table and sat down again, he recalled with a sigh, "I once heard my father tell my mother that the beads used to make that string of sandalwood prayer beads were soaked in a special potion by a Taoist priest for a full eighty-one days and nights, making them impervious to water and fire. Therefore, it was impossible for them to have been destroyed in that fire. However, if my mother was indeed wearing those sandalwood prayer beads that day, why didn't I see a trace of them on her body? No belongings of my mother were found at the scene of the incident either."
"Could it be that someone was greedy and took it when no one was looking?" Cheng Liang speculated.
Granny Zhang hurriedly denied it, saying, "Impossible. After the Empress Dowager's accident, this old servant never left her side. There is no way anyone could have come into contact with the Empress Dowager's body."
"Could it be that after you served the Empress Dowager to rest, someone sneaked in and took it?" Cheng Liang analyzed.
"In any case, that string of sandalwood prayer beads couldn't have disappeared into thin air. Perhaps, only by finding it can we find out what really happened in Mother's room that night?"
After Xuan Yuanhan said this, the room fell silent, and the three of them fell into deep thought.
Just then, a guard rushed in from outside, holding a secret letter in his hand. He stepped forward, bowed respectfully to his master, and held the letter high with both hands, saying, "Your Highness, an urgent message has just arrived from the south of the city!"
Cheng Liang stepped forward, took the document, opened it, and stared in disbelief. His face turned deathly pale. He then waved his hand, and the guard withdrew.
Cheng Liang stepped forward to Xuan Yuanhan and cautiously reported, "Your Highness, Yu Niang has brought some bad news?"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan, who was deep in thought, suddenly raised his head and stared blankly into Cheng Liang's eyes.
Upon seeing this, Cheng Liang's heart tightened, and he stammered, "Yu Niang wrote that she was talking about Miss Yi..."
Unexpectedly, no sooner had he spoken than Xuan Yuanhan slammed his palm hard on the table in front of him. Everyone in the hall immediately became cautious. Xuan Yuanhan's brows furrowed deeply, and he shouted angrily, "No, no, she'll be alright! I don't believe it, I don't believe it!"
Cheng Liang hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, please calm down. The message that Yu Niang sent was not about Miss Yi, but about Miss Yi's maids Yan'er and Lanxiang. They ignored everyone's advice and secretly went south along the river to look for her. They have lost contact with her for many days now."
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