"How dare you disregard your master's orders and try to help this wretched woman escape? Aren't you afraid of implicating everyone in this courtyard and having them skinned alive?"
It turned out that Lu Tianjiao had quietly entered the room at some point and was hiding outside the inner room when he overheard the woman's conversation with Yi Shangyun.
She stood at the doorway, lifting the curtain, and as soon as she finished speaking, she aggressively approached the bedside, staring fiercely into the woman's eyes and shouting, "Get out of here!"
However, the woman didn't seem afraid of her. She glanced at Yi Shangyun, who nodded to her. Only then did the woman slowly get up and retreat.
Yi Shangyun then carefully examined the unfamiliar woman in front of her and asked in confusion, "Who are you?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Tianjiao was taken aback and asked, "What? You...you don't recognize me?"
Yi Shangyun looked at her surprised eyes and thought for a while. In the end, she shook her head in puzzlement. She really didn't have a single memory of this person. So she explained in a low voice, "I... have amnesia. So, I can't remember many people and many things from the past."
Lu Tianjiao was shocked and exclaimed in surprise, "What? You've lost your memory?"
Then, suddenly staring at Yi Shangyun's face, his expression slowly transformed into one of wild joy, with tears seemingly welling in his eyes. It was as if all the hatred and injustice he had harbored for so long had suddenly been released. With a forced smile, he said, "Heh...heh heh. Retribution, this is all retribution. This must be God's punishment for your shamelessness and stealing someone else's love. You deserve it, you deserve it, you get what you deserve!"
Yi Shangyun stared intently at her now somewhat sinister smile, and said, "Who exactly are you? Why are you saying this about me? Stealing someone's love... Could it be... that you are the Princess Consort of Qin? But this outfit doesn't seem to suggest it."
As Yi Shangyun spoke, she looked at the woman in front of her again, who seemed to have the temperament of a gentle and virtuous lady, but she didn't know why she was saying and doing these things.
"Who am I?" Lu Tianjiao snorted, raised an eyebrow, and said seemingly nonchalantly.
Then she slowly stepped forward to the edge of the bed, leaned down, and looked closely at the red birthmark on Yi Shangyun's face. Suddenly, a storm raged in her dark, boundless eyes, and she finally gritted her teeth and said hatefully, "I am destined to be your mortal enemy, to be irreconcilable enemies. What right do you have to steal my brother Han away?"
After Lu Tianjiao finished speaking, he glared at her fiercely, then turned and walked to the window. Gazing at the lush green bamboo in the backyard and the white doves fluttering on the roof, a gentle, spring-like smile suddenly appeared on his face as he reminisced:
"Do you know? Brother Han and I grew up together at Xiqin Academy since we were little, childhood sweethearts. Even when the Emperor insisted on giving him a princess, I knew it was just a political marriage, and Brother Han would never fall for her. Later, the facts did not disappoint me. Brother Han has never consummated his marriage with her, and has never even looked at her properly. On the second day after the wedding, he sent her to Shaohua Pavilion."
Meanwhile, Yi Shangyun, who had quietly gotten off the bed and sat down at the table inside the room, stared silently at the countless dust particles dancing in the beams of sunlight that slanted in through the other window, lost in thought...
As they were talking, Lu Tianjiao suddenly stopped.
She slowly raised her head to look at his profile, only to find that the faint, warm smile that had been on his face just moments before had vanished.
At this moment, Lu Tianjiao's eyes flashed with cold light as he suddenly turned around and roared at her, "But all of this has been shattered because of the appearance of you, you bitch. Brother Han has changed, he's become nothing like he used to be. He actually searched the entire Lingkong Continent for you, an ugly woman, without regard for the cost, just because you disappeared; on the day of her wedding, the crude and tattered medicine sachet you gave him, he still treasures it and never takes it off; I didn't even know that he risked his life to gather spring herbs in the desolate mountains to cure your leg ailment; when you suddenly developed a high fever and lost consciousness, he soaked himself in an ice bucket in the snow to bring you down with his own body..."
When Lu Tianjiao recalled the scene from that night, her whole body seemed to tremble. Although Xuan Yuanhan was so tight-lipped about everything he saw that night, she still managed to find out everything clearly.
After a pause, Lu Tianjiao calmed down slightly, took two steps forward to stand in front of her, and continued, "That incomparably noble and arrogant man has done so many unbelievable things for you! And you? You're just a useless, ugly girl from a small palace apothecary family. Even my brother looked down on you and broke off your engagement with you. What right do you have to compete with me? Why did you wake up after being in a coma for a year? Why didn't you just die? You're not worthy of him at all! In this world, only I, Lu Tianjiao, am truly good to him and can help him. No one loves him more than me. From the day we met, he was destined to belong to me alone. I, Lu Tianjiao, was born for him. I will find a way to eliminate all other flowers and weeds that want to get close to him. You are not worth my brother Han's sacrifice. He did all this for you..."
