“Even if I’m overestimating myself, I still want to try. That’s better than being used as someone else’s pawn.” Mu Yunjin wasn’t intimidated by Consort Yue at all. She glanced askance at Consort Yue, stood up, and walked out.
Behind her, Imperial Preceptor An watched her figure, stood up, furrowed his brows deeply, his thoughts somewhat vacant.
Consort Yue also stood up. After seeing Mu Yunjin’s figure disappear, she sighed slightly, “Is this girl the one you’ve chosen? She has some backbone.”
“Her fate is unparalleled, she is not an ordinary person.” Imperial Preceptor An smiled faintly.
“Since you have always insisted she is extraordinary, this palace can only believe you. If she can truly help this palace, this palace will certainly look at her with new eyes.”
“By the way, this palace will also stay here for the next few days.”
…
When Mu Yunjin walked out of the Imperial Preceptor’s mansion, her mind was in chaos. She looked back at the mansion again, frowning as she pondered what relationship Consort Yue and the Imperial Preceptor had.
A woman from the back palace, seemingly with no small ambition, was asking her to kill the Crown Prince of Western Yuan—truly not to be underestimated.
…
…
Thinking of how she had easily broken through Qiqi’s invisible space yesterday, Mu Yunjin again felt that this vast world was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers; none could be taken lightly.
Just as she was thinking, an exquisite sandalwood carriage was led out from the Imperial Preceptor’s mansion. The carriage stopped beside Mu Yunjin, the curtain was lifted, revealing Imperial Preceptor An’s smile, “Come up, I’ll take you to the palace.”
Mu Yunjin hesitated for a moment, then boarded the carriage.
Consort Yue was also sitting in the carriage. Seeing Mu Yunjin come up, she snorted lightly, “This palace wants to see if you can break it with just your abilities.”
After boarding the carriage, Mu Yunjin didn’t speak a word to them, sitting by herself in a corner, waiting for the carriage to enter the palace.
The carriage slowly drove through the palace gates. Mu Yunjin lifted a corner of the curtain to glance at the sky outside. She had been out for most of the day; she wondered if Chu Li was worried.
Thinking of Chu Li, Mu Yunjin sighed lightly.
After some time, the carriage stopped. Imperial Preceptor An, on the carriage lifted his eyelids and looked at Mu Yunjin, “We’re already at the entrance of the imperial prison. You go in.”
“Mm.” Hearing this, Mu Yunjin nodded and got off the carriage without a second thought.
After standing firmly on the ground, Mu Yunjin looked around and found herself standing at the entrance of the imperial prison. At this time, the prison gate was open, but there was no one guarding the entrance.
Mu Yunjin thought to herself, they are truly confident in their formation.
With this thought, she stepped forward and walked into the imperial prison.
The carriage behind her did not leave, still parked in place. Inside the carriage, two pairs of eyes watched through the curtain as Mu Yunjin slowly entered the prison.
…
The imperial prison was not as dark and damp as Mu Yunjin had imagined. Along the way, she had expected to see other prisoners, but when she went in, each cell door was cleaned spotlessly and left open.
Strangely, Mu Yunjin felt her presence here was very abrupt.
As she walked on, Mu Yunjin suddenly began to feel nervous, recalling her attitude towards Jiang Qingxue not long ago. Now having to face her alone, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat awkward.
This imperial prison was very large. Mu Yunjin walked for a long time before finally seeing at the end of the prison a figure in green, with iron chains around her waist, bound to a stone pillar, with emptiness all around.
Mu Yunjin’s footsteps stopped in place.
Jiang Qingxue had been bound for two days without a drop of water. Her hair was disheveled, her complexion somewhat pale, but it did not affect her beautiful features at all. Now hearing footsteps in the prison, she thought it was her imagination. Then she slowly raised her eyes, and after seeing the person standing in the distance, she widened her eyes slightly, as if thinking she was dreaming.
Mu Yunjin, meeting Jiang Qingxue’s gaze, turned away uncomfortably, lowering her eyes slightly.
“Yunjin, is it you?” Jiang Qingxue finally realized she wasn’t dreaming; the person before her was indeed her daughter, Yunjin, whom she had been thinking of constantly.
Mu Yunjin nodded, flattened her mouth, “Chu Li said you have a secret pavilion that could help you escape on your own. I thought you were much more capable…”
After speaking, Mu Yunjin seemed to feel her words weren’t very pleasant to hear, so she awkwardly added, “I’ve come to try to break your formation.”
“No!” Jiang Qingxue stopped her.
Originally, she had resigned herself to death while trapped in this formation, but after hearing Mu Yunjin’s words, Jiang Qingxue immediately understood everything.
Afraid that Mu Yunjin would impulsively break the formation, Jiang Qingxue hurriedly spoke, “Yunjin, this matter is not so simple. Don’t get involved and expose yourself.”
She knew her daughter was a Phoenix Woman, and many people wanted to use her for their purposes.
“Many things aren’t simple. If a person always lives in comfort, then life would be meaningless.” Mu Yunjin ignored Jiang Qingxue, took out a cloth bag from her bosom, and it drew out a small round disc and a black button.
Fortunately, she hadn’t thrown them away before.
Holding the small disc up to scan in front, Mu Yunjin indeed saw infrared beams surrounding Jiang Qingxue. Then she pressed the off button on the black device in her hand.
She wasn’t certain if this black button could disable the infrared beams here, after all, remote controls aren’t universal.
With a “beep—” sound after Mu Yunjin pressed the off button, all the infrared beams around disappeared.
Mu Yunjin curled her lips, putting away the small disc.
