They had already arrived at Changqiu Palace, and even Xi He, foolish as she was, wouldn't make a move now.
Indeed, after not much time, they stopped in front of an exquisite bamboo building.
This bamboo building was surrounded by a fenced courtyard, and they were standing by the gate of the courtyard.
Xi He took a step forward, but still didn't open the door. She raised her voice and said, "Palace Lord, Xi He has returned."
The air seemed to fall silent for a moment, and then the gate of the fence actually opened.
Xi He walked in, followed closely by Shi Feilong Hao.
Shen Xiaoyan and the other two saw this and followed suit.
Before they could enter the bamboo building, they saw a slender figure fly out from inside.
She wore a light green dress and was slender and delicate. Because of her speed, her face was unclear, but her ink-black hair danced in the air.
Shen Xiaoyan saw her figure flicker and disappear. When she tried to look again, she could no longer find her shadow.
Shen Xiaoyan felt a little confused.
Could this be Zhen Lingrong?
Before she could think further, she felt herself being tightly hugged from behind.
Shen Xiaoyan's body instantly stiffened, and she instinctively prepared to attack the person behind her, but was quickly stopped by Zheng Wei beside her.
Looking at Zheng Wei in confusion, Shen Xiaoyan couldn't help but frown.
Zheng Wei gestured for her to look back.
Shen Xiaoyan found it strange, but patiently turned her head as much as possible.
Although she couldn't see her face, when she saw the green dress, she understood. This was the shadow she had just seen.
"You..."
Shen Xiaoyan opened her mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say.
Should she ask who you are?
Or why are you hugging me?
Either question sounded a little strange when spoken.
As she hesitated, she heard a soft sob from behind her.
Shen Xiaoyan: !
Why is she crying all of a sudden?
Heaven knows, she had only just arrived, and hadn't done anything!
Besides, she was the one being hugged, the one being taken advantage of!
"My good daughter, I've finally seen you. You have no idea how much I've missed you."
Listening to the voice, which still carried a hint of crying and a nasal tone, just those two sentences made Shen Xiaoyan's heart ache.
They say women are like water, but the memories of her past life only contained a violent woman who could smash a zombie's brain with a single punch.
And in this life, she had never seen such a delicate and fragile sister!
Xi He, while fair-skinned, was seen often, but these people were in no way comparable to Zhen Lingrong.
Could it be due to the difference in closeness?
Shen Xiaoyan thought for a moment, then firmly shook her head.
It had nothing to do with blood relations; it was just the feeling these people gave her.
Listening to the crying behind her, Shen Xiaoyan felt a headache.
Is this person really her mother?
Even Ruan Ruan hadn't cried on her for a long time!
As she gently moved her body, she felt the person behind her hug tighter. "Daughter, are you blaming me? You must be, otherwise why wouldn't you let me hug you?"
Hearing this, Shen Xiaoyan felt even more tired. Can we talk properly first?
Just hugging like this won't solve anything!
Just as Shen Xiaoyan was at a loss, Shen Xiaoming spoke, "Let go of my sister first. Let's talk properly."
"Eldest Sister?" Zhen Lingrong instinctively repeated the two words and immediately understood.
She let go of Shen Xiaoyan and turned to look at Shen Xiaoming.
Shen Xiaoyan took the opportunity to quickly turn around and finally saw Zhen Lingrong's face.
Her skin was like congealed fat, her eyebrows like distant mountains, her nose like a jade dewdrop, her lips like cherries, her eyes like blooming peonies. All the beautiful words were not enough to describe her beauty.
Fortunately, Zhen Lingrong was looking at Shen Xiaoming at the moment, so she didn't notice Shen Xiaoyan's dazed expression. Otherwise, Shen Xiaoyan would have felt very embarrassed.
Zhen Lingrong gazed at Shen Xiaoming's face with longing for a long time, then rushed forward.
Shen Xiaoming was caught off guard and was immediately embraced by Zhen Lingrong.
