Meng Shanming nodded. "Understood. The Princess Consort has not slept all night. Please go back and rest first."
Feng Ruonan looked back at the room. "Sigh!" With a sigh, she politely took her leave.
"Da'an, you should go back as well," Meng Shanming said calmly.
"Yes!" Luo Da'an released the wheelchair, turned, and left. He was used to obeying military orders.
The little courtyard fell silent. Looking at the open door, Meng Shanming stood silent for a while before calling out, "County Princess, Meng Shanming requests an audience!"
There was no response from inside, so Meng Shanming called again, "County Princess, Meng Shanming requests an audience! County Princess, Meng Shanming requests an audience..."
When there was still no reply, he kept calling out, one cry after another. Even the female cultivator assigned to watch over the room could not help poking her head out to look several times.
At last, a figure emerged. Shang Shuqing finally appeared. She and the gaunt old man seated in his wheelchair looked at each other for a while in the faint light of dawn.
In the end, Shang Shuqing stepped out and bowed. Her voice was dry as she said, "Uncle Meng."
Meng Shanming turned his head toward the sky, now tinged with the pale white of a fish's belly. "It's dawn. Will you accompany me for a walk?"
Shang Shuqing lowered her head without a word. Meng Shanming said nothing either, simply sitting there quietly and waiting for her.
Finally, Shang Shuqing said softly, "Uncle Meng, allow Qing'er to change clothes."
She was still wearing yesterday's clothes. She had sat there all night without sleep and had not changed.
Meng Shanming said, "They look quite nice."
Shang Shuqing said, "I don't like dressing like this, but Sister-in-law insisted on making me wear it."