The Beauties of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 120

Wanlan stopped, smiling as she waited for him to run towards her.

"Wanlan! I said I'd wait for you to enter the palace together! How could you—"

"Alright! You're back safe and sound now, aren't you?" Wanlan sighed helplessly. "The matter with the Imperial Uncle is settled. He has promised me that he won't harm your elder brother. What we need to do next is to find out the dark side of your elder brother and figure out what problems he can't solve that led him to think so desperately."

Zhao Defang gripped her hand tightly as they walked, saying, "I don't think my brother would do such a thing. Just like you said, historical records are only written by people later on. Who knows what the truth is?"

"Alright! Let's not talk about this anymore. What does the Duke of Lu want with you?" The reason she chose to come to the palace today was because she saw the Privy Councilor Cao Bin come to see Zehua this morning, so she quietly left her residence and came to the palace alone.

Zhao Defang let out a long sigh. "Shouldn't you know? It's about the Northern Han matter."

"Although I hope that the matter of the Northern Han will not involve you, your elder brother died during that war, so... I don't know whether I should stop you."

“It’s no use trying to stop me. Even if I wanted to find out for myself, my Imperial Uncle wouldn’t allow me to ignore it.” He sighed somewhat dejectedly and said quietly, “Since the establishment of our Great Song Dynasty, the chaotic political situation has gradually become clear. My father has also brought all the territories into our Great Song territory. Two years ago, my father also brought the Southern Tang under the court, and a few days ago, Wuyue also surrendered its territory. Now, only the Northern Han is unwilling to surrender to our Great Song Dynasty. This is what they have always been unwilling to accept.”

Wanlan glanced at him intently, then suddenly said, "Zehua, you promised me that no matter what, you would never leave my side again, right? No matter what happens, you will always have me by your side, won't you?"

Zhao Defang nodded very seriously, "Of course!"

Wanlan smiled, "Then it's a deal!"

Suddenly sensing a hidden meaning in her smile, Zhao Defang paused, then asked somewhat uneasily, "Wanlan, is something going to happen?"

"It's nothing! I'm just reminding you not to forget your promise!" Yingying smiled and quickened her pace, pulling him along. "Let's go do a surprise inspection of Xu'er and see if that kid has been naughty today."

Chapter 106, The Curtain Falls Over the Vast Chu Sky (2)

In mid-May, Zhao Dezhao returned to Beijing.

Wanlan and he unexpectedly met at Chongde Hall.

She was quite surprised to see the man before her who had become so thin and melancholy. Zhao Dezhao didn't seem like the type to let trivial matters drive him to such a state of haggardness; after the incident with Princess Deqing, she thought this man had become very strong.

But seeing him like this now, Wanlan suddenly felt uneasy, wondering if this man was hoarding something.

Could he really be harboring ulterior motives?

After leaving Chongde Hall, she habitually headed towards the inner palace, but before she could enter through Xuanyou Gate, she was stopped by Zhao Dezhao, who had been following her. She was surprised for a moment, then greeted him with a smile:

"Your Highness, you've returned to the capital. When did you get back?"

Zhao Dezhao stared coldly at her, but answered a completely unrelated question, "Why did you let Defang return to the capital! What are you thinking? I thought you were the one who wanted to take Defang away, so why did you push her back at this critical juncture?"

Wanlan tilted her head to look at him and chuckled softly, "I thought this was what you and the Emperor hoped for."

“You—” Zhao Dezhao’s face turned ashen as she blocked his way.

That's right. He had clearly told her that he did not want Defang to retire, but if this woman really compromised so easily, she would not have encouraged Defang to stay in Jiangling for half a year, completely ignoring court affairs and the emperor's orders.

Wanlan turned her eyes away, the smile between her brows fading. "If Your Highness has nothing else to say, Wanlan will take her leave."

They continued walking towards Baoci Palace.

In recent days, she has often taken her youngest son and Zehua into the palace together, occasionally accompanying him to meet the Emperor in Chongde Hall. However, most of the time she goes to Baoci Palace to accompany her mother and Xu'er.

The Emperor was busy with the affairs of the Wuyue Kingdom and the aftermath of last year's Yellow River floods, so he basically entrusted the affairs of the Northern Han to Zehua and Privy Councilor Cao Bin to discuss with the ministers.

Wanlan remained silent as she watched Zehua, who seemed frustrated because he wanted to get rid of everything but couldn't bring himself to make a decision.

When they initially planned to return to Beijing, they should have considered all the consequences. Today's frustration was to be expected. Moreover, Zehua had to be patient because he was determined to save his elder brother.

Could she stop Zhao Dezhao from going to war with the emperor?

To put Zehua at ease, she told him so firmly that she would save his older brother.

But she clearly had no clue whatsoever.

The only way to make Zhao Dezhao disappear from this world without killing him was rejected by Ding Shaowei.

Perhaps she could find some time to ask that Taoist priest Ding if he had any solutions...

"mother?"

Someone nudged her. Wanlan lowered her eyes, looked at Xu'er's furrowed brows, and smiled, "What's wrong?"

"Even Mother ignores Xu'er."

"Alright, shall I apologize to Xu'er? Let's go home tonight and say goodbye to Grandmother."

"good!"

Xiao Weixu took the hand his mother offered, and the two left Qinlan Palace together.

"Mother, Father hasn't come to see Xu'er lately."

Wanlan stopped with a smile, squatted down to look him in the eye, and said, "Dad's busy, but you'll see him when you get home today. Aren't you happy?"

Wei Xu smiled, his eyes crinkling, "Happy!"

With a soft laugh, Wanlan picked him up and stepped out of the palace gate towards Gongci Palace.

Whether the Imperial Uncle was genuinely busy or doing it on purpose, he had completely neglected the Northern Expedition after handing it over to Zehua. Perhaps he was thinking that if he didn't give Zehua some practical matters to keep him in check, they would leave the capital again, and this time it would be difficult for them to return.

After bidding farewell to the Empress, they left the palace.

As soon as they stepped out of the palace gates, they saw the carriage that had come to pick them up, but the figure standing quietly beside the carriage surprised and delighted them.

Xiao Weixu couldn't wait to let go of her hand and run towards the person.