Mei Zhixuan said coldly, "Enough. The past is the past. Now, whether it was right or wrong, the consequences will be borne by the prince alone. Besides, the prince came here tonight not to talk about the past with his father. These things are no longer important to the prince."
The King of Dongning had never imagined that the rift between Mei Zhixuan and his son would reach such a level. He suddenly placed a hand on his heart, feeling a sharp pain in his chest, and said angrily, "You... cough cough cough..."
Just then, Mei Zhixuan suddenly said mysteriously, "Father, look who he is?"
Following Mei Zhixuan's gaze, a handsome man dressed in white, with delicate features, instantly came into the view of the King of Dongning.
The King of Dongning stared intently at the man, scrutinizing him closely for a long time. He felt that the man's features resembled someone else, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen him before.
Finally, as if remembering something, he slowly extended a few fingers, pointing at the person, staring blankly at them and saying in disbelief, "You are...you are..."
At the same time, the white-robed man suddenly raised his head and their eyes met. The middle-aged man in front of him, whom he had just met not long ago, turned out to be the most noble king of Dongning Kingdom, and also the real biological father that Mei Zhixuan had mentioned.
Indeed, at this moment, her heart was also in turmoil, and she thought to herself, "Is this the person in front of me my real father?"
In that instant, her eyes seemed to moisten; everything had been so hard-won. After a moment of silence, she suddenly smiled, turned her back, and raised an arm to snatch the hairpin holding her hair up.
In an instant, a cascade of black hair fell down her back.
At this moment, the King of Dongning suddenly remembered, and exclaimed in astonishment, "You, you are...you are that girl from the beach on Phoenix Island?! The one who saved my life?!"
Upon hearing the voice, the woman in white felt a sudden jolt in her heart, halting all her reverie. She then abruptly turned around and knelt down before him with a thud, bowing respectfully: "This humble woman greets Your Majesty!"
The King of Dongning stared at her in astonishment. He quickly stepped forward and helped her up, exclaiming almost ecstatically, "It really is you! It really is you! The moment you entered, you looked so familiar. So you really are a woman! Good, good, good, a woman is good, a woman is good... I've been waiting day and night, and I've finally found you! I've searched so hard for you!"
Then, turning his gaze to Mei Zhixuan, who was standing to the side, he asked in surprise, "Third brother, tell me quickly, how did you do that?"
Mei Zhixuan clasped his hands and said leisurely, "Your Majesty, this was purely by chance. I was on a business trip to the vicinity of Phoenix Island when I happened to encounter the men Your Majesty had sent to search for someone. They happened to be traveling the same way as me, so I took the opportunity to find this young lady for Your Majesty. Now, thinking that Your Majesty must be anxious after searching for so long, I rushed back to the palace and brought her to see Your Majesty that very night."
Upon hearing this, the King of Dongning said with great gratitude, "What a coincidence! What a wonderful coincidence! My son is truly thoughtful!"
Mei Zhixuan said, "As long as Father is happy!"
The King of Dongning withdrew his gaze, his face filled with delight. He then turned to the woman and exclaimed joyfully, "So happy, so happy! I haven't been this happy in a long time! Ever since you left without saying goodbye on Phoenix Island, I haven't been able to thank you in person, and I've felt quite uneasy ever since. I still don't know how to repay your life-saving grace..."
Upon realizing this, the King of Dongning paused mid-sentence and asked earnestly, "By the way, my guards told me that you are not from Phoenix Island. May I ask where you are from, and if you have any other close relatives or friends? How did you, a young lady, end up in such a desolate place that day?"
Faced with the Dongning King's sudden barrage of questions, the woman in white clearly didn't know how to respond. After a moment's hesitation, she said with some difficulty, "This..."
Upon seeing this, Mei Zhixuan quickly spoke up to explain, "Father, I have already inquired about these matters on my way back to the palace. Miss Yi did not grow up in my Dongning Kingdom; she only recently came to my Dongning territory from Western Qin. She came to Dongning to find her father because her mother passed away. Unfortunately, the ship she was on encountered a storm at sea, which is why she has been stranded on the island for several days."
After listening for a moment, the King of Dongning frowned and asked Yi Shangyun, "Looking for your father? Is your father a merchant who came to Dongning to do business? Miss Yi? Your surname is Yi? And what is your given name?"
The woman in white was about to speak when she asked, "My father is..."
Just then, Mei Zhixuan touched his nose and cleared his throat loudly: "Hmm...hmm..."
