After Chu Li finished speaking, everyone in the hall dispersed to attend to their respective tasks.

Hua Ying first went to the courtyard house to get Little Mu from Qiqi, then used her formless space to travel to Prince Ning’s residence in the Western Yuan Kingdom.

When Mu Yunjin woke up, it was only the fourth watch of the night. The sky outside was beginning to brighten slightly. He shifted his position and discovered he was alone in the room.

Rising to light the candles in the room, Mu Yunjin put on a robe, walked to the door, and opened it. The courtyard was also empty.

Seeing this, Mu Yunjin frowned, guessing that Chu Li had gone to the Southern Court Kingdom while he was asleep.

Just as he was thinking this, a beam of light suddenly appeared in the room, followed by Hua Ying’s figure materializing in Mu Yunjin’s chamber, holding the sleeping Little Mu in her arms.

“Master…” Hua Ying saw Mu Yunjin standing at the door and called out to him softly.

Mu Yunjin was startled and turned around.

“Prince Ning and Huang Yan have gone to the Eastern Lin Kingdom and Northern Ming Kingdom, respectively, to look for clues about those who bought the Hexian Lotus. State Master An went to Zhangzhou City to find his brother Bai and see if other medicines could substitute for Hexian Lotus.” Hua Ying informed Mu Yunjin of their whereabouts.

Mu Yunjin approached, understanding after hearing Hua Ying’s words. As he took Little Mu and placed him on the bed, he said, “This epidemic in Gushan City is going to be a headache for quite some time.”

“Indeed. I heard you were injured last night?” Hua Ying looked at Mu Yunjin’s left arm.

“It’s nothing, just a small wound,” Mu Yunjin gently waved his left hand, finding that it wasn’t particularly serious.

Hearing this, Hua Ying nodded. “Before I left, Prince Ning asked me to tell you to stay in the residence for the next two days and not wander around, lest your wound reopen.”

“He treats me like a child. Am I that much trouble for him?” Mu Yunjin pouted.

Hua Ying smiled lightly. “In front of Prince Ning, Master is indeed more absent-minded than usual.”

“Oh?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow.

“It’s mainly because you trust him so much. When he’s around, you always let your guard down a bit, which makes it easier for you to get hurt,” Hua Ying checked Mu Yunjin’s wound and, seeing that the bandage was excellently applied, felt relieved.

Mu Yunjin pressed his lips together in a light smile, unable to resist teasing, “So is that how you are in front of Huang Yan?”

Hua Ying’s face suddenly reddened, and she lowered her gaze. “Master, please don’t joke about me.”

“I’ll freshen up first, then we can go eat something together,” Mu Yunjin said, walking toward the wardrobe to select and change into clothes.

In the early morning, Mamma Shen was busy around the residence. Even though Chu Li and Mu Yunjin weren’t home, she still followed the rules, ordering people to thoroughly clean the residence inside and out every day.

The only exception was when cleaning Liquan Pavilion—she either cleaned it personally or supervised closely, never allowing any maid to clean it alone.

Just as she arrived at Liquan Pavilion with a broom, she saw Mu Yunjin and Hua Ying coming out of the room, giving her quite a start.

“Oh my, Princess Consort, when did you return? This servant had no idea.” Mamma Shen was somewhat confused. She put down her broom and approached Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin smiled at Mamma Shen, curving his lips. “We returned late last night.”

“I see. And where are His Highness and the young master? Did they return with you?” Mamma Shen asked further.

“Little Mu is sleeping inside, and His Highness hasn’t returned yet,” Mu Yunjin replied.

Mamma Shen nodded in understanding. “Then Princess Consort, please sit here for a while. This servant will go tell the kitchen to prepare some food.”

With that, Mamma Shen hurried out of Liquan Pavilion.

Mu Yunjin and Hua Ying sat in the courtyard waiting. Thinking of Fengxiu Mountain from the previous night, Mu Yunjin looked at Hua Ying. “After breakfast, I want to go to Fengxiu Mountain to have a look.”

Hua Ying nodded. “The attacker was still on the mountain last night; there might be some clues left behind.”

“That’s what I was thinking. I mainly want to see if there are any other ways to ascend the mountain besides the normal path, ways that could evade the mountain guards’ attention,” Mu Yunjin said leisurely.

As the two chatted, Mamma Shen quickly returned with breakfast, placing the dishes one by one on the table before standing to the side.

Mu Yunjin took a bowl of red bean porridge and began eating it slowly. After a few bites, he looked at Mamma Shen beside him. “Mamma, has anything interesting happened in the last few days?”

“Interesting?” Hearing this, Mamma Shen thought carefully. “Nothing particularly interesting, but yesterday when I went out, I met the wife of a pharmacy owner. We chatted briefly, and I heard something somewhat amusing.”

“What did you chat about?” Hearing the word “pharmacy,” Mu Yunjin’s eyes sparkled with interest.

Mamma Shen smiled lightly. “When I was strolling around, I saw her coming out of a jewelry shop with a beaming face. I approached and asked what good thing had happened to make her so happy.”

“The pharmacy owner’s wife said that the most expensive medicinal herb in her shop, which rarely sells, had all been bought by a customer in one go yesterday. She earned nearly two hundred taels of silver in just that one day, which made her so happy that she went straight out to buy jewelry and rouge.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin and Hua Ying exchanged a glance. Mu Yunjin put down his spoon and looked at Mamma Shen. “That’s quite extraordinary. Did the owner’s wife mention what kind of person the buyer was?”

