Mei Qing felt a surge of anger welling up inside him. Although he knew it had happened many years ago, he still couldn’t let go of what had happened to his mother.
In the past, he had harbored some doubts about Bi Zhen’s stubborn refusal to forgive Lu Bing. But now that a similar situation had occurred with his own mother, he finally understood Bi Zhen’s feelings.
Although the Prince Xian, who had not yet ascended the throne, had quickly forgotten Chen Fei—the woman chosen by the old princess to become empress after spending a single night together—Mei Qing still couldn’t forgive him. Despite the fact that the prince had never mistreated Mei girl, and had even gone so far as to defy others and insist on keeping her in the palace, Mei Qing still couldn’t bring himself to forgive him.
He wanted the throne, and he wanted Mei girl’s beauty and heart, but he was unwilling to give anything in return.
That wasn’t love—it was merely selfishness.
Master Six’s voice grew somber as he murmured, “Before we realized it, April had arrived, and the imperial decree from the capital was already en route. At that time, eunuchs Gu Dayong, Wei Bin, and Zhang Jin, Grand Secretary Liang Chu, Duke Dingguo Xu Guangzuo, General Cui Yuan, and Minister of Rites Mao Cheng personally arrived to escort the prince. Since Mei girl could not appear in public, the emperor, fearing she might suffer mistreatment after his passing, left Lu Zhong behind. Additionally, he purchased a residence outside the palace grounds, assigned personnel to guard her, and secretly relocated her there.”
“At the time, since I was expecting a child, I requested permission from the emperor to stay behind and care for Mei girl while I awaited the birth of my own child. However, the emperor said that since the Taoist Master Maoyang had already departed, if I didn’t accompany him to the capital, he would have no one to rely upon. He desperately pleaded that there was no one else he could truly trust anymore. Becoming emperor meant standing alone, surrounded by formality, without any close companions. If I abandoned him, he would be utterly alone in the capital, left at the mercy of others—life itself would be worse than death.”
“At that time, I was torn between two duties. If it were only about Taoist cultivation, I wouldn’t have placed much importance on it. I simply couldn’t bear to part from my Taoist companion, and with fatherhood approaching, how could I possibly leave on a journey? Yet the emperor’s words deeply moved me. I had grown up with him since childhood, sharing in both good and bad deeds, like real brothers. When he begged me so desperately, how could I refuse without betraying both our brotherhood and my duty as a subject? So, in a moment of passion and without regard for my companion’s objections, I followed the emperor to the capital.”
When Mei Qing heard this, his mouth dropped open in shock, his eyes widening as he stared at Sixth Master. He stammered, “Ah… this… could it be… that you are… Commander Lu?”
“You’ve finally figured it out?” Sixth Master snorted. “That’s right, Sixth Master is Lu Bing, and Lu Bing is Sixth Master. Do you really think I’d go out of my way to invite you here and explain everything just for no reason? It’s all because of that girl, Bi!”
Mei Qing was momentarily speechless. Thinking back on it now, there had indeed been many inconsistencies all along. Whether it was Sixth Master’s strange attitude toward him or the subtle meanings hidden in his words, he should have suspected this much earlier. But he had already formed a prejudice against Lu Bing, while inexplicably feeling a strange fondness for Sixth Master from the beginning. That was why he had never made the connection. Now that he realized the truth, he felt like the biggest fool in the world.
“Then… then… what about Zhen’er?” Mei Qing asked with difficulty.
“That girl Bi has always been stubborn,” Sixth Master said, his tone fierce. “You must’ve heard about my story from her. Well, let me make this clear today—if you want to marry my daughter, you must accept me as her father. If you refuse to acknowledge me, don’t even think about marrying my daughter!”
“Oh… well… you do have a point… but… by the way, what happened to my mother later?” Mei Qing, suddenly realizing that Sixth Master had become his potential father-in-law, felt flustered and quickly tried to change the subject.
“A point? What do you mean ‘a point’? Isn’t it common sense that a girl’s uncle must be recognized as her father-in-law? Don’t tell me you dare to deny it!” Sixth Master snapped, his eyes flashing.
“As for what happened afterward, you can ask your Uncle Zhong. Didn’t I just mention that he was left behind to take care of things?”
It wasn’t surprising that “Uncle Zhong” was none other than Lu Zhong, the man Sixth Master had spoken of. Yet it was strange why Lu Zhong had stopped working and instead come to take care of him, and how he had ended up with the identity of a descendant of the Mei family.