Jiang Qingxue couldn’t understand what Mu Yunjin was holding, but she also heard that ‘beep’ sound just now. Seeing Mu Yunjin’s smiling expression now, she knew she seemed to have succeeded.
At this moment, footsteps came from behind Mu Yunjin.
Jiang Qingxue could see the people approaching behind Mu Yunjin, and her expression changed slightly. Through the darkness behind her, she could see Imperial Preceptor An walking slowly in front, and behind Imperial Preceptor An, there seemed to be a woman, but she couldn’t see her face clearly for the moment.
“Yunjin, the Imperial Preceptor is coming!” Jiang Qingxue warned softly.
Mu Yunjin nodded, her face showing no ripples.
When Imperial Preceptor An and Consort Yue approached Mu Yunjin, standing on her left and right, Jiang Qingxue got a clear look at Consort Yue. Her pupils dilated, her mouth opened, in disbelief.
“You…” Jiang Qingxue was shocked.
“Your daughter has some skills, easily breaking through the first level.” Consort Yue smiled, winking at Jiang Qingxue.
Jiang Qingxue bit her lip, looking carefully at the three people before her. Suddenly, she connected some things together.
“Yunjin, stop breaking the formation!”
Mu Yunjin, hearing Jiang Qingxue’s suddenly firm tone, was somewhat surprised. She looked up at her, “Reason?”
“Originally, I thought I was trapped in the formation because the Imperial Preceptor had detected my intention to escape. But now I realize, this is a trap deliberately set to lure you to the Southern Court!”
Mu Yunjin was stunned. She tilted her head to look at the two people beside her, her expression somewhat frozen.
“Hehe, the mother-daughter relationship is quite deep.” Consort Yue suddenly laughed mockingly.
Hearing this, Jiang Qingxue was irritated. She glared at Consort Yue, gritting her teeth, “Rong Wanyue, I admire everything you’ve done for your son, but why drag my daughter into this?”
Rong Wanyue…
Mu Yunjin frowned, feeling this name was very familiar. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then her heart skipped several beats, her eyes full of disbelief.
“Consort Rong…”
Hearing this title, Consort Yue raised her eyebrows, not denying it. Instead, she gave Mu Yunjin a captivating smile, “Mu’er…”
Mu Yunjin felt like she was about to suffocate. The way events had developed step by step had left her almost unable to react. She suddenly felt a pain in her liver from anger and held her waist.
“Consort Rong, might this insignificant person know what grand scheme you’re planning?” Mu Yunjin felt she was about to laugh from anger.
Western Yuan’s Consort Rong, Southern Court’s Consort Yue, she truly had quite the ability!
“Heh…” Consort Yue suddenly chuckled softly.
“The formation in the Water Cloud Temple was just a diversion all along. All these years, this palace has been living in this Southern Court.”
Mu Yunjin pursed her lips, extending her wrist, “Then what about this Phoenix Feather Pavilion? Why did you give it to me?”
“This was always your possession; this palace was merely safekeeping it for you before.” Consort Yue blinked.
“Then what about your Phoenix Woman identity?” Mu Yunjin felt she had a stomach full of questions that needed clarification, and also strangely felt resentful on Chu Li’s behalf—he had been so intent on rescuing this mother, but she had been living comfortably all along!
At the mention of the Phoenix Woman identity, Consort Yue smiled again, “That was just a strategy to deliberately deceive Emperor Xi Ming with illusion techniques. Otherwise, how could this palace move freely between Western Yuan and the Southern Court?”
Ha…
Mu Yunjin truly had nothing to say.
So this Consort Rong, who had always appeared in a pitiful image to the public, was a master strategist!
“One last question.” Mu Yunjin’s expression became somewhat more serious.
“Ask.”
“Chu Li, is he the child of Emperor Xi Ming, or the child of the Southern Court’s ruler…”
Consort Yue smiled, looking at Mu Yunjin, “What do you think?”
“Yunjin!” Hearing this, Jiang Qingxue could no longer hold back, “Yunjin, go back quickly, don’t get involved anymore!”
Hearing Jiang Qingxue’s voice, Consort Yue turned around, her voice concealing a hint of amusement, “Master of Qinyin Pavilion, you and I are now in-laws. Now that the two children have feelings for each other, why don’t we go with the flow and push them to the top?”
“Rong Wanyue, you are just a woman; you can’t stir up big waves. Recognize the reality before you early on!” Jiang Qingxue had no good tone for Rong Wanyue, who had been using her daughter all along.
“Is that so?” Consort Yue smiled, unconcerned, “This palace doesn’t feel it has done wrong. From a mother’s standpoint, this palace is just helping its child…”
Mu Yunjin furrowed her brows tightly. Hearing this, she finally understood and reacted completely…
“Mu’er, don’t you want to see your husband control the situation under heaven?” Consort Yue looked at Mu Yunjin, her words softening somewhat.
“This palace needs your help very much.”
Consort Yue simply laid her cards on the table. If she could persuade Phoenix Woman Mu Yunjin and Qinyin Pavilion’s Jiang Qingxue to join her team this time, there would be a greater chance of success. Moreover, these two had the Northern Ming Kingdom’s ruler supporting them from behind. Winning over this mother and daughter would undoubtedly be like adding wings to a tiger.
Mu Yunjin was impatient. She raised her eyes to meet Consort Yue’s gaze, “I think you underestimate your son. What he wants, he has always been able to get himself. He doesn’t need a woman paving the way for him from behind!”
In Mu Yunjin’s eyes, Chu Li had always been so powerful, able to easily resolve any problem, and the strength behind him was also not to be underestimated.
She didn’t know if Chu Li had any interest in this Canghua Continent, but she could be certain that Chu Li would not step on this stepping stone given by Consort Yue to reach the highest position!