Just as the two were talking, two tall male figures slowly emerged from the darkness ahead, standing upright in the middle of the road, blocking the carriage's path.
One of them was leading two fine horses, following behind another man with one hand behind his back, who seemed to be his master. The man with one hand behind his back stopped and suddenly asked, "May I ask if the person coming ahead is His Highness the King of Qin of the Western Qin Kingdom?"
"Who are you? How dare you block the way of His Highness the Prince of Qin!" Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang hurriedly pulled on the reins, jumped off his horse, and went to investigate.
Just then, a gentle breeze blew from the lake beside them, and suddenly, a faint, ethereal fragrance of plum blossoms drifted up from somewhere. Upon closer inspection, Cheng Liang realized that the rather delicate fragrance seemed to be emanating from the man in front of him.
Because it was still dark, he warily drew his long sword from his waist and cautiously approached the blurry figure that had made the sound. But as soon as he got close, he was startled and exclaimed, "You are... the Third Prince of Dongning Kingdom... Mei Zhixuan?"
Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Liang's barely suppressed rage surged back up. With lightning speed, he pressed the sword he was gripping firmly against Mei Zhixuan's left shoulder, his brow furrowed as he fiercely demanded, "Mei Zhixuan, how dare you! A mere prince born of a concubine, do you think my noble eldest princess of Western Qin is unworthy of you? How dare you humiliate and provoke my Western Qin! Speak! You've been lurking in my Western Qin territory, and now you've come alone in the dark to find our princess. What are you plotting?"
Unexpectedly, Cheng Liang was quite agitated and indignant at the barrage of criticism he received, but Mei Zhixuan didn't take it to heart at all.
He remained impeccably dressed in a white brocade robe, standing upright with one hand behind his back, completely ignoring the commotion around him. His deep eyes were fixed solely on the activity inside the carriage, remaining motionless.
Only after Cheng Liang had vented his raging anger and quieted down did he continue to raise his voice to the person inside the carriage and request again, "Mei Zhixuan of Dongning Kingdom requests an audience with His Highness the King of Qin of Xiqin. I have come here on urgent business to discuss. I urge His Highness to alight from the carriage and meet with me."
Clearly, after hearing the old monk's words at the City God Temple, Mei Zhixuan was filled with remorse. He suddenly realized how overconfident he had been regarding the guardian of Western Qin. He had so easily swayed himself by believing the rumors and gossip, nearly making an irreparable mistake.
As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." But if one blindly returns to the country to prepare for war, it will likely lead to a tragic situation where one is caught off guard.
If he had known earlier that the Guardian of Western Qin still existed, he wouldn't have suffered this humiliation. He could have easily persuaded his father to grant the marriage proposal, and then used the princess to uncover the Guardian's whereabouts and secrets. Instead, he would be in this passive and embarrassing situation after the facade has been torn off.
Judging from Qin King Xuanyuan Han's current demeanor, he is likely still resentful about the negative impact caused by the rejection of the Western Qin envoy's long-distance request for a marriage alliance with Dongning. He will surely retaliate in kind, just as the other party did.
But in order to achieve his ultimate goal, he had no choice but to temporarily bow his head and endure everything. "A great man can bend and stretch." Thinking about it, this was the consequence of his own actions, the price he paid for his mistakes. "A small lack of patience can ruin a great plan."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang turned to look at the owner of the carriage, only to find that he, along with the surrounding air, remained frozen in place, without the slightest movement. He then turned to Mei Zhixuan with utter arrogance and said, "See? This is the consequence of your disrespect towards the Western Qin Kingdom! Our Highness is in a hurry to attend the morning court and has no time to deal with you. You'd better not continue to humiliate yourself here and hurry back to your Eastern Ning Kingdom. If you continue to pester us and anger our Highness, you'll be in deep trouble."
As Cheng Liang spoke, he held the sword to Mei Zhixuan's throat with one hand and grabbed Mei Zhixuan's collar tightly with the other, bringing it close to his nose and giving him a fierce warning.
Unexpectedly, this time, Mei Zhixuan also glared angrily at Cheng Liang, and then continued to bow respectfully towards the carriage with a serious expression. For a moment, Cheng Liang was at a loss and slowly let go of his hands.
Mei Zhixuan then earnestly requested, word by word, "Mei Zhixuan of Dongning Kingdom respectfully requests His Highness the Prince of Qin to alight from his carriage for an audience."
However, no more than ten steps away, there was still no sign of movement from the people in the carriage.
So Cheng Liang crossed his arms and stood beside him, chuckled at Mei Zhixuan who was bowing respectfully, and said, "Hmph, 'If only you had known then what you know now.' Now you know what it feels like to be rejected, but do you know that the humiliation I suffered in going to Dongning Kingdom to request a marriage alliance was a thousand times, ten thousand times greater than what you are suffering now?"
And so, for a moment, everyone fell silent.