Shen Xiaoyan looked at Shen Xiaoming's flushed face and suddenly couldn't help but laugh.
He was just laughing at her earlier, and now he's on the receiving end?
Fortunately, Zhen Lingrong didn't hug for too long this time, and didn't need anyone to speak. She let go voluntarily.
At this moment, Xi He and Shi Fei also finally reacted. They grabbed Zhen Lingrong's hands and tried to pull her back.
Unexpectedly, Zhen Lingrong flicked her hands and looked at them with a frown, saying, "What are you two trying to do?"
Xi He was startled, and then her face turned red. "Palace Lord, I just..."
Zhen Lingrong didn't let her finish, and simply waved her hand, saying, "Don't talk. Can't you see I'm bonding with my child? This has nothing to do with you. All of you, leave."
After speaking, regardless of Xi He's disbelieving look, she took Shen Xiaoyan's hand in one and Shen Xiaoming's in the other and walked towards the bamboo building.
After walking only a few steps, she stopped again, turned to Xi He, and said, "Don't have your two children accompany me in the future."
A series of actions, done without any hesitation.
Her natural tone and expression were completely unlike her appearance.
Shen Xiaoyan was a little strange. She was gentle as water just now, how did she change so quickly?
But then she understood. This wasn't Zhen Lingrong changing.
Zhen Lingrong's reaction when she saw them was simply that of a mother.
And her tone when speaking to Xi He and her attitude in handling matters were because she was in a position of authority.
Even if her appearance was frail, how weak could the person who sat as the head of a palace be?
Thinking of this, Shen Xiaoyan couldn't help but chuckle bitterly.
Perhaps only she would think Zhen Lingrong was frail.
Didn't she see Xi He's expression, about to cry, yet she still didn't dare to say another word?
Zhen Lingrong no longer paid attention to Xi He and Shi Fei. She directly pulled Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaoming into the bamboo building, and Zheng Wei followed.
After Zheng Wei entered the bamboo building, the door of the bamboo building closed with a bang.
Most of the things inside the bamboo building were also made of bamboo. Shen Xiaoyan quickly scanned the room before retracting her gaze.
Such a simple and elegant place suited Zhen Lingrong very well.
But would the Palace Lord of Changqiu Palace living in such a place be a bit beneath her?
Zhen Lingrong clearly didn't know what Shen Xiaoyan was thinking. She pulled the two of them to sit on a bamboo chair, and as she turned to speak, she saw Zheng Wei approaching and wanting to sit beside them.
Zhen Lingrong blinked her eyes, her long eyelashes sweeping through the air like small fans.
"Who are you? How did you get in?"
Shen Xiaoyan: !
So this living person, she actually didn't see her just now?
Zheng Wei also raised his eyebrows. When did his presence become so low?
Shen Xiaoyan quickly answered for Zheng Wei. "This is my husband."
"Husband?"
Zhen Lingrong repeated loudly, immediately stood up from the bamboo chair, and quickly walked to Zheng Wei's side.
Shen Xiaoyan also stood up, looking at Zhen Lingrong with some concern.
Why was she so agitated?
Did she want to make a move directly?
But the reality proved she was overthinking.
Zhen Lingrong walked around Zheng Wei a few times, examined him from head to toe, and finally nodded with satisfaction.
"Good, good. As expected of my daughter, you have good taste in choosing a husband. You're just like your mother."
Shen Xiaoyan rubbed her forehead!
Is her mother suffering from a split personality?
Otherwise, why is she so talkative? Didn't she notice that they hadn't spoken much from beginning to end?
No, when did she admit this was her mother?
The past hadn't been cleared up yet, so how could she admit her so easily?
Shen Xiaoyan shook her head, clearing her thoughts.
She turned to look at Shen Xiaoming, who was sitting beside her. Although Shen Xiaoming's expression was calm, his straight back and tightly clasped hands told her that Shen Xiaoming was actually very nervous.
