Xie Lang stepped forward, looking gentle with a rare calm look on his face.
The Empress Dowager looked up, glanced at him for a few times, and a nostalgic look appeared on her face. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "Yuan?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Zhao Yan saw that she was a bit more lucid and immediately patiently explained, "It's Miss Wen, Wen Xiyuan. Do you still remember, Your Highness?"
Shen Mingzhu, who didn't understand the situation, stood aside, shocked. Looking at the Empress Dowager's reaction, she bit her lips.
"Time flies. You've grown so big," the Empress Dowager looked at Xie Lang for a long time and said in surprise, "I remember the last time Yuan'er entered the palace, you were just this tall."
Saying that, the Empress Dowager gestured, indicating about knee - height. It was obvious that her memory was stuck in a long - ago time.
Shen Mingzhu felt a pang of sourness in her heart. She couldn't help but clench her hands tightly, afraid of losing her composure.
"It's been so long. Where's your mother now? Why hasn't she come to see me?"
Shen Mingzhu had never seen Xie Lang lose his composure. But at this moment, the person beside her was quiet. He slightly lowered his eyes, and his long eyelashes like butterfly wings covered the look in his eyes, with a hint of indescribable flavor.
Zhao Yan looked at Xie Lang, and there was a hint of pleading in her eyes.
Xie Lang quickly came back to his senses. Looking at the Empress Dowager, he smiled and said, "Your Highness, my mother and father have gone to the south of the Yangtze River these days. They plan to stay there for the summer this year. They are still on the way, and I don't know where they are now."
"Really?" The Empress Dowager smiled and said to him, "That's good. Yuan'er didn't look well when she came a few days ago. I even asked the imperial doctor to examine her. Now that she can go far away, it means she's almost recovered."
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness," Xie Lang smiled on the surface, and there was not a trace of sadness in his eyes. He seemed really happy and said to the Empress Dowager, "My mother has indeed improved a lot."
Shen Mingzhu couldn't help but take a quick look at Xie Lang, with complicated thoughts in her heart.
Xie Lang was still quiet inside.
"Alas! She didn't even leave me a letter," the Empress Dowager stood up. Her words seemed like a complaint, but there was a full - fledged smile in her tone. She continued to look at Xie Lang and asked, "It's not easy for you to enter the palace. Ming Cheng is really unreasonable. He doesn't even come to see you."
Sighing, the Empress Dowager turned to look at Zhao Yan and asked, "Zhao Yan, where has that rascal Ming Cheng gone again?"
Shen Mingzhu held her breath.
"Your Highness," Zhao Yan seemed to be used to answering the Empress Dowager's questions, so there was no flaw on her face. She said, "Don't you remember? His Highness Ming Cheng is studying with the grand tutor now. He's been very busy these days."
"Alas, my memory is so bad."
The Empress Dowager frowned upon hearing this and let out a deep sigh.
She turned her head and saw Shen Mingzhu holding Xie Lang's arm. Immediately, her face lit up. "This little girl is so beautiful. Is she the sweetheart of Yuan'er's son?"
Under her inquisitive gaze, Shen Mingzhu suddenly couldn't hold back. But then she heard Xie Lang beside her say, "Your Highness, this is my wife."
The Empress Dowager looked at Shen Mingzhu deeply. "I always feel kind when I look at you."
Shen Mingzhu nodded and stepped forward, unable to speak.
Zhao Yan had already taken a few soft breaths, and there were tears in her eyes.
"I'll give you a gift next time I see you," the Empress Dowager said with a smile and continued, "You may leave. It's not early. I won't hold you up anymore."
Shen Mingzhu nodded. Her mind was in a daze. She was led out of the main hall by the calm Xie Lang beside her.
As soon as they stepped out of the door, Xie Lang looked at Shen Mingzhu with red eyes and couldn't help frowning. "You..."
[No, no! Is Shen Mingzhu going to cry? What should I do? I've never been in such a situation!]
[Should I hand her a handkerchief or hug her to comfort her?]
Hearing his thoughts, Shen Mingzhu's heart skipped a beat. She was just about to speak.
Before Shen Mingzhu could react, the next moment, Xie Lang reached out and handed a handkerchief to her and said, "Wipe your tears if you feel sad."
Shen Mingzhu was silent for a moment. She took the handkerchief and thanked him.
When they returned to the mansion and finished dinner, Xie Lang skillfully made a makeshift bed on the floor. He was about to wash up and go to sleep.
Picking up the thin quilt he had specially found today, Xie Lang thought that although he didn't really want to let the dog - emperor have his way and build a new courtyard for Shen Mingzhu, he still had to find a way to move out.
It was too hot! There were so many charcoal basins in Shen Mingzhu's place that just looking at them made him feel hot. He didn't know why Shen Mingzhu showed no reaction at all.
When Xie Lang went to find the thin quilt today, he heard some vulgar remarks like "The son - in - law really has a strong constitution" and "Sure enough, they are newlyweds. Tsk" when he left. He almost tripped over his own feet.
Just as he was lowering his head in deep thought, Shen Mingzhu broke the silence in the room at this moment. Looking at Xie Lang, she said, "Mr. Xie, do you know my mother?"
Xie Lang looked up. Seeing the serious look on Shen Mingzhu's face, he also slightly restrained his own expression and said, "Yes."
"Actually, it's not really acquaintance," Xie Lang said. His face was expressionless, with a hint of coldness. "My mother and the Empress Dowager were close friends in their boudoir. Unfortunately, after my mother passed away, my father received an urgent imperial edict and had to go to the border. So I was sent to my maternal grandparents' home."
"The Empress Dowager once sent people to take care of me. But after my father returned home and married a step - mother, Mrs. Liu deliberately cut off my contact with the outside world. So the Empress Dowager just sent me some things from time to time and no longer summoned me."
So Xie Lang's humble and low - key personality must have something to do with Mrs. Liu.
Seeing the look of pity in Shen Mingzhu's eyes, Xie Lang didn't have any special emotions. He just thought she was a bit cute. She was in such a difficult situation herself, yet she still had the heart to pity him.
Shen Mingzhu was indeed born into a wealthy family. She wasn't stupid, but she had a rare innocence.
Looking at it today, the messy things around her were like a tangled ball of silk, impossible to sort out. Should he really cooperate with such a dangerous person?
"Then... do you know my elder brother?" Shen Mingzhu asked tentatively.
Xie Lang smiled upon hearing this and said, "Who in the capital doesn't know him? But we're not familiar."
Shen Mingzhu was silent, and Xie Lang also lowered his head in thought.
Before Xie Lang could come up with an answer, Shen Mingzhu hesitated for a moment and said to him, "You... Are you very hot?"
"Is it...?" Shen Mingzhu suddenly stopped.
She couldn't tell Xie Lang that he was physically weak to his face. But there were many good things in her private treasury, which could come in handy now.
Seeing that Xie Lang was so handsome with a few drops of sweat on his forehead, he looked like a jade statue with dewdrops on it, fair and translucent, not much different from herself. No wonder Xie Lang had the reputation of being a handsome playboy. This description was quite appropriate.
"I'll ask Chuntao to stew some soup tomorrow. Mr. Xie can have a bowl when you come back," Shen Mingzhu said.
At first, Xie Lang didn't understand why Shen Mingzhu suddenly cared about him. But after thinking about it for a moment, he immediately gritted his teeth, and there was a look of gnashing of teeth on his face.
Suddenly, Shen Mingzhu felt Xie Lang's breath approaching. She turned around and saw him standing behind her, looking at her half - smiling.