After resting in the residence for two more days, Huang Yan hurriedly rushed over from North Ming Country. As soon as he arrived at Prince Ning’s mansion, without even taking a sip of water, he headed straight to Liquan Pavilion to find Chu Li and Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin and Chu Li were sitting in the courtyard drinking tea. When they saw Huang Yan rushing into the courtyard, they were both slightly startled.

In just a few days since they had last seen him, Huang Yan had lost considerable weight. The sparkle in his eyes was not like before, and his entire person seemed dispirited and extremely dejected.

“Your Highness, Princess Consort.” Upon seeing Chu Li and Mu Yunjin, Huang Yan first greeted them.

“Sit,” Chu Li gestured for him to sit down.

Huang Yan nodded and sat down in the empty seat nearby. After sitting, he poured himself a cup of water and drank it in one gulp.

“Where is Hua Ying? Didn’t she come with you?” Mu Yunjin inquired.

“She…” Huang Yan paused, not knowing where to begin. “She’s been hiding these past few days, unwilling to see me.”

Chu Li raised his eyes to look at Huang Yan and spoke flatly, “Because of your wish to become a spirit beast?”

Huang Yan made a sound of agreement. Since Chu Li had brought up the matter, he turned his gaze to Mu Yunjin. “Princess Consort, when you have time, could you take me to Fengyu Pavilion? I want to go to the book chamber to find out if there are any records about spirit beasts.”

Mu Yunjin pursed her lips. Speaking of time, she had plenty, but it depended on whether a certain someone would allow her to go…

With this thought, she turned to look at Chu Li.

Chu Li seemed not to notice Mu Yunjin’s gaze and spoke coolly to Huang Yan, “This Prince will go with you to Fengyu Pavilion.”

“What about me?” Mu Yunjin pouted.

“The ten days aren’t up yet. You’d better stay obediently in the residence.” Chu Li’s lips curved slightly.

Mu Yunjin immediately deflated. She had thought that with Huang Yan’s arrival, she could end Chu Li’s “house arrest” order early, but he was still unwilling to relent.

“Then we shouldn’t delay. Can we go to Fengyu Pavilion now?” Huang Yan had barely warmed his seat before excitedly standing up and looking at Chu Li.

Chu Li knew that Huang Yan was anxious about this matter, and didn’t want to waste his time, so he nodded in agreement.

“This Prince will first go to Fengyu Pavilion. You stay in the residence and wait for my return. Don’t wander around, understand? After half an hour, go back to your room and lie down. Waist injuries aren’t suitable for prolonged sitting.” Before leaving, Chu Li gave Mu Yunjin a string of instructions.

Mu Yunjin nodded repeatedly. These past few days, every time before Chu Li went out, he would say a lot of the same things. She could almost recite them backward by now.

“Mm, good.”

…

After Chu Li and Huang Yan left, Mu Yunjin looked around. Since Chu Li didn’t allow idle people to approach Liquan Pavilion without reason, now the entire pavilion had only her.

Mu Yunjin sighed and stood up. She had originally planned to go back to her room to catch up on sleep to pass the time, but suddenly remembered that she had hardly seen little Mu’er these past two days.

Thinking of this, Mu Yunjin unhesitatingly walked out of Liquan Pavilion.

After all, she was just walking around in the residence and wouldn’t get into any trouble.

After leaving Liquan Pavilion, Meng Rui, who was guarding outside, immediately came forward. Looking at Mu Yunjin, her expression was somewhat troubled. “Princess Consort, His Highness instructed before leaving that you shouldn’t wander around.”

“It’s fine. I’m just going to see little Mu’er for a moment, then I’ll go back to rest.” Mu Yunjin smiled and asked, “Where is little Mu’er now?”

Meng Rui naturally didn’t dare to disobey Mu Yunjin’s wishes and honestly answered, “The young master is in the garden.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin headed toward the garden.

As she approached the garden, Mu Yunjin immediately spotted Yun Guangyao in the pavilion.

Yun Guangyao was holding little Mu’er high in his hands, making the child laugh non-stop. Yun Guangyao’s hearty laughter also carried out.

Seeing this scene, Mu Yunjin couldn’t help but pause her steps, standing in place, quite amazed.

Yun Guangyao had been in the residence for about five days, and in these five days, Mu Yunjin hadn’t seen him once. Only Mamma Shen occasionally brought little Mu’er to her for visits.

According to Mamma Shen, Yun Guangyao was devoted to little Mu’er, showering him with affection.

Initially, Mu Yunjin couldn’t imagine that scene; after all, in her mind, Yun Guangyao was a rather peculiar and rigid person. She couldn’t imagine him playing with a child.

Now seeing it, Mu Yunjin not only felt somewhat surreal but also couldn’t help but marvel at how many faces a person could have.

Who could imagine that the ruler of a country would put aside his status to play with a small infant?

If word got out, it would probably make the ministers of South Court Country drop their jaws.

“Your Majesty, the Princess Consort of Prince Ning has arrived.” In the pavilion, Yun Guangyao’s attendant, upon seeing Mu Yunjin outside, quietly reminded him.

Hearing this, Yun Guangyao immediately put away the smile on his face and turned to look outside the pavilion.

Seeing how his expression changed faster than turning a page, Mu Yunjin held back her laughter and walked leisurely into the pavilion.

Approaching Yun Guangyao, she first bowed, “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Mm, no need for formalities.” Yun Guangyao spoke uncomfortably.

“Yi yi ya…” Little Mu’er, upon seeing Mu Yunjin, waved his hands, wanting her to hold him.

Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow. This little one hadn’t completely forgotten his mother after all. She reached out her hand and looked at Yun Guangyao, “Let me hold him for a while, please.”

