Chapter 80
Chapter Eighty
Meng Yuan sat down beside him, waved her hand, and the lights in the room came on. She felt somewhat dejected, wondering how she had fallen into his trap. She felt both regret and a subtle shift in her emotions, unable to quite define whether she was happy or not.
"Shang Mang, let me teach you how to love." Meng Yuan said abruptly. Shang Mang didn't reply. He couldn't push her too hard, or she would give up.
"You?" he said slowly and sarcastically.
Meng Yuan stood up, kissed him on the lips, and didn't say anything. She just stared into his eyes, her gaze penetrating and observant, her eyes unraveling the complex emotions within him.
Her eyes slowly moved downwards, and Shang Mang's gaze followed her down to her lips, pale pink and glistening with moisture. He moved slightly, and Meng Yuan tilted her head back and smiled, "It's me."
Meng Yuan smiled triumphantly.
Shang Mang turned his head to the side and said nonchalantly, "It was just a kiss."
Meng Yuan was used to his tone of voice and said lightly, "Oh, just a kiss, that's all." She emphasized the last two words and clicked her tongue twice, "Looks like you don't like it."
Shang Mang turned around, smiling but saying nothing.
Meng Yuan laughed heartily to herself: "Admit it, Shang Mang, you like me a lot."
Shang Mang rested his chin on his hand: "Where do you get the confidence to think I like you so much?"
Meng Yuan shook her head and said, "You gave it to me."
Shang Mang squinted and said, "It was you who insisted on getting close to me, what does it have to do with me?"
She kept arguing with him, and didn't get any sleep all night. But Meng Yuan wasn't satisfied if she didn't argue with him. She said, "Your kiss is really bad."
Shang Mang straightened up, observing her expression, which seemed genuine, and his eyes crinkled into a smile: "Have you kissed someone else?"
Meng Yuan observed his expression: "Yes, that's right." Unperturbed, Shang Mang chuckled: "That guy probably hasn't eaten for days."
Meng Yuan didn't understand: "What do you mean..." After she realized what she meant, she glared at him: "Were you a poisonous snake in your past life?"
...
The next morning, Meng Yuan came out of the house and stretched. She happened to see Kong Fusheng coming out from around the corner. Kong Fusheng was like a fixed NPC that you could run into anywhere.
Meng Yuan called out to him, and Kong Fusheng walked over, looking her up and down: "Senior Meng, are you feeling better?"
Meng Yuan felt uneasy under his gaze and shifted slightly: "You saw it yesterday, I wasn't hurt at all."
Kong Fusheng asked curiously, "But you have the smell of ghosts on you. Half of the people have this smell, which means..." He seemed to be thinking of something and his expression became somewhat indescribable. Meng Yuan punched him and said, "Just say it."
Kong Fusheng went all out: "A man who is about to die."
Meng Yuan was stunned.
Kong Fusheng reminded her that when she was dealing with the ghost immortal yesterday, the system notification sounded saying that her health had decreased by five percent. In her haste, she hadn't asked how much it was now, and she didn't dare to ask now. Kong Fusheng could smell the scent of a dying person on her; it seemed she didn't have many days left.
Meng Yuan stared blankly into space. Seeing her deep gaze, Kong Fusheng joked, "Perhaps I misheard. Senior Meng, please don't worry. Even if something happens, there's still Ling Daozi and Senior Zhou."
Meng Yuan patted herself down and sighed silently, "Heaven has taken my life..."
Kong Fusheng asked nervously, "Senior Meng..."
Meng Yuan chuckled: "I'm not giving it to you."
After saying that, he grabbed Kong Fusheng by the neck and said, "We're not going to the palace today, so let's hurry up and leave. Don't dawdle."
After having breakfast, they left without lingering. Just as Xiao Zheyu was about to get into the carriage, Congrong called out to her, "Your Highness."
Xiao Zheyu turned around: "No need to worry."
Cong Rong had no choice but to lower her head. The reason she stayed at the princess's residence this time was that she had to stay and keep an eye on things. She knew the layout of the princess's residence very well and had to check everything.
