Chapter 202 Likes to sleep on the floor
"This humble woman greets Your Highness the Princess."
Meng Shilan was helped up by Yalan, who said, "Your leg is injured, why are you still bowing?"
Meng Shilan noticed that Princess Yalan's eyes were filled with melancholy.
It makes sense. Her husband had just died, her son was being held in custody, and she was still a newly widowed woman, yet she was already forced to become a pawn in negotiations.
What she just said was, "The invincible Meng Shilan."
She smiled slightly, "Your Highness is too kind. No one is invincible; they are just stronger than the average person."
Yalan gave a bitter smile. "What I lack right now is this kind of strength."
"I was sent to Ule by the Empress Dowager, and now I have been sent back to Dasheng by Ule."
"Where is home? Where is home?"
Meng Shilan thought for a moment, "Since Your Highness has brought it up, I will speak frankly as well."
"Where your home is is not important; what matters is where Your Highness wants to be."
"Home is wherever you are."
Yalan looked into her firm yet gentle eyes, her brows furrowing slightly.
Meng Shilan glanced at the bright moon in the sky and said, "I'm not afraid to tell you, Your Highness, but my initial wish was simply to live."
"If I can't survive in one place, I'll find another place to live."
"Now that I am alive, I want to live a better life and don't want my child to follow in my footsteps."
There's an old saying: "A tree dies when it's moved, but a person thrives."
Then she looked at Princess Yalan and asked, "Your Highness, what is your vision?"
Yalan's lips trembled, and finally her voice drifted over softly.
"Alive".
"Live well with Chi'er."
Meng Shilan's face was full of smiles, and then she nodded vigorously.
"Then live well!"
Looking into her calm eyes, Yalan felt as if a continuous stream of strength was flowing towards her.
Yes, even ants try to survive.
As a princess of a nation, how could she be so pathetic and weak?
The elder brother is the ruler of a country, and the son is the future Khan.
If she doesn't stand up now, Chi'er will forever be trampled underfoot by Bucha.
"Ms. Meng, thank you."
Yalan's eyes lit up, filled with sincere gratitude.
Meng Shilan smiled sheepishly.
"Your Highness is too kind to me."
When we arrived at Fengwu Palace, hot meals were already served inside.
Life is unpredictable; who knew that a prince who was not careful would suddenly appear?
Compared to the usual hustle and bustle, today is unusually quiet.
The only sound was the soft clinking of bowls and plates.
Everyone knows the truth.
The current negotiations raise the question of whether the two countries will go to war.
When Princess Yalan and Meng Shilan entered at the same time, everyone's eyes turned to them.
The Empress pointed to the untouched food on the table.
Her face was full of gentle and polite smiles. "We've been waiting for the two of you. We've been starving for hours. Eat while it's hot."
Two palace maids immediately came to help Meng Shilan.
The two men walked to opposite ends of the Queen's lower side.
The Empress took a sip of the tea beside her, and then looked at Princess Yalan in a casual, conversational manner.
"How long will the princess stay in the capital this time?"
Princess Yalan glanced at the Empress and said, "Your Majesty, I won't be staying long. Chi'er is waiting for Yalan."
The Empress nodded, understanding, "The child is still young and cannot be separated from his mother."
"A mother's love makes her strong, but she can't live without her child."
As she spoke, she touched her lower abdomen with some sadness, "If my child could be born safely, Yalan should be able to see his little face at his one-month birthday by now."
There was a moment of silence in the hall, as if everyone's eating had stopped.
Everyone knew that the Empress had miscarried.
It's something that everyone avoids.
Everyone remembered that they must not mention the word "child" in front of the Empress.
Now the Empress herself has brought it up.
If we pretend we didn't hear it, wouldn't that be extremely disrespectful?
Lady Huaiyang spoke first, "His Majesty and the Empress are still young, and the young Crown Prince is probably already on his way."
The Empress managed a weak twitch at the corner of her lips.
"Thank you for your comfort, Madam."
Lady Xingyang also said, "Your Majesty need not worry. His Majesty is only preoccupied with state affairs. As long as he does his best... the child will naturally come."
These two short sentences made Lady Xingyang blush deeply.
Yalan looked at the ladies, and finally at the Empress.
“There is a saying in Ule that Yalan would like to give to Your Majesty.”
She first spoke a phrase in obscure Ule, and then explained.
"It means that the bond between the child and the mother is predetermined from a previous life. Do your best and leave the rest to fate. Your Majesty can just wait for the flowers to bloom."
The Empress paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well, I will wait patiently for the flowers to bloom."
Finally, she looked at the ladies in the hall.
"If the ladies have eaten their fill, they may proceed to the side hall to enjoy the music."
"I am a little tired, so I will not keep you ladies company any longer."
Everyone in the hall rose and said, "Respectfully seeing off Her Majesty the Empress."
What I just said seemed to have comforted the Empress, but it also seemed to have made her even more depressed.
Lady Xingyang wanted to slap herself in the face.
I should have kept quiet.
For a woman who has lost her child, no amount of kind words can compare to helping her have a child.
Her words just now probably not only failed to appease the Empress, but also rubbed salt into the Empress's heart.
