The silhouette of Empress Wenzhe appeared behind the pale golden curtain, her voice had the sweetness and pleasantness of a little girl, and implied the authority of an emperor.
In front of Xiao Muyun, she didn't say much, but simply expressed her good wishes for the future relationship between the two countries and congratulated Mu Lin on her good marriage. Although the two people present didn't feel very comfortable listening to it.
We are all politicians and we do a very good job of putting on a good show.
The Queen's meeting ended very simply. She said that the princess had been traveling a long way and should have a good rest today. There would be a dinner party in the palace tomorrow to welcome the princess, so the princess should not refuse.
Mu Lin also politely agreed.
The relationship between Mu Lin and Xiao Muyun is complicated and cannot be easily shaken by her, so she did not plan to do anything useless, and did not even try it.
After leaving the palace, Xiao Muyun invited Mu Lin to have dinner at the Hengyang Palace.
Seventeen years have passed since Princess Qianji invited them mother and son. Mu Lin had never been to the Hengyang Palace. She thought she would marry in as the hostess, but when she actually set foot here, it was earlier than she expected. However, things have changed and everything has changed.
After Xiao Muyun became the King of Hengyang, he renovated the palace from top to bottom according to his preferences. It had a unique layout and good taste, which was very much to Mu Lin's liking.
But she did not forget that the two were in a cold war and still maintained a cold face.
Xiao Muyun had long regretted arguing with him. He had finally invited him to his house, so why didn't he seize the opportunity to reconcile
On the table was a rare book that Mu Lin liked. The servants quickly served her delicious snacks that suited her taste best. Xiao Muyun excused herself and quickly changed into her favorite green robe. After coming back, it was as if some seal had been lifted. Her smile was so gentle that it was intoxicating, making Mu Lin feel like she was bathed in spring breeze.
Mu Lin looked away, still expressionless.
Xiao Muyun walked up to her, leaned over and said sincerely: "Lin'er, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have thought of you like that. You are as sincere about this relationship as I am, and you are always under pressure and pain, and I lost control of my emotions and hurt you..."
After just a few words of apology, Mu Lin's temper calmed down a lot, and her expression was not so cold. Most of the anger in her heart dissipated, and she said uncomfortably: "I am also wrong. Mu Yun, I didn't discuss anything with you, nor did I consider your feelings. I just vented my anger on you and said hurtful words."
"I'm sorry, I didn't protect you well."
"No, I was not prepared, and they teamed up to take advantage of me."
A faint light flashed across Xiao Muyun's eyes, and he suddenly said, "Zhang Ze'an is Qin Wudi's man."
Mu Lin was surprised, "Really?"
If this was true, Mu Lin felt like a fool. She thought she had disrupted the Southern Region, but she was being played around by Emperor Qin Wu. The Southern Region, which she had long since disregarded, stabbed her hard at the most critical moment.
Xiao Muyun nodded: "Ni Ke accidentally discovered traces of Zhang Ze'an's contact with Emperor Qin Wu."
Mu Lin's attention was not on that, he smiled and said: "Is her friendship for you so deep?" She was even willing to tell him such a secret.
Xiao Muyun said calmly, "It's just using her. Over the years, Tianlan has supported her openly or secretly, but she confused people and brought Xiao Yuan here to stir up trouble under the pretext of Nanyu joining Tianlan. Behind her is the shadow of Emperor Qin Wu."
Emperor Qin Wu's will was to influence the Southern Region through Zhang Ze'an. The Southern Region had been in turmoil for many years, and now it was about to be unified. Ni Ke might not hate the person behind the scenes after knowing this. She told Xiao Muyun that it was because the enemy of my enemy was my friend.
Mu Lin twitched her lips lightly, "So he had planned this all along. It's no wonder Zhang Ze'an has been planning this move for so many years. He has always made the Southern Region play both sides and become a threat to both sides. He must have contributed a lot to the unrest in the past few years. Now he has encouraged Ni Ke to come and destroy the marriage. It can be said that he has done it thoroughly and made the best use of everything."
Mu Lin really didn't expect that Emperor Wu was so crazy. In order to break them up, he started making arrangements five years ago and even used chess pieces that had been buried for many years.
To a certain extent, Emperor Wu of Qin had a deep affection for her.
"This chess piece is useless." A trace of murderous intent flashed across Xiao Muyun's eyes, which were extremely cold.
His people left for the Southern Region two days ago, and after a period of time, they will eliminate Zhang Ze'an through secret means. After returning from the Southern Region five years ago, he could probably guess that Mu Lin tried to assassinate Zhang Ze'an, but failed.
He made a judgment that Zhang Ze'an would die.
Mu Lin smiled and said, "If we don't abolish him, the ownership of the Southern Region may change."
Zhang Ze'an did have vision and ability. He made accurate bets and soon won the respect of the current Southern Territory King Kuza'an. In their opinion, it was inevitable that Kuza'an would make a choice that was beneficial to Daqin under his influence, such as biting Tianlan at the right time. Xiao Muyun would not allow this to happen.
