Accompanied by Granny Zhao, Mei Xiyuan was stunned by what Lu Tianjiao, who had already entered the courtyard, was doing as soon as she stepped through the archway of Lin Yuexuan.
Looking at the pitiful woman before her, she took a deep breath, then rushed forward and shouted angrily, "What are you doing in this courtyard? Who let you in? Go back now!"
As soon as Lu Tianjiao stepped out of the courtyard of Shaohua Pavilion, she originally intended to turn right and go back to her room. Although she had finally learned the whereabouts of her beloved Han-gege, whom she had been nagging about all day, and even though that woman she hated so much was still there, she still found herself drawn here, wanting to linger a little longer in the place that held the most of that man's presence.
No one knew how much she truly loved this man. So, once again, she listened to her heart and walked to a corner outside Lin Yuexuan, only to encounter such a shocking scene.
"No, I won't go back! Please, don't send me back! Let me see His Highness one last time, just one last time! Just one last time! As long as Tianjiao sees that His Highness is whole and well, that he's alright, Tianjiao will leave Lin Yuexuan immediately and never stay a moment longer. Even if... even if Tianjiao has to leave the entire Qin Prince's Mansion and return to where she was before, Tianjiao will have no regrets. Please, sister, Your Highness, please help Tianjiao, please help Tianjiao!" Lu Tianjiao tightly gripped the arm of Mei Xiyuan, who seemed to be her only lifeline, kneeling and pleading tearfully.
"Lu Tianjiao, what are you doing? What are you doing? Are you crazy? Why do you want to see His Highness completely intact and alright? His Highness, His Highness, what happened to His Highness?" Mei Xiyuan felt dazed as she listened to these words, but a bad premonition suddenly rose in her heart.
Lu Tianjiao then wiped away the tears on his face, choking back sobs as he said, "Just now, just now I saw Vice General Cheng... he carried the unconscious His Highness in from outside. His Highness was wrapped in blood-soaked white bandages, and his face was ashen, pale and weak. His Highness... he must have done something terrible, he must have..."
"Shut up!" Before Lu Tianjiao could voice his doubts, Mei Xiyuan forcefully shook off Lu Tianjiao's hand from her arm and scolded him harshly.
"This is impossible, absolutely impossible! His Highness is brave, resourceful, and wise. How could he be so badly injured? You must be mistaken, you must be mistaken..."
As Mei Xiyuan spoke, she stumbled and staggered up the stone steps, looking dazed, wanting to push open the door and go in to find out for herself.
Just then, the two guards who had been firmly guarding the entrance of Lin Yuexuan, like heavenly soldiers and gatekeepers, quickly drew their long swords and decisively blocked Mei Xiyuan from entering.
Mei Xiyuan's eyes flashed with cold light. She instinctively took two steps back and angrily shouted at the two guards, "You two blind good-for-nothings, are you new here today? Don't you recognize me, Princess Consort? Who gave you the audacity to block my path? Are you deliberately courting death?"
Upon hearing this, the two guards immediately bowed and saluted. One of the guards explained, "This subordinate dares not. This subordinate is here on the orders of the general to guard the Lin Yue Pavilion and not allow anyone to enter and disturb it. Please forgive me, Your Highness. Your Highness should go back to Shao Hua Pavilion to rest!"
Upon hearing this, Mei Xiyuan immediately rebuked him angrily, "How dare you! You just said that this was General Cheng's order? I had no idea that in this Prince Qin's mansion, a mere deputy general could ride roughshod over me! Get out of my way!"
Mei Xiyuan's eyes widened as she glared angrily at the two guards, but the guards remained unmoved, steadfastly guarding the gate. As long as Mei Xiyuan didn't move, they wouldn't budge an inch; if Mei Xiyuan made a move, they would defend the gate to the death—this was an order, and their duty.
Unbeknownst to them, Lu Tianjiao had also quietly stood up and followed closely behind Mei Xiyuan, waiting for the moment he would break down the door.
Seeing the stalemate before her, a sudden idea struck her. She subtly winked at Mei Xiyuan beside her, who immediately understood. Taking advantage of the guard's momentary lapse in attention, Mei Xiyuan swiftly drew a sharp sword from its sheath, which the guard had been tightly gripping. She then quickly reversed the hilt and held the sword horizontally in front of the two men, threatening, "Will you move aside or not? If you don't, be careful! This sword in my hand has no eyes. From childhood, I've been proficient in all the arts, but I've never wielded a sword. I wonder, if I accidentally lose my temper, will this sword hurt you, or will it hurt me?"
Upon hearing this, the guards exchanged glances, seemingly feeling uneasy and anxious, yet they never relaxed their guard against Lin Yuexuan in the slightest.
"What? You don't believe what I, the Princess Consort, say? Fine, today I, the Princess Consort, will teach you two dogs a lesson so you'll remember it well. Let's see who the real master of the Qin Prince's Mansion is!" As Mei Xiyuan spoke, she mustered all her strength and angrily raised the sharp sword in her hand high.
Just as she was about to bring her sword down hard, suddenly with a creak, the door of Lin Yuexuan was opened from the inside.
"Your subordinate greets Your Highness, the Princess."
It turned out that the one who came to open the door was Cheng Liang, who had heard the commotion outside from inside Lin Yuexuan. As soon as he stepped out, he respectfully bowed to Mei Xiyuan.
Mei Xiyuan was immediately stunned, and the long sword in her hand slipped from her grasp. The guard beside her quickly bent down to pick up the sword and steadily inserted it into his empty scabbard.
