The coachman dared not speak and respectfully opened the back door for Mu Yunjin, leading her forward.

She was guided to a side hall of Rong Prince’s mansion. Standing at the entrance, Mu Yunjin looked around, restraining the urge to blast the entire mansion to ashes.

The door to the side hall opened. Inside, candles lit up the room. Princess Rong Qin Shuning sat in the main seat, looking at Mu Yunjin with a smile in her eyes. Beside her sat Qin Muyue, whom Mu Yunjin hadn’t seen for several days.

“My little nephew’s wife has arrived. You’ve kept this Princess waiting quite a while,” Princess Rong said after exchanging pleasantries with Mu Yunjin, then stood up.

“Wasn’t it said that my Fourth Sister was gravely ill? Take me to see her,” Mu Yunjin said flatly.

Seeing this, Qin Muyue lowered her eyes with a smile and walked to Mu Yunjin’s side, linking arms with her. “Sister-in-law Yunjin, your Fourth Sister is a heartless person. If she dies, let her die. Her existence in this world is just a calamity. Don’t forget how she treated you in the past.”

“Oh? You think so too?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow without brushing away Qin Muyue’s hand.

“Yes, and besides, she’s quite audacious, even daring to covet Brother Li. She should look at her plain, widowed appearance—you can find a dozen like her with one sweep of the street.” Qin Muyue snorted coldly.

Mu Yunjin’s lips curved slightly as she glanced at Qin Muyue, then at Princess Rong. “But if my Fourth Sister, newly wed into Rong Prince’s mansion, dies after just a few days, wouldn’t that bring gossip to your household?”

…

…

“How could that be? Birth, aging, illness, and death—no one can control these things. What do you say, Sister-in-law Yunjin? We’re just waiting for your word. If you’re agreeable, tonight Mu Lingzhu can breathe her last.” Qin Muyue looked at Mu Yunjin, smiling sweetly.

Encountering this seemingly innocent smile, Mu Yunjin knew that such people were often the most terrifying. Remembering how Qin Muyue had poisoned Empress Qin, her heart grew colder.

“Let me go see her first.” Mu Yunjin withdrew her hand from Qin Muyue and walked out.

“Dong’er, first take the Sixth Prince’s Consort to the side chamber.”

After Mu Yunjin left, Qin Muyue took out a silk handkerchief and wiped the hand that had touched Mu Yunjin. She lowered her eyes and smiled playfully.

“Aunt, when would be an appropriate time for us to visit?”

“Hehe, let’s wait for someone to notify us.”

……

Mu Yunjin was led toward the side chamber by a small maidservant. All along the way, she felt a vague unease in her heart.

Beside her, Zixiang tugged at her sleeve and whispered, “Miss, why don’t we go back first and come again tomorrow during the day? This place is creepy.”

“It’s fine. We’ll just take a look. Remember, once we go in, don’t touch anything,” Mu Yunjin instructed.

Zixiang nodded, but the more Mu Yunjin spoke this way, the more frightened she felt.

“Sixth Prince’s Consort, we’ve arrived.” The little maidservant stopped in front of a small room and then walked away after speaking.

Mu Yunjin looked at the small room, which was as dilapidated as a woodshed, even worse than her former residence, Shihua Pavilion.

Indeed, revenge was not absent, just awaiting its time.

How could Mu Lingzhu, who once lived in the luxurious Mingzhu Tower, have imagined falling to such a state?

Opening the door and entering, Mu Yunjin saw a faint candlelight illuminating the room. Looking around, the entire room contained nothing but a hard plank bed.

Cuiyun was crouching on the ground, massaging Mu Lingzhu’s arm. Seeing Mu Yunjin arrive, she was overjoyed. “Sixth Prince’s Consort.”

Mu Lingzhu on the sickbed was also startled. She lifted her eyes with effort, and upon seeing Mu Yunjin, tears streamed down her face. “Sister, please save me!”

“Lingzhu will never oppose you again. Lingzhu knows she was wrong, truly knows she was wrong. Please, I beg you to save me from this hell!”

Mu Lingzhu cried out loudly, at times unable to catch her breath, continuously trembling and sobbing.

Mu Yunjin looked at Mu Lingzhu and saw her face was pale and haggard, truly appearing gravely ill. Her exposed arms showed bright red wounds, with signs of festering.

“Cuiyun, didn’t I have you bring back medicinal soup and ointment? How did it get this bad?” Mu Yunjin looked at Cuiyun.

Cuiyun pursed her lips and lowered her eyes. “That day, this servant was very careful, but upon returning, the Princess’s people still discovered it. They confiscated the medicinal soup and ointment, and this servant was also beaten.”

As Cuiyun spoke, she also revealed the wounds on her arms.

Mu Yunjin sighed softly, took out a purple pouch from her waist, and extracted a pill from it, placing it in Mu Lingzhu’s mouth.

“What is this?” Mu Lingzhu held the pill in her mouth, not daring to swallow it.

“A life-saving medicine. If you don’t want to live, then spit it out,” Mu Yunjin said playfully. If Mu Lingzhu were to die, she should die by her own hand, not by the Qin family’s.

When had it become the Qin family’s turn?

Mu Lingzhu immediately swallowed the pill. At this moment, she realized that Mu Yunjin was the person she trusted most.

How ironic that after competing with Mu Yunjin for so long, in the end, she still had to rely on her to survive.

Had she been wrong about everything before?

……

Mu Yunjin stood in the room with her arms crossed for a while.

Suddenly, the door was kicked open. When Mu Yunjin looked up, she saw Qin Munan hurriedly running in, grabbing her wrist and pulling her outside.