Cong Rong wanted to say that she wanted to go with them, but she didn't speak. The princess's order was an order, and she only needed to obey.
Zhou Xiuqi was holding the book manual, studying it intently. Meng Yuan leaned closer and asked, "Senior brother, what are you looking at?"
Zhou Xiuqi gestured to the side, and Meng Yuan remained silent, not even willing to say a word. She looked down and silently recited a few words. Not understanding the meaning, she looked up and said, "You should see for yourself."
Xiao Zheyu said, "The palace is complicated, so don't run around. Just wait for us outside. If anything happens, stay where you are."
Upon hearing this, Meng Yuan asked, "We, who and who, who and them?"
Kong Fusheng asked, "May I ask who this 'we' is?"
With a snap, Zhou Xiuqi closed the book in his hands, revealing his eyes: "Me."
Meng Yuan felt awkward. Whenever Xiao Zheyu was mentioned, Zhou Xiuqi would start talking as if it were triggered automatically.
I didn't see Shang Mang when I woke up this morning. It's common for him to disappear, so why do I feel so uncomfortable today?
After traveling along the palace road, the carriage stopped. They got off the carriage, and Meng Yuan looked up and saw the walls on both sides of the palace road, stretching into the clouds and cutting the sky into a small piece.
A eunuch who had been waiting for some time stepped forward and said, "This old servant greets the Princess."
Xiao Zheyu was dressed in formal attire today, her hair ornaments swaying slightly as she glanced at him: "Eunuch Mao, how have you been lately?"
With his back bent, Eunuch Mao said with a smile, "Thanks to Your Highness's concern, I am still alive."
Xiao Zheyu stared at him for a long time. Meng Yuan looked around and then looked away. Eunuch Mao led them toward the emperor's palace.
Just as Meng Yuan had imagined, the palace was opulent and extravagant, filled with valuable items and carved with dragon motifs on the walls. She had wandered around for ages, barely having left half of the palace.
After walking for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Eunuch Mao said, "It's just ahead. His Majesty has been in a bad mood lately and doesn't want us old servants to disturb him. He was somewhat relieved when he learned that His Highness had returned a few days ago."
"It seems that Your Highness is the best medicine for His Majesty."
He had a hunched back, but his head stretched out long. He spoke gently with a kind smile.
Xiao Zheyu suddenly said, "Eunuch Mao, you've dirtied my shoes."
Looking at the distance between them and Xiao Zheyu's attitude, Meng Yuan sensed something was amiss. Kong Fusheng was about to speak when Meng Yuan stopped him and shook her head slightly.
Eunuch Mao raised both hands above his head: "Your Highness, please forgive me. This old servant's eyesight is failing, and I really can't see the road clearly." He faced the ground, his smile widening.
Xiao Zheyu: "Since you are old, I will have His Majesty send you off to enjoy your old age in peace."
Xiao Zheyu walked around him and up the steps. Behind her, Eunuch Mao raised his voice and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
The group followed Xiao Zheyu's steps. Eunuch Mao slowly raised his head and stared at them strangely as they left. A soldier stepped forward and asked, "Eunuch, are you really just going to let her in like that?"
Mao Gonggong said, "The fish in the jar is already trapped; why bother with this?"
Meng Yuan turned her head away, unable to see what the person next to Eunuch Mao was saying; his smile didn't seem like a good thing.
Kong Fusheng sighed, "As soon as I entered this place, I felt very short of breath."
Meng Yuan remembered that he was about to speak: "You said I was kind-hearted, but you were going to stand up for him just now, weren't you?"
Kong Fusheng touched his cheek: "That's just how I am. I can't stand seeing old people being bullied."
"His ability to survive in the palace for so long is more terrifying than a ghost," Meng Yuan said. Having watched many palace dramas as a child, she subconsciously felt that there were no good people in the palace.
As Meng Yuan watched the two of them walk in, one in front of the other, she felt inexplicably happy and pleased; they were such a perfect match.
