Yi Shangyun stared blankly at the dim candlelight on the table, muttering to himself, "It seems I should return to Western Qin first. Perhaps only my father can answer all these unsolved mysteries. As for my birth mother's true identity, he must have hidden so much from me from childhood..."
However, the thought of returning to that place that filled her with endless sorrow made her heart feel incredibly heavy.
"well……"
As she pondered, she let out a heavy sigh and suddenly sat up. As if by instinct, she reached for her other wrist with her right hand, only to discover that the bracelet she always wore had vanished without a trace.
"I've been so busy lately that I don't even know where I lost the seven-colored gold and jade bracelet that has been with me since I was a child?"
As he spoke, he hurriedly got up and began rummaging around haphazardly.
In the dead of night, inside and outside the house, they searched the bed, under the bed, under the pillows, in the cabinets, on the dressing table...
She searched every nook and cranny she might have visited, but still couldn't find a trace of it. Finally, she sat back down at the table, lost in thought. Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she muttered to herself, "Could it be that I left it at Yimei Pavilion a while ago?"
So, early the next morning, she got up, dressed herself, and hurried alone toward Mei Zhixuan's palace.
Little did she know that, because of the incident at the theater, everyone in the palace now knew that she was protected by the mistress of this palace. Wherever she went, all the palace servants politely bowed and greeted her: "Good morning, Miss!"
At first, she was also very puzzled. It was clear that all those who greeted her were sincere and kind. So she returned the greetings to everyone. Her mood seemed to be enhanced by these small details.
At this moment, she no longer needed to hide and could openly walk out and admire the palace. She sighed, "Indeed, Dongning Kingdom truly deserves to be called the wealthiest country on the Lingkong Continent!"
Through the changing seasons, from the evening drums to the morning bells, under the warm winter sun, the vermilion palace walls, the heavy palace gates, and the towering palaces appeared before her like a great city. This was the Dongning Imperial Palace, her home, and everything seemed exceptionally magnificent.
Against the backdrop of such a rare blue sky and white clouds, the ancient palace complex appears even more majestic, like a palace in the heavens.
The exquisite corner towers, painted with colorful lacquer and carved beams, with the shadows of the eaves and ridge beasts falling on the red palace walls amidst the swaying tree shadows, seem to evoke a sense of timelessness and a century of light and shadow. The wisdom of these master craftsmen is not only the pride of this nation but also a national treasure.
After the heavy snow, the white snow and red walls create a crystal world. Rays of morning sun draw back the curtains, shining through the latticed windows into the ancient palace, awakening the entire city. Every blade of grass and every tree bears witness to the passing of spring and autumn, and every brick and tile carries the traces of time. Everything is breathtaking and awe-inspiring!
Perhaps because of the gloomy weather these days, today we finally got to see such a rare warm sun. Yi Shangyun seemed to be in a good mood, walking and thinking at the same time.
Just as they were about to reach Yimei Pavilion, they suddenly heard a woman's urgent cry: "Help! Help!"
Yi Shangyun stopped in her tracks, listened carefully, and as soon as she could discern the direction, she quickened her pace and ran towards the direction from which the sound came, towards a small lakeside pavilion with dense trees not far from Yimei Pavilion.
In an instant, she looked closely and saw that it was the Second Prince, Mei Zhihao, who had tightly hugged Xuan Yuan Yue's waist from behind and pressed her face down on the stone table in the pavilion. Xuan Yuan Yue was terrified and struggled while shouting, "Let go! Let go!"
Mei Zhihao, however, grinned maliciously, his lustful audacity seemingly unaffected by the fact that they were in broad daylight, under the clear sky. He relentlessly suppressed Xuan Yuan Yue, showing no intention of letting go even slightly.
In another corner of the pavilion, two guards tightly gagged Jinlan, Xuanyuan Yue's personal maid, with cloth. Jinlan was anxious and scared, and had already cried her eyes out. However, even though she used all her strength, she could not utter a single word. She was also powerless to shake the two guards holding her arms. She could only keep shaking her head at the three of them, as if she was making a hopeless but helpless plea.
As Mei Zhihao slowly leaned down and whispered in Xuan Yuan Yue's ear, he shamelessly said, "My beauty, after all this time, haven't you felt at all how long I've missed you? Today, on this rare fine day, I can finally relieve this long-standing torment of longing."
Xuan Yuan Yue angrily cursed, "Mei Zhihao, in broad daylight, under the watchful eyes of everyone, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
Mei Zhihao grinned lewdly and said disdainfully, "Tch, before long, even this entire palace will belong to me. I fear neither heaven nor earth, but I fear only that I might fail you, my beauty!"
