The room fell into an eerie silence for a moment.

Mu Jinghu slumped dejectedly in a side chair.

Qin Yining didn’t know how to comfort him either. Mu Jinghu wasn’t someone who would casually slander others. Since he said this, it meant this matter had truly happened.

She had previously received a letter from Bingtang, saying that Qiu Feishan’s illness was strange. Now it seemed that if she was feigning illness, Bingtang couldn’t diagnose any disease, yet she insisted on complaining of headaches. Naturally, Bingtang wouldn’t know the reason and could only classify it as a strange ailment.

By delaying Mu Jinghu’s steps this way, Qin Yining felt there were two reasons behind it. One was that Qiu Feishan didn’t want Mu Jinghu to get involved in Pang Xiao’s affairs, and the other was perhaps also for Mu Jinghu’s safety.

Qiu Feishan was exceptionally intelligent, with both wit and methods that were outstanding. Her willingness to think of these things for her husband couldn’t be said to show she was completely indifferent toward Mu Jinghu.

Unfortunately, Qiu Feishan had miscalculated Mu Jinghu’s reaction. She hadn’t expected that Mu Jinghu would value loyalty so highly, preferring to choose loyalty to his brothers and keep his promises rather than favor her just because she was his son’s mother. Mu Jinghu’s actions were likely beyond Qiu Feishan’s expectations, and his departure would surely leave her feeling regretful and disheartened.

Qin Yining opened her mouth slightly. Faced with a woman who had schemed against both herself and Pang Xiao, it would be impossible to say that Qin Yining could treat her as before. But to say she harbored deep hatred for Qiu Feishan wasn’t quite true either. It was simply a matter of different positions. While she didn’t approve of what Qiu Feishan had done, she could understand it. In the future, they would simply go their separate ways, as those with different paths shouldn’t conspire together.

She only pitied Mu Jinghu.

He had chosen his own wife, not hesitating to abduct her to negotiate terms and force her into marriage. He must have been extremely fond of Qiu Feishan. But the woman he loved had deceived him and even seemed to have used him. He wasn’t the type of man to shirk responsibility, and Qiu Feishan had borne him Yan Ge’er.

This was truly a tangled mess that couldn’t be sorted out.

Qin Yining shook her head and let out a long sigh. “Young Master Mu, it’s ultimately because of Zhixi and my affairs that have implicated you. If not for this, you and Boss Qiu could have been an ordinary couple, living a peaceful life.”

Mu Jinghu smiled bitterly and shook his head. “You don’t need to comfort me. I know her temperament too well. She’s simply not the type who would live peacefully. Even without your and Zhixi’s matters in between, her nature wouldn’t change. She’d still go looking for trouble when there was none, stirring up problems. If I wanted her to return to Tianji Valley with me to live a tranquil life, she’d probably suffocate to death!”

Qin Yining was speechless.

“From now on, I never want to deal with her again!” The more Mu Jinghu thought about it, the angrier he became. He heavily slapped the small table, making the tea bowls on top rattle loudly.

Seeing him lose his temper like this, Qin Yining couldn’t help but sigh again. Mu Jinghu wasn’t a particularly complex person. Once he determined his own set of principles, he would follow his heart in his actions. He was hurt by Qiu Feishan’s behavior, otherwise he wouldn’t speak of his own wife this way in front of her.

“Alright, don’t be angry anymore. She is, after all, Yan Ge’er’s birth mother, and Yan Ge’er is your eldest son. He’s innocent. Being angry is one thing, but you still need to consider Yan Ge’er.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Jinghu painfully grabbed his hair, clearly confused to the extreme.

Qin Yining didn’t know whether she should continue persuading him, as this was the first time she had seen Mu Jinghu show such an expression.

Her heart felt heavy too. After all, she had considered Qiu Feishan to be her ally.

“I will never trust her again.” After a long while, Mu Jinghu finally spoke with a hoarse voice. “I don’t care about wealth or luxurious living. What I care about is her feelings toward me. She has been deceiving and using me from beginning to end, and this is what I find most difficult to accept. I also know that Yan Ge’er is innocent. Once I finish the business here, I’ll take Yan Ge’er to my side to properly educate him. From now on, Qiu Feishan and I will have no relationship. She’ll take her broad path, and I’ll cross my single-log bridge. Even if I live poorly with Yan Ge’er, that’s the life we father and son should live.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Yining knew that Mu Jinghu was at the height of his anger and had become disheartened. For a moment, she didn’t know how to persuade him, so she could only comfort him by saying, “Don’t get stuck in a rut about everything. Handle things calmly. No matter what, with Zhixi and me here, you and Yan Ge’er will always have a home to return to.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Jinghu looked up at Qin Yining’s sincere eyes. After a long moment, he nodded.

Soon, Jingzhe and the others had packed up their belongings, and Ji Zeyu also came to find them.

“You should leave as quickly as possible. While the Tatars are currently resting and have no time to pay attention to so much, I’ll lead people to escort you away.”

Qin Yining shook her head, somewhat worried. “It’s easy for us to escape. But it won’t be easy for you to continue guarding this place. The common people in the city already don’t have much food. You’ll have to garrison here for who knows how long, and feeding both people and horses is a huge expense.”

Though she didn’t finish her words, Ji Zeyu understood Qin Yining’s concern.

The national treasury being tight wasn’t a matter of just one or two days. The Emperor had spent all his silver on building his imperial mausoleum, nearly exhausting the reserves. Now with great disasters across the land, common people displaced and homeless, uprisings due to hunger occurring in various prefectures—these disturbances hadn’t been suppressed yet, and the Tatars had taken advantage of the chaos to invade. It wasn’t that Li Qitian didn’t want to send provisions to Ji Zeyu, but that he himself was strapped for resources.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find a way.” Ji Zeyu didn’t elaborate, but with a confident raise of his eyebrow, he selected men to exit the city and harass the enemy, executing a diversion tactic.

