As the master and servant were talking, a slow knocking sound suddenly broke the silence, interrupting their conversation. "Knock knock knock."
Upon hearing the sound, the two women stared at each other in surprise. After a moment, Zhao Mama nodded to Mei Xiyuan, signaling her to remain calm, and then hurriedly went out to open the door.
Inside the inner room, Mei Xiyuan only heard an extremely respectful "This old servant greets His Highness the Third Prince!"
Immediately afterwards, a usually gentle and refined man in white robes burst through the door with a serious expression, and even seemed somewhat angry.
Upon seeing the unusually abnormal expression on the newcomer's face, Mei Xiyuan immediately stood up and cautiously approached him, bowing respectfully. She feigned joy and excitement, saying, "Royal brother, you've finally come! Xi'er is so glad to see you again! It's been so long. I wonder how you've been doing in the Western Qin Kingdom?"
As Mei Xiyuan spoke, she gave a wink to Zhao Mama, who followed Mei Zhixuan in. Zhao Mama immediately understood and quietly withdrew from the room, gently closing the door behind her. She also dismissed all the servants who were originally guarding the door and personally stood watch outside the door for her.
At this moment, the room finally returned to silence.
Suddenly, a heavy slap landed on Mei Xiyuan's face, and five red finger marks were clearly visible on her noble, fair face.
"Brother, you..." The slap came too suddenly, catching her off guard. She quickly covered her burning face and looked at Mei Zhixuan in astonishment.
"What? You feel that this is completely unexpected, and that you feel wronged and aggrieved?" Mei Zhixuan put one hand behind his back, frowned, took a breath, and turned to her to say this.
Mei Xiyuan had been enduring things alone for too long, and finally let down her guard when facing Mei Zhixuan, who she had grown up with since childhood.
At this moment, all the injustices, grievances, and pain she had suffered in the Qin King's mansion in the Western Qin Kingdom surged up in her heart all at once. Tears finally broke free and streamed down her face. She cried and said sadly, "Royal brother, you know that although we are not born of the same mother, I am closer to you than to my own brother. You have always been very loving towards me, and I respect and love you. But why are you so angry today? Why did you hit me for the first time? I don't understand what I did wrong, what terrible mistake I made. Please enlighten me, Royal brother."
Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan sneered, still refusing to look at her face, and said, "Hmph... My younger sister, Xi'er, has been innocent, kind, and well-behaved since childhood. Although she can be a bit willful and capricious at times, and occasionally throws a princess-like tantrum, she would never be such a heartless and ruthless person as she is today. Could it be that the corrupt atmosphere of the Qin Prince's Mansion in Western Qin has influenced Xi'er, or has this prince never truly understood you? If so... I wish I had never known you."
Mei Xiyuan still seemed not to understand what Mei Zhixuan was saying. She covered her flushed face and asked, "What exactly do you mean by that, Your Majesty? Why are you speaking to me so vaguely and indirectly today? You've never been like this with me before."
Mei Zhixuan said angrily, "Hmph... That was how I treated Xi'er back in the Dongning Palace. But Xi'er is not the same as before. Now, Xi'er has grown up and thinks she can soar to the top of the blue sky on her own, without needing anyone's help, isn't that right?"
Mei Xiyuan said urgently, "No... Xi'er has never changed, and has never dared to think so. If Your Majesty has something to say, please speak plainly."
"Fine, since you insist on playing dumb with me tonight, then I'll make sure you remember your true identity."
After Mei Zhixuan finished speaking, he took a deep breath, finally turned around, looked into Mei Xiyuan's eyes, and asked seriously, "Your mother, is she the only legitimate empress of my Dongning Kingdom?"
"Empress Dowager...she is merely a secondary empress of Dongning Kingdom...yet her status and identity remain as noble as ever." Mei Xiyuan's words, rising from low to high, carried a hint of helpless insistence.
Mei Zhixuan said with a hint of relief, "Fortunately, you still remember that your mother was merely a secondary empress in Dongning. Since she was a secondary empress, she could be a secondary empress again and again... No matter who it is today or who it is tomorrow, she will always just be a secondary empress. So, do you still remember how the late primary empress treated you?"
Mei Xiyuan recalled quietly, "The Empress Dowager treated Xi'er as if she were her own daughter. Whatever Xi'er wanted, the Empress Dowager would give her. She never let Xi'er suffer the slightest grievance, and was even better to her than Xi'er's birth mother."
As Mei Xiyuan spoke, she unconsciously lowered her head.
Mei Zhixuan glared at him angrily and said in a low voice, "Back then, your own brother abused a newly arrived palace maid, driving that poor, vulnerable woman to the brink of despair, whereupon she hanged herself. Later, someone with ulterior motives reported this to Father. Father was furious and reprimanded him, but your wicked and utterly depraved brother pinned all the blame on you, falsely accusing you of abusing the palace maid to death. In the end, who helped you uncover the truth and clear your name?"