Xuan Yuan Yue felt disgusted. She struggled a couple more times and said dismissively, "Mei Zhihao, Father is still alive and well. How dare you speak so arrogantly? Be careful you don't lose your head! If you dare to touch me today, I will make you pay a heavy price in the future."
Mei Zhihao smiled and continued to whisper in his ear, "Oh? Is that so? This prince is eager to see what kind of painful price awaits me. However, even if it is a painful price, for you, my beauty, this prince is willing to accept it."
After saying that, he brazenly moved closer and closer to the back of her neck.
Upon noticing, Xuan Yuan Yue exclaimed instinctively, "Mei Zhihao, you..."
This time, however, Mei Zhihao no longer let her talk and curse. He seemed to have lost patience with her and interrupted her sharply: "Shut up! If you dare to make another sound, be careful that your infant son and your poor maid who came all the way here with you will go to see the King of Hell right now!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than one of the two guards holding Jinlan pressed the sharp tip of his longsword against Jinlan's neck, while the other guard suddenly pointed his gleaming sword at the innocent, naive baby in the cradle on the stone table, who was still unaware of what was happening around him and was licking his soft little fingers with his big, round eyes wide open.
Upon seeing this, Xuan Yuan Yue cried out in alarm, then quickly fell silent: "No..."
She felt utterly powerless and disappointed. She thought of her former proud self, who had endured and yielded step by step for the love she cherished, concealing her sharpness, only to end up in such a tragic state.
That person said he would protect them, mother and son, for the rest of his life, but where is he now?
Overwhelmed with mixed feelings, tears gradually blurred her vision, and her heart grew cold. She slowly gave up struggling and gently closed her eyes.
Mei Zhihao noticed her resignation and said with satisfaction, "That's right. Just this once, I promise I'll make you very comfortable later, a thousand times gentler than that useless third son. That bastard, with such a beautiful woman at home, is always thinking about going out into the palace to flirt with other women. He doesn't know how lucky he is!"
Mei Zhihao had just finished speaking and was about to reach out and tear off Xuan Yuan Yue's belt when he suddenly heard a loud shout from behind: "Stop! In broad daylight, where did this audacious madman come from, daring to be so disrespectful to the Third Prince's Consort? Are you tired of living?"
Upon hearing the sound, everyone turned around abruptly, as if startled, and looked in the direction from which the sound came.
From a distance, at first glance, one could see that the person who came was actually a thin and small maid.
Mei Zhihao suddenly grabbed Xuan Yuan Yue's hands from behind, lifting her off the stone table. A twitch at the corner of his mouth as he looked at the person behind him and chuckled, "Judging from that tone, I wondered who it was? Turns out, another fool who's delivered himself to our doorstep! Looks like today is indeed a good day!"
As the person drew closer, Mei Zhihao seemed to realize that the man looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place him. After hesitating for a moment, he still couldn't remember, so he pointed at the newcomer and said, "You, you are..."
At this moment, a guard behind him seemed to remember something. His eyes darted around, and he hurriedly stepped forward and whispered in Mei Zhihao's ear, "Your Highness, this person is..."
As Mei Zhihao listened, his face grew paler and paler. His heart skipped a beat, as if his own heartbeat had stopped. He exclaimed in shock, "What…!"
The guard lowered his voice and asked timidly, "Your Highness, what should we do now?"
Mei Zhihao narrowed his eyes, the smile on his face vanished, and his expression grew colder and colder. Finally, he said fiercely, "What should we do? If we're going to do something, we might as well go all the way... Aren't there enough wronged souls in this palace already!"
Upon hearing this, the guard exclaimed in surprise, "Ah!"
Clearly, as a lowly palace guard, he was quite wary of the favorite of the King of Dongning.
However, under Mei Zhihao's repeated urging and coercion, the two guards finally slowly took a step forward.
Yi Shangyun saw that Xuan Yuan Yue was staring blankly, her face ashen, and she didn't know what was wrong with her. Although she was also extremely scared, she knew that if she lost her composure and revealed a flaw at this moment, something bad would happen.
With this thought in mind, she took a deep breath, her eyes fixed on them, feigning composure, and still shouted at them sharply, "Let's see who dares to lay a hand on me!"
Instantly, Mei Zhihao urged again, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and get to her! She's just a woman. Do you think I have to do it myself to deal with her?"
Seeing that the guards were hesitant to approach and fearing that continuing like this would attract the attention of those around them, Mei Zhihao suddenly roared.
"Useless, utterly useless!" With that, he snatched the sword from the guard beside him and hurled it with all his might at Yi Shangyun's left chest...
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