“Hey, you…”

Mu Yunjin was led by Qin Munan to a secluded courtyard. Catching her breath, she glared at Qin Munan with displeasure. “Why did you drag me out here?”

Seeing Mu Yunjin’s unfriendly tone, Qin Munan instead smiled slightly. “This is the first time I’ve discovered that you, Yunjin, can also lose your temper.”

Mu Yunjin rolled her eyes at Qin Munan, rubbed her wrist, and frowned. “What do you want to say?”

“I saved you, and you don’t even thank me, just keep questioning me. Yunjin, you’re breaking my heart.” Though Qin Munan said this, his eyes were full of smiles.

For the first time, he discovered that Yunjin was so adorable when angry.

Suddenly, he realized that her amnesia wasn’t so bad—at least it allowed him to see a different side of her.

“Saved me?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow.

“If you had stayed there, tomorrow the entire Diehua City would be spreading rumors that Third Miss Mu personally poisoned Fourth Miss,” Qin Munan said.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin didn’t react much, just scoffed lightly. “Hmph, another one of those tricks. The women here never tire of playing them.”

“The women here?” Qin Munan didn’t quite understand Mu Yunjin’s words.

Mu Yunjin didn’t bother to explain to him. She waved her hand and was about to walk back.

Qin Munan grabbed her from behind. “Yunjin, don’t take risks. You’re no match for my aunt.”

“Match?” Mu Yunjin sneered. “She’s worthy of being my match?”

After speaking, Mu Yunjin shook off Qin Munan’s arm and walked toward the small room, blowing her jade whistle as she went.

The purple-armored guards hiding in the shadows all appeared.

Mu Yunjin looked at the lead purple-armored guard. “Take Mu Lingzhu to the Prime Minister’s mansion for treatment.”

“Yes, Princess Consort.”

By the time Mu Yunjin reached the door of the small room, the purple-armored guard had already carried the gravely ill Mu Lingzhu away.

At this moment, Princess Rong also led her entourage toward this side courtyard. Seeing that Mu Yunjin had mobilized the purple-armored guards, she glared. “Mu Yunjin, Mu Lingzhu is now a member of our Rong Prince’s mansion. For you to arbitrarily take away one of our people shows you don’t know your place.”

Qin Munan had also arrived by this time. Seeing the purple-armored guards, his expression grew somber.

He hadn’t expected that the usually cold and indifferent Chu Li would give Yunjin purple-armored guards.

Just as he was about to speak up to help Mu Yunjin, he heard her fearless voice: “Your Rong Prince’s mansion?”

“You’re using this to pressure me? Should I now order someone to take Mu Lingzhu into the palace and let the Emperor see how Rong Prince’s mansion disregards human life!”

“What evidence do you have that our Rong Prince’s mansion disregards human life? This Princess can also say that these injuries were inflicted by you. After all, everyone knows that you, Mu Yunjin, have always been at odds with Mu Lingzhu. This Princess thinks this version would be more believable,” Princess Rong said.

“Mu Lingzhu isn’t dead yet. Can’t she speak for herself? If during a confrontation, she accuses the gentle and virtuous Princess Rong in the public eye, rather than me, her consistently disagreeable Third Sister, wouldn’t that be interesting?”

“Mu Yunjin, you…” Princess Rong was so angry she couldn’t find words to refute.

Mu Yunjin laughed coldly and averted her gaze. “There are so many people in the world. Don’t think everyone is your mother. Who spoiled your Qin family with this stinking habit of thinking you’re the best in the world?”

Qin Munan stood to the side. To him, Mu Yunjin’s mockery of the Qin family sounded exceptionally pleasing.

His eyes could not hide his surprise and amazement. He had never known that Yunjin was such a flesh-and-blood woman, which only added to his affection for her.

Qin Muyue stood in a corner, not showing herself. Watching her aunt being rendered speechless, her expression remained neutral, revealing no other meaning.

Catching sight of Qin Munan, Qin Muyue was startled, somewhat surprised by how her brother looked at Mu Yunjin with such… abundant love.

Could it be…

No, it shouldn’t be possible.

……

When Mu Yunjin left Rong Prince’s mansion, she felt extremely satisfied. She had been subjected to various intimidation tactics by Qin Shuning upon arrival, and seeing Qin Shuning’s embarrassed face, unable to refute before her departure, brought immense joy to her heart.

However, having openly opposed Qin Shuning, naturally, there was no carriage for her return journey.

But Mu Yunjin didn’t mind. She and Zixiang walked the night road on foot, with a smile on her lips that was difficult to conceal.

Zixiang was also especially happy. “Miss, you were so amazing just now. That Princess Rong’s face was so sour, hahaha.”

“Sister-in-law Yunjin…”

From behind came Qin Muyue’s voice, along with the sound of hoofbeats.

Hearing this voice, Mu Yunjin didn’t even turn her head and continued walking forward. Soon, a carriage stopped beside her.

“Sister-in-law Yunjin, it’s dark. Let us take you back,” Qin Muyue said, lifting the carriage curtain and looking at Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin didn’t even raise her eyelids. “No need.”

“Let’s share the carriage. It’s dark, and this is the outskirts. It’s not safe for two girls,” Qin Munan, sitting to one side, said calmly.

Mu Yunjin shook her head and glanced at the people in the carriage. “Thank you for your kindness, but no thanks.”

“All right then.” Qin Muyue didn’t insist. She lowered the curtain and ordered the coachman to leave quickly.

After the carriage left, Mu Yunjin looked around, grabbed Zixiang by the waist, and with a light step, used her lightness skill to quickly fly away.