After an unknown amount of time, the surrounding area gradually brightened. Mei Zhixuan took a breath, slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter. He then stood up and said in a deep voice to Cheng Liang beside him, "Please pass this letter on to His Highness Prince Qin."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mei Zhixuan pursed his lips and handed the letter in his hand to Cheng Liang.
Just as he was about to turn and lead his horse away, a chilling voice suddenly came from the carriage behind him, saying, "Mei Zhixuan, remember this: if Yue'er hadn't fallen for you at first sight and insisted on marrying you, even if Yue'er were an ordinary commoner, let alone the eldest princess of my Western Qin Kingdom, she would never have married so far away. Let alone you, a helpless illegitimate prince. Therefore, it's not that she can't live without you. From now on, you must cherish and love our princess dearly. If she suffers even the slightest grievance, I will make you regret it."
Upon hearing this, all the worries and doubts that had been weighing on Mei Zhixuan's mind for so long seemed to vanish in an instant. For some reason, a faint smile, long forgotten, appeared on his face. He stood there stunned for a long time before leaping onto his horse, then spurring it on, and soon disappeared into the white morning mist before his eyes.
Cheng Liang held the letter, staring in astonishment at the departing figure. Suddenly, he came to his senses and examined the letter carefully, turning it over and over. He seemed to find nothing wrong with it before hurriedly walking towards the owner of the carriage. He respectfully handed the letter over with both hands and said, "Your Highness, Mei Zhixuan has left, leaving behind a letter."
Only then were the curtains of the carriage finally lifted.
With a rustling and serene air, a pair of hands with distinct joints, seemingly belonging to a celestial being, slowly reached out and took the letter, then withdrew and lowered the curtain.
Cheng Liang then leaped onto his horse and, with a flourish, gestured for everyone to continue heading towards the palace.
Inside the carriage, Xuan Yuanhan quickly finished reading the letter left by Mei Zhixuan with his starry eyes. Some of the contents were what he expected, while others surprised him.
As he was lost in thought, Cheng Liang, standing beside the carriage, scratched his head and asked the person inside with a puzzled look, "Your Highness, I don't understand what Your Highness meant by what you just said to Mei Zhixuan..."
Before he could finish speaking, the person inside the carriage stretched out the window to hold out two sheets of paper that were open in his hand. Cheng Liang stared wide-eyed at the two sheets of white paper with black writing and an extremely eye-catching red seal. Surprised and extremely curious, he slowly reached out and carefully took them. Then, he saw the person carefully place the top sheet, and the eyes on the paper with the striking red seal became more and more beautiful.
A moment later, he exclaimed excitedly, "Great! Now Princess Yue's wish can finally be fulfilled. The princess will no longer have to marry into that bitter and cold land and suffer."
Before he could even read the contents of the second letter, Cheng Liang asked with great interest, "With such good news, Your Highness has repeatedly remained silent and ignored the Third Prince of Dongning Kingdom. Aren't you afraid that he won't be able to bear this humiliation and will leave in anger?"
The person inside the carriage spoke with his usual cold and calm demeanor, "The most valiant and resourceful Third Prince of Dongning Kingdom, Mei Zhixuan, who always appears gentle and refined on the surface, would not be so impulsive. To stop my carriage halfway to court at dawn, and to repeatedly and so humbly request to see me, further demonstrates that he has indeed come to discuss something important and urgent. If he couldn't achieve his goal, why would he leave so easily?"
"Your Highness is wise!" Cheng Liang said in worship.
“But he’s not stupid. He already knew that I would never see him this time, so he prepared this letter in advance. In this way, whether I see him or not, his goal will be achieved.” As Xuan Yuanhan spoke, he thought to himself that the Third Prince of Dongning, Mei Zhixuan, was indeed as good as his reputation, calm and reserved, and a trace of melancholy rose in his heart.
Just then, Cheng Liang quietly turned to the second sheet of paper. Upon seeing the flowing, powerful handwriting on it, he exclaimed, "What? The current Empress of Dongning is merely a step-Empress of the King of Dongning? How could the only bloodline left by her deceased Empress be lost in my Western Qin? It turns out that Mei Zhixuan has been lurking in my Western Qin territory for many years, all to find the legitimate princess of Dongning who has been missing for seventeen years."
At this moment, Cheng Liang was truly stunned, but a hint of doubt lingered in his mind. He wondered, "Could this be the cunning Mei Zhixuan trying to cover up his identity by making an excuse? It's hard to believe, isn't it?"
Xuanyuan Han had just learned of this news, and it was impossible to say for sure whether it was true or not. However, judging from the sincerity revealed between the lines, it seemed to be more than just a rumor.
However, the most important thing right now is to hurry into the palace and stop Xuan Yuan Yue's imperial decree of marriage. With this thought in mind, he parted his thin lips and urged Cheng Liang, "Hurry up and get going. If we wait until the decree is issued, it will be too late!"
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