“What are you laughing at?”

Chu Li looked at Mu Yunjin, his tone carrying a hint of surprise.

Hearing Chu Li’s voice, Mu Yunjin was slightly startled, but the smile remained on her face. “I was thinking about things from the past.”

If only Chu Li had recovered his memories now, how wonderful it would be to reminisce together.

Unfortunately, who knew how much longer they would have to wait?

……

After Chu Li finished bathing and they returned to the room, someone gently knocked on the door, and Mama Shen’s voice sounded from outside, “Your Highness, Princess Consort, the evening meal has been served.”

“Come in,” Chu Li said calmly.

Upon his words, the door was pushed open. Mama Shen led several young maids who placed the meal on the table one by one, after which everyone except Mama Shen left the room.

…

…

“Mama, you may go down too. There’s no need to wait on us here,” Mu Yunjin glanced at Mama Shen, standing nearby, concerned that she might not be able to handle the strain after just recovering from a serious illness.

Mama Shen shook her head, pursed her lips, and then smiled, “This servant has some fresh news to share.”

“Oh? What news?” Mu Yunjin raised her head, showing curiosity.

“Just now I heard people saying that someone passing by our former prince’s mansion—the one that was burned down—heard some small noises inside, saying it’s haunted…” Mama Shen said in a low voice.

Haunted…

Mu Yunjin’s mouth twitched, and she instinctively looked at Chu Li.

Chu Li, however, appeared indifferent. “Such matters can be discussed privately in your leisure time, Mama.”

“Yes, yes, yes, this servant understands.” Mama Shen gave an awkward smile and didn’t continue with the eerie topic.

Mu Yunjin, meanwhile, recalled what Huang Yan had said earlier about blocking all four entrances and exits of the secret passages. Her eyes shifted as she silently pondered that the secret passages must conceal some mysteries.

Mu Yunjin didn’t eat much of the evening meal. After just a few bites, she had lost her appetite. Under Chu Li’s coaxing, she drank two more bowls of soup before finally satisfying him.

After Mama Shen left the room, Mu Yunjin wiped her mouth and looked at Chu Li. “Who’s in the secret passage? Chu Qing?”

“Yes,” Chu Li nodded.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin’s lips curled slightly upward. For Chu Qing to discover that secret passage showed a certain level of ability.

However, for every foot the path rises, the demon rises ten. With Chu Li sealing the entrances and exits of the secret passages, Chu Qing would find it difficult to escape even with wings. If he did manage to escape by some stroke of luck, surely Chu Li had arranged people at every entrance and exit.

This time, Chu Qing would inevitably suffer greatly, one way or another.

“Alright, don’t dwell on such matters. Sleep early tonight. Tomorrow morning, you’ll likely be dragged out of bed early,” Chu Li glanced at Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“You’ll know tomorrow,” Chu Li reached out and pinched Mu Yunjin’s cheek.

“Being all mysterious,” Mu Yunjin pursed her lips, then obediently took out her light sleeping robe from the wardrobe and called for someone to prepare hot water for her bath.

After Mu Yunjin bathed and lay down on the bed, a pair of hands gently covered her lower abdomen.

“Your belly seems a bit bigger…” Chu Li said softly, turning to place a kiss on Mu Yunjin’s cheek.

“No, it’s not. You must be hallucinating,” Mu Yunjin placed her hand over Chu Li’s.

Chu Li grasped Mu Yunjin’s hand in return, his eyes full of smiles. “Then it must be that you’ve gained weight…”

“Chu Li, do you want me to kick you off the bed?” Mu Yunjin gritted her teeth, speaking coolly.

“You wouldn’t bear to,” Chu Li’s lips curled upward.

Mu Yunjin snorted lightly and turned her face away, ignoring Chu Li.

“Be good, no more teasing. Go to sleep,” Chu Li pulled her into his embrace and kissed her lips.

Mu Yunjin licked her lips, curled the corners of her mouth, and closed her eyes, cultivating sleepiness.

Soon, she fell gently asleep.

In the darkness, Chu Li lay with his eyes open, looking at the dark surroundings, without a trace of sleepiness.

……

The next day, just after the fifth watch.

“You brat, get up now!” A shout rang out at the door of Liquan Pavilion.

Mu Yunjin, who had been in deep sleep, heard this voice and suddenly opened her eyes, sitting up in bed.

In the room, Chu Li had already risen and was getting dressed. Seeing Mu Yunjin sit up with a jerk, he slightly curled his lips.

“Why is my master here?” Mu Yunjin gathered her senses and looked at Chu Li.

Chu Li, who was putting on his outer robe, replied after hearing Mu Yunjin’s words, “So many people were poisoned by Gu at the Plum Blossom Pavilion. We need Elder Feng Xuan’s help.”

Mu Yunjin frowned slightly, broadly understanding Chu Li’s meaning.

“By the way, this prince has to go out to attend to some matters later. Today, you just follow Elder Feng Xuan,” Chu Li instructed.

Mu Yunjin nodded.

Moments later, fully dressed, Mu Yunjin and Chu Li left the room together. As soon as they stepped out, they saw Daoist Feng Xuan sitting at the stone table in the courtyard, drinking tea.

Upon seeing the couple emerge, Daoist Feng Xuan snorted lightly, “What time is it already, and you’re just getting up!”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin pursed her lips, “It’s just the Mao hour (5-7 AM).”

“Hmph!” Daoist Feng Xuan stood up, looking at Chu Li and Mu Yunjin. “First, take me to eat breakfast.”

Shortly after, at the dining table.