As Lu Tianjiao spoke in her ear, these past scenes resurfaced before Yi Shangyun's eyes. Yes, such a noble man had silently done so much for her, some of which she had never even known.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Tianjiao silently turned away, and at some point he stopped speaking, seemingly lost in immense grief. However, Yi Shangyun suddenly snapped out of her daze and realized what was happening:
"You...so you're Lu Tianjiao, the eldest daughter of Xiqin Academy, who was framed by the Empress Dowager and killed the Imperial Concubine?" At the last moment, Yi Shangyun remembered the words Xuan Yuanhan had said in the woods.
"Hmph... You finally remembered! But so what if I killed the Empress Dowager? Brother Han has already forgiven me, hasn't he? He can't bear to kill me, can he? He still has me in his heart, I know he definitely does. Only if you die will I be the only woman in his life. So, you must die! I hate you!"
Lu Tianjiao snorted coldly and said hatefully, glaring at Yi Shangyun. Suddenly, he pulled out a gleaming dagger that he had already polished and hidden in his sleeve pocket.
"What are you going to do?" Upon seeing this, Yi Shangyun suddenly got up and slowly backed onto the bed behind him.
Just as he raised a sharp dagger high above his head, intending to stab it into his heart, suddenly, with a clang, the dagger fell to the ground.
"Lu Tianjiao, what are you doing?" It turned out that Tuoba Ze had finished negotiating with Mei Xiyuan and had just arrived.
“Sister, this vile woman is about to die, yet she still dreams of escaping. I fear that things might change if we delay, so I will send her on her way.” Lu Tianjiao turned around and said to Mei Xiyuan.
"Stop! I have something to say to her. You may leave now. I will give you a satisfactory answer." Mei Xiyuan said to Lu Tianjiao, looking at Yi Shangyun's face.
"Sister, I..." Lu Tianjiao seemed to want to say something, but was stopped by Mei Xiyuan's firm shout: "Get out!"
Helpless, Lu Tianjiao could only sigh heavily before flicking his sleeves and hurrying away.
The door outside creaked open and closed. Mei Xiyuan then slowly stepped forward and smoothed the messy hair on her clothes and headdress. She then helped her sit down at the table, poured her a bowl of hot tea, and handed it to her with a smile, saying, "I heard you have amnesia. Are you alright?"
Yi Shangyun stared in astonishment into her eyes and took the teacup from her fair, smooth hands. Her elegant and luxurious attire, the beautiful beauty mark between her arched eyebrows that was rare to find, and her captivating beauty made her ask in a daze, "You... could you be the Princess Consort of Qin?"
Mei Xiyuan smiled faintly, gracefully sat down beside him, and slowly said, "That's right, I am the Princess Consort of Qin."
Upon hearing this, the teacup in Yi Shangyun's hand slipped from her fingertips and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
Although she already knew that the King of Qin was already married, she still couldn't help but accept him in the end. She had expected this day to come, but she just hadn't expected it to be under these circumstances. Although there had been some preparation, when that person actually stood in front of her now, her heart was filled with far more mixed feelings than she had anticipated.
It turned out that his queen was so beautiful and noble, a perfect match for him. She, on the other hand, seemed utterly incomparable. Perhaps, people always unconsciously magnify their own insecurities in front of those they like.
Lost in her own sorrow, Mei Xiyuan suddenly spoke, her face bare of makeup: "I know His Highness loves you, and you love His Highness too. But what can you do for him? His Highness is no ordinary man; as his great cause nears completion, only I can lend him a helping hand with the strength of our motherland. You, however, will only become a hindrance and a burden to him. To find you, His Highness has been working tirelessly day and night. He is already overwhelmed with state affairs. If this continues, that woman in the palace will completely crush him, and he might even lose his life."
At this point, Mei Xiyuan suddenly stopped, lowered her head and gently stroked her belly, saying sadly, "Besides, I am now pregnant with Your Highness's child."
"You...you're pregnant? But just now Lu Tianjiao said you two haven't consummated your marriage yet, how could this be..." Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun immediately raised her eyes, which were lowered and looking at the ground, in astonishment, and hurriedly moved them from Mei Xiyuan's gently stroking belly to her face, asking in a questioning tone.
"Hmph... Lu Tianjiao, she is just one of the countless women in this world who dream of gaining His Highness's favor. Love breeds jealousy, and love breeds hatred. How can you believe her words? I remember that you are also quite skilled in medicine. Why don't you take her pulse yourself?" Mei Xiyuan smiled easily, and then raised her head, lifted her sleeve, and stretched it out in front of Yi Shangyun.
"I……"
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