As the master and servant walked, Mei Zhixuan nodded slightly, recalling, "This time, the phoenix phantom appeared again at the wooden house on Youlan Island at night. This is enough to prove that the princess's identity as a descendant of the guardians of Western Qin is beyond doubt. I remember seeing in a secret manual when I was a child that the descendants of the guardians of Western Qin all possess a mysterious phoenix divine power, a powerful force that no one in the world can match."
Upon hearing this, the guard was also incredibly excited and shocked. He thought to himself for a moment, then bowed to the prince with a face full of joy and congratulations: "Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations, Your Highness! All the effort and energy Your Highness has spent searching for this divine power over the years has finally paid off."
Since Bei Lie's return, Mei Zhixuan has felt both surprised and delighted. He said slowly, "Actually, at first, I really thought that the guardian had disappeared long ago, as the rumors said, and died after falling off a cliff. But no matter what, I never expected that she would be the one who lost her memory back then, didn't know who she was, or where she came from, and was completely unaware of her past. She ended up in Dongning and saved my millions of people, and eventually became the Empress Dowager who is still known to every household in Dongning."
As he spoke, he suddenly slowed his pace, finally stopping and turning to look at the quiet courtyard behind him. A hint of sadness and loss flickered in his deep eyes as he softly said, "I never imagined that she... would actually be the only bloodline left in this world by my stepmother, whom I have been searching for so desperately. How could it be her..."
The guard seemed to sense Mei Zhixuan's vague thoughts, and stopped and turned to face the same direction. He pursed his lips slightly, as if he had something to say but did not know where to start.
So the two of them remained silent the whole way.
After walking for a while, the guard finally couldn't hold back any longer and took two steps forward to catch up with him, asking with great confusion and worry, "Since Your Highness holds the Empress Dowager in such high esteem, why are you still imprisoning the princess in this abandoned courtyard? Aren't you afraid that the princess will misunderstand you and cause a rift between you..."
Mei Zhixuan kept his head down, looking like he was deep in thought. After a while, he slowly let out a sigh and said quietly, "I know that locking her up like this is unfair to her, but now is not the best time to reveal her identity."
As he spoke, the glint in his eyes grew colder and colder. He paused and pondered for a moment before saying, "The Empress and her son still wield considerable power in the court. Furthermore, they have the support of Princess Yongle's marriage alliance with the Western Qin Kingdom. If the princess's identity were revealed now, it would likely expose her weak position to public criticism. Moreover, my father has never trusted me, so I can only rely on myself for the rest of my life."
Mei Zhixuan silently clenched his fist hidden in his sleeve and said in a cold and serious voice, "While Father Emperor and even the entire Lingkong Continent are still unaware that the Empress Dowager's lineage is the descendant of the long-lost guardians of Western Qin, I, the prince, cannot wait any longer. It is time to make my move."
The guard suddenly understood: "Your Highness's thoughtful consideration is truly admirable."
Mei Zhixuan took a deep breath and said confidently, "One day, I will definitely give her a glorious life and restore her to her noble status!"
As the guard listened, he thought to himself, but then he became worried again: "But even if we can keep it from everyone in the palace, we can't keep it from our Lady! When our Lady was still the Princess of Western Qin, she and our Princess were old friends who knew each other very well in Western Qin."
The guard seemed increasingly hesitant to continue thinking about it, yet he couldn't help but remind Mei Zhixuan, "I'm afraid our courtyard is too small. If they meet, they'll immediately recognize each other. As the saying goes, 'A long separation only deepens affection,' and if the princess finds out our intentions, she might end up like the Empress Dowager, returning to Western Qin without a second thought. Then we'd have gained nothing but empty promises!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Mei Zhixuan turned around and stared intently into the guard's eyes, shouting sternly, "Of course we cannot let her set foot back on the land of Western Qin. Therefore, I have already told her a secret, and I believe she will make the right choice. For now, we only need to focus on speeding up our journey."
"Secret matter?"
"I asked curiously."
Mei Zhixuan beckoned with his finger, and the guard quickly stepped forward and whispered something in his ear. Mei Zhixuan leaned down slightly, and the master and servant began to whisper in the pitch-black night, beside the osmanthus tree in a corner of the courtyard…
Since being forcibly taken from the wooden house on Phoenix Island to the Dongning Imperial Palace and placed in this abandoned and extremely secluded courtyard, and after a very unpleasant conversation with Mei Zhixuan, Yi Shangyun has rarely spoken.
Moreover, during these days, she did not appear in public dressed as a man as Mei Zhixuan had arranged beforehand.
Mei Zhixuan seemed quite helpless about this, and assigned two young maids, Qiaolan and Qiaohui, to serve her closely. But no matter how hard the two sisters tried, Yi Shangyun remained unmoved, spending her days either sitting quietly at the table or finding a place in the courtyard to daydream.
She seriously examined herself: Who was she? Where did she come from? Where was she going?
She pondered her fate earnestly, repeatedly asking herself, "Am I just going to sit here and wait for everything to happen?"
The other maids and servants in the courtyard would often steal strange glances at her. She knew they were all talking about whether she was mute or had gone mad from some kind of trauma. But no matter how outrageous their rumors were, she didn't care at all.
Mei Zhixuan still passed by her courtyard gate countless times every day with his guards, intentionally or unintentionally. Each time, he would silently watch her from afar, noticing that her already thin body had become even thinner day by day.
Sometimes, when she was lost in thought in a corner of the courtyard, she would hear Qiaolan and Qiaohui quietly step out and approach Mei Zhixuan, pleading, "Your Highness, please go in and persuade the young lady! If this continues, even if the young lady's body is made of iron, she might not be able to hold on!"
Mei Zhixuan stood silently with his hands behind his back for a long time before simply saying, "Persuasion is useless. When the time comes, she will naturally understand and accept her fate!"
Yi Shangyun stubbornly kept repeating in her mind, "No, no. I will never understand why my past, my identity, my fate could be decided by your casual words? I cannot accept that my life is determined by a few words from others. No, I cannot! I hate God for making me suffer this kind of life. What do you mean by everything being fate, accepting it? I cannot accept it! Never!"
It was late autumn, and the leaves on the trees in the yard had already begun to fall one after another.
I often saw her standing under the tree, quietly watching the leaves fluttering down in the autumn wind. She stood there, frozen in the midst of the swirling leaves, as if she had become an eternal image in the autumn breeze.
Each fallen leaf before my eyes is a dancer, having experienced the four seasons of their own lives. But in the end, they cannot defy gravity and slowly fall, carrying with them an infinite longing for the wind.
Qiaolan and Qiaohui stood silently behind her, watching for a long time. Suddenly, they heard her speak for the first time, softly saying, "They were all forced into this situation. They didn't want to leave the embrace of the tree and fall, but in the end, they couldn't escape separation and fell."
Their fate.
Upon hearing this, the two women exchanged a surprised glance, and then Qiaolan said softly, "Miss, you are currently feeling 'tears for the flowers and heartbroken for the birds.' In a few days, once the mystery in your heart is solved and you feel better, you won't think like this anymore."
She didn't speak, but continued to watch silently as the leaves danced in the wind.
After waiting a while, Qiaohui tried asking again, "Girl, you like leaves, don't you?"
She reached out and caught a red leaf that just happened to fly past her, saying, "Yes! I love leaves. Even if they are leaves from the same tree, each one is different."
As she spoke, she brought the leaf in her palm close to her lips and blew hard, looking up at its swaying dance in the wind.
Just then, suddenly...
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