The woman in white quickly fell silent.
Mei Zhixuan said, "Your Majesty is wise. Miss Yi's father is indeed a merchant from Western Qin, and I am doing my best to find him. However, in the time before we help her find her father, it would be extremely unsafe for Miss Yi, as a woman, to continue living alone in the mountains. Therefore..."
Before he could finish speaking, the King of Dongning interrupted, saying, "Oh, that's easy. Surely my vast Dongning Imperial Palace has a place for Miss Yi to stay?"
Mei Zhixuan knew perfectly well that he had achieved his goal, but he still pretended not to understand and said, "Father's meaning is..."
The King of Dongning looked at Yi Shangyun's thin face with deep affection, and felt a surge of pity for her tragic life. He said, "Let her stay in my Qingxin Palace to serve me for the time being. Since she saved my life, I will definitely protect her! Go and find her biological father as soon as possible so that they can reunite."
Mei Zhixuan hadn't expected his plan to go so smoothly, so he clasped his hands and gladly accepted the order, saying, "Yes, Your Majesty! If there's nothing else, Your Majesty, I'll take my leave."
The King of Dongning waved his hand at him and said, "Step down!"
So Mei Zhixuan slowly withdrew.
Meanwhile, the Empress, who had just returned to her palace late at night, had a furrowed brow the entire way back.
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. So she asked an old servant beside her, "Granny, didn't you think that when we came out of the Emperor's Qingxin Palace and met the Third Prince, the man in white robes behind him looked familiar, like we'd seen him somewhere before?"
After a moment's thought, the old nanny hesitated and said, "Now that Her Majesty the Empress has said that, I suddenly feel that he looks just like someone, but, I... I'm a little hesitant to say it..."
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager suddenly tensed up, her face turning sour. She looked at her and said sternly, "Hmm? What are you afraid to say? Speak up!"
The old nanny gritted her teeth and said quietly, "Just now, this old servant saw that the man in white robes was very handsome, which was quite rare, so I couldn't help but take a second look. I also felt that he looked exactly like someone. After what the Empress said, this old servant is even more certain."
The Empress said, "Really? Then who does the old nanny think he looks like?"
The old nanny composed herself, as if gathering her courage, and then suddenly burst out like a thunderbolt in the dead of night: "That young master's features look remarkably like the late Empress Dowager!"
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager looked at the old nanny in shock and exclaimed, "What!"
The old woman nodded, keeping her face very low.
Sitting alone by the warm couch, silently contemplating the charcoal brazier burning brightly in the palace for a long time, the Empress suddenly spoke and commanded, "Go and summon her to me."
In an instant, another old nanny entered the main hall, hurriedly knelt down on the cold floor, and said to the Empress Dowager, who was resting with her eyes closed and one hand supporting her forehead as if deep in thought, "This old servant greets Your Majesty the Empress!"
The Empress did not open her eyes immediately, but continued to rest with her eyes closed for a while. Then she suddenly opened her eyes, took a few sips of the hot tea in front of her, and then questioned her sternly: "You audacious servant, why don't you tell me the truth now, whether that slut and the child in her womb both fell off the cliff and died back then?"
Upon hearing the question she was being questioned, the old woman trembled violently, her words becoming incoherent. She stammered, "Yes, no, maybe, perhaps, or she's dead, or she's not dead, she should definitely be dead..."
"Crack..."
Suddenly, in the silent palace at night, an extremely jarring sound of porcelain hitting the ground rang out.
Upon seeing the man's expression, the Empress Dowager swept all the teacups and teapots off the table in front of her and scolded him, "Damn idiot! I sent you so many helpers back then, and you can't even handle such a small matter as dealing with a pregnant woman? What are you stammering about for so long?"
The old nanny was so frightened that she kept kowtowing and apologizing, saying repeatedly, "This old servant deserves to die, please forgive me, Your Majesty the Empress!"
The Empress Dowager had clearly lost patience, but she still had to suppress her anger and thoroughly investigate the matter: "Hurry up and tell me, what exactly happened back then?"
So the old nanny then gave a detailed account of everything that happened in Western Qin after the Empress had painstakingly arranged for her to be protected by a large group of people who left Dongning Kingdom.
After listening to his rather lengthy report, the Empress Dowager was instantly stunned: "So, that wretched woman, it's highly likely that she didn't die after falling off the cliff, but was rescued and gave birth to a child?"
The old nanny disagreed, stating firmly, "Impossible! The Empress Dowager is indeed dead!"
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