"Your Highness..."
"Your Highness..."
Seeing that Xuan Yuanhan was staring intently at the two palace maids without saying a word, Cheng Liang leaned close to his ear and whispered his name twice.
Xuanyuan Han then came to his senses and looked away.
So Cheng Liang spoke up for him, dismissing the two palace maids, saying, "Get up and go about your business!"
"yes!"
Only then did the two palace maids dare to stand up straight and leave on their own.
The master and servant continued walking together as they left the palace.
Seeing that Xuan Yuanhan suddenly became preoccupied, and kept looking back every now and then.
Cheng Liang followed his gaze and looked back, but asked in confusion, "Your Highness, what's wrong? Have you discovered something? Or is there a problem with Changning Palace?"
Xuanyuan Han thought for a moment, then suddenly ordered again: "Send more people to investigate carefully who exactly lives in Changning Palace."
Cheng Liang was extremely puzzled by this and asked, "Aren't the people living in Changning Palace supposed to be the Emperor's newly recruited advisors?"
Xuan Yuanhan recalled what he had just seen—the two palace maids who came out of Changning Palace—and prompted Cheng Liang, "Didn't you notice what those two palace maids were carrying on the wooden trays?"
"The things in the wooden tray..." Cheng Liang suddenly raised his hand and scratched the back of his head before hurriedly recalling them.
"In the wooden trays held by the two palace maids, one contained a woman's hairpin, and the other contained a woman's gauze skirt..."
Suddenly, Cheng Liang felt increasingly uneasy and finally realized: "Does Your Highness suspect... that there really is a woman living in Changning Palace?"
For a moment, Cheng Liang was clearly stunned...
At that moment, he wished he could immediately turn around, break down the door, and see what kind of medicine was being sold in Changning Palace.
Unfortunately, Emperor Jing has now ordered that no one is allowed to enter Changning Palace.
Xuan Yuanhan said with absolute certainty, "I have seen those two palace maids before. They are maids who have served the Emperor for many years, and they are not the Empress's people. Therefore, I am certain that my sister-in-law was also unable to enter Changning Palace this morning to see this so-called advisor."
Cheng Liang asked, "They are all the Emperor's people. Who exactly is this mysterious woman? What is the Emperor doing? How dare he violate the rules set by our ancestors and hide a woman in Changning Palace?"
For some reason, Xuan Yuanhan suddenly felt very confused, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He was absolutely certain that this woman was very important to Emperor Jing, so much so that he was willing to take such a great risk to keep her as close to him as possible.
"A woman who is very important to Emperor Jing..."
With this thought in mind, after a moment's consideration, he finally instructed Cheng Liang, "Also, continue to send people to keep a close eye on Zhang Zhiyuan for me!"
Cheng Liang said confidently, "Your Highness, rest assured."
After saying that, the master and servant quickened their pace and left.
At dusk.
The setting sun pierced through the clouds, casting a dreamlike glow upon the tranquil palace gardens, stretching long shadows as if silently recounting the past of this imperial city.
Inside Changning Palace.
To avoid attracting attention, Yi Shangyun had disguised himself as a dashing young man in white robes, his black hair tied up, hugging his knees, curled up on a step inside the hall, leaning against a pillar.
He seemed to be thinking about something, or perhaps he wasn't thinking about anything at all; he just sat there blankly.
"What exactly happened?"
How did I get here?
"What should I do? What should I do?"
...
She had so many questions in her mind, but she didn't know who to ask.
But of all things, the most important question is: how can she go back?
Upon realizing this, her mind suddenly became a mess.
Perhaps it was because he was too anxious and wanted to recall all of the past.
Suddenly, a multitude of people dressed in different styles flashed through my mind, along with many jumbled fragments of memories.
However, before she could see anything clearly, she felt a splitting headache.
Then he let out a muffled groan of pain: "Hiss!"
Unable to bear it any longer, she instinctively reached out and hugged her head tightly in an attempt to find some relief. She got up and staggered around the main hall.
Just then, a maid carrying a food tray stepped through the doorway and came in.
Seeing this, Yi Shangyun, who was acting as if she had gone mad, quickly put down what she was holding on a nearby table and rushed over to ask her with concern, "What's wrong, young lady? What's wrong with you?"
"go out……"
"go out……"
"Get out of here right now..."
Unexpectedly, Yi Shangyun still didn't want to see anyone, so she gritted her teeth and angrily drove away the maid.
The two of them pushed and shoved each other like this, and finally managed to push the maid out.
"Girl, open the door! Open the door!"
"Young lady, you haven't eaten anything all day. If this continues, your body is still weak, and you definitely won't be able to take it!"
"Open the door, open the door, young lady..."
...
