Southern Chen Dynasty, Shengjing, Yongle Marquis's Residence.
Li Langhuan sat in the room, and could faintly hear Yan Xuening's cursing outside. He was a little worried - had something happened to Yan Xuening's family?
She stood up somewhat anxiously and paced around the room. Several times she wanted to go out and check on the situation, but she held back... After all, she was "seriously ill" at the moment, and if she appeared in front of people in good health, all her plans would be useless.
Just as she was getting anxious, Yan Xuening knocked on her door: "Sister Zhaozhao, may I come in?"
Li Langhuan now lives in the most secluded residence of the Yongle Marquis's mansion, a place where no one usually comes. Therefore, Li Langhuan felt at ease and personally opened the door for Yan Xuening.
Yan Xuening's eyes were red, clearly from crying, and she looked at Li Langhuan with some anxiety: "Sister Zhaozhao, are you ready to leave?"
Li Langhuan was taken aback for a moment, then took Yan Xuening's hand with concern and asked, "Did something happen at your home? Do you need my help?"
Yan Xuening shook her head, her eyes red, and pursed her lips, saying, "I can only handle this myself... My mother's condition is currently unclear, so Xuanlang and I have to go to Hangzhou to check on her, and we won't be coming back. Sister Zhaozhao, do you want to come with us? Or will you follow us?"
Li Langhuan frowned, somewhat worried: "Of course I'm going with you... but are you really alright?"
Yan Xuening forced a smile: "It's alright, I'm just a little disappointed."
Li Langhuan sighed, then pulled Yan Xuening into his arms and patted her back.
Li Langhuan felt her neck was a little wet. She looked down and saw that Yan Xuening was indeed silently shedding tears, and she couldn't help but feel sad too.
After a long while, Yan Xuening finally looked up, sniffed, and said, "Sister Zhaozhao, you flatter me."
Li Langhuan stared at Yan Xuening for a moment before saying, "Cry if you want to. After you're done crying, go and send a letter to your cousin. Then we'll set off for Hangzhou. I can't show up, so I'll have Li Langxuan accompany you to demand an explanation."
Yan Xuening nodded.
She returned to her bedroom, buried her face in the blankets, and trembled all over.
Li Langxuan hugged her from behind and comforted her, "A Ning, everything will be alright."
Everything will be alright.
...
Northwest, Shuocheng.
Ashina Yeting was finally on the verge of collapse.
Shang Shaoyan's strategy was to use qualitative change to variable change, slowly wearing down Ashina Yeting and gradually breaking his spirit. Each event, taken individually, might not seem like a big shock, but when combined, they were enough to cause a person to collapse.
Ashina Yeting requested to see Shang Shaoyan. Mo Xing glanced at him several times and noticed that he was pale and looked disheveled, clearly having suffered a lot of grievances recently.
Mo Xing knew that the county princess's scheme had worked. He was pleased but also warned himself not to anger her. However, he frowned and asked warily, "You want to see the county princess? What do you want to do to her?"
Ashina Yeting looked at Mo Xing in a daze, then smiled bitterly: "Isn't it her who wants to do something to me?"
Mo Xing: "..."
However, it really makes a lot of sense.
So Shang Shaoyan was invited over.
Today, Shang Shaoyan did not wear her usual Hu clothing or armor. Instead, she dressed as a noble lady of the Southern Chen Dynasty—a light blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), a white half-sleeved top embroidered with silver lotus flowers, a dark blue shawl draped lazily over her arms, and a silk flower shaped like a begonia inserted horizontally in her hair bun. She looked elegant and refined.
She held a round fan with a wave pattern in her hand, gently turning the handle. After removing the fan, her bright and beautiful face, as delicate as a begonia flower, was lightly made up. She raised her eyebrows slightly and looked over, like a goddess of the Luo River.
Ashina Yeting was somewhat stunned by what he saw.
Mo Xing barely managed to hold back his laughter when he saw this—the county princess dressed like this today had stunned countless people along the way, but no one dared to have any other thoughts, after all, the county princess's fearsome reputation was deeply ingrained in people's hearts.
Mo Xing inwardly mocked his comrades and Ashina Ye Ting for their lack of worldliness, completely forgetting that his first reaction upon seeing Shang Shaoyan today was "Holy crap!"
When Shang Shaoyan saw Ashina Yeting's dazed and silly appearance, he couldn't help but laugh. This laugh caused an uproar, as if the entire simple and dimly lit dungeon was instantly filled with moonlight.
Shang Shaoyan looked at Ashina Yeting and suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, you idiot, you should really look at yourself in the mirror now, you're so ugly, hahahahahahaha!"
Ashina Yeting: "..."
Mo Xing: "..."
Please, don't speak—as long as you don't speak, you will remain a beauty like the goddess Luo.
After laughing enough, Shang Shaoyan stopped teasing him, glanced at Ashina Yeting, raised an eyebrow and said, "Speak, what do you want from me?"
Ashina Yeting was a little dizzy, but he quickly came to his senses and sighed, "I'll tell you about your parents' situation, so please stop torturing me."
Shang Shaoyan shrugged and said innocently, "When did I torment you?"
Ashina Yeting: "..."
He wiped his face, ignoring Shang Shaoyan's shamelessness, and continued, "Anyway, I'll tell you."
Shang Shaoyan leaned against the wall, tapping the ground with his toes intermittently, and said casually, "Speak."
Ashina Yeting closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his emerald green eyes were filled with tears.
“A year and a half ago—that is, the twenty-second year of Tianlin in your Southern Chen Dynasty—Shang Xiao and Cheng Lingxiu received an imperial edict from Emperor Wen, ordering them to return to the capital as soon as possible, even though the Southern Chen and the Western Turks were at the height of their war.”
Emperor Wen was the former emperor. Shang Shaoyan counted on his fingers and realized that Emperor Wen should have been bedridden for some time at that time. He was the current Emperor Chen, and the third prince was the regent at that time.
Why would Emperor Wen suddenly issue an imperial edict? Shang Shaoyan frowned.
This imperial edict could not have been issued by the Third Prince, because everyone knows that the square seal on the edict is firmly held by Emperor Wen, and the Third Prince uses a different square seal when he is in charge of the country.
She thought so, and she asked so.
Ashina Yeting suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with coldness, but mostly mockery: "Because someone told Emperor Wen that the people of the Northwest only obey the orders of Shang Xiao and Cheng Lingxiu; the people of the Northwest only know the General Who Guards the Nation and his wife, but not Emperor Wen..."
Shang Shaoyan glanced at Ashina Yeting indifferently: "Emperor Wen is suspicious by nature, so he will naturally summon my parents back to the capital. But my parents are definitely not the kind of people who would abandon the safety of the people and the stability of the border to obey the emperor's order to return to the capital."
After a pause, Shang Shaoyan continued, "They are not actually loyal to the Southern Chen royal family; they are only loyal to the people and to this land."
Ashina Yeting smiled at Shang Shaoyan, his eyes filled with emotion: "You are indeed insightful."
After saying that, without waiting for Shang Shaoyan's reaction, he dropped a bombshell: "Your parents are not dead."
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