They met again.
He clearly didn't understand why she was so angry and responded to him in this way.
"No!"
"Don't go!"
"Don't leave me!"
"return!"
"Yun'er..."
When Xuanyuan Han suddenly came to his senses, he hurriedly chased after him.
However, once outside, Yi Shangyun was nowhere to be seen at any of the intersections.
Perhaps because of his anxiety, the pain from before returned.
He didn't care about anything else and instinctively put one hand on his chest.
After a moment of hesitation and observation, he finally chose to chase after them in the opposite direction from where he had come from.
"Yun'er, this time I will definitely not let you escape again!"
Unexpectedly, just after Xuan Yuanhan left, Yi Shangyun slowly reappeared from behind the wall outside the restaurant.
Wiping away her tears, she said sadly, "Why are you still clinging to me like this? Isn't going our separate ways from now on the only, and the best, choice for both of us?"
Watching Xuan Yuanhan's departing figure, Yi Shangyun sniffed, rallied her spirits, and strode away in the opposite direction from where she had come from.
And this familiar-looking figure was spotted by Mei Xiyuan, who was still on the second floor of the restaurant.
After Tuoba Ze left, Mei Xiyuan did not leave immediately.
At this moment, she is standing by the window, taking in the entire street scene before her.
Along the quiet riverbank, shops stand side by side, and quaint and cozy houses stand side by side.
The carved wooden window frames and mottled walls seem to whisper of timeless years, engraving shining memories.
Watching the figures moving about on the street, witnessing the myriad aspects of everyday life, time quietly murmurs and sings its own song.
In the distance, wisps of smoke rise from chimneys, the warmest sight of human life.
Things that I used to take for granted, or even things that I never paid attention to, now seem like a luxury.
So this is what growing up is all about.
Everything I once had, I lost one by one.
Having endured countless hardships, scarred and homeless, with no place for the heart to belong...
Having watched Tuoba Ze depart, and still gazing at the intersection where he slowly disappeared, Mei Xiyuan was lost in endless contemplation.
She had a nagging feeling that today's negotiations with Tuoba Ze had gone too smoothly.
When she saw Tuoba Ze again, he seemed quite different from before. But she couldn't quite put her finger on what was different.
Three thousand fine horses, that's no small number.
In previous years, even if Dongning Kingdom spent a lot of money, at most it could only purchase seven or eight hundred horses that could still be considered good steeds.
But now, why would Tuoba Ze so easily agree to give me three thousand? What kind of scheme is he plotting?
...
This thought came to mind.
To ensure that this was her last chance, a do-or-die situation where failure was not an option and only success was possible, she quickly summoned a guard beside her.
"Someone come here!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
Mei Xiyuan instructed him, "You personally lead a team to keep a close eye on that stray dog and see what tricks he's up to. Report back immediately if there's any sign of trouble."
"Yes, sir!"
After receiving the order, the guard turned and hurriedly left.
But then he was suddenly called back: "Come back..."
The guard had no choice but to turn back again and ask, "Does the princess have any further instructions?"
Mei Xiyuan thought for a moment and said, "Investigate more carefully and see where he has been and who he has made friends with since we left Xiqin."
"yes!"
Go!
With a wave of his hand, he arranged everything.
He then said to the remaining two maids and three guards, "Alright, it's getting late, let's all go back!"
Upon hearing this, a maidservant approached her carrying a golden cloak. As she draped it over her shoulders, she said with concern, "It is indeed much colder in Western Qin than in our Eastern Ning. It's only past noon, and it's already quite cold outside. Princess, please be careful not to catch a cold."
Another maidservant handed Mei Xiyuan a hand warmer that had been refilled with hot water.
Remembering that he had been angry earlier, he became concerned about the maid and asked, "Is your face alright?"
The maid was puzzled, so she touched her face and asked, "What's wrong with my face? What is the princess talking about?"
Mei Xiyuan then raised her head and saw that the veil on the maid's face had disappeared.
What surprised her even more was that the maid's face was fair and smooth, without any new or old wounds.
Then she asked in surprise, "Didn't you just say that hot water splashed on your face and that you had a towel on your face?"
The maid was stunned: "What face towel? I wasn't scalded anywhere by the hot water!"
Mei Xiyuan was instantly stunned, and then exclaimed in surprise, "What did you say?"
A bad feeling suddenly rose in her heart, and she quickly asked again to confirm: "Wasn't it you who went out to change the hand warmer for me just now?"
The maid clearly didn't know what had happened, and honestly recounted her experience: "I went to change the hand warmer for the princess, but for some reason, perhaps because I had caught a cold a few days ago and hadn't fully recovered, I fainted as soon as I entered the boiling water room, but woke up not long after!"
Mei Xiyuan suddenly understood and raised her voice to scold the maid: "Fool, what do you mean you have a cold that hasn't healed yet? You must have been knocked unconscious."
The maid herself seemed still not to understand what was going on, and was greatly surprised when she heard Mei Xiyuan's words: "What? But I didn't feel anything at all!"
