Mu Yunjin froze, turning to look at Chu Li. She found him gazing intently at her, seemingly waiting for her answer. Their eyes met, and sparks flew.

“What kind of ‘together’?” Mu Yunjin’s mind was a bit dazed, and she asked foolishly, immediately wanting to bite off her tongue afterward, silently cursing herself for asking such an obvious question.

Chu Li lowered his eyes and smiled, still playing with her hair. “What do you think?”

“So, are you confessing to me right now?” Mu Yunjin raised her chin, her lips curving into a slight arc as she looked at Chu Li with smiling eyes.

Chu Li raised an eyebrow, looking at her with amusement. “You can consider it that way.”

Hearing this affirmative response, Mu Yunjin lowered her eyes, very much wanting to laugh out loud but forcefully restraining herself. She coughed once. “Then allow me to think about it.”

“When this Prince wanted to proceed further just now, your state seemed to suggest no need for consideration,” Chu Li’s eyes flashed with intense amusement.

“Get lost!” Mu Yunjin immediately reacted, her face reddening as she grabbed a pillow and threw it at Chu Li.

Chu Li caught the pillow easily, climbed back onto the bed, and pulled her into his arms. “No more fooling around. Let’s sleep.”

…

…

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin moved over a bit, lay down, rested her head in the crook of Chu Li’s arm, faced the wall, and her lips curved into a smile.

…

In the early morning, Mu Yunjin sensed movement beside her in her sleep and immediately awakened, sitting up startled to see Chu Li getting dressed in the room.

Chu Li was startled by her sudden reaction and frowned at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Getting up to go out with you,” Mu Yunjin got out of bed and began selecting clothes from the wardrobe.

Chu Li looked back at her and chuckled helplessly.

After they were dressed, Xiaoju brought in breakfast. When she prepared to help Mu Yunjin arrange her hair, she saw that Mu Yunjin had already tied her hair into a ponytail.

Taking a sip of porridge, Mu Yunjin glanced outside the door. Early in the morning, a light rain had already begun to fall. As autumn was approaching, the continuous rain brought a chill to the air.

After a simple breakfast, Chu Li and Mu Yunjin left together.

Ding Xian was already waiting at the entrance of the residence. Seeing the two of them leave together, he teased, “Such an early morning, yet the spring breeze is already blowing.”

Chu Li and Mu Yunjin both gave Ding Xian a look, their eyes revealing particular sentiments.

Ding Xian smiled and followed beside Chu Li, reporting the situation. “Your Highness, the Imperial Guards who were sent here were called to repair the western dam this morning. But with the rain not stopping, the grain we brought will soon be distributed completely. We may need to report this to the Emperor and request another batch of grain.”

Chu Li nodded without expressing any opinion and headed toward the western dam.

Mu Yunjin walked alongside, constantly mindful of the path beneath her feet, fearing that one careless moment would lead to another ambush by a mud pit. Listening to Chu Li and Ding Xian’s conversation, she felt this couldn’t continue indefinitely.

As the three of them were walking westward, a large procession approached. In the distance, a carriage led the way, followed by a line of soldiers and officers.

Soon, the carriage stopped in front of the three of them. A moment later, the curtain of the carriage was lifted, revealing a face as beautiful as flowers.

“Brother Li, Sister-in-law Yunjin…”

It was Qin Muyue.

Seeing Qin Muyue, Mu Yunjin’s expression darkened, not expecting to encounter her in Qingzhou.

Qin Muyue, however, appeared unconcerned and ignored Mu Yunjin. She alighted from the carriage with a maidservant holding an umbrella for her and slowly approached Chu Li. “Brother Li, recently, some tribes at the border have been restless. The Emperor ordered me to go there to maintain order, so I happened to pass through Qingzhou.”

“Also, before departing, I learned that the rain in Qingzhou hasn’t subsided. The Emperor had me bring along another batch of provisions.” After speaking, Qin Muyue pointed to the dozen or so carts of grain behind her.

Nearby, some passing commoners who witnessed this scene came forward gratefully. “Commander Qin, you truly are an extraordinary woman! Not only have you won so many battles, but now you’ve also come to resolve our urgent crisis.”

“No need for such formality. This is all part of my duty,” Qin Muyue’s lips curved upward, her gaze fleetingly passing over Mu Yunjin.

At this moment, Yang Wanshan, having heard the news, hurried over. Seeing Qin Muyue, he bowed deeply. “This official pays respects to Commander Qin.”

“No need for formalities.”

“Commander Qin has honored Qingzhou with her presence and brought life-saving grain to the people of Qingzhou. Why not stay for a few days?” Yang Wanshan spoke courteously.

“Gladly,” Qin Muyue readily agreed.

Mu Yunjin glanced at Chu Li and tugged at his sleeve. “Weren’t we going to see the western dam?”

“Let’s go,” Chu Li naturally put his arm around her waist and headed toward the western dam.

Qin Muyue watched the two walk past intimately, pressed her lips together, and instructed those beside her, “You all distribute the provisions first. I’ll go see the disaster situation here.”

With that, Qin Muyue ran to catch up. “Brother Li, wait for me.”

