The color drained from Zhao Xitai's face, and he looked extremely pale.
"I came here with sincerity, and you treat me like this?" he murmured. "If I don't do as you say, you will kill me?"
Mu Fulan looked at him.
"Prince, I have no intention of targeting you, but I am determined to take care of Mother Xie. You'd better find a way to send her here. If you can't, I will have to hand you over to Xie Changgeng."
Zhao Xitai stared at her steadily, without moving.
"Brother, take the prince to rest." She turned to Yuan Handing, "When he comes up with a solution, tell me."
Her childhood playmate in the palace would surely figure it out soon when she calmed down. Although her father would be furious at Changsha for detaining his son, he would never launch a long-distance attack at this time just to get his son back.
In the last battle, although his father failed to occupy Shangjing for a long time, he relied on this victory to quickly expand his territory and occupied almost half of the land in Hedong. The newly crowned King of Qi should be busy consolidating the Eastern Capital to deal with the attacks launched by Xie Changgeng at any time. How could he be distracted to deal with Changsha State
As for Zhao Xitai, if he wants to consolidate his position, he must go back as soon as possible, unless he gives up everything he has now.
He turned his face away almost stubbornly, looking at her, his steps stiff as he walked out step by step. This distraught figure made Mu Fulan feel a little sympathy.
But this compassion soon disappeared.
At this point, whether it is Zhao Xitai, who was born as the prince of Qi, or the princess of Changsha, everyone has become a player in the game. Who can do whatever they want
She knew that Zhao Xitai would not let her wait too long.
Late in the night, a small carriage covered with green felt entered from the north gate of Yuecheng. The wheels rolled over the smooth gravel road and sped away in the direction of the palace.
Early the next morning, a door opened.
Mu Fulan walked in.
Zhao Xitai sat cross-legged on the couch in the room with his eyes closed, as if in a trance.
Mu Fulan took his pulse, then stopped after a moment and took out a prescription.
"After you go back, take good care of yourself according to this prescription, and you will recover."
"Your people are waiting for you outside the north city gate. I won't see you off."
She placed the prescription in his hand.
When she reached the door, she heard a voice behind her.
"My lady, if my words count this time, will you still be so rude to me?"
Mu Fulan stopped and slowly turned her head.
Zhao Xitai got down from the couch and walked towards her.
"I don't blame you at all. Your brother is gone, and I know it's not easy for you."
He stopped in front of her and stared at her with a very gentle look.
"You are right to worry, my father. He really cannot be trusted. How can you trust the safety of your people on his promise?"
"It is also because of you that I know more clearly what I should do in the future."
He carefully put the prescription she gave him into his arms.
"I'm going. One day, when my words can be trusted, I'll come to find you again."
He looked at her deeply, as if imprinting the face in front of him into his mind, then turned, walked out of the door and walked away quickly.
A maid came to report that when the old lady arrived last night, she did not look well. She was very weak, probably sick, and had a bad temper, swearing all the time.
Mu Fulan arrived at the place where Xie's mother was temporarily staying, walked through the courtyard and came to the door. Before she went in, she heard the sound of dishes breaking in the house, followed by a groaning sound.
"Who are you? Why did you bring me here? What do you want to do? If you don't let me go, my son will come and kill you. I'll teach you a lesson..."
Mu Fulan stopped outside the threshold and looked inside.
Mother Xie was lying on the bed, her hair disheveled, her face pale, and she looked extremely haggard.
A maid was squatting on the ground, cleaning up the broken bowls. She looked up and saw Mu Fulan and called out "Princess".
When Xie's mother heard this, she opened her eyes as if she was pricked by a needle.
She turned her head and stared at Mu Fulan outside the door for a while. At first, she couldn't believe her eyes and rubbed them. Finally, she seemed to come to her senses, shouted "Mu", and got up.
Perhaps he was too weak, so when he sat up, his eyes rolled back, and with a thud, he fell backwards and fainted.
The maids behind Mu Fulan rushed in, pinched her Ren Zhong, and fed her ginseng soup. After a while, Xie's mother gradually recovered her breath, opened her eyes, and murmured, "How could it be you? Where is this place? Did Geng'er save me and settle me here with you? Where is he? Why hasn't he come to see me yet?"
"Madam, this is our Changsha Kingdom! Lord Xie is not here! It was our princess who rescued you from the King of Qi!" replied the maid Zhuyu.
"Also, our princess and Mr. Xie no longer have any relationship!"
The maid still remembered the loss that the princess suffered at the hands of the old lady when she first married into Xie County. She felt dissatisfied and could not help but say another sentence.
Mother Xie was stunned, her eyes dull. Suddenly, as if she was pricked by a needle, she called out "Mu" in a trembling voice, her eyes turned red, and tears fell.
"Is what this girl said true? No way! Geng'er can't divorce you! It's all my fault. I was blind before, so why did I look down on you? I'm sorry..."
The old lady started crying and snotting as she recounted how she was kidnapped that day.