“During this period, I’ve been investigating a matter, and yesterday I finally made some progress,” Daoist Feng Xuan spoke while drinking his porridge.

Chu Li and Mu Yunjin looked at Daoist Feng Xuan.

“It’s about that Shen Wanning,” Daoist Feng Xuan mentioned with contempt.

“Since Murong acknowledged this daughter, he has been extremely indulgent toward her, turning a blind eye to most things. Even knowing she follows the Black Robe causing trouble everywhere, he doesn’t intervene, completely violating the code of the jianghu.”

After a pause, Daoist Feng Xuan continued, “From the beginning, I’ve been puzzled about how the Black Robe knew Shen Wanning was Murong’s daughter, so during this time, I’ve been investigating information about that little girl from back then.”

“Have you found any clues?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Daoist Feng Xuan pursed his lips, “I found the wet nurse who once fed that girl, and she said… ahem…”

“What?” Mu Yunjin continued to press.

“She said that the girl has a red birthmark… here,” Daoist Feng Xuan pointed to his chest area.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin propped her chin with her hand, frowning slightly, “With such an obvious mark, Elder Murong should have verified it already, right?”

Daoist Feng Xuan shrugged, “Who knows?”

“By the way, you’ll come with me to the palace in a while,” Daoist Feng Xuan pointed at Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin made a sound of acknowledgment.

After breakfast, Chu Li left with Ding Xian and Song Chun, while Mu Yunjin went to the palace with Daoist Feng Xuan.

……

When they arrived at the Plum Blossom Pavilion, after yesterday’s incident, today’s pavilion appeared especially desolate.

Upon reaching the palace where Empress Qin had once resided, they could hear crying and shouting from inside, mostly from several official ladies who feared death, wailing and howling.

As Mu Yunjin and Daoist Feng Xuan approached, the surroundings of the palace were filled with imperial guards.

“Look, the Princess Consort of Ning has arrived…” Someone inside the palace first spotted Mu Yunjin’s figure and called out excitedly.

“Princess Consort of Ning, please save us!”

“Princess Consort of Ning…”

Mu Yunjin rubbed her aching head as Daoist Feng Xuan beside her laughed coldly, “These women, each one of them really is poisoned by Gu.”

“Speaking of which, how did you avoid this Gu poison?” Daoist Feng Xuan looked at Mu Yunjin and asked.

“Shen Wanning put the poison in the food, and I happened not to eat it,” Mu Yunjin pursed her lips, thinking now that she had indeed been fortunate.

Daoist Feng Xuan smiled, “You foolish girl, your brain works at critical moments.”

“I can’t tell if you’re praising me or insulting me,” Mu Yunjin said.

Daoist Feng Xuan smiled without saying anything.

“Master, do you have a way to neutralize this Gu poison?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Chu Li had invited Daoist Feng Xuan here, presumably to deal with this Gu poison, right?

“This master is not skilled in such witchcraft,” Daoist Feng Xuan raised his eyebrows.

“Then…” Mu Yunjin dragged out the word.

Daoist Feng Xuan extended his hand, calculating the time, “I can’t neutralize it, but someone can.”

Upon these words, Mu Yunjin felt a surge of powerful true energy around her, and then her vision blurred before a familiar figure appeared before her.

“Look, the person who can neutralize the poison has arrived.”

As soon as Murong Rusu stood still, he extended his hand toward Daoist Feng Xuan, his tone somber, “Feng Xuan, return my item to me!”

“What item do you want?” Daoist Feng Xuan stroked his beard, smiling as he looked at Murong Rusu.

Murong Rusu’s face darkened, his brows furrowing, “Feng Xuan, don’t force me to take action.”

Mu Yunjin, watching from the side, had never imagined that Daoist Feng Xuan would bring Elder Murong here. Elder Murong had secluded himself at Pingfeng Cliff for many years, removed from worldly affairs, yet now he had been forced out by Daoist Feng Xuan.

Now she understood Chu Li’s words from yesterday—

Evil people will be dealt with by other evil people.

“If you want me to return the item to you, first look at what your daughter has done!” Daoist Feng Xuan finished speaking and tilted his chin toward the people inside the palace.

Murong Rusu followed his gaze, and when he glimpsed the black marks on the faces and backs of the hands of those people, his brows tightly furrowed.

“See that? That daughter of yours, relying on your backing now, is causing trouble everywhere, poisoning people with Gu! Murong Rusu, you weren’t such an unreasonable person before,” Daoist Feng Xuan said.

“You deliberately stole my item, lured me here, just for this?” Murong Rusu spoke with displeasure, his tone carrying a hint of mockery.

Daoist Feng Xuan chuckled, neither confirming nor denying.

“Since you and I have known each other for so many years, you certainly know that I am a person who yields neither to softness nor hardness. You stole my item; I can choose not to want it back. These people, I can also choose not to save,” Murong Rusu laughed coldly.

Hearing this, Daoist Feng Xuan raised his eyebrows, “I certainly know what kind of person you, Murong Rusu, are. But I never expected that one day, you would indulge those around you to commit crimes, and I never expected that one day, you would not even want the jade pendant I once gave you.”

“…” Murong Rusu was stunned.

Mu Yunjin, watching from the side, didn’t dare interject.

In this brief moment, love, hatred, affection, and enmity—nothing was missing…

……

After a long while, Murong Rusu, with a tense face, said nothing and stepped into the palace.

Before leaving, he tossed a line to Daoist Feng Xuan, “I will save the people, but that jade pendant, since you’ve taken it, don’t give it back to me again.”