Yun Guangyao handed little Mu’er to Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin took little Mu’er, sat down on a chair nearby, and lowered her gaze to examine little Mu’er’s features. Suddenly, she realized that this infant was changing so much, almost a different appearance every day.

“I heard from Chu Li that you were injured. Have you fully recovered now?” Yun Guangyao placed his hands behind his back. When facing Mu Yunjin alone, he didn’t know what to say.

Mu Yunjin nodded with a smile, “Nothing serious. It’s almost all healed.”

“Mm, that’s good.” Yun Guangyao also sat down nearby and opened his mouth, “I have been here for a few days already and plan to return to South Court Country tomorrow.”

Hearing this news, Mu Yunjin raised her eyes, “Won’t Your Majesty stay a few more days?”

“No, a country cannot be without its ruler for a day. There is a pile of matters waiting for me in South Court Country. My main purpose in coming this time was to see you all…”

“Lian Qing went to the Great Saint Continent and returned severely injured. According to him, you were all also seriously injured, so I took this opportunity to make a trip to West Yuan Country.”

Mu Yunjin’s lips curved slightly upward, and she raised her eyes, “This time on the Great Saint Continent, we were greatly aided by the Snow Soul Pills Your Majesty gifted us. Without them, we would have been in serious trouble.”

“No need to thank me. The Snow Soul Pills were my birth gift to little Mu. If you want to thank someone, thank little Mu.” As Yun Guangyao spoke, he winked at little Mu’er in Mu Yunjin’s arms.

Little Mu’er was immediately amused again.

“Princess Consort, you should go back to rest.” Meng Rui, seeing that Mu Yunjin had been here for quite a while, summoned her courage to remind her.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin nodded in agreement. After handing little Mu’er to Yun Guangyao, she rose to leave.

After Mu Yunjin and Meng Rui left the pavilion, the attendant beside Yun Guangyao stepped forward and commented with some feeling, “Your Majesty, didn’t you plan to reveal your identity as father to Prince Ning this time? How come you’re leaving tomorrow? You’ve barely spoken a few words with Prince Ning during this visit.”

“No need. I suddenly feel it’s unnecessary. As long as they are living well, that’s enough…”

…

Nightfall.

When Mu Yunjin was sleeping in her room at midnight, a cold light flashed in the room. With a low growl, the Ink Qilin appeared in her chamber.

Mu Yunjin heard the movement in the room and opened her eyes with a “swoosh.” Seeing the Ink Qilin before her eyes, she narrowed her eyes, “Ink Qilin?”

“Aoowu…” The Ink Qilin stepped forward.

“Did Chu Li send you to find me?” Mu Yunjin asked.

The Ink Qilin nodded.

Mu Yunjin was slightly startled, got up to light the candles in the room, and checked the time. It had just passed the hour of zi (midnight).

For Chu Li to send the Ink Qilin to find her at this hour, had he encountered some thorny issue?

Thinking of this possibility, Mu Yunjin quickly walked to the wardrobe and began to dress and tidy herself.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Mu Yunjin left together with the Ink Qilin.

…

In Fengyu Pavilion, though it was night, the place was brightly lit. When Mu Yunjin arrived, Qiqi ran over first, hugging Mu Yunjin’s arm. “Master, you’ve finally come! I’ve missed you so much.”

Mu Yunjin smiled lightly, “After becoming human, are you adapting well?”

“Hmph, having no powers isn’t good at all. Look at my arm, it was scratched yesterday when I was arguing with some shrews in the street!” Qiqi spoke with puffed cheeks, showing her arm.

Mu Yunjin took a look and put her arm around her shoulders as they walked forward. “Some things you gain, some you lose. In the future, let others accompany you when you go out.”

“Sigh, I didn’t know I was so fragile now,” Qiqi spoke gloomily.

After saying this, she remembered the main business, “Prince Ning and Huang Yan are in the book chamber. They asked for the master to go to the book chamber first when you arrived.”

“Alright, I’ll go over first to see.”

Soon, Mu Yunjin arrived at the book chamber of Fengyu Pavilion. As soon as she entered, she saw Chu Li and Huang Yan standing inside, each browsing through books from the shelves.

“Have you discovered anything?” Mu Yunjin spoke.

Hearing Mu Yunjin’s voice, Chu Li and Huang Yan turned their gazes. Then Huang Yan excitedly picked up a book from nearby, walked up to Mu Yunjin, flipped to the middle, and said, “Princess Consort, can you look at this book for me?”

Mu Yunjin took the book and lowered her head to look at its contents.

Beside her, Huang Yan, seeing that Mu Yunjin was reading, excitedly pointed to one section. “It says here about the poison that Leng Yuan used on the subordinates of Fengyu Pavilion back then. If I can find the formula for that poison, could I become a spirit beast?”

“But this formula doesn’t say how to accurately turn you into a snake spirit…” Mu Yunjin, after reading the content Huang Yan was pointing to, looked at the title of the book.

Huang Yan, upon hearing Mu Yunjin’s words, was stunned for a moment, frowning as he suddenly realized he had missed such an important point. “Indeed, it doesn’t say how to become a snake spirit. If I accidentally became a pig spirit, wouldn’t that be a huge loss for me?”

“The content of this book should be incorrect.” Mu Yunjin put away the book in her hand and looked to the side.

“Chu Li, you sent the Ink Qilin to find me. Is it because you’ve made a significant discovery?” Mu Yunjin walked toward Chu Li. If there wasn’t a major discovery, given Chu Li’s temperament, he wouldn’t have had the Ink Qilin disturb her.

Chu Li nodded and also picked up a book. “This book records the types of spirit beasts, but the page about snake spirits is missing…”