As soon as the maid entered Shaohua Pavilion, she bowed respectfully to Mei Xiyuan and presented the secret letter in her hand, saying, "Your Highness, news came from Sihai Tea House this morning!"
Upon hearing this, Mei Xiyuan was stunned. The ruby and gold-inlaid jade butterfly and flower tassel earrings that she had just chosen and was quite satisfied with fell to the floor beside her with a "clatter," immediately revealing cracks.
However, she quickly shifted her gaze to the earrings she cherished, without uttering or making a sound.
Upon seeing this, Granny Zhao hurriedly stepped forward and took the letter from the maid's hand, instructing her, "Go outside and stand guard. Do not allow anyone to come in and disturb Her Highness."
"Yes," the maid, who seemed equally frightened, obeyed and hurriedly got up to go out and guard the door.
"Your Highness." After seeing with her own eyes that the maid had indeed left, Zhao Mama turned around and gently picked up the pair of earrings that had fallen to the ground, then returned to Mei Xiyuan's side and handed her the letter.
Mei Xiyuan stared blankly at the secret letter that she didn't know how it had ended up in her hands, and her hands began to tremble involuntarily.
While helping her choose new earrings, Granny Zhao glanced at the hand holding the letter that was trembling violently, but did not say anything more.
If you can't figure things out or make up your mind about certain things, you'll never be able to fully strive to live the life you want or fight for the tomorrow you desire, especially for a woman destined for greatness who craves the highest and most unique glory of her life.
A moment later, Mei Xiyuan finally reached out and slowly pulled out a letter from inside to open it.
The bright red beauty mark between her brows accentuated her dreamlike beauty, and her pair of bright, shining eyes, like the most dazzling star in the sky, quickly scanned the mere seven words written on the letter: "The deal is done, prepare for the transaction!"
Then, the beauty seemed to suddenly become ethereal and boneless, and the letter in her hand slipped lightly from between her fingers and fell to the ground, as if a wisp of her soul had been suddenly drawn away from her body.
When Granny Zhao saw the clear handwriting on the letter that had fallen to the ground, she was immediately startled. Just as she was about to say something, Mei Xiyuan reached out and stopped her, saying calmly, "Granny Zhao, you should go out too. Let me have some peace and quiet."
Upon seeing this, Granny Zhao opened her mouth but then swallowed it all back. She didn't say anything more, tidied herself up briefly, sighed softly, and went out, gently closing the door behind her.
The room was silent, with only wisps of incense smoke keeping it company. The smoke emitted a refreshing and elegant fragrance that seemed to gently soothe the heart of the beautiful woman in her boudoir, who was deeply wounded and had no one to comfort her. However, she was completely unaware that an unstoppable aura of rage was rising within her.
There was a loud "whoosh," followed by a series of loud "cracking" sounds from behind.
Still hesitantly lingering in the corridor outside the door, not daring to actually leave, Zhao Mama suddenly stopped in her tracks, her heart pounding with shock, and exclaimed in utter despair, "Princess!"
Inside the Shaohua Pavilion, on a magnificent rosewood dressing table with openwork carvings, several large and small dressing boxes contained all sorts of precious jewelry, pearls, agates, rouge, powder, and diamond-shaped mirrors, all scattered on the floor.
Mei Xiyuan, already in tears, stared blankly at the mess on the ground before her. Suddenly, she screamed three times at the top of her lungs, "Why? Why? Why?"
"Waaah..." Then, she weakly rested her head on her arms and leaned on the dressing table, her frail shoulders shaking as she cried out in heartbreak and helplessness.
Meanwhile, Lu Tianjiao, who had been hiding in a dark corner of Shaohua Pavilion and listening to all the noises around him, seemed to have guessed seven or eight parts of what was happening inside the room.
As he was frowning in deep thought, he glanced up and suddenly saw a guard carefully carrying a long box in both hands, hurrying past towards Chenghua Hall.
"What's all this all about, all so mysterious?" Lu Tianjiao thought for a moment, then quickly put on a smile and stepped forward to stop him, speaking softly, "Brother, are you going to Chenghua Palace? Is Brother Han back?"
Lu Tianjiao was constantly thinking about Xuan Yuanhan's every move. Of course, he knew that Xuan Yuanhan hadn't actually returned to the manor yet; he had just made up an excuse to deliberately try and strike up a conversation. His real purpose, of course, was the mysterious box he was currently holding.
Upon hearing this, the guard stopped and glanced at her, saying, "Miss Lu, His Highness hasn't returned to the residence yet! Is there anything you need from His Highness? Before General Cheng left, he instructed me that if you need anything, you can simply ask Granny Zhang. She's the most approachable person in the Prince of Qin's residence, and..."