Mu Lin and Xiao Muyun had different positions and did not say much about this matter.
Mu Lin asked curiously, "Where's Xiao Yuan?"
"Ni Ke's son was also a traitor and was imprisoned with him. My eldest brother's heir has already been chosen and named Xiao Ze. He is already in the palace."
That means they want to change Xiao Yuan's appearance. Mu Lin said with some worry, "You want to kill his mother who depends on him for life. Aren't you afraid that he will retaliate in the future?"
"This child has some signs of autism. After Ni Ke knew he was my eldest brother's son, she couldn't accept it and often went crazy. She was not kind to him. She even used his life as bait in order to marry me." At this point, Xiao Muyun felt pity for the child and sighed, "There are mothers in the world who don't love their children."
Mu Lin was not surprised, and even said numbly: "It's normal, especially when the child is not born to the person she loves. For Ni Ke, I'm afraid your brother is just a villain who took away her innocence."
Besides, isn't that what the Queen of Hell does? Because she doesn't love, or doesn't love that much, she can easily abandon it.
Although many years have passed, Xiao Muyun still wants to clear his brother's name: "What happened back then was a series of mistakes, and it's hard to tell right from wrong... I don't intend to shirk responsibility for my brother, but based on his behavior at the time and my understanding of him over the years... he really doesn't look like someone who would force a woman."
His elder brother had lived an upright life, and he believed that even if he was poisoned by spring poison, he would not bother to do it.
Although Mu Lin didn't know much about Xiao Muran, he still had some doubts.
"There are many suspicious points in this matter. Brother Xiao was poisoned that night and had difficulty walking. How could he enter the heavily guarded hot spring villa and be with the princess without making any announcement... Wait, did the princess mistake your brother for you and force him?" Mu Lin asked uncertainly.
She never thought that she had accidentally guessed the truth.
The elder brother took advantage of the woman's misfortune, and the woman took advantage of the elder brother's misfortune. Neither of them is honorable.
Xiao Muyun coughed lightly and said, "The results will be revealed in the next two days."
"Do you want to meet Xiao Ze?"
"Okay." Although his mother indirectly broke them up, Mu Lin would not vent his anger on a four-year-old child.
Apart from the old Prince Hengyang who was sent to the countryside for recuperation, this child was Xiao Muyun's only close relative.
Mu Lin suddenly became curious: "If Xiao Ze is really your child, what would you do?"
In fact, what she wanted to ask was, if he had to choose between his illegitimate child and her, which one would he give up
Xiao Muyun said without hesitation: "There is no if, I will not have a child with another woman, even if it is an accident."
After saying that, he looked at her speechlessly. Is he such a person? What a mess she was thinking about.
Mu Lin observed his reaction and suddenly felt relieved.
But happiness was not as strong as curiosity. She blinked and said, "But I want to know."
Xiao Muyun looked at her helplessly, thought for a moment and said, "Kinship is not like a lover, a friend, a subordinate or any other relationship where you can freely choose and prefer the one that suits your heart. The existence of blood ties is not unsolvable. Only those who care about it will become a hindrance, and those who don't care can just ignore it."
"so?"
Xiao Muyun said firmly: "I will only choose the person I recognize in my heart, and will not be affected by blood ties."
If he had to choose between the two, he would only choose her. For a child who was only related to him by blood, if possible, he would arrange a good family for him. If not, he would have to abandon her.
Mu Lin suddenly smiled: "In essence, we are the same people."
If you don't love her, you don't love her. It has nothing to do with blood relationship. Xiao Muyun finally understood what she meant by asking this. She was telling herself that if he could do it, she would do it too. So he didn't have to worry that she would give up him for the child.
She was reassuring him.
Xiao Muyun was sensitive. He was silent for a moment, and finally asked the last question in his mind: "Will you fall in love with Emperor Wu of Qin?"
In this relationship that can be said to be full of external troubles, the only thing they can rely on is each other's feelings. But what if she changes her mind
Xiao Muyun didn't want to be as sentimental as a woman, but he didn't want to doubt himself again and again during the nearly ten years of waiting in the future, questioning her in the distance, and feeling depressed and creating endless estrangement.
Mu Lin thought that she still did not bring him a sense of security, and asked: "If the empress must grant you a marriage, will you fall in love with your new princess?"
"No, but my marriage will not become a victim of politics."
"… "
"This was an accident, and no one wanted it to happen."
Mu Lin stared at him coldly: "No one can guarantee that the accident will not happen again."
"No, a political marriage only happens once and that's enough. No matter whether you can come back or not, I will only protect you for the rest of my life."
"I will definitely come back. Please wait for me. I will protect you for the rest of my life."
"What if I can't wait?"
"No matter what, I will be with you."
"I will wait for you until the end of my life."
"Okay." Mu Lin nodded vigorously, "And... I'm sorry."
Even if he didn't say it, she would still feel unhappy about it.
Xiao Muyun smiled gently and said slowly: "I accept your apology."