Xiao Jinglin, sitting in the carriage, couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows upon hearing this. It so happened that Hongying hadn’t accompanied them out today, while Nanxing, who had always maintained a cold expression, frowned upon hearing this and glanced outside through the curtain.

Mu Hu, who had been eagerly following the carriage at a trot, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine for some unknown reason. He involuntarily stopped in his tracks, and even after the carriage had sped away into the distance, he still stood there with that same dumbfounded expression, looking exactly like a large dog that had been inexplicably rejected without understanding the reason.

Ren Yaoqi found the city patrol general quite interesting and couldn’t help but smile with pursed lips. However, being a considerate person, even though Hongying wasn’t present, she didn’t make any teasing remarks or inquiries.

Xiao Jinglin had only just learned that Mu Hu, with his dark complexion, had been harboring intentions toward her maid all along. She couldn’t help but snort coldly, thinking to herself that indeed, when the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam follows suit—what kind of master, what kind of subordinate.

Both Prince Xian’s mansion and the Ren family residence were located on Baobing Alley. Although the two households weren’t particularly close to each other, there were hardly any carriages or pedestrians on the street at this hour, so Xiao Jinglin’s carriage quickly arrived at the Ren family’s main gate.

As Ren Yaoqi was about to step down from the carriage, Xiao Jinglin suddenly said, “During the banquet earlier, at least three groups of people attempted to enter Yunyang City but were stopped by Mu Hu’s men.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi paused in the middle of her farewell words and didn’t hurry to get up. After thinking for a moment, she frowned and asked, “Were they people from the court or Ningxia?”

The people entering Yunyang City at this time were certainly coming for Li Tianyou’s wedding. No wonder there were many more city patrol soldiers today, yet there were noticeably fewer pedestrians on the roads. Ren Yaoqi had felt something was amiss along the way, and now that Xiao Jinglin had mentioned it, she finally caught a whiff of the tense atmosphere. No wonder Xiao Jinglin had insisted on personally escorting her home.

“Probably both,” Xiao Jinglin still maintained her expressionless demeanor. Having experienced the cruel baptism of battlefield warfare, she wouldn’t even twitch an eyebrow if enemies were at the city gates, let alone worry about a few small fry.

However, she still cautioned Ren Yaoqi, “You should all avoid going out recently. Although Yunyang City is relatively safe under the watchful eyes of Prince Yanbei’s mansion, and no one would dare make any major moves, we can’t guarantee that someone won’t resort to underhanded tactics.” Xiao Jinglin was thinking of the previous incident when Ren Yaohua had been kidnapped, fearing that someone might use despicable means to harm Ren Yaoqi. After all, besides Li Tianyou, Ren Yaoqi and her mother were the people with the closest blood ties to Prince Xian.

Xiao Jinglin’s concern was evident in her expression. While Ren Yaoqi felt warmed by this, she also thought of another matter. Xiao Jinglin’s solemn warning about safety, combined with the Princess Consort’s attendance at Li Tianyou’s wedding banquet today, didn’t this suggest that Prince Xian’s mansion would be making some significant moves in the coming days?

Ren Yaoqi’s mind conjured up the gentle and compassionate words Li Shi had spoken last time, when Li Shi had said she would never let her suffer any grievances.

With these thoughts, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but cast an inquiring glance at Xiao Jinglin. Xiao Jinglin seemed to know what she was thinking and, though she didn’t explain anything verbally, gave a slight nod.

Ren Yaoqi immediately understood that her speculation was likely correct, and her face involuntarily showed a trace of contemplation.

Seeing her furrowed brows, Xiao Jinglin couldn’t help but comfort her, “Don’t be afraid. Everything will be fine.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi looked up and smiled at Xiao Jinglin, “Mm, I’m not afraid.”

After exchanging a few more words, Ren Yaoqi finally stepped down from the carriage and returned to her mansion.

Only after Ren Yaoqi had left did Xiao Jinglin’s carriage turn around and head toward Prince Yanbei’s mansion. Throughout the journey, both Xiao Jinglin and Nanxing were not talkative by nature, so the interior of the carriage was extremely quiet, as if no one was riding inside. Remarkably, neither of them felt uncomfortable with this silence.

As the carriage was approaching Prince Yanbei’s mansion, Xiao Jinglin heard a sound and lifted the carriage curtain to look outside. She happened to see Mu Hu jogging toward them, apparently trying to catch up with their carriage.

Xiao Jinglin expressionlessly lowered the curtain, pretending she hadn’t seen anything. It wasn’t until the carriage entered the prince’s mansion and slowly came to a stop that she gave Nanxing, who was lifting the curtain for her, a thoughtful glance before stepping down from the carriage without a word.

If Xiao Jingxi or Ren Yaoqi had been present now, they would certainly have been able to detect the well-concealed hint of mischievous amusement beneath Xiao Jinglin’s serious expression. Unfortunately, Nanxing was not one of Xiao Jinglin’s people and had always been assigned by Xiao Jingxi to handle external affairs, rarely interacting with Xiao Jinglin. Therefore, in Nanxing’s mind and eyes, Xiao Jinglin had always been a dignified and upright female general.

Mu Hu happened to catch up at just this moment. Thanks to his solid martial arts foundation, this chase on foot had only made his breathing slightly more rapid than usual. The dark-skinned Mu Hu respectfully saluted Xiao Jinglin, grinning widely, truly showing teeth but not a face.

“This subordinate pays respects to Deputy General Xiao.”

However, his eyes were darting about, stealing glances at Nanxing behind Xiao Jinglin. He rubbed his hands together and bashfully scraped his boot soles on the ground, presenting a picture of shy embarrassment.

“Hong… Hongying girl is here too… hehe… hehe…”

Nanxing: “…”

Xiao Jinglin glanced at Mu Hu, snorted coldly, and walked away without saying a word.

Nanxing gave Mu Hu a cold sweep of her gaze, a look sharp as a blade that made the foolish smile freeze on Mu Hu’s face. Then Nanxing also walked away without a word, following behind Xiao Jinglin.

Mu Hu watched them leave with a wronged expression, and only after a long while did he scratch his head, “What… what’s wrong?”

After Xiao Jinglin and Nanxing had walked some distance, Nanxing suddenly spoke up, “Princess, this servant has a request.”

Xiao Jinglin stopped and looked at her, nodding, “What is it?”

Nanxing maintained her rigid, cold expression as she respectfully said, “Princess, if that fool… if that person surnamed Mu asks you for permission to marry Hongying, please do not agree.” Someone who couldn’t even recognize people still wanted to get married? Dream on!

Xiao Jinglin thought for a moment, “What if Hongying herself is willing?” She was, after all, an enlightened and easygoing master.

Nanxing bit her lip, momentarily at a loss for words. Although she had never heard Hongying mention this Mu Hu person, and Hongying didn’t seem like someone who had a romantic interest, what if?

Xiao Jinglin, however, stroked her chin thoughtfully, then kindly offered Nanxing a suggestion, “Why don’t you test him? Just now it was dark and he couldn’t recognize you, which is understandable, but if he mistakes you for someone else again next time, you should give him a good beating. Oh, and remember to put a sack over his head before beating him is, after all, one of Xiao Jingxi’s people.” Princess Xiao spoke with complete seriousness and righteous dignity.

Nanxing: “…”

Having dispensed her advice, Xiao Jinglin walked away with her hands clasped behind her back.