“Coincidentally, I was also curious about who could be so wealthy as to spend two hundred taels of silver in one go, so I asked the owner’s wife. She said it was a tall man, but judging from his accent, he didn’t seem to be a local,” Mamma Shen replied.

After speaking, she sighed. “It seems this person came from elsewhere and was urgently seeking medicine; otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent so much money.”

Mu Yunjin lowered his eyes, his thoughts drifting. By now, he had drawn two conclusions:

A man, not a local.

After thinking for a moment, Mu Yunjin suddenly thought of a key point. “Mamma, which pharmacy does the owner’s wife you mentioned belong to?”

“Wang’s Pharmacy in the city,” Mamma Shen answered.

After she spoke, Mu Yunjin and Hua Ying stood up, dropping the words, “We’re going out for a while.”

Then the two disappeared.

Walking on the way out of the residence, Mu Yunjin pressed his lips together, clasped his hands, and walked hurriedly. “Two hundred taels of silver is not a small sum. Perhaps we can find some crucial clues from the silver.”

A cup of tea later, the two arrived at Wang’s Pharmacy.

The owner’s wife was sitting in the shop cracking melon seeds. When she looked up and saw Mu Yunjin entering, she was startled and hurriedly stood up to welcome him.

“Princess Consort Ning, what brings you here?” the owner’s wife said warmly.

Mu Yunjin looked at the owner’s wife, curved his lips, pulled her to a corner, and lowered his voice. “I heard that yesterday someone spent two hundred taels to buy all your Hexian Lotus?”

“Yes, didn’t Prince Ning already ask about the Hexian Lotus last night? My husband received Prince Ning,” the owner’s wife said, somewhat surprised, thinking Mu Yunjin had also come to buy Hexian Lotus.

“I just want to ask about some details, nothing else,” Mu Yunjin smiled slightly.

The owner’s wife understood. “What would Princess Consort like to ask?”

“When that person came to buy Hexian Lotus yesterday, did he pay with silver ingots or silver notes?” Mu Yunjin asked.

“All silver, and all in small pieces—a big bag of silver fragments. I spent a long time counting it yesterday,” the owner’s wife said, gesturing to indicate the size of the bag of silver fragments. After speaking, she massaged her still-sore arm.

Hearing this response, Mu Yunjin frowned slightly, thinking that the person was extremely meticulous, even exchanging the silver into fragments in advance.

“May I see those silver fragments?” Mu Yunjin looked at the owner’s wife.

The owner’s wife was a bit stunned and looked somewhat troubled. “There were too many silver fragments. I went to the money house yesterday evening to exchange them for silver notes for safekeeping. However, there were still some scattered fragments left, which I threw into the money box mixed with other silver fragments. I don’t know which ones were from that person.”

After speaking, the owner’s wife tugged at Mu Yunjin’s sleeve and timidly asked, “Princess Consort, you’re questioning so carefully—has something serious happened? Or is the money that person gave not clean?”

The owner’s wife grew increasingly fearful and, without waiting for Mu Yunjin to ask to see the money box, walked directly to the counter, pulled out the box containing the money, and said, “Princess Consort, it’s all here.”

Mu Yunjin approached and sifted through the silver fragments inside. Most of these fragments looked the same; it was impossible to distinguish between them. After flipping through them a few times, Mu Yunjin closed the money box.

“You mentioned that the buyer’s accent suggested he wasn’t a local?” Mu Yunjin looked at the owner’s wife.

“Yes, he didn’t sound like a local, but I can’t say where he was from. He also wore a gauze hat on his head, so I couldn’t even see his face clearly,” the owner’s wife answered honestly.

Seeing that no clues could be found here, Mu Yunjin decided not to inquire further. After thanking the owner’s wife, he and Hua Ying walked out of the pharmacy.

“Princess Consort, has something happened?” The owner’s wife felt uneasy.

“No, I just heard he bought all the Hexian Lotus and wanted to buy some from him,” Mu Yunjin made up an excuse.

Hearing this, the owner’s wife finally felt relieved. Noting that both Chu Li and Mu Yunjin had come to inquire about Hexian Lotus in turn, she realized they must urgently need this herb. She offered some comfort, “Although Hexian Lotus is rare and precious, it’s available in most places. Some time ago, my husband mentioned that when he was traveling near Qingzhou, he saw a large patch of wild Hexian Lotus. He wanted to secretly gather some to bring back, but unfortunately, they were growing on cliffs, and he didn’t dare to collect them.”

“Qingzhou?” Mu Yunjin’s face showed a trace of surprise.

“Yes, that barren place Qingzhou. My husband also said that it’s a shame such a good thing as Hexian Lotus is growing in the wrong place, all wasted,” the owner’s wife sighed, just thinking about it made her feel like she had lost a large sum of money.

Mu Yunjin finally felt that this trip hadn’t been in vain. Before leaving, he asked the owner’s wife one last question, “You didn’t tell yesterday’s buyer about the Hexian Lotus in Qingzhou, did you?”

“Of course not. Otherwise, what business would I have left?” the owner’s wife laughed lightly.

“Good, remember to keep this information confidential,” Mu Yunjin said, taking out a string of pearl beads from his sleeve and handing them to the owner’s wife.

The owner’s wife saw the quality of the pearls, her eyes brightening. She hurriedly tucked the beads away, repeatedly expressing her thanks, thinking to herself that her luck these past two days had been boundless…