Qin Yining bid farewell to Lu Weigui, boarded her carriage with Jingzhe, Liao Zhibing and others, and followed Ji Zeyu’s side as they broke through the encirclement.

The Tatars had also become exhausted from their long-distance raid. Moreover, they had just prepared to set up camp, so their defenses were still very weak. Ji Zeyu’s men caught them off guard. During the battle, Qin Yining’s group chose an inconspicuous small road and quickly escaped.

The sounds of fighting and killing gradually faded away. Qin Yining worriedly lifted the carriage curtain to look back, only seeing two groups of troops fighting together. Ji Zeyu’s group was fighting while retreating toward the city gate, and people from the city had also opened the gates to provide support.

Qin Yining let out a sigh. “We’ve left, but Duke Dingguo will have to clean up this entire mess.”

“This isn’t Your Highness’s fault. The fault lies with the Tatars taking advantage of the chaos to invade, and furthermore with the Emperor’s incompetence. If he had been willing to put in a little effort on ordinary days, it wouldn’t have come to being completely helpless at this time.” Jiyun’s voice grew higher as she spoke, making Liao Zhibing, Meng Qin, and the others following the carriage all fired up, joining in the discussion.

Mu Jinghu rode alongside the convoy with a grim expression, not saying a word.

Qin Yining lifted the curtain to see Mu Jinghu like this and couldn’t help but sigh again.

Because they were traveling urgently and the capital wasn’t far from here, after camping outside for two nights, Qin Yining’s group quickly reached the capital.

However, the scene before them shocked and dismayed the entire group even more.

Before their eyes was a vast empty area where disaster victims were lying or sitting everywhere in disarray. There were even women so thin they were just skin and bones, with sunken cheeks, still clutching children in their arms and gently rocking them.

The large empty space in front of the city gates was filled with disaster victims everywhere. There were even people arranged by the city authorities constantly patrolling the disaster victims’ settlements. Once they discovered any victims who had passed away, they would forcibly take them away regardless of their families’ wishes, cremate the remains, and bury them properly.

Qin Yining naturally knew these people’s actions were correct. In the face of disaster, preventing epidemics was crucial, and no one would care about a few people’s feelings and tears.

But seeing such tragic conditions extending all the way to the capital still made one’s heart run cold.

“Princess, we should…” Jiyun’s throat was dry, and she coughed several times before finding her voice. “We should enter the city now.”

Nodding, Qin Yining pressed her lips together and frowned tightly as she sat in the carriage, not daring to look at the tragic scene outside anymore.

The city gates were tightly closed, and all vehicles coming and going were carefully inspected. However, since Qin Yining was returning to the capital and had travel documents, she was naturally allowed through respectfully.

As soon as they passed through the city gates, seeing the still-clean streets, it was as if the thick city walls had separated the inside and outside into two different worlds. No longer seeing those tragic scenes, even Qin Yining couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Jiyun sighed, “How wonderful it would be if the entire realm were like this.”

Qin Yining remained silent, and everyone outside the carriage was also silent.

After a long while, Qin Yining asked Mu Jinghu outside the carriage, “Is His Highness currently at the Prince Zhixi Manor?”

“Yes,” Mu Jinghu replied. “His injuries are severe. He hasn’t attended court for a long time and is recuperating at the manor.”

Qin Yining nodded. Thinking of Pang Xiao’s injuries made her increasingly anxious. She lifted the curtain and urged, “Let’s hurry up. Once we reach the manor, everyone can have a good rest.”

Setting aside the troubling matters outside for now, seeing that they were almost home, everyone’s mood finally lightened.

Soon, the group arrived at the front of the imperially-granted prince’s manor.

The gatekeeper was one of Pang Xiao’s trusted men. Upon seeing Qin Yining’s carriage approaching, he immediately became alert. But after clearly seeing the people accompanying the carriage, he immediately beamed with joy and called inside, “Quick, go tell those inside that the Princess has returned!” He then came forward to pay his respects.

Qin Yining lifted the curtain and smiled. “You may rise. How is the manor? Has anyone come to visit His Highness recently?”

The gatekeeper smiled cheerfully, “Princess, please be assured, His Highness’s injuries are improving.” He kept his mouth shut about visits.

Qin Yining understood.

Qin Yining got out of the carriage and entered the manor gates with everyone.

Someone had already prepared a sedan chair for transportation. Just as Qin Yining had settled in, she heard footsteps coming from inside the residence.

Running at the front was Bingtang, whom she hadn’t seen for a long time, with the maids Ziyuan and Hanxiao following beside her.

Seeing Bingtang, Jiyun first chuckled, “You girl, after going to the south, why does your face look rounder? Could it be that life was too comfortable? It’s clear that Huzi protected your group well.”

Bingtang’s face immediately flushed red, and she spat at Jiyun, “You just love to tease me with your sharp tongue. Princess, you must stand up for me!”

“Stand up for what? How did I bully you?” Jiyun laughed.

Qin Yining couldn’t help but smile, nodding, “Stand up for you, stand up for you. You’re both my people, so naturally I must stand up for both of you. You’re both of age now, at the proper age to be released for marriage. In the future, returning to my side as management wives would be very good.”

Now not only Bingtang’s face was red, but Jiyun’s face also turned completely red. Both of them bashfully called out “Princess!” in unison.

Everyone burst into laughter for a moment, dispelling the gloomy mood from the return journey.

Qin Yining took Bingtang’s hand and asked, “How are His Highness’s injuries?”