When the emperor returned to the palace, it was already late spring. Meili held six-month-old Yunke tightly against the wall, afraid that careless servants rushing back and forth would bump into the child. The maids and servant women were all busy loading luggage onto the carriage, Yunke enjoyed the commotion, snuggled in her mother's arms, watching the bustling scene with relish.

  Su Ying has more people on her side, and her luggage is several times that of Mei Li. After each giving birth to their children, the two have fewer opportunities to meet, and it seems like they are living separate lives in the same mansion. When Su Ying sees Mei Li, she still nods and smiles graciously.

  Meili responded politely. To be fair, Suyin was tolerant of her, because Jingxuan's rules made Suyin not enjoy much honor as the legitimate wife in front of her, but she did not make things difficult for her, nor did she come to her room or do anything that would embarrass her.

  Being able to ignore her is also a kind of tolerance.

  Jingxuan returned home in a hurry, missing his wife and children. However, Yunju was still young and had her life routine disrupted, so she threw a tantrum and wouldn't stop crying. Su'ein and the wet nurse couldn't comfort her, and the child's throat became hoarse from crying. Su'ein was anxious and cried while holding the child. The servants tried every trick to make the young master smile, telling Fugui not to worry, but the scene was chaotic.

  In comparison, Yunkai seemed carefree and heartless, watching as his brother's side was in an uproar while he laughed out loud. Mei Li smiled wryly and gently shook him, Yunkai had never liked to cry since he was young, which made her suffer less.

  Jingxuan took a glance at Meri, and she and Yunkui were being considerate for the time being. SuYan had already cried to the point of tears streaming down her face as she hugged the child and rushed into his arms, Jingxuan's heart ached, he took over Yunju and patted him a few times.

  Yun Jiao finally stopped crying and gave her mother some face, Yun Ying's personal maid and nanny all deliberately loudly praised the king for being fond of Yun Jiao usually, so Yun Jiao was especially close to her mother, and as soon as the king hugged her, she became obedient.

  Su Ying also burst into tears and laughed, pouting her mouth lovingly scolding Yun Yu for being heartless, trying to please Ama and tease E Ma.

  Jingxuan couldn't help but glance at Meri again, worried that she would be upset. She was hugging Yunkai with a smile and looking at Yunju who had stopped crying, his heart twisted, he turned away coldly and didn't look at her again.

  Meili rolled up the carriage curtains and left the city. The scenery was as open as it had been when they arrived, with more lush trees. Meili supported Yu Ke's armpits and held him by the window to show him the views along the way. The little child was also delighted to be traveling freely in the vast sky and earth, laughing and giggling. He stepped on her leg and kicked it straight up. Meili held him for a while before her arms started to ache. Afraid of the heat and afraid of being crowded, there were no other maids or servants in the carriage. Seeing Yu Ke so happy, she persisted in holding him.

  Jingxuan rode his horse over and walked alongside the carriage with a gloomy face, saying nothing.

  Meili smiled faintly, seemingly unaware of his anger, "Thirsty?"

  He didn't answer, but glared at her instead.

  She knew what he was angry about. If she could, she would also pretend to be sulky and look pitiful. But she... really didn't feel like it.

  She was just one of his wives, just his secondary wife. She had accepted this fact. When he went to Su Ying for the night, she could still bring Yun Xie over to sleep together, feeling at ease and happy.

  She has survived, coming out of the Anning Palace, she feels like she has died once. The innocent her, loving Jingxuan's her, fell on the desolate road of life. After Yonghe's death, the stubborn and uncompromising her, because of the child, was also forced to desperation by the cruel reality in the desperate journey of life. Now, she is a stranger to herself, she doesn't care what kind of woman she will become, as long as she still has Yunxiao, that's enough.

  Young husband and wife, old age companions. Although she and he are not yet old, they have already felt the meaning of this sentence. Love has disappeared, but life must go on. As long as he is good to Yu Nian, she will be good to him, treating him as her husband, as a benefactor who helps her and Yu Nian, as a prince... as anything.

  She gazed at Jingxuan's handsome and cold profile, this man was her husband, the father of her child... She smiled, but it was no longer the Jingxuan brother she knew, the Jingxuan she loved had also disappeared with her past on the road she didn't want to look back.

  Although bitter to the extreme, she still had illusions, struggling to get through... She and he could never go back to the starting point.

  He coldly glanced at her pale face, but ultimately couldn't remain indifferent, and in a low, angry tone, he called for the nanny to come over and take Yunkai away. Mei Li was unwilling, shaking her head in refusal, she didn't want to be separated from Yunkai, didn't want Yunkai out of her sight.

  He furrowed his brow, knowing that persuasion was useless, and dismounted to personally carry Yong Ke, placing him in the saddle in front of him. Yong Ke sat on Ama's tall horse with an even broader view, delightedly kicking his short legs as if urging the horse forward, which also eased Jing Xuan's cold expression somewhat.

  Meili leaned against the window and silently watched, a smile floating at the corner of her mouth.

  Yu Kui looked at the scenery for a while, then started to lose focus, secretly nibbling on the reins exposed between his mother's hands in front of him. Jing Xuan discovered this and pouted, slapping the back of his round head, making it nod heavily as he hummed and cried out in a low voice.