Lady Xingyang dared not eat any more of the food she had only managed to eat a few bites of.
All she wants now is to get home as soon as possible.
One after another, ladies went to the side hall.
Princess Yalan had her maid move her desk next to Meng Shilan's.
"Miss Meng, please eat in peace. Her Majesty the Empress is a very gentle person. She is just too heartbroken and wants to seek some comfort."
But because of her high position, no one dared to comfort her.
Everyone was terrified of provoking a confrontation, lest they lose their lives.
Meng Shilan nodded. "This subject understands."
How could she not understand?
The child in her womb in her previous life never had a chance to be born.
She felt the little life slowly slipping away in the cold pond, felt her own despair, and felt the resentment of watching Fu'er perish.
Princess Yalan leaned slightly towards her.
She glanced around the main hall; there was hardly anything left.
Only then did he lower his voice and whisper, "General Cheng knows that he has unwittingly mingled in the procession returning to the capital."
“I’ve seen them talking together.”
Meng Shilan gasped.
The Biannan Army, located next to Wule, was the first line of defense for the Great Sheng.
It was also the Jade Gate that Meng Yushan obtained by sacrificing one of his sons.
"General Cheng..."
Colluding with the enemy.
Princess Yalan is still the Queen of Ule, so it's not appropriate to call her an enemy yet.
Ya Lan, however, didn't care and said what Meng Shilan hadn't said.
"The crime of treason shall be punished by the extermination of nine generations of one's family."
“Now that Ule is in the hands of the unsuspecting, he is the enemy.”
Meng Shilan moved closer to Princess Yalan, "Has Your Highness spoken to His Majesty?"
Yalan shook her head. "It hasn't been time yet."
“The people at the post station are all unscrupulous; he wouldn’t allow me to enter the palace alone.”
Meng Shilan thought for a moment, "Could we ask Her Majesty the Empress for help?"
"Just say that Her Majesty misses you and wants you to stay in the palace overnight."
Now that she's already in the palace, they can't just arrest her and throw her out without noticing.
Yalan smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'll go find Her Majesty the Empress right away!"
As she stood up, the large gemstone she wore slammed heavily against the table.
This gave Meng Shilan a new understanding of Princess Yalan's very heavy clothes.
She didn't go to watch the dancers' revelry, nor did she want to see the probing gazes of the ladies.
So they stayed in the hall and ate their fill.
Almost all the food on the table was untouched, except for what she ate the cleanest.
The head maid of Fengwu Palace thought she hadn't eaten enough and almost served her another table full of food.
"Would you please ask your aunt if the meeting at the front has concluded?"
Before the head maid could even inquire, Eunuch Tian arrived.
The meeting will probably not be over anytime soon, so please let all the ladies return to their residences first.
As he spoke, he looked at Meng Shilan again, "When Miss Meng came to Fengwu Palace just now, it was due to the negligence of my subordinates that we did not arrange a sedan chair for you."
"The palanquin for leaving the palace has been prepared."
Meng Shilan smiled and said, "It's alright. The imperial physician also wants me to get some exercise."
Seeing that she didn't mind, Eunuch Tian bowed and said, "Thank you for your generosity, Miss Meng."
"With us here, we will definitely take good care of Lord Meng."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Eunuch Tian."
When Meng Shilan returned to the mansion, it was already late at night.
The child was already fast asleep.
The maids in the courtyard were all dozing off.
After a quick wash, Meng Shilan didn't know when Fu'er woke up.
She rubbed her eyes. "Mother, you're finally back."
Meng Shilan hopped onto the edge of the bed on one leg. "Go to sleep, Mother is back."
Fu'er hugged her mother's arm and fell asleep again.
Listening to her long, even breaths, Meng Shilan gently withdrew her hand.
She couldn't help but recall what Princess Yalan had said.
Princess Yalan is now a pawn in Ule, threatening the Great Sheng Dynasty.
General Cheng colluded with Bucha.
Only those with common interests can collude with each other. What are their common interests?
It is obvious that Bucha wants to become the new Khan of Ule.
But what does General Cheng want, also Ule?
Meng Shilan frowned.
The next day.
Meng Shilan was having breakfast with her child in the flower hall.
Meng Yushan was carried back, and her face turned pale involuntarily, her heart seemed to skip a beat.
Guo Ziyu and Guo Fang placed the general, who was covered in alcohol, on the ground.
"How much has the general drunk?! The army doctor told him long ago that he can't drink alcohol!"
While panting, Guo Ziyu complained that the general did not cherish his own body.
Meng Shilan stepped forward, "Why are you putting it on the ground? Carry it back inside."
Guo Ziyu waved his hand, "It's no use."
"Even if you carry him back to the house, the general will run out and sleep on the ground."
"ah?"
Guo Fang explained, "The general has no other problems when he's drunk; he just likes to sleep on the ground."
Meng Shilan, "..."
Finally, she instructed her maid to bring a blanket.
"You're only coming back now? You were in a meeting all night?"
Guo Ziyu: "That's right, they argued for most of the night."
"My mouth is dry from talking."
He even proudly raised his chin as he spoke, "A debate with a group of scholars!"
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