As Cheng Liang took the vegetable basket from Zhang Mama, he helped her back into the mansion, saying, "Alright, alright, enough joking around, let's get down to business."
Granny Zhang jokingly asked, "What important business could you possibly have? Have you finally taken a fancy to some girl and want this old woman to go and act as matchmaker for you?"
Cheng Liang said, "I'd love to, but what girl would want me? I'm just a roughneck."
Granny Zhang glared at him: "Who doesn't know that General Cheng is the most favored deputy general of His Highness the King of Qin, second only to the King of Qin? Everyone is trying to curry favor with you, how dare you look down on you? You're just asking for too much. To be honest, you're not young anymore, you should have settled down and started a family long ago."
Cheng Liang pondered for a moment. Who in the world doesn't want a wife and a warm bed? But right now, his master's great cause is not yet accomplished, so how could he have any thoughts of personal feelings?
What seemed like the most ordinary life for ordinary people was an unattainable luxury for him. He sighed softly and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about me. I came to see the old woman early this morning because of His Highness..."
Before she could finish speaking, Granny Zhao stopped abruptly, looked intently into Cheng Liang's eyes, and asked anxiously, "Your Highness? What happened to His Highness? Where is the Dowager Consort?"
As he spoke, he quickened his pace. Seeing that Granny Zhao was anxious, Cheng Liang quickly pulled her aside and explained, "Granny, don't worry, Her Highness the Dowager is doing well in the manor. It's just that His Highness... His Highness is going on another long trip, and this time it may be for quite some time. I came to see you to instruct you to take good care of Her Highness the Dowager while His Highness is away, and to be extra vigilant against everyone who comes from outside."
Seeing Cheng Liang speak so earnestly, Zhang Mama was startled and said, "Taking care of Her Highness is my duty, you don't need to worry. But what did you just say? His Highness... he's going on another long trip?"
Before Cheng Liang could speak, Zhang Mama, thinking about how she had heard people discussing the increasingly tense situation on the Lingkong Continent in teahouses and streets every time she went out recently, fearing that an unprecedented fierce battle was about to take place, excitedly asked, "But what major event happened at the morning court this day? Could it be that His Majesty is sending His Highness to the battlefield again?"
Cheng Liang quickly stopped her from thinking: "No, no, nothing happened at the morning court. Don't overthink it, it's not like there's going to be a war."
Cheng Liang thought to himself: Actually, at this moment, he felt that it would be better if it were just a war.
Upon hearing this, Granny Zhang breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking forward, but she was still puzzled: "Isn't it a war? Then what is His Highness going on this long journey for? Where is His Highness going this time?"
Cheng Liang pondered for a moment, then frowned and said, "To be honest, we received news yesterday that Princess Yongning... has gone missing! Your Highness, he doesn't say it, but he still can't let go of her. After learning about this, he became even more restless. Last night, instead of drinking heavily, he sat alone in the palace all night without sleep. At dawn, as if possessed, he only said that he wanted to go out and search, and we couldn't stop him."
Granny Zhang seemed still reeling from the fright she had just caused, and said with some confusion, "In these turbulent times, all sorts of strange things happen. How could a princess of such high status and privilege, living a life of luxury, simply disappear..."
As they were talking, she seemed to suddenly realize something, and quickly stopped, looking at Cheng Liang's face, and asked seriously, "Wait a minute, what did you just say about a princess?"
Cheng Liang repeated: "Princess Yongning of Dongning Kingdom! She mysteriously disappeared from the epidemic area of Longhu City half a month ago and has not been found yet."
After a moment's thought, Granny Zhang recalled, "It's that useless, ugly girl from the apothecary's mansion in the west of the city, the one who was abandoned in our Western Qin at birth, and after arriving in the Eastern Ning Kingdom, she transformed into the most noble legitimate princess of the Eastern Ning Kingdom, and is also the Princess Yongning who makes my prince absent-minded all day long, unable to eat or drink?"
“Exactly.” Cheng Liang nodded slightly.
Suddenly, Granny Zhang exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear..."
"Granny, what's wrong?" Cheng Liang asked with concern.
Granny Zhang suddenly realized: "I remember now, I finally remember!"
"What did you remember, Granny?" Cheng Liang asked, puzzled.
Granny Zhang suddenly turned around, pointed to the doorway behind the two of them, and said, "That woman from just now..."
"Which woman was that just now?" Cheng Liang asked, puzzled.
Granny Zhang said, "Oh dear, it's the woman who knocked over my vegetable basket at the door just now."
Seeing Cheng Liang's blank stare, unable to grasp what she was talking about, Zhang Mama said urgently, "That woman, I just said I felt like I'd seen her somewhere before, she looked very familiar. But I just couldn't remember where. Now that you mention it, I immediately remember, she looks exactly like that young lady from the Yi family in the west of the city..."