When Mei Qing turned his gaze toward Lu Zhong, the old man sighed deeply and said, “It’s been so many years… every day I’ve been wondering how I should tell you this story if the time ever came.”
Shaking his head as he spoke, he continued, “Many of the questions you have, I myself don’t know how to answer. Because I’ve been trying to figure out the truth of what happened back then all these years. And every day, I’ve been afraid—afraid that before I die, I won’t have time to find the answers, and will carry these regrets with me into my grave.”
At this point, a trace of confusion flickered in his eyes as he continued, “When the Prince left for the capital and became the emperor, he left me behind to take care of the Lady. To be honest, in my eyes, only Mei girl was the true lady of the house. That later princess, I doubt anyone in the palace thought she could compare to the Lady.”
“So after the emperor entrusted the Lady to my care, I carefully arranged the residence, selecting dozens of trustworthy guards and servants from our household. As for the maids and elderly women, aside from the Lady’s two personal attendants, Duoyun and Wu’er, I didn’t use any of the old palace staff, instead hiring only new ones personally—people I had carefully chosen for their loyalty and integrity. Deep down, I had a rough idea that since the emperor had not taken the Lady with him to the capital this time, it likely meant she would never go there in the future.”
“Not long after, the second wave of people prepared to head to the capital, including the Princess and the Dowager Princess. Thus, a large number of people were to be drawn away from our estate in Anlu. Watching them joyfully prepare for the journey, I felt no envy at all. Still, I reminded the staff to keep quiet and not let the Lady know about these departures, for fear it might upset her.”
“Strangely enough, the Lady seemed completely indifferent to all of this. Every day, she remained in that residence. I remember when I bought the house, I had specially looked for a long time because I knew she loved plum blossoms. Finally, I found a residence with a garden full of plum trees. The Lady loved it and chose not to live in the main house, but instead moved into a small courtyard at the back. During those days, she rarely left the courtyard. Occasionally, when I had matters to report to her, she would ask a few questions, but not out of concern for management—merely out of innocent curiosity.”
A smile involuntarily appeared on Lu Zhong’s face as he recalled, “The Lady seemed untouched by worldly affairs. When she listened to my stories of the outside world, she would often smile like a child.”
“But more often than not, I noticed her looking troubled, as if she were worried about something. I couldn’t explain it, but I always had that feeling. And indeed—”
“I remember that day clearly—it was the sixth day of May. The day before had been the Dragon Boat Festival, and everyone in the estate was in a festive mood. I had even drunk a bit too much that night. The next morning, I woke up late, still feeling the effects of the wine, with a heavy head and no appetite for breakfast. As I was lying in my room, suddenly a servant woman came running in, breathlessly saying that the Lady had gone missing.”
“At first, I was startled, thinking it couldn’t be true. Maybe she had just gone for an early morning walk and taken longer than usual? But the servant insisted that wasn’t the case. Although the Lady often took walks, she always did so after breakfast. That morning, when the servants brought breakfast to the back garden, they found no sign of her. They searched everywhere, practically turning the garden upside down, but found no trace of her.”
“That’s when I really began to panic, rushing out to the garden. The back courtyard was filled only with maids and servant women, all in a state of chaos. I shouted in frustration, demanding to know how they had been taking care of the Lady. It was then that the same servant reminded me that the Lady’s daily care was always handled by Duoyun and Wu’er, and no one else interfered.”
“I ordered them to find Duoyun and Wu’er, only to learn that both of them had vanished as well.”
“I was nearly driven mad with worry. I immediately gathered everyone in the back courtyard and forbade anyone from leaving. Then I summoned the guards and household staff, disregarding all formalities, and had them search every inch of the garden for any sign of disturbance. I personally questioned several of the senior maids and servants.”
“But all of it was in vain. The Lady and her two maids had vanished as if they had flown away, leaving not a single trace behind. I even used some of my old connections, but neither the underworld nor the authorities had any information about the Lady.”
“I was deeply puzzled. If it were kidnappers or bandits, aside from the fact that our estate was heavily guarded, even if some master thief had managed to sneak in, there was no way he could have taken both maids at once. If the Lady had left on her own, why would she have done so? Some of my staff suggested that she might have learned of the Princess’s departure to the capital and left in anger.”
“Others thought this explanation likely, but I believed the Lady’s character made such an action unlikely. Still, in desperation, we decided to check the plum blossom valley where she had once lived.”
“In the past, the Lady had lived in that plum blossom valley. From what she had said, she seemed to have had little contact with the outside world. If she had indeed run away, it was most likely she had returned there. But when we arrived at the cliffs leading into the valley, we were utterly shocked.”
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