"What do you mean by seeming to have found?" Xiao Mei asked.

Brother Ying stammered, "I found her, but she seems different from before..."

At this moment, Brother Ying’s pair of mung bean-sized eyes were gazing in the direction of the Palace. In the Imperial Harem of the Great Yong Palace, the "Princess of Chu," now in her fifties, was patiently coaxing a chubby white baby in the Imperial Garden. Her skin remained fair and smooth, but her face no longer resembled the teenage girl Brother Ying first saw. She looked more like she was in her thirties or forties.

At this time, she was wearing a bright yellow Phoenix Robe, with a Nine-tailed Phoenix Hairpin symbolizing the mother of a nation on her head. Behind her stood a dozen palace maids and eunuchs like the wings of a wild goose, presenting a display worthy of an Empress Dowager.

"How is she different?" Cai Wei asked curiously.

Just then, Nangong Yi suddenly exclaimed, "Wei’er, look quickly!"

Cai Wei heard the sound and looked in the direction she was pointing. Across the way, at the entrance of a tea house, an elderly hunched figure sat under a willow tree basking in the sun. The old man appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, with white-streaked beard, clothed in coarse fabric, much like an ordinary commoner, but he looked somewhat familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.

"Hey? Who is he? I feel like I’ve seen him before!" Cai Wei said.

Nangong Yi, with some instability in his voice, said, "He’s the old man whom we rewarded with one ounce of silver at the tea house a month ago. This tea house is the same one we drank tea at before."

Upon hearing this, Cai Wei swayed, nearly falling over. At that moment, Brother Ying’s voice came again, "Master, the Princess of Chu is now the Empress of Great Yong, and her grandson is already running all over the place..."

Cai Wei’s head buzzed, staring blankly at the shop assistant who seemed to age overnight, suddenly recalling something, and said, "Yi, we must hurry back to the Great Jin!"

Nangong Yi thought of it too, nodding his head, then solemnly said, "Let’s go to Qing Luo first, see how Zhu’er... is doing..."

On the way to Qing Luo Kingdom, the husband and wife spoke not a word, nor did they dare to call Brother Ying out to see the changes in Mingzhu. They were afraid to face reality and could only pray in their hearts that it was not true, hoping their daughter was still as she used to be.

To think that their delicate onion-like daughter might suddenly become a woman in her fifties, the thought was unbearable. But both were preparing themselves mentally, thinking it likely that not just Mingzhu, but Jin’er and Yu’er could also now be over fifty, with beards white as the old man!

They had stayed in the Immortal Realm for forty days, while in the mortal world, forty years had passed!

When they arrived in Qing Luo Kingdom, they went to the Crown Prince’s Mansion, which still stood stately and solemn. The vermilion paint on the gate was bright, and the gold-plated studs were fresh, looking just as they did the last time they visited.

Cai Wei did not rush in but first went to a nearby restaurant to inquire from the shop assistant about the situation at the Crown Prince’s Mansion.

Seeing Cai Wei and Nangong Yi dressed in luxury, the shop assistant, eager for a tip, quickly said, "You two must not be from Qing Luo. It’s fine to tell you, our Crown Prince is the eldest son of Empress Nangong and His Majesty, twenty-three years old this year. The Crown Prince’s consort is the legitimate Eldest Princess of Great Jin Nation, and their heir is already three years old. Our Crown Prince is handsome, skilled in both literature and martial arts, humble and courteous, respects the talented and virtuous—a man beloved by the people..."

...

Cai Wei and Nangong Yi exchanged a silent glance, seeing the shock and fear in each other’s eyes.

It seemed they had really missed forty years in this world.

Forty years, seas changing into mulberry fields, all things changing, how many changes had occurred in this world? Their Great Jin Nation, their business ventures across the world, and most importantly, their children were all different from before, and they had not been there for any of it!

"Yi!"

Cai Wei called softly, her eyes revealing a faint sadness.

Nangong Yi patted her hand, giving her a comforting look as if saying, "It’s okay, you still have me!"

Receiving his comforting gaze, Cai Wei forced a slight smile, but felt no relief in her heart. She barely dared to think about what Mingzhu looked like now, and about Jin’er, Yu’er, whether they were already elderly knowing the fate of the years, and her parents, her younger brother and sister, she wondered if they were still alive...