Upon hearing this, before she could finish speaking, Cheng Liang's eyes widened, and he interrupted her to confirm, "What did you say, Granny? You said you just saw... Princess Yongning? Miss Yi? Are you sure you didn't mistake her for someone else?"
Zhang Mama was naturally a little doubtful: "I'm sure... but I'm not sure either. Why isn't her face ugly anymore? That face... I have a feeling I've seen it somewhere before, like a long, long time ago?"
Cheng Liang was both surprised and delighted, saying, "Her face was already healed back in Bei Lie!"
Upon hearing this, Granny Zhang was astonished. Only then did she carefully recall the face she had just seen, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "I never imagined that Miss Yi, after regaining her appearance, would truly be such a rare and stunning beauty!"
Cheng Liang didn't seem to take the compliment to heart, and anxiously pressed, "What are you still saying? Where is that girl? Does the nanny know where she went?"
“That girl…” Granny Zhang suddenly came to her senses and, while speaking, hurriedly stepped out the door again with Cheng Liang.
However, the woman had already disappeared into the vast crowd on the street.
Nevertheless, Cheng Liang said with delight, "It's truly a case of finding something you've been searching for without even looking for it. She must be regretting what she did, and maybe she secretly returned to Western Qin to give Your Highness a surprise. Is she trying to apologize to Your Highness?"
In Western Qin, she had nowhere else to go but the Yi residence. She must be heading back to the Yi residence in the west of the city by now.
Cheng Liang was overjoyed and couldn't wait to say, "She's back! She's really back! I have to hurry back and tell His Highness the news!"
Before he finished speaking, he stepped over the threshold and hurried back towards Chenghua Hall.
"I must also hurry back and report this news to the Empress Dowager." Granny Zhang, carrying a bamboo basket, hurriedly entered the gate of the Prince of Qin's residence.
Meanwhile, in Consort Chun's Zihe Pavilion, a faint fragrance wafted from the incense burner.
"Perfume blending begins with a comprehensive consideration of factors such as the purpose, fragrance type, and quality of the incense. Based on these basic requirements, spices or medicinal materials are selected and blended according to the principles of monarch, minister, assistant, and auxiliary. Only when the monarch, minister, assistant, and auxiliary are in their proper place can different spices fully express their properties. For example, official incense, tribute incense, curtain incense, and incense for healing each have their own principles and methods, but they are all basically determined by the deduction of the five elements, the six qi, the five elements' mutual generation and restraint, and the heavenly stems and earthly branches to determine the use of monarch, minister, assistant, and auxiliary materials."
Consort Chun was elegantly and skillfully making new incense by the incense burner, explaining it to her son as she did so.
Xuanyuan Han sighed and said, "So many years have passed, I never imagined that my mother would still be so obsessed with perfumery!"
Consort Chun gazed at the wisps of incense smoke with fascination, and said with a soft smile, "Being able to burn a unique incense that you made yourself at any time is a blissful thing. Look at how the smoke gathers lightly, and appreciate its far-reaching and serene fragrance. You will find that the simple joys of life are nothing more than this."
However, Xuan Yuanhan was not as insightful about the world as she was. Seeing her son suddenly fall silent, she stopped what she was doing, walked over with him and sat down on the soft couch, saying, "My son, your mother knows that you and Princess Yongning are deeply in love and unable to extricate yourselves."
She poured him a cup of hot tea and handed it to him, her heart aching. She had just heard that Xuan Yuanhan had come to say goodbye in order to go out and find Yi Shangyun. As someone who had been through it all, she knew in her heart that nothing she said would be of any use at this time, but she still tried to persuade him earnestly.
“From a young age, you were a child who appeared cold on the surface, but inside you were warmer than anyone else. Your mother still clearly remembers that year when you were only three years old, your mother was being harassed by the Empress Dowager and subjected to caning. You, at such a young age, bravely shielded your mother with your frail body, making those who were torturing you tremble with fear. Your fearless and expressionless appearance at that time is exactly the same as you are today…”
Xuanyuan Han listened silently, his face truly expressionless, yet he exuded an aura of authority without anger.
Seeing this, Consort Chun felt even more distressed: "Your mother knows that everything you've done is for her own good. If Princess Yongning were as devoted to you as I am, and could face anything with equanimity and unwavering loyalty, then I wouldn't have anything to say. I was already prepared; as long as you were happy, I was happy. But clearly, between you and her motherland, she chose the latter. Therefore, I think that when she made this decision, she hoped you would respect her choice. So, wouldn't it be truly for her good if you didn't disturb her?"
For a long time afterward, neither Xuanyuan Han nor Consort Chun spoke to each other.
The room was silent. After an unknown amount of time, Xuan Yuanhan suddenly spoke coldly: "Mother, it is impossible for me and her to live without disturbing each other in this lifetime. I am not willing to let it end like this."
"My son, why are you doing this to yourself?" Consort Chun was shocked upon hearing this!
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