"… My son's people wanted to take me away. I thought about how she had saved me before, so I went to see her before I left. She said she didn't want to get married and couldn't serve me, and she would rather shave her head and become a nun. I was soft-hearted and took her with me. I didn't expect that she would coax me…"
She grabbed Mu Fulan's hand.
"Now I know that you are the best! My dear daughter, don't worry, you saved me, and when I see my son, I will ask him to take back the divorce letter. You are still the daughter-in-law of my Xie family, you two can live happily together and give me a grandson..."
As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something, wiped her tears, and looked at Mu Fulan.
"Where is my darling grandson? Is he okay? Bring him here quickly so I can take a good look at him! When I saw him at the horse farm last year, I knew at first sight that he must be a member of the Xie family. He looks exactly like his father when he was a child. So well-behaved and handsome! He must have grown a lot taller, right? My poor grandson, he has grown up so much, but he still hasn't returned to his ancestral home to recognize his ancestors..."
The maids and servants looked at each other in confusion, thinking that Mother Xie was too frightened and became confused, and was talking nonsense in front of the princess.
"What are you still standing there for? Go now!"
The old lady was sick just now, but now she seemed to be in good spirits suddenly. She jumped up from the bed, looked around, and kept urging.
Mu Fulan was a little confused when she heard Mother Xie talking to herself, referring to Xi'er. Seeing her excited expression, she ordered everyone around to leave and said, "Old Madam Xie, when you are better, I will send someone to send you back to your son, that's all. I am no longer your daughter-in-law of the Xie family, and I have no intention of doing this in the future, please don't misunderstand me."
Mother Xie was stunned and stared at Mu Fulan blankly.
"You're not going back?" she murmured. "Are you still worried? I won't embarrass you anymore. I'll ask my son to treat you well..."
"Madam, please rest in peace. If you feel uncomfortable or need anything, please tell the maid."
Mu Fulan didn't want to say anything more and turned to leave, but Xie's mother grabbed her sleeve.
"What about my grandson? The one named Xi'er that you are raising right now! You asked me to bring him back with me!"
Mu Fulan said patiently, "Madam, Xi'er is my adopted child and has nothing to do with your Xie family. Madam, please don't think too much."
"No! Don't lie to me! My son told me in person that the child was born to him by you in his early years! It's just that it's inconvenient to bring him back, so I've been keeping him with you!"
Mu Fulan was stunned for a moment, then came to her senses and took off her sleeves.
"He's talking nonsense, don't take it seriously."
Although the girl from the Mu family in front of her today spoke politely, her coldness and ruthlessness made Xie's mother dare not act rashly again.
This was Changsha State, and he was all alone, without anyone to rely on. In addition, he had been frightened quite a bit in the past few days, so he no longer dared to show off his power as he did before.
The old lady was filled with grief and cried, "That child is obviously the grandson of my Xie family, and he looks exactly like my son when he was little! It's fine if you don't come back, I won't force you, but as a mother, you are so cruel to let this child be fatherless since childhood. If you don't return my grandson, I will not leave, and the worst that can happen is that I die here!"
Her crying was quite loud and the sound could be heard. The maids and servants outside should have heard it as well.
Facing her former mother-in-law, this unreasonable old woman, Mu Fulan felt helpless and caught off guard. At the same time, a small fire of unknown origin seemed to rise in her heart.
It was impossible for that person to know the past. She was the only one in the world who knew. She really didn't understand why that person would admit such a thing in front of his mother, causing such an unexpected trouble.
She just wanted to get the person back, and send him away as soon as possible after he recovered.
"Old lady, please don't cry."
A child's voice came from outside the door.
Xier stepped over the threshold, walked in, stopped beside Mu Fulan, and bowed to Xie's mother.
Xie's mother stopped crying at once, opened her eyes wide and looked at Xier, a smile slowly appeared on her face, and she hurriedly climbed down from the couch, without even putting on her shoes, and ran over in slippers, touching his little face and saying, "My darling grandson, you've grown so tall! Call me grandma!" The more she looked at him, the more she loved him. She hugged the child in her arms, holding him tightly, and refused to let go.
Xier let her hold her without struggling, and said, "Madam, my mother didn't lie to you. I was born and raised in a temple. Later I met my mother. Mr. Xie is not my father."
Mother Xie was stunned, glanced at Mu Fulan, and whispered, "Don't listen to her coaxing you! Your father has told your grandmother that you are his son."
Xi'er shook her head: "Old Madam, if you don't believe it, just get well sooner. When you go back, see Mr. Xie and ask him again, then you'll know, right?"
Mother Xie looked at the child in her arms, hesitated for a while, turned to Mu Fulan and said, "Forget it, my grandson will stay with you for now. Send me back quickly! After I find out everything, don't try to take my grandson away!"
Mu Fulan took Xier out and walked for a while in silence.
Xier looked up at her and said, "Mom, are you blaming me?" He hesitated.
"I saw that you were too tired these days, you lost a lot of weight, and you couldn't sleep at night. I wanted to help you."
A warm current surged through Mu Fulan's heart, and she suddenly felt as if her whole body was filled with strength again.
"You did a great job. You helped mother a lot!"
She smiled.