Seeing this, Mei Haoxuan's eyes darkened. There was a definite reason for the great power of the Mei family. His father had so many protégés outside. It was no wonder the emperor was wary of them. The emperor was already in his forties but still showed no sign of establishing a crown prince. Did he want to use the struggle among the princes to completely eliminate the two factions? If so, it could only be said that the emperor was extremely scheming!
After another moment of silent stillness, Lord Mei came up to Mei Haoxuan and gently patted him on the shoulder. "You don't need to take this matter too much to heart. I know you've always wanted to serve the country. Don't worry, there will surely be opportunities in the future."
Mei Haoxuan, whose thoughts had been seen through by Lord Mei, lowered his head. He had always wanted to join the army, but out of guilt and concern for Mei Qingxue, he had buried this thought deep in his heart. Now that Mei Qingxue could speak and was in a very cheerful mood, he felt much more at ease. And the long - buried thought began to stir again.
"Haoxuan will always remember Father's words."
"Good. Never make any mistakes in front of the emperor. Now, you may go if you have nothing else to do."
"Yes."
As soon as he walked out of the study, Mei Haoxuan adjusted his mood. As he passed a corridor, he saw a petite figure sitting on the railing. The slender legs were swinging back and forth.
"Xue'er, why are you here? It's getting dark and the wind is strong at night. You'd better go back to your room quickly." Mei Haoxuan stepped forward quickly and used his body to block the cold wind blowing towards Mei Qingxue.
"Xue'er has been waiting for big brother here." Mei Qingxue turned around and gave Mei Haoxuan a big smile. The dimples on her cheeks were like two snow pears blooming in winter.
Looking at his beautiful younger sister, Mei Haoxuan was slightly distracted. He was very touched that she cared so much about him.
"Does Xue'er want big brother to play with you?"
"Hehe, big brother is so smart." Mei Qingxue was waiting here partly because she was still a little worried about Mei Haoxuan, and partly because she had something to ask him to help with.
"What does Xue'er want big brother to play with you?"
"Big brother will know when we get to Xue'er's courtyard." Mei Qingxue said as she got up and walked towards her own courtyard.
The two walked side by side to the Pure Heart Courtyard. As soon as they entered the courtyard gate, they heard a barking sound. There was no need to guess. It was the fat Tibetan mastiff she had raised. Every time Mei Haoxuan came to her courtyard before, he would bring some delicious dried meat for it. It must have smelled Mei Haoxuan's scent and thought it was going to have a good meal again.
"Hehe, it's a pity. Big brother didn't bring any dried meat this time. I wonder how disappointed that guy will be!"
"Yes. I wonder if this big guy will still let me in." Mei Haoxuan said with a helpless smile.
Sure enough, seeing there was no dried meat it was expecting, the mastiff made a move to pounce on Mei Haoxuan. Fortunately, he had practiced martial arts since childhood and was very agile. Otherwise, he would have been knocked down by this gluttonous big dog in a very embarrassing way.
In the courtyard with flying dead branches and the cold wind blowing, the two people and the dog had a great time playing.
Mei Haoxuan left an hour later. When he walked out of the Pure Heart Courtyard, there was a sincere smile on his face. Just thinking of Xue'er's little face full of ink when he lost the chess game made him want to laugh. Moreover, he had even maliciously drawn a little turtle on her face!
The gloomy mood of the day was completely swept away by the fun with Mei Qingxue that night. Thinking of what he had done for her before, it actually didn't seem like much.
However, there was the matter Xue'er had proposed at the end...
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, because Lord Mei and Mei Haoxuan were going to the palace, they woke up very early. But they didn't know that in the Pure Heart Courtyard, the person who usually wouldn't get up until the sun was high was up very early today. Even Yue Ru, who could have slept in with her, was dug out of the warm quilt.
"Miss, why are you getting up so early?" The person who had been dug out of the warm quilt was very puzzled about what her miss was up to. Since she had served Mei Qingxue, she had never seen her get up so early.
"Stop talking so much nonsense. Hurry up and put on the clothes I told you to prepare. If you don't hurry up, they'll leave!" Compared with Yue Ru rubbing her sleepy eyes, Mei Qingxue seemed extremely energetic.
Yue Ru had no choice but to follow Mei Qingxue's order and take out the clothes they had prepared before. She completely forgot to wonder what her miss wanted those men's clothes for when it wasn't even fully dawn.
After the two of them changed their clothes and disguised themselves, they ran at full speed to the place where the prime minister's carriages were parked. Taking advantage of the moment when there was no one around, they quickly got into a red - painted carriage. Yue Ru recognized that this was the carriage of the eldest young master, Mei Haoxuan.
"Miss, why did you come into the eldest young master's carriage so early in the morning? Could it be that you..." Yue Ru guessed what Mei Qingxue was thinking and was greatly shocked.
"What's there to be so shocked about? I had no other choice. Big brother didn't agree to my request last night. This is what you call 'act first and report later', you know? But we must never let Father find out, or we'll never be able to go out again." Mei Qingxue knew that acting coquettishly could make Mei Haoxuan take her out of the mansion. But if her father knew about this, not only would her brother be scolded by their father because of her, but she would never be allowed to go out of the mansion again.
"But Miss, this is very dangerous! What if something unexpected happens..."
"Come on. Don't worry. I'll be careful. How could there be so many unexpected things?" She knew that because of her special status, she couldn't just run around. But now, this not - so - small prime minister's mansion could no longer hold her back. She was extremely longing for the outside world.
Before long, there came an orderly sound of footsteps outside the carriage. Mei Qingxue knew that it must be her father and brother. She quickly shut up and waited quietly.
Mei Haoxuan lifted the curtain and got into the carriage as usual. But as soon as he got in, the two figures huddled in the carriage startled him. He instinctively wanted to shout out.
Seeing this, Mei Qingxue quickly stepped forward and covered his mouth to prevent him from making any sound.
"Big brother, it's me. Don't shout!" Mei Qingxue whispered in Mei Haoxuan's ear.
Hearing Mei Qingxue's voice, Mei Haoxuan felt relieved but also quite helpless. Mei Qingxue had begged him last night to take her out of the mansion today. But he had to go to the palace before the morning court. Even if he took her out of the mansion, how could he rest assured leaving her alone outside? So he hadn't agreed last night.
Before long, there came the sound of the carriage moving outside. It seemed that her father's carriage had already left.
"Xue'er, you're being really naughty!"
"Big brother, I know my request is a bit excessive, but Xue'er really wants to go out of the mansion to play. If big brother is not in the mansion, Xue'er can't go out. So, big brother, please let me go out. I promise I'll come back on time, just like yesterday. Okay..." Mei Qingxue looked at Mei Haoxuan with hopeful eyes, her big eyes blinking.
Mei Haoxuan was so affected by Mei Qingxue's pleading eyes that he couldn't say no. Finally, he could only let out a sigh, which was a sign of his agreement.
"You must be very careful when you're outside alone. Don't let anyone know your identity, and don't let anyone know you're a girl, okay?" Mei Haoxuan looked at Mei Qingxue seriously and admonished her.
"En, I know, big brother. Xue'er will be very careful and prudent when doing things."
If people found out that the second young lady of the prime minister's mansion had gone out in men's clothing, who knew how those people in the court who were opposed to her father would slander her father and brother!
Yue Ru had thought that the eldest young master would drive the miss out of the carriage. Unexpectedly, the eldest young master finally agreed to take the miss out of the mansion. May God bless the miss and let nothing bad happen to her!