As soon as Qin Muyue’s words fell, everyone in the room turned to look at Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin glanced at Empress Qin on the sickbed, then looked at Qin Muyue standing before her, and coldly sneered, “It’s a secret.”

Qin Muyue instantly felt deflated. She pouted, shifted her gaze away, and walked over to Prince Rong’s wife.

Nearby, Empress Dowager Zheng stepped forward, looking at Empress Qin on the sickbed with eyes full of pity, and spoke, “Xiangxian, you can rest in peace. I will take good care of these youngsters for you.”

After Empress Dowager Zheng’s words, she couldn’t help covering her mouth with a laugh, her eyes filled with blooming joy.

Mu Yunjin couldn’t be bothered with these women. She turned and walked to Chu Li’s side, raising her eyes to look leisurely at him, “Do you want to go pay your respects?”

“Let’s go.” Chu Li shook his head and turned to walk out.

Mu Yunjin followed.

Behind them, Qin Muyue watched their departing figures, her eyes thoughtful.

…

…

…

Walking along the path, Mu Yunjin automatically ignored Empress Qin’s first sentence and relayed the second to Chu Li, “Does Shuiyun Temple have peach trees?”

Chu Li nodded, glancing at Mu Yunjin.

“Empress Qin just told me to go check under the peach trees at Shuiyun Temple when I have time. I wonder if there’s something fishy there?” Mu Yunjin was somewhat curious.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Chu Li didn’t seem concerned.

Mu Yunjin made a sound of agreement and said nothing more. The two continued walking in complete silence.

Along the way, Mu Yunjin felt that Chu Li’s mood seemed particularly low today, so she was reluctant to speak much, lest she accidentally step on a landmine again.

Sitting in the carriage, Mu Yunjin leaned against the window, her mind processing what Empress Qin had said. Not letting them live in peace—could other unfortunate events be waiting for them?

Mu Yunjin sighed softly, her eyes growing deep.

After returning to the Prince’s mansion entrance, Mu Yunjin was the first to get off the carriage and walk toward the gate. After a few steps, she realized Chu Li hadn’t followed.

Ding Xian sat outside the carriage with no intention of getting off either.

“Are you going somewhere else?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Ding Xian nodded, “His Highness needs to leave the city for a few days. We were delayed by the message from the palace just now; otherwise, we would probably have arrived by now.”

“Oh.” Mu Yunjin merely responded with an “oh” and headed into the mansion, not asking which city they were going to.

Seeing Mu Yunjin leave, Ding Xian felt somewhat awkward. Then he heard an angry voice from inside the carriage, “Depart!”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After entering the gate, Mu Yunjin heard the sound of the carriage behind her. She turned around, saw the carriage quietly leaving, and stomped her foot.

“Princess, what’s wrong? Is Empress Qin all right?” Mamma Shen came forward to greet her. Seeing Mu Yunjin’s poor expression, she thought she was concerned about Empress Qin.

Mu Yunjin replied irritably, “She’s not dying yet, still has one breath left.”

Mamma Shen’s face froze, and she laughed awkwardly as she stepped aside. The Princess always said such shocking things.

In the back garden of the Prince’s mansion, Mu Yunjin, her eyes vacant, hugged a pavilion pillar, her fingers scratching back and forth against it, making a rustling sound.

Zixiang stood nearby holding a fruit platter, and seeing Mu Yunjin in such a state, she shrank her neck, “Miss, everyone must die eventually. You should try to see it more openly.”

“Mmm.” Seeing that Zixiang was also talking about Empress Qin’s matter, Mu Yunjin didn’t deny it and nodded.

After a while, Mu Yunjin seemed to come back to her senses. She looked at the sky, released the pillar, and said, “I’m going out for a while. I’ll be back later.”

Zixiang nodded.

Mu Yunjin walked toward the back gate of the Prince’s mansion. Before leaving, she took a red wind horse from the stable and rode in the direction of Shuiyun Temple.

…

Half an hour later, Mu Yunjin stopped at the entrance of Shuiyun Temple.

After dismounting, she looked at the grand Shuiyun Temple and suddenly felt somewhat helpless. Such a large temple for people to worship Buddha, yet it harbored quite a few secrets.

Mu Yunjin walked in and headed directly toward the back mountain of Shuiyun Temple. If she remembered correctly, there was a peach grove there.

Just as she stepped onto the back mountain, Mu Yunjin understood what it meant to run into one’s nemesis.

She saw the brothers Wen Yuan and Ming Yuan, each carrying a water bucket, walking toward her. The two also spotted Mu Yunjin almost immediately, and they exchanged glances.

Mu Yunjin pursed her lips and walked forward, pretending she hadn’t seen anything.

Wen Yuan and Ming Yuan were stunned. As Mu Yunjin approached them, Wen Yuan finally couldn’t help but speak, “That true scripture should be useless to you. Why did you take it?”

“What use is it to you?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow and asked in return.

“Of course it’s useful!” Wen Yuan exclaimed excitedly. “After Master Kong Shi passed away, Shuiyun Temple still has no abbot. Although Elder Brother Huai Yuan has won people’s hearts, and I call him elder brother, I came to Shuiyun Temple even earlier than him!”

“You want to be the abbot?” Mu Yunjin caught the meaning in his words.

Wen Yuan nodded.

“Heh…” Mu Yunjin laughed coldly. “Then it’s fortunate that this true scripture is in my hands. If Shuiyun Temple made you the abbot, this place would likely be close to closing down!”

