Chapter 267 - 265. I Know Something...

Third-person POV

Meiyun's hand froze for a second before she regained her composure in a blink of an eye. She couldn't blame Zhang Wei for asking this question, in actual, she thought that it was normal for him to ask his mother's whereabouts.

"Her Majesty Empress? This servant deeply apologize as I am unable to answer your question, Your Highness Prince Zhang. This servant doesn't know Her Majesty Empress's whereabouts as well. But please don't worry, His Majesty Emperor is giving his best to find Her Majesty Empress." Meiyun explained to not create any misunderstanding for the guileless children.

Zhang Wei's face instantly dropped in disappointment. He thought that he finally could know where his mother had gone for his entire life. Everyone spoke so highly of his mother, whether it was her martial arts, her control of magic, her heavenly beauty, her cooking skill, and her benevolent personality. Yet, not once had he ever seen or experienced it himself, except his mother's beauty.

The countless paintings and statues that his first brother made were sufficient for him to be able to recognize his mother at first glance. And to add it, his father would always talk about his wife that he deeply loved till this very second.

Zhang Wei overheard a gossip from the maids that a minister suggested his father to choose a new empress as the spot was currently empty because of his mother's disappearance. In a day, the minister got replaced and the whole court was given a heavy warning from Weisheng.

"As long as Zhen, Liu Weisheng, lives, only a lady name Xu Feihong can be Zhen's spouse."

That is the sentence that Weisheng gave before he left the morning court with an extremely displeased expression on his already dark face. The respect that Zhang Wei held for his father escalated and striving the same goal as his father for having a monogamy relationship.

Lu Cixi also never gave a comment regarding Weisheng's need to take another woman into his harem. She knew that her mere words wouldn't be able to compare to Weisheng's loyalty towards Hong er. Seeing that there were optional heirs for the throne, Lu Cixi didn't think about pursuing this matter to Weisheng. Furthermore, she was very satisfied with Hong er's mannerism and composure that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to deal with the gold digger women that were hungry for power.

Because of Hong er's absence, Lu Cixi once again became in charge of the Six Palace but her workload wasn't that much as there wasn't any concubine in the Inner Palace, to begin with, and the only thing that she needs to watch out more was her grandchildren's safety.

Other than that, Hong er's competent servants had flawlessly taken care of anything that needs to be done to lessen Lu Cixi's burden. Before Hong er's existence became unknown, she had left a command to her elite forces to support the Liu royal family and Xu family to the best of their ability which they did.

"Everyone kept saying that Imperial Father is trying his best to find Imperial Mother. Imperial Father has authority, power, money, everything, but even after more than a decade, there is still no result. I don't know if I can believe Imperial Father's words." Zhang Wei said with a visible disappointment in his gleaming red eyes.

Rong Ai stayed silent as deep inside her heart, she agreed with her brother's thoughts. It wasn't weird for them to have similar thoughts, opinions, and things that they interested in as they were together almost 24 hours a day.

Meiyun looked at Zhang Wei and sighed pitifully. She fully understood why Zhang Wei was thinking so, yet, she couldn't do anything about it as what she said just now was the truth.

"Your Highness Prince Zhang Wei, please allow this servant to explain this situation," Meiyun said gently.

Zhang Wei grumpily nodded his head in approval. Meiyun chuckled at how the kids would listen and obey her words although she was only a mere teacher and babysitter to them.

"As Your Highness, Prince Zhang know, a system that was implemented 13 years ago by His Majesty Emperor that every single person that passed a gate whether it is a city gate or border, Da Qi's citizen or not, their appearance and background require to be checked.

This system improved the security in our country and perhaps helps the search for Her Majesty Empress at the same time." Meiyun patiently explained with a serene expression.

Zhang Wei seemed to be not convinced yet as he countered Meiyun's statement, "But it has been 13 years and where is the result? What if Imperial Mother captivated in a place that she couldn't escape? Then we won't be able to find her for forever in this state."

Meiyun had known that both Zhang Wei and Rong Ai inherited their parent quick witted and intelligence, therefore Meiyun always prepared herself before engaging in any conversation with the twins especially when she was teaching them.

"Every two weeks, we do search for Her Majesty Empress in this particular place where we hold a strong suspicion on, nevertheless until now there hasn't been any trace of Her Majesty Empress. Furthermore, going into this place require high-skilled warriors and most of them couldn't get out of that place unscathed." Meiyun uttered as her eyes showed the disappointment towards her useless self.

"That place?" Rong Ai and Zhang Wei wondered.

Meiyun's hands froze for a second as she realized that she said something that she shouldn't say. She regained her composure in a blink of an eye and flashed a wide smile, "Well, it seems like General Di has arrived."

As soon as Meiyun said that, the carriage halted and a few light knocks sounded out from the door, "Meiyun?"

"Come in," Meiyun replied and opened the door for Di Shang.

"Greetings to Your Highness Prince Zhang and Princess Rong." Di Shang lowered his head into a bow.

"Please don't be so formal, Uncle Di. Please come in and take a seat." Rong Ai offered the seat across her which was the wide space of couch beside Bing Wen, Di Shang's son.

"Father..." Bing Wen patted the seat beside him while gently calling out to his father.

"If you insist…" Di Shang bowed once again before he passed the rein of his horse to the guard beside him and entered the carriage.

With Di Shang's presence in the carriage, Zhang Wei shut his lips and the conversation ended there and then.

.

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The sun has gone down, the troops also started to set up a camp in the middle of forest. Meiyun accompanied Zhang Wei and Rong Ai who were playing with her son inside the carriage while waiting for their tent to be done. Meanwhile, Di Shang was giving instruction to the troops for the night watch.

After Zhang Wei and RongAi's tent was set, they pulled Bing Wen with them into the tent. Meiyun chuckled seeing how the kids were still so lively after a day of rough journey. She stood in front of the tent to guard the kids while helping her husband at the same time.

However, inside of the tent, little did she know that the kids were having a serious interrogation with Bing Wen. Rong Ai peeked through the gap between the entrance curtains and gave Zhang Wei a thumb up when Meiyun was standing a few feet away from their tent.

Zhang Wei nodded his head and turned to look at the clueless Bing Wen, "Ah Wen, I am going to ask you something and you have to tell me the truth okay?"

Bing Wen who was quick-witted yet innocent obediently nodded his head. Since he was little, Bing Wen was trained by his mother and father to become an excellent assistant and guard for the future emperor, Liu Zhang Wei.

"Yes, Your Highness Prince Zhang. I will try my best to give you a satisfactory answer to your question." Bing Wen said with an expressionless face.

"Okay, tell me about that place that Auntie Meiyun talked about." Zhang Wei inquired.

Bing Wen stared at Zhang Wei for a while before he shook his head, "I don't know."

The shine in Zhang Wei's eyes dimmed in an instant. Another attempt and another failure, he couldn't count how many people he had sought just to know the answer to this question. He even snuck out to find his grandfather's brothers who were running a secret agent that collects information from all over the world.

(A/N: FYI, Xu Yingjie is Xu Tingfeng's oldest brother and he is the president of the guild. Xu Yongzheng is Xu Tingfeng's younger brother and he is the vice president of the guild.)

Originally they were an assassin guild but after reconsidering how many troubles they got from assassins, they decided to settle down by being Da Qi's biggest information resources. Yet, none of Zhang Wei's granduncles tell him and always changed the subject of the conversation which bothered him in some way.

"Well, if you say so…" Zhang Wei said dejectedly.

"But I know something about 'Cursed Land'" Bing Wen added.