Mei Xiyuan glanced at her and said, "If you had any feelings, you'd probably be dead by now!"
It was only then that she realized, "Oh no, that person must have gone to great lengths to deliberately eavesdrop on my conversation with Tuoba Ze. Who was that person just now?"
The situation had become serious. The servants and guards gasped and shook their heads.
Mei Xiyuan thought to herself, "The place we agreed to meet is so secluded. This person must have been following me, or perhaps Tuoba Ze came looking for her. But Tuoba Ze never takes women with him when he goes out... So who is this person who dares to be so bold? Once I find her, I will not forgive her!"
"Go and fetch the shopkeeper!"
So he quickly sent someone to summon the restaurant manager.
The shopkeeper greeted him with a smile and asked, "Sir, are you satisfied with our shop? Is there anything else you need?"
Mei Xiyuan didn't stand on ceremony with him and asked the shopkeeper directly, "Did you see a woman come upstairs just now?"
The shopkeeper rubbed his palms together, thought carefully, and then looked closely at the faces of the people in front of him.
Then he said, "Today, besides you and your guests, the other guests who just left the second floor of our shop were all gentlemen. Indeed, a woman came up as well. But she came up shortly after you, and I thought she was with you."
"Tuoba Ze arrived first today, and came shortly after us. It turns out she followed this princess here. We were really careless!"
Mei Xiyuan gritted her teeth and closed her eyes after hearing this.
Then, he asked anxiously, "Could you describe her appearance and attire to us in detail?"
After a moment's recollection, the shopkeeper said, "That young lady was extremely beautiful, no exaggeration, she was like a celestial maiden descended to earth. She wore a pomegranate-red, double-breasted satin cloak with trim, and especially those rare phoenix eyes, I think anyone who saw her would never forget them..."
The shopkeeper's description was so vivid that Mei Xiyuan immediately knew who it was!
"It was that figure downstairs just now!"
"That was actually..."
"Clouds on Clothes!"
"Could it be that that bitch really isn't dead?!"
"They actually dared to show their faces in the imperial city."
"How dare you follow me and spy on my plans!"
"She can't have gone far!"
"This time, you delivered yourself to my doorstep. I, the princess, will make sure you have no way to escape and die without a burial place!"
Upon realizing this, Mei Xiyuan quickly gave orders to everyone.
"A pomegranate-red, double-breasted satin cloak with trim..."
"Go downstairs to the east, why aren't you chasing after them?"
At his command, everyone walked downstairs and out the door.
Following the path she had taken, Yi Shangyun finally returned to the teahouse she had just visited.
However, she was still shaken by what had just happened when she met Xuan Yuanhan.
At this moment, she is placing a tightly clenched fist against her heart.
As he moved forward, he silently pondered in his heart.
"For the past six months, Tuoba Ze has appeared calm on the surface, but unexpectedly, he had already reached a cooperation agreement with Mei Xiyuan behind the scenes."
"No wonder he agreed to return to Western Qin so easily, even saying it was for my own good. I'm afraid he was only thinking about his own schemes!"
"Judging from Mei Xiyuan's confident demeanor, could it be that Mei Zhixuan has really reached some kind of agreement with her? He actually gave her such important locations in the east and south of the city?"
"What exactly happened in Dongning Kingdom?"
Because he was absent-minded and preoccupied, he almost bumped into a guest who was coming downstairs to leave while going upstairs.
So he quickly apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
They snapped out of their daze and focused on going up to the second floor, only to find that the teahouse they had just been in was now occupied by other customers.
Shopkeeper Xue and Young Master Yi have both disappeared without a trace.
So he asked the waiter who followed him up, "Excuse me, where are the two guests who were sitting here just now?"
The shop assistant looked at Yi Shangyun's face, thought for a moment, and said, "Are you asking about Manager Xue of Baicaotang?"
Seeing that he had finally remembered, Yi Shangyun happily exclaimed, "Yes, yes, yes..."
The man told her, "They left a long time ago!"
Yi Shangyun was shocked: "What? They left a long time ago?"
Finally, having no other choice, Yi Shangyun could only slowly go downstairs and leave.
A man wandered aimlessly down the street, thinking to himself, "I never expected Tuoba Ze to be doing these things in secret. It seems I can never go back to his mansion in the west of the city."
Then I thought, "Perhaps I can go to Baicaotang and find the Third Young Master!"
But upon closer reflection, "Since the Third Young Master has already invited the shopkeeper here, he must have some concerns?"
He walked and pondered.
"Gurgle..."
As a sound came from her abdomen, she realized that she hadn't eaten or drunk anything since she left the house!
So he touched his sleeve pocket, only to find it completely empty.
She suddenly laughed: "I forgot that I just gave all the silver to that woman!"
After walking a few more steps, I unknowingly arrived at a street corner.
Just as she was looking around, unsure of what to do next, she was suddenly struck unconscious from behind with a palm strike.
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