He then continued, "That's good. We should still keep our relationship a secret for now to avoid arousing suspicion."
After hearing this, Meng Yu nodded.
On the other side, Tian Gang, who had left the inn, was wandering on the street. It was already nightfall, and there was no one on the street. Only the occasional sound of the night watchman from the next street could be heard.
His thoughts couldn't help but drift further and further away. He remembered what the young master had told him just now. He never thought that his younger sister was still alive and had given birth to a little nephew for him. He couldn't wait to enter the palace to take a look.
However, at this moment, everything needed to be done carefully. A single slip could disrupt everything. So he had to endure it. After everything was over, he would take his younger sister away from this place of strife forever...
On the other side, inside the palace.
As the night deepened, the entire palace became quiet. Princess Shangyang had just lulled her son to sleep. After taking the small wooden carving from his hand and putting it aside, she stared at his round little face and just couldn't look away. She couldn't help but reach out and touch it.
The little fellow was growing more and more like that man, she couldn't help but think, and her thoughts drifted back to ten years ago.
Back then, when she married into the Western Region country, her husband died of illness just one year later. All the royal family members at that time said that she was fated to bring bad luck to her husband and that she had a short lifespan. They wanted to send her out of the Western Region.
But she clearly knew that her husband's body had always been very weak. It was just a common cold, but unexpectedly, it eventually turned into a serious illness, which ultimately led to his death.
At that time, her elder brother, the then Emperor of the Eastern Sheng, sent someone to pick her up. But on the way, she was intercepted by people from the Southern Neighboring Country and finally ended up in the palace of the Southern Neighboring Country.
The one who sent people to intercept her was the current Emperor of the Southern Neighboring Country. They lived together for a period of time. But the queen of the Southern Neighboring Country was jealous and repeatedly tried to harm her life. The emperor alone couldn't protect her.
Moreover, the news leaked out, and the people of the Western Region country learned that she was in the harem of the Southern Neighboring Country. They immediately said that she was immoral and unrestrained, so they wanted to send troops to start a war.
She didn't want to drag down the entire Southern Neighboring Country, so she wrote a letter to her elder brother to pick her up and fabricated the news that she was already dead.
After that, she was hidden in the eastern suburbs hunting ground. It wasn't until a month later that she found out that she was pregnant, and the child was the Southern Neighboring Emperor's.
At that time, she was heartbroken and wanted to get rid of the child, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She thought that it would be good to have a child to accompany her in this long life. So there was Yi'er today. But no one knew their identities, and no one would know in the future.
Thinking of this, a smile curved on her lips. After tucking the quilt for him, she left the room and went to the imperial garden alone. She was going to retrieve an item.
When she arrived at the imperial garden, she walked straight to a peach tree near the small pavilion and started digging. After digging less than half a meter, she saw a small wooden box. She took it out, patted the dirt off it, and then took out the key from her bosom to open it.
Inside was a jade pendant with the character "Nan" outlined in gold thread. This was the token left by the Southern Neighboring Emperor.
Princess Shangyang tightly clutched the jade pendant in her palm, feeling the cold temperature of the jade. Then she remembered that night when the lanterns were first lit.
Back then, Princess Shangyang was extremely beautiful, which made all the literati and scholars in the capital fall in love with her. Moreover, even the princes from neighboring countries came to propose marriage one after another.
Finally, one year, the Southern Neighboring and Western Region countries sent betrothal gifts together, and the princes who came to propose marriage also came.
At that time, Shangyang naturally didn't care about these things. She only thought about how to steal some leisure time every day and run out of the palace to have some fun in the folk.
But on a night when the lanterns were first lit, she was guessing riddles at the Lantern Festival. Coincidentally, she met a handsome young man, but that young man snatched the lantern she loved most.
She angrily said to the man in front of her, "That was the one I took a fancy to. Hurry up and hand it over."
But that young man raised his eyebrows and retorted, "This lantern was won by me through guessing riddles. How could it be yours, miss?"
Shangyang angrily stamped her foot and walked out of the crowd. Unexpectedly, that man chased after her. Then he leaned over and asked, "May I ask the miss's name?"
Shangyang didn't intend to pay attention to him. After all, in her heart, the man in front of her had no grace at all.
The young man saw that she didn't want to talk to him, so he raised the lantern in his hand and said, "If the miss tells me her name, then this lantern will belong to you."
Shangyang looked at the lantern, and her heart became a little hesitant. After all, she really liked that lantern. And even if she told her name, she didn't have to tell her real name. Thinking of this, she raised her eyebrows and replied, "Listen up, stinky boy. This princess... I mean, this miss is called Bu Ran!"
Bu Ran...
"What a unique name," he said and then handed the lantern in his hand over.
Shangyang took the lantern and happily let out a laugh. Then she was about to turn around and leave. But the next moment, she turned back and asked, "What's the young master's name?"
The young man clasped his fists and replied, "Qiao, the Qiao of the tree name."
"Just a single character. Could it be that you're from the Southern Neighboring Country?" Shangyang couldn't help but ask.
She had heard that the names of people in the Southern Neighboring Country were all single characters, so she had this question.
Only then did she notice that although the man in front of her was wearing the clothes of the Eastern Sheng country, his hair was tied into a small braid at the back of his head, and his eyes were also blue, like the starry sea.
Seeing this, she couldn't help but blush a little, feeling as if she was peeping at something.
Qiao neither affirmed nor denied her words. Instead, he nodded to indicate that she was right.
Princess Shangyang smiled at him and then left the Lantern Festival.
Qiao stood in the crowd and watched her back gradually disappear. The attendant beside him couldn't help but say to him, "Your Highness, if you don't take this marriage alliance seriously, the emperor will surely be angry."
After hearing this, he withdrew his gaze, stared coldly at the man beside him, and then said, "Where did you see that this king doesn't care?"
He just met a very interesting woman, so he just wanted to tease her.
After hearing this, the attendant no longer doubted. Then he asked, "Does Your Highness need this subordinate to secretly investigate the identity of that woman just now?"
"No need!" Qiao replied and then left the Lantern Festival.
He knew that the attendant beside him was sent by his father to monitor him. If he really let him investigate the woman's background, that woman might not survive tonight.
This was the sorrow of being a member of the royal family.
Thinking of this, he looked at the direction where the woman had left again, and a bitter smile curved on his lips.