The guard spoke with great interest, but Lu Tianjiao didn't listen. Instead, she kept glancing at the box in his hands, pondering to herself, "What is this? It doesn't look very big, yet he cherishes it so much that he's holding it so carefully with both hands. Could it be..."
As she was thinking, Lu Tianjiao suddenly heard the name "Zhang Mama" in her ear. Thinking of this meddlesome and wicked old servant, she had a flash of inspiration. She suddenly touched her forehead and pretended to be dizzy. Her slender waist twisted in the process, and she swayed her feet. She fell sideways into the hands of the guard who was talking incessantly. The box in his hand was unexpectedly knocked over and fell to the ground.
Suddenly, the box lid was shaken open, and a scroll jumped out, unfolding completely before her eyes with a 'whoosh'.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Upon seeing this, Lu Tianjiao hurriedly apologized to him repeatedly while bending down to help him pick up the painting, his eyes quickly scanning every line of the painting of the beauty on the ground.
He searched his memory: "Why does this portrait of a woman look so familiar? It seems...right, I saw this portrait once in my father's secret chamber. It was the portrait of the guardian's descendant that the Emperor entrusted to my father for restoration. My brother said a few days ago that my father had finished the restoration, so...so...this person in the painting is the guardian of Western Qin. Indeed, she is as beautiful as the legends say. This is truly 'finding something without even looking for it.'"
Lu Tianjiao, who had feigned a disheveled state in front of Shaohua Pavilion, quickly returned to his room in Yanqi Pavilion. As soon as he entered, he tightly closed the door to his study, then walked to his desk, picked up his brush, and ground ink. He then displayed his extraordinary ability to remember everything he saw, and wrote down every ink mark he had just seen.
Finally, she confidently said to the perfectly realistic portrait of the Guardian, "Hmph, this is truly heaven's help! Yi Shangyun, you're doomed this time."
After saying that, she carefully rolled it up, took light steps, and couldn't wait to leave the house and head straight back towards Shaohua Pavilion.
"Your Highness, Miss Lu has come to pay her respects. She seems to be in a particularly good mood."
A maid from Shaohua Pavilion hurriedly approached Mei Xiyuan and whispered in her ear to report.
Clearly, when Lu Tianjiao reappeared at Shaohua Pavilion in the blink of an eye, Mei Xiyuan, who had composed herself, was enjoying the flowers in the garden with Zhao Mama.
Lu Tianjiao was taken aback and murmured, "It seems this woman is indeed not simple; she changed her ways so quickly."
However, he could not hide his joy and anticipation. Upon receiving the maid's message, he hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to her. But as soon as the words were on the tip of his tongue, he immediately frowned and pretended to be worried, changing his words to:
"Younger sister greets elder sister, and elder sister is in high spirits. Several days have passed, and there's still no news from the Four Seas Tea House. I wonder if we'll be able to capture that wretched woman before His Highness does. If she encounters His Highness first, then..."
Mei Xiyuan glanced at her coldly with disdain and sneered, "Wasn't the person who handled this matter chosen by you personally, little sister? What? Could it be that you're now unsure about him? Or perhaps you're worried that His Highness will find out about this and throw a tantrum, so you're losing your composure and throwing a fit? This doesn't seem like the behavior of a young lady from Xiqin Academy at all."
Mei Xiyuan said calmly.
Lu Tianjiao, not to be outdone, smiled and leaned closer, saying, "Sister, don't forget, we're already in the same boat. You can't jump over me, and neither can I. If you're really blamed, how can I, as your older sister, be at ease?"
At this point, Mei Xiyuan seemed speechless and snorted at him, then added, "I heard you're in a good mood today, but I'm really worried! Gold and silver jewels are never lacking in Dongning Kingdom, but the matter of the portrait of the Western Qin Guardian is still nowhere to be found. Even if he really manages to capture that girl, what will I use to trade with him? Sigh!"
Mei Xiyuan sighed heavily and finally casually released the delicate, dewy weeping crabapple branch that she had been holding for a long time.
"Sister, there really is news from Sihai Tea House, right?" Unexpectedly, Lu Tianjiao, thinking about her words, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and blurted out.
"How did you find out?" Mei Xiyuan had been preoccupied with this matter, and when Lu Tianjiao brought it up, she hurriedly turned around and glared at the maid behind her who was in charge of contacting Sihai Tea House.
The maidservant hurriedly knelt down and said timidly, "Your Highness, please spare me! I didn't say anything, I really didn't say anything."
At this moment, Lu Tianjiao finally realized and said, "So, there really is news from Sihai Tea House."
Mei Xiyuan also instantly realized what was happening, glaring at her angrily and saying, "So, you dare to lie to me?"
Instantly, the two stared at each other, neither willing to back down, unleashing their fury upon the other.
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