“You!” Wen Yuan was so angry that he clenched his fists and instinctively stepped forward, but was pulled back by Ming Yuan, who shook his head at him.

Wen Yuan calmed down, suddenly remembering that the previous two encounters with Mu Yunjin had not gone in his favor.

So he said nothing more, picked up his water bucket, and walked toward the front courtyard.

Seeing the two just leave like that, Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows and walked into the peach grove.

Upon reaching the peach grove, Mu Yunjin immediately faced a difficulty.

With so many peach trees, which one was the one Empress Qin mentioned?

After thinking about it, Mu Yunjin sighed softly and entered the peach grove, examining each tree carefully. After a while, she had toured the entire peach grove without finding any clues.

The season was approaching autumn, and every peach tree was bare, with nothing worth seeing.

“Hehe, Princess, you’ve come.” A quiet voice came from behind.

Mu Yunjin turned to look and saw that Master Huai Yuan had somehow come to the peach grove and was standing behind her, his eyes smiling.

Mu Yunjin nodded slightly to Master Huai Yuan, “Are you passing by for a stroll, Master, or did you come specifically to find me?”

“You’re a clever person, so you naturally know that this old monk came here specifically to find you.” Master Huai Yuan smiled gently, glancing at the entire peach grove.

“These peach trees have already passed the time for blossoming and bearing fruit. They’re all bare now, with nothing much to see.”

Mu Yunjin pursed her lips, listening to Master Huai Yuan’s words, feeling strangely that there was some deeper meaning.

“In the past, did Empress Qin particularly love any one peach tree when she came here?” Mu Yunjin asked directly.

Master Huai Yuan smiled mysteriously, “This habit of yours of always wanting to investigate everything will eventually harm you. If this old monk is not mistaken, you came here today without telling the Sixth Prince, right?”

“…” Mu Yunjin was confused by Master Huai Yuan’s words, unable to determine if he was truly helping her or not.

Seeing Mu Yunjin’s silence, Master Huai Yuan continued, “The Sixth Prince is a meticulous person who considers everything thoroughly. The Princess, in comparison, still has a somewhat impetuous character. In the future, it would be better to listen to the Sixth Prince more.”

Thinking of Chu Li, Mu Yunjin’s mood became gloomy again, and she lost interest in the garden full of peach trees.

Leaving the peach grove, Mu Yunjin pouted all the way, looking curiously at Master Huai Yuan, “Master, do you know what Chu Li has been doing behind the scenes?”

Mu Yunjin always felt that Chu Li was hiding many things behind his back, not just the matter of Consort Rong.

Of course, she knew it was pointless to ask. Master Huai Yuan was one of Chu Li’s men; how could he betray Chu Li and reveal his secrets?

“When the time is right, the Sixth Prince will naturally tell you.” Master Huai Yuan escorted Mu Yunjin to the temple entrance, put his palms together, and bowed with utmost sincerity.

Mu Yunjin pouted. She had heard such mysterious talk too many times and had become numb to it.

Enough.

From beginning to end, Chu Li had always treated her as an outsider.

Even Qin Muyue knew much more about Chu Li than she did.

The more Mu Yunjin thought about it, the more depressed she felt. After leaving the temple gate, she rode away from Shuiyun Temple.

After Mu Yunjin left, a purple figure slowly emerged from one side of the temple entrance, hands clasped behind his back, his gaze fixed on the gradually disappearing figure.

Master Huai Yuan glanced at the person beside him and smiled slowly, “Have you taken what was under the peach tree?”

“Yes.” A cool, indifferent voice responded.

…

By the time Mu Yunjin returned to the mansion, the sky had already darkened.

Zixiang had prepared dinner for Mu Yunjin, but she didn’t eat a single bite, instead going directly to her room and falling asleep on the soft couch.

Today, for some reason, she felt particularly exhausted.

Mu Yunjin quickly fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, Mu Yunjin suddenly opened her eyes. In the dark and quiet room, there seemed to be slight sounds crawling on the floor, gradually approaching her.

Mu Yunjin immediately sat up, not lighting any candles. Through the moonlight filtering in from outside, she could vaguely see two small black dots on the floor of the room, closing in on her.

Seeing this, Mu Yunjin’s heart tightened. Her earlobes suddenly twitched, and she looked up at the ceiling, sensing that someone was there as well.

The two black dots were getting closer and closer. Mu Yunjin leaped off the bed, stood on tiptoe on the table, took the candlestick from the table, lit a tiny flame, shielded it with her hand, and only let out a dim light.

After Mu Yunjin could see the black dots, her expression completely darkened. She saw that there were two insects, about the size of a fingernail, crawling step by step toward her bed.

Mu Yunjin gritted her teeth, looking at the two insects, anger rising in her heart.

How could she not know what these two insects were?

After hearing that Empress Qin had been poisoned by a mother worm charm, she had privately sought out some books to understand this type of poison. The illustrations in those books depicted exactly the insects before her eyes—one a male worm, one a female worm.

With this thought, Mu Yunjin flicked silver needles from her sleeve, accurately piercing both the male and female worms. The two insects that had been crawling suddenly became motionless.

Mu Yunjin blew out the candle and looked up once more. Who was that person on the roof?

Was it Qin Muyue?

If it were her, then she had truly miscalculated this time. Having tasted success once, did she think every attempt would go smoothly?

What a delusion!