In this awkward situation, Mei Xiyuan was at a loss for how to face the situation.
After a moment, she finally suppressed her anger and said to Cheng Liang in a serious tone, "General Cheng, I have important business to discuss with His Highness. Please inform him on my behalf." After all, she still had to show some respect to Cheng Liang, who was inseparable from Xuan Yuanhan every day.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang murmured "Your Highness, Princess Consort..." as if he suddenly hesitated, glancing unintentionally behind him.
At this moment, Lu Tianjiao, who had been standing behind Mei Xiyuan impatiently, interrupted her and said with great concern, "General Cheng, has His Highness... something happened to him?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang stared at Lu Tianjiao's eyes for a moment, hesitated, and then said, "Oh, we raided the Northern Lie spy's hideout in the south of the city. During the fight, Your Highness suffered a minor injury, but it's nothing serious. You'll be fine after some rest..."
"No, how could it be a minor injury? It can't be a minor injury. If it were a minor injury, how could His Highness be covered in blood and unconscious? His Highness's body is also wrapped in strips of cloth, which are all stained with blood. His Highness has lost so much blood." Lu Tianjiao didn't even wait for Cheng Liang to finish speaking before hurriedly refuting.
Cheng Liang was stunned and speechless for a moment by Lu Tianjiao's questioning. Ever since Xuan Yuanhan's incident in the south of the city, he had been living in constant fear. Just now, as soon as he entered the gates of the Prince of Qin's mansion, he was only concerned with carrying his master into Lin Yuexuan's bedroom. In the midst of the chaos, he didn't realize that Lu Tianjiao had seen everything clearly.
At this moment, Cheng Liang stared intently into Lu Tianjiao's unwavering eyes, thinking that this was not the first time she had spied on Lin Yuexuan. It seemed that this young lady from Xiqin Academy was not staying at the Qin Prince's Mansion and being inseparable from Mei Xiyuan all day long, but her real intention was probably to keep Mei Xiyuan company.
But the intelligent and perceptive Princess Yongle of Dongning, now Princess Consort Mei Xiyuan of Qin, shouldn't be unaware of Lu Tianjiao's intentions. Could it be that these two women have secretly reached some kind of consensus or something else? What could it be?
At present, the Dongning Princess must not be informed of her master's serious injuries and inexplicable coma. After all, no one knows what she might do if she knew this great secret. What if she had impure motives and reported this to her motherland? That would be...
Just as Cheng Liang was lost in thought, filled with fear, Mei Xiyuan spoke up, "General Cheng, I respect you because you serve His Highness faithfully and diligently every day. But if you dare to joke about His Highness's life and safety, then I... will not tolerate it. Today, I will not rest until I see His Highness in person."
Mei Xiyuan's words progressed from simple to profound, her voice rising from low to high, and from gentle to firm.
Xuan Yuanhan remains unconscious, and Cheng Liang is already on the verge of collapse. Just as he was in a daze, Xuan Yuan Yue suddenly came out from inside, holding a letter behind her back. She came to Cheng Liang's side, bowed, and said to Mei Xiyuan, "Yue'er greets Aunt Qin. This is a personal letter from Uncle Qin to Aunt. Please read it."
Although Mei Xiyuan was full of doubts, she could only slowly accept the letter that was handed to her. After opening it, she saw that it read in black and white: "Recently, the city south attacked the Northern Lie spies. I was injured and felt slightly unwell. I need to rest and cannot receive guests. Please do not disturb me. All matters in the manor will be handled by General Cheng on my behalf."
Unexpectedly, after reading the entire story in the letter, Mei Xiyuan exclaimed, "How would I, the Princess Consort, know whether this is His Highness's own handwritten letter?"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Yue smiled helplessly and asked in return, "It's been quite some time since Qin Huang's wife and Qin Huang's uncle were married, and they're currently deeply in love. How come they can't even recognize Qin Huang's uncle's handwriting?"
At this moment, Lu Tianjiao hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, why don't I take a look at you?"
Mei Xiyuan seemed to have no other choice but to reluctantly hand the letter to Lu Tianjiao, who was full of anticipation.
It seems there's absolutely no hope of seeing Brother Han today. However, if we can confirm that Brother Han can still write his exceptionally skillful calligraphy, then he must truly be alright. Perhaps I'm just worrying too much and making a fuss over nothing.
Lu Tianjiao held the letter in his hands, his eyes wide, and carefully recalled and deciphered it, word by word and stroke by stroke.
After a long while, she suddenly became emotional, and her whole body seemed to tremble. She cried out, "That's right, that's right, this is His Highness's own handwriting, it's His Highness's calligraphy."
"Really, you didn't see wrong!" Mei Xiyuan exclaimed in surprise.
"Your Highness's words have been firmly etched in my heart since the first day I met you, and I will never forget them even if they turn to ashes," Lu Tianjiao said confidently.
At this moment, Xuan Yuan Yue took a deep breath, straightened her body, and said, "Since that's the case, does Aunt Qin Huang have any other doubts about the contents of this book? Do we still need to rush in and verify it ourselves?"
"Why aren't you leaving? What are you doing lingering here?" Mei Xiyuan shouted angrily at Lu Tianjiao, then turned and walked out of Lin Yuexuan's gate without looking back.
Meanwhile, inside Lin Yuexuan's bedchamber, someone was leaning against the window, tightly covering their mouth, when they suddenly burst into laughter and fell head over heels onto the warm couch by the window...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com