“Yes… it is… the Empress Dowager.” Mei Xiyuan said again.
Mei Zhixuan sighed, "Yes, at that time, the Empress Dowager was newly pregnant, less than three months along, which was already dangerous for her. Yet, she was not afraid of being implicated or burdened by you and your children. Ignoring everyone's objections, she knelt in the main hall and begged the Emperor, forcing him to grant her three days. If the truth could not be found within the stipulated three days, and no evidence could be found, she would have to bear the responsibility of being banished to the Cold Palace along with you. At that time, where was your birth mother? What did she do for you? She just hid far away, only afraid that this matter would implicate her and ruin her promising future. She wished that the Empress Dowager would completely lose favor so that she could take the throne and become Empress."
Seeing that Mei Xiyuan had her head down, seemingly lost in memories and speechless, Mei Zhixuan suddenly raised his voice and said angrily, "You know perfectly well that the person I'm talking about is the only bloodline left in this world by the Empress Dowager, and her current identity? You know very well where you can find her, yet why have you been deliberately making excuses and delaying in confirming her identity?"
Mei Xiyuan finally came to her senses, slowly catching her breath, but still stubbornly insisted on speaking up, "Your Majesty, has Xi'er really not found out the true identity of the veiled woman you mentioned? She is someone close to the Western Qin princess. That Western Qin princess is arrogant and conceited, looking down on everyone, and is not easy to approach, let alone get any information from. Moreover, the Prince of Qin is rarely at home and rarely takes Xi'er to the palace. That woman is someone from the Western Qin palace. If you don't go to the palace, how can Xi'er find out anything?"
Mei Zhixuan listened with his back turned, chuckling and shaking his head. Ever since he heard everything the owner of Zhao's Tea House in the western part of the city had told him, he had met with his spy who had been planted in the Western Qin Palace for many years and asked him to help him find out and confirm everything that had happened to Yi Shangyun in the palace.
At this moment, his hand behind his back was clenched into a fist. As soon as Mei Xiyuan finished speaking, he immediately burst out and shouted at her, "Even now, you are still deceiving me. I ask you, did you go to the palace and ask the Emperor of Western Qin for a female physician to take back to your residence? Is that female physician named Yi Shangyun? Her current identity is the eldest daughter of Yi Shangkun, the chief pharmacist of the Imperial Pharmacy in the palace, living in the Yi Mansion in the west of the city. Because of the marriage of the Western Qin princess, she was forced to kneel in the snow by Emperor Jing of Western Qin... You know all of this, don't you?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Xiyuan suddenly turned her head and stared at Mei Zhixuan, her eyes widening in shock and turning deathly pale. At that moment, without her needing to say anything, Mei Zhixuan had already gleaned all the answers from her expression.
He let out a long sigh and said calmly, "What exactly do you intend to do by acting like this behind my back?"
"I..." Mei Xiyuan was filled with words that could not be spoken, nor could she utter them.
Mei Zhixuan was extremely disappointed and heartbroken looking at Mei Xiyuan. Because he feared his identity would be discovered in the south of the city, he had intended to return to the East Garden to reconsider his plans. However, halfway there, he couldn't bear to leave and recklessly turned back. He learned of a major upheaval that had just occurred at Wanjiao Pavilion, and while tracking Yi Shangyun's whereabouts, he unexpectedly witnessed the final scene of Yi Shangyun and Xuan Yuanhan falling off a cliff together upon arriving at Beishan.
Thinking of this, the pain in his heart seemed to finally burst forth, and he said fiercely, "Don't think I don't know what you're plotting. But no matter what you're plotting, you will not succeed. The identities of my stepmother and her daughter, the legitimate empress and legitimate princess of the wealthy and powerful Dongning Kingdom on the Lingkong Continent, are two extremely noble identities that no one can ever replace. Even... even if they are both gone, my stepmother will always be the legitimate empress of my Dongning Kingdom, and only her bloodline is worthy of being the legitimate princess of my Dongning Kingdom forever. Aren't you afraid that my stepmother's spirit will come to settle scores with you in the night? You know that she may be the only bloodline left by my stepmother in this world, how can you be so heartless? Now, she has fallen off a cliff on the north and south mountains of the city, her life or death unknown. Are you satisfied now?"
Unexpectedly, her usually gentle and refined third brother had erupted in such a rage. Upon hearing this, Mei Xiyuan froze, as if suffocating, her eyes wide as she stared blankly into Mei Zhixuan's eyes, exclaiming in shock, "She's dead?"
"Didn't the Prince of Qin return to his residence long ago? How could you still not know what happened?" Mei Zhixuan asked in surprise.
“I…I don’t know her…” Mei Xiyuan said blankly, her eyes darting around.
Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan quickly swallowed the rest of his words and said...
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