No matter how much the maid banged and knocked on the door, Yi Shangyun ignored her.
But eventually, he would exhaust all the little strength he had left.
Having exhausted all his strength, he leaned against the door, letting his body slide down freely until he collapsed to the ground, muttering to himself.
"Wei Mingxuan, where are you?"
"I'm so scared!"
"I'm so scared!"
"what do I do?"
What should we do?
At this point, she could no longer hold back and burst into tears.
I don't know how much time passed.
Perhaps because she was exhausted from crying, Yi Shangyun slowly stood up.
Using the moonlight outside the palace and the dim lamplight, he slowly walked to the table and glanced at the food left by the maid.
It was unclear what she was struggling with, but in the end she didn't touch it. Instead, she walked around the food table and sat down on the soft couch by the window, slowly casting her gaze into the deep night outside.
A quiet summer night, the bright moon overhead, a gentle breeze blowing.
The air was filled with a delightful fragrance emanating from the lotus pond in the backyard.
The clear sounds of frogs croaking and cicadas chirping reached my ears.
Occasionally, a few fireflies would rise and fall from the grass outside the window, as if playing hide-and-seek, dancing joyfully.
...
Just staring blankly, watching.
This unexpectedly calmed her heart.
She suddenly remembered her childhood in the countryside, also during a similarly hot summer.
Under the same eternally bright moonlight.
Cicadas chirping
Fireflies dancing
tall haystacks
dad
Mother
younger brother
And him
...
Unfortunately, if I were trapped here, I might never experience these happy moments again in my life.
As she pondered this, just as she was feeling downcast and about to look away,...
Suddenly, a tall tree in the corner of the yard caught her eye.
It was like a lifeline that suddenly appeared in my life.
Yi Shangyun's eyes widened in surprise. She stood up, leaned over the window, and examined the area more closely once more.
A smile gradually appeared on his face.
So she hurriedly searched the hall and moved a small table, placing it close to the window.
Then, he lifted one foot and stepped firmly on it.
After carefully and successfully jumping out of the window, I secretly went to the persimmon tree in the corner of the backyard.
Under the tree, she looked around for a while, and then found several places to stand.
Yi Shangyun stretched out her hands, hugged the tree trunk, and began to climb the tree.
It turns out that this old tree is so tall that it can support a person on the top of the wall.
Upon reaching the top of the wall, on the other side, there was another tree that was almost as tall.
That tree could then directly send Yi Shangyun out of Changning Palace.
Although he hadn't climbed a tree for many years, after some effort, Yi Shangyun actually managed to escape and slip out of Changning Palace.
"Thump"
With one foot touching the ground, Yi Shangyun finally escaped the confinement of Changning Palace.
Yi Shangyun happily patted the dust off his clothes and said, "I haven't practiced for many years, and I thought I would be quite rusty, but it seems that my skills are still pretty good!"
Then, he gave a disdainful snort and said, "Trying to trap me here? Don't even think about it!"
Just as she was relieved to have finally escaped and was about to turn back and leave quickly,
Suddenly, a dignified voice came from the darkness beside him: "Where are you going so late?"
Upon hearing this, the smile that had just appeared on Yi Shangyun's face froze instantly, but she didn't dare to turn around.
As the figure moved slowly in the darkness, illuminated by the candlelight by the roadside, the figure gradually revealed itself to be Emperor Jing.
He had planned to come to Changning Palace to take one last look at Yi Shangyun before going to bed, but he never expected to stumble upon this scene.
In fact, he and his hidden guards who were stationed there had already discovered Yi Shangyun's actions. He just deliberately prevented the guards from stopping him, wanting to see what she was planning to do.
So she paused for a moment, then asked curiously, "You... can climb trees?"
Yi Shangyun coldly replied, "What's so strange about being able to climb trees?"
Emperor Jing took a breath, then said, "Is there something I haven't done well enough for you? Why do you want to run away like this? Why can't you just listen to me? Actually, you don't have to do anything. Just stay by my side."
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun immediately became angry.
After thinking for a moment, she finally mustered her courage, suddenly turned around, and sternly rebuked Emperor Jing: "Don't even think about it! I'm warning you, I don't know who you are or why you've locked me up here, but no matter who you are, don't even think about keeping me here. Otherwise, I will definitely have the group's best legal counsel sue you."
Seeing that Yi Shangyun was already angry, and hearing her words, Emperor Jing found them all very novel and unprecedented.
Then he asked, "What's your name? Where are you from? Why does your language sound so different from ours?"
Just as Yi Shangyun was about to ignore him and turn away angrily, Emperor Jing suddenly threatened her.
"Are you just going to leave like this, without any regard for the safety of your old friend?"
"An old friend? What old friend?"
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun stopped and turned back to ask.
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