Xiao Zheyu walked inside and turned around: "No matter what he says later, you stay here and observe secretly. Don't go near him."
Zhou Xiuqi nodded.
Xiao Zheyu walked through the layers of halls. There wasn't a single maid in the main hall; it was completely silent. As she inhaled the calming incense, she cautiously covered her nose and continued forward.
"Sister, is that you?" A voice came from inside the gauze curtain. Xiao Zheyu's eyes were fixed on that face, and she was somewhat dazed. His face was indeed as beautiful as a woman's.
Even though she's this thin, she's still beautiful.
Xiao Zheyu stood still and did not step forward.
His disappointment was written all over his face: "Sister, even though I'm like this, you still won't come any closer to me?"
Xiao Zheyu looked at him calmly, not avoiding his gaze: "Your Majesty, what did that woman do with you?"
"I didn't do anything with her," he stated bluntly.
Xiao Zheyu: "If nothing had been done, how could His Majesty have become like this?"
Xiao Ling looked up at her cold expression, and his heart ached: "You won't believe anything I say."
Xiao Zheyu: "If Your Majesty had nothing to say, you could have simply handed over the throne back then. Why have it taken so many years?"
Xiao Lingjuan wore a cold smile, just like Xiao Zheyu: "Sister, why do you think I've sat on this throne for so many years?"
Xiao Zheyu, unable to bear it any longer, coldly said, "Xiao Ling."
Xiao Ling looked up and laughed loudly: "Sister... cough... Sister, you've finally called me by my name."
Xiao Ling covered her mouth and coughed: "Sister, come closer, I'll tell you everything."
Xiao Zheyu patiently took two steps forward, and Xiao Ling looked at her intently: "I didn't do anything with her, I just occasionally went to her place to sit for a while."
“She would want me to stay overnight, but every time she asked me to stay overnight, I felt like I wasn’t like you anymore.”
Xiao Zheyu frowned deeply: "With me?"
Xiao Ling smiled and said, "Yes, I can't see my elder sister, I can only see her."
Xiao Zheyu endured it all, her gaze turning cold: "Can you please stop disgusting me?"
Xiao Ling paused, then lowered her eyes: "I just... just miss my sister so much."
Xiao Zheyu wanted to leave quickly: "Continue."
Xiao Ling stretched out his hand and traced Xiao Zheyu's outline in the air: "The thing she resembles you most is her eyes, but she always kneels before me and tries to keep me. But you don't; you only want to kill me."
“When I felt my health deteriorating, I stopped looking at her, but I couldn’t help it. I miss you, I miss you.” He couldn’t help but repeat, then looked at her, but Xiao Zheyu turned her face away.
Xiao Ling was both amused and exasperated: "So I locked her up in jail, but she disappeared, just like you."
After listening, Xiao Zheyu didn't think anything was wrong, and got up to say perfunctorily, "Your Majesty, please rest well."
Seeing that she was about to leave, Xiao Ling said, "Sister, I'm going to die."
Xiao Zheyu turned around: "Xiao Ling, your mother raised you as a girl. You've kept a low profile for so many years and now you have everything you have. You are the only one of her many children that I think has ambition. Once you have power, feelings are not worth mentioning."
"I asked you whether you wanted the future or the present."
Xiao Ling closed her eyes tightly, as if that scene had happened just yesterday.
He was dressed in thin clothes, sweeping the snow outside the palace. His mother was coughing inside the palace. Xiao Ling was not yet Xiao Ling, but Xiao Ling.
Xiao Zheyu passed by and looked at him: "Your name is Xiao Ling?"
Xiao Ling raised her head without speaking. Her mother said that he couldn't speak now, or he would die.
Xiao Zheyu was the emperor's favorite princess, so he couldn't look up when he spoke to her; he quickly lowered his head.
Xiao Zheyu looked into the room and said, "Do you want the future, or the present?"
Xiao Ling didn't understand the question, but just wished that the future would come soon: "I want it, the future."
When he looked up, Xiao Zheyu had already left, and it was only after that night that he realized how big that "future" was.
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