…

In the west, Mu Yunjin saw that the tree the child had been clinging to yesterday had already been toppled by the flood, and the entire rice field ahead had been submerged.

“When I passed through Qingzhou on my way back from victory last time, it was still peaceful. Who would have thought it would become like this now?” Qin Muyue stood with her hands behind her back, looking at the scene before her.

Chu Li didn’t respond to her but turned to Yang Wanshan. “Besides here, are there floods in other areas?”

Yang Wanshan shook his head and sighed. “It’s mainly due to the endless rain. The flooding was already severe, and with the daily unceasing rain, there’s simply no solution.”

“Yesterday, some commoners were calculating that if this continues, they might as well relocate their entire families to other cities, which would be better than waiting here to die or waiting for imperial aid.”

“Indeed, on the way here just now, the neighboring Yangshui Town, only a dozen li away, had beautiful sunny weather. It seems only this area of Qingzhou is experiencing rainfall,” Qin Muyue said.

Mu Yunjin took a slight breath. In this situation, she felt completely helpless, so she simply closed her mouth and listened to their conversation.

“Terrible news! Terrible news!” A man’s shout came from behind.

Everyone turned to look and saw a commoner rushing over. During his run, he slipped several times in the mud but immediately got up and continued running toward Chu Li.

“Terrible news, Prince Ning, Lord Yang! Rocks have rolled down from the southern mountain peak and injured many villagers living at the foot of the mountain. There are too many injured people now, and there aren’t enough doctors here!”

Upon hearing this, Chu Li’s eyes darkened. “Let’s go see first.”

…

Soon, the group arrived at the foot of a southern mountain. They saw many rocks that had rolled down onto the ground, with many villagers lying there. Some had injured foreheads, some had broken legs, and even the ground at the foot of the mountain was stained red with blood.

Two doctors were currently treating the injured villagers. Seeing Chu Li and his group arrive, they anxiously ran over. “Your Highness, this happened suddenly, and there are too many injured. The medicinal herbs in the pharmacy are simply not enough. What should we do?”

“Is there any way to obtain more herbs?” Chu Li asked, lowering his eyes.

“It’s probably impossible to climb the mountains in Qingzhou now. For herb gathering, we’d have to go to Qingfeng Mountain, more than ten li away, but we can’t spare any manpower right now,” the doctor said with a frown.

“I’ll go gather the herbs,” Mu Yunjin volunteered. “Tell me what herbs you need.”

“This is impossible, Princess! You are a precious person. How can we entrust such rough work to you?” Yang Wanshan looked at Mu Yunjin in panic.

Mu Yunjin frowned. “At a critical time like this, what precious person? Stop the nonsense and quickly tell me what herbs you need.”

Chu Li looked at Mu Yunjin, a hint of hesitation in his eyes, and his thin lips pressed together. But then Mu Yunjin spoke up, “It’s fine. It’s just gathering herbs, not a big deal.”

The doctor quickly took out a herbal manual from his medicine box and flipped through a few pages in front of Mu Yunjin. “The required herbs are illustrated here. They should be easy to identify.”

Mu Yunjin looked at the manual, saw that it contained illustrations of medicinal herbs, nodded, and tucked the manual into her robe.

“Time is of the essence. I’ll set off now,” Mu Yunjin said, picking up a basket from the side and preparing to head toward Qingfeng Mountain as the doctor had indicated.

Chu Li caught her arm, held her shoulder, and bent down to whisper in her ear, “Are you sure you can do this?”

“Of course, aren’t you confident in my abilities?” Mu Yunjin lowered her voice and raised an eyebrow at Chu Li. “You stay here and oversee the situation. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, Chu Li released Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin’s figure quickly disappeared from everyone’s sight. Concerned, Chu Li glanced at Ding Xian. “Follow her.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Qin Muyue saw Chu Li’s concern for Mu Yunjin, and her expression gradually darkened as she clenched her fist slightly.

…

After walking a distance, ensuring no one was around, Mu Yunjin used her qinggong (lightness skill) to fly swiftly toward Qingfeng Mountain.

Ding Xian, who had followed behind, originally thought he would catch up with Mu Yunjin, but discovered she had already vanished. So he likewise used his qinggong to head toward Qingfeng Mountain.

After flying for more than half an hour using qinggong, Mu Yunjin landed at the foot of a mountain. Upon stopping, she looked up at the sun in the sky.

How long had it been since she’d seen the sun…

Mu Yunjin took a long, deep breath and stood in the sunshine for a while, dispersing the dampness from her body. Smelling the fragrance of wildflowers around her, she suddenly felt as if she were standing in a sacred place.

It was only a distance of a dozen li, yet why was the weather so different?

Mu Yunjin shook her head helplessly, took out the herb manual from her waist, compared the illustrations, and headed up Qingfeng Mountain with her basket.

Qingfeng Mountain had many medicinal herbs. After walking up the mountain for a while, Mu Yunjin had already gathered a basketful of herbs. Only when the basket could hold no more did she start heading back down the mountain.

After walking for a while, the sound of fighting suddenly came from the foot of the mountain.

Mu Yunjin stopped in her tracks, frowned, walked a few steps forward, and hid behind a large tree, watching the scene that came into view at the foot of the mountain…