  "Dirty or not dirty?" Jing Xuan asked the six-month-old baby in a serious and solemn tone, as if he was having a real conversation with the infant, which made Mei Li burst out laughing.

  Jingxuan heard the sound and raised his head, catching that sweet smile that came from her heart. In the past, her face always had such a smile, but he was so disgusted, his eyes refused to stay on her lively and pretty face. Now... even a fleeting glance, he treasured it like a precious gem.

  He loudly called out to the ayi in the carriage behind to come and take Yunkai away, tossing the reins to the servant driving the carriage. Before Meili could utter a word of refusal, someone had already squeezed in beside her.

  In front of him was the coachman, and on both sides were attendants following along. He was rudely embracing her, his mouth not being honest and his hands not being honest either. She didn't dare to speak out to stop him, her face completely red.

  Her shy expression also made his heart flutter, and he was now obsessed with her every vivid expression. Her empty eyes, numb expression terrified him, pained him too much. He secretly delighted in repeatedly gazing at her rosy little mouth.

  No matter what role he has become in her heart, he already had the opportunity. The future years are still long, his efforts have seen returns, and he is encouraged to be good to her, to be good to Yun Ke, one day, he will walk back into her heart again.

  "Your Highness, Your Highness." A man outside the carriage called out in a low voice, apparently with something urgent. He seemed to know he was being presumptuous, his tone somewhat hollow.

  Jingxuan was furious, but Meili let out a sigh of relief. Taking advantage of the opportunity when he was drinking and asking what was wrong from across the car, she pushed him away some distance.

  "Your Highness... Hao Qi died in prison yesterday." The man outside the carriage said cautiously.

  Jingxuan's expression stiffened, and the hand that was tightly grasping her shoulder relaxed its grip.

  "Dead?" He frowned.

  "Now all the clues about the formation of the array have been cut off, so I hurriedly came to ask for your instructions, Your Highness."

  What's an array?

  Meili was stunned and listened carefully to their conversation.

  "Just die then." Jingxuan regained his composure and hummed coldly. "At worst, I'll send someone south again to thoroughly investigate for me!"

  "Ay." A response came from outside the car, then there was silence.

  Meili hesitated for a moment and asked in a soft voice, "The Array Map? Is it that important?"

  Jingxuan nodded casually, "It used to be Chengyi..." Both people felt a pang of sadness when mentioning Chengyi, "In charge of finding a substitute for the Emperor."

  "Can't find it after searching for so long?" She looked at the corner of the carriage.

  "It's already good if we can find it after eight or ten years. This matter can't be rushed, maybe we'll never find it in our lifetime, and it depends on fate." He didn't elaborate, and she didn't ask further.

  Ten years, eight years... No wonder Cheng Yi didn't rush to take it out at first. She blinked her eyes, regarding the huge treasure of the previous dynasty. Although the Emperor wanted to get it very much, he also understood that forcing wouldn't work. Maybe she should leave it for Yong Ke, maybe Yong Ke's life would undergo a great change because of this map.

  The return journey is always faster than the way here, taking care of Yunkai and worrying that Xiaoxiao will get sick due to not adapting, with many distracting things, I don't feel like time is passing quickly, unintentionally already halfway through, in a day or two we can enter the capital.

  After settling down from camping, I coaxed Yunke to sleep, and the sky had already turned completely dark.

  Meili slowly walked alone to the corner of the camp, setting up camp had a certain regularity, the position was always roughly the same, that tree was still there, and the stone buried under the soil at the foot of the tree should also be... But when she came back, only she was left!

  She deliberately avoids thinking of Yonghe, as long as she wants to survive, she can't think about it. Her heart has been loaded with a lot of pain and helplessness, if she doesn't evade the pain of Yonghe, she's afraid that she really can't bear it.

  She heard a faint footstep and by the light of the campfire she saw Jingxuan's gloomy face.

  He wasn't angry or blaming, just very gloomy. His eyes were even darker due to the overly complex emotions, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

  "Are you going to dig it up?" he asked her in a low voice.

  She stared blankly, shaking her head, "Everyone's gone......" Nothing makes sense.

  It's still the same place, but people have changed too much. This feeling is familiar, just like when she came out of Anning Temple and saw Zhi Yu, seeing him. At that time, she thought the hardships were already over, and she had endured to the end.

  "Unfulfilled wishes, I have buried deep underground..." Her thoughts flew far away, she had many unfulfilled wishes.

  He also looked at her in the firelight and was hurt by her expression of being lost in memories.

  The carriage finally stopped in front of the Qingqin Wangfu, and Mei Li was supported down from the carriage by a maid. She looked up at the high stone steps leading to the palace gate, where a huge plaque hung above the door.

  She recalled her youth, standing under this majestic gate tower, making a bold decision to become the mistress of this mansion. For the first time, she felt that being young and reckless was also good, at least it had been so magnificent.

  Now she looks at this magnificent mansion with nothing but sighs and more sighs.

  Time is indeed the most ruthless thing.

  She carried Yunke across the high threshold, yesterday's path was today's return journey, at this moment... it was a new starting point.