Shen Xiaoyan didn't think much of it. Let alone Shen Xiaoming, even she herself felt a little nervous.
Zhen Lingrong had already examined Zheng Wei and acknowledged his identity, telling him to sit down.
She, however, walked between Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaoming and sat down, extending her hands to pull Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaoming's hands.
Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaoming both dodged at the same time.
Zhen Lingrong looked at her empty hands, froze for a moment, and then showed a wry smile.
"Are you blaming Mother?"
Listening to Zhen Lingrong's somewhat pained words, Shen Xiaoyan also felt a pang in her heart.
But principles couldn't be discarded just like that. She had to ask about what happened back then and give the original owner an explanation.
After all, she wasn't the original Shen Xiaoyan. That Shen Xiaoyan was already dead.
Looking at the peerlessly beautiful woman in front of her, Shen Xiaoyan had an impulse to directly tell her that her daughter was dead.
But the words reached her lips, and she couldn't speak them.
Shen Xiaoming grew up with the original Shen Xiaoyan. It was inevitable that he could guess, but even if he guessed, he wouldn't say it.
Even though the original Shen Xiaoyan was weak, she was still his older sister.
The joy Zhen Lingrong showed when she first saw them was completely genuine.
Regardless of why Zhen Lingrong left, or why she didn't go back to find them later, she didn't want to strike her, who was overjoyed at finding her children, with such a blow.
She could well imagine if Zhen Lingrong knew the truth, would she be unable to bear the blow and wither away like a flower?
Shen Xiaoyan looked up at Shen Xiaoming. The brother and sister exchanged silent glances, but they could understand each other's intentions.
Seeing that Shen Xiaoming's intention was the same as hers, Shen Xiaoyan was relieved.
She had been afraid that Shen Xiaoming would insist on revealing the truth, and she would be helpless.
"Why did you leave back then?" Shen Xiaoyan asked.
"I..."
Zhen Lingrong opened her mouth to answer, but found that she couldn't answer this question.
Because, it wasn't her who wanted to leave in the first place!
Seeing this, Shen Xiaoyan also remembered that they had thought Zhen Lingrong was dead and buried her in a coffin, and Zhen Lingrong disappeared later.
After thinking for a moment, Shen Xiaoyan changed her question.
"Who took you away?"
Zhen Lingrong's face was blank. "I don't know. When I woke up, I was already back here."
Shen Xiaoyan frowned, looking at Zhen Lingrong's face. Seeing that she wasn't lying, she felt even more strange.
Zhen Lingrong didn't even know who saved her? Was it not Zheng Wen Zhen who saved her?
"Then did no one tell you?"
There were so many people in Changqiu Palace. Someone must have seen who brought Zhen Lingrong back, right?
Zhen Lingrong clearly understood the contempt in Shen Xiaoyan's tone for the people of Changqiu Palace. Although she felt a little embarrassed, she honestly shook her head. "No one really saw. They picked me up outside the main gate and brought me back."
Shen Xiaoyan was almost amused to the point of laughter.
Who was this kind samaritan?
It was fine if they didn't want anything in return, but they didn't even show their face. Were they that afraid of others finding them?
Or was their identity really something that couldn't be seen?
Thinking of this, Shen Xiaoyan felt a little more accepting.
After asking two questions that were as good as not asking, and getting answers that were as good as no answers, Shen Xiaoyan could only ask a third question.
"Why didn't you come back to find us? Do you know what kind of life we lived after you left?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhen Lingrong fell silent.
How could she not know?
Even if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she could imagine it!
"It wasn't that I didn't want to go, but I couldn't. I couldn't go to that small world. All the people I sent to find you never returned. I couldn't even find out where that small world was."
"In the first year after I returned, I was recuperating. After my body finally recovered, I wanted to go find you quickly."
"But it was then that I discovered I had completely forgotten how to get to the small world where you were."
"Originally, I didn't care about this minor matter. It wasn't a big deal after all. Even if I didn't know the name of the small world, as long as there was some connection, I would always be able to find the place."