Mu Yunjin glanced sideways at Chu Li, seeing his somewhat irritable state. She couldn’t help but press her lips together, lowering her gaze to secretly smile.
Chu Li seemed to notice her secret smile and swept another cold glance at her. “No smiling.”
“So I can’t smile just because you say so?” Mu Yunjin’s lips curled up as she flashed Chu Li an even more brilliant and provocative smile.
While the two were staring at each other in the front hall, Qin Munan’s figure had already approached. When he looked up, his gaze happened to capture Mu Yunjin smiling at Chu Li. That dazzling, brilliant smile made him feel a moment of bewilderment, his thoughts drifting back to the past. How long had it been since he’d seen her smile?
Before, even when she smiled at him, it was always with shy, pressed lips. When had she ever shown her teeth in such a radiant smile like now?
Could memory loss really change a person’s personality so completely?
As he thought this, he had already walked into the front hall.
“Greetings to Prince Ning, greetings to Princess Ning.” Qin Munan bowed to both of them, his tone calm, with no detectable undercurrent.
“You may rise.” Chu Li spoke flatly.
…
…
Qin Munan nodded and stood straight, glancing at Mu Yunjin with a flash of concern in his eyes that vanished instantly. “Today, this humble official has come on my grandfather’s orders to specifically apologize to the Princess. Regarding all those things my aunt did, my grandfather was kept in the dark all along and only learned everything yesterday. My grandfather has fallen ill today and instructed me to come to Prince Ning’s mansion to apologize to the Princess.”
“Is this what you wanted to tell me privately?” Mu Yunjin could see that Qin Munan had something to say to her, but with Chu Li present, he probably couldn’t speak freely.
Honestly, she disliked everyone in the Qin family, but Qin Munan was the only one who left a relatively good impression. At least he hadn’t done anything terrible to her.
Yesterday at the Ministry of Justice, when Qin Shuning drew her sword, he was the first to stand in front of her.
Hearing Mu Yunjin’s words, Qin Munan shook his head, his brow slightly furrowing.
Mu Yunjin bit her lip and pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Chu Li. Though Chu Li’s face was dark with displeasure, when he met Mu Yunjin’s gaze, he still feigned nonchalance and said, “Go ahead.”
“Mm.” Mu Yunjin nodded, turning to look at Qin Munan. “General Qin, please follow me.”
With that, Mu Yunjin led Qin Munan toward the side hall.
Chu Li watched Qin Munan’s back with displeasure, his gaze sharp as if wanting to pierce several holes through him.
……
In the side hall, after Zixiang served tea to both of them, she walked out.
“What matter does General Qin have with me?” Mu Yunjin got straight to the point, her tone light, as if speaking to someone completely unrelated to her.
Although Qin Munan had long grown accustomed to her attitude during this period, each time he encountered it, his heart ached anew.
“Yunjin, take this.” Qin Munan took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Mu Yunjin.
“What is this?” Mu Yunjin didn’t take it directly, raising her eyes to look at Qin Munan.
Qin Munan looked at Mu Yunjin, meeting her gaze. Their eyes locked, and he seemed to cherish this moment immensely, but soon he averted his gaze, lowering his eyes slightly.
“Muyue’s antidote.”
Antidote?
Mu Yunjin frowned, processing Qin Munan’s words, and looked again at the porcelain bottle in his hand.
Soon, seeming to understand something, she remained silent for a moment before tentatively asking, “You poisoned her?”
“Yes.” Qin Munan nodded, lightly uttering a single word. Mentioning this, his brows were filled with sorrow. “The poison she’s taken requires two types of antidotes. One I will give to her, and the other…”
Qin Munan paused, his fingers gently caressing the porcelain bottle in his hand. “The other bottle, you keep it. At some future opportunity, you can give it to her.”
“Which opportunity do you mean?” Mu Yunjin eyed the small porcelain bottle, her heart filled with shock. Qin Munan’s feelings for ‘Mu Yunjin’ were deeper than she had imagined. For her sake, he was even willing to poison his sister.
She had originally been surprised by Qin Muyue’s attitude yesterday, but now she could understand why Qin Muyue had helped her turn against Qin Shuning.
Thinking about it, Mu Yunjin felt she suddenly owed Qin Munan an enormous debt of gratitude.
“The first antidote will temporarily suppress the toxins in her body, but if she doesn’t take the second antidote in time, the poison will activate after two months.”
“Yunjin, I can’t be certain if Muyue will truly listen to me and turn back, but if she remains obstinate, all consequences will be of her own making. This second antidote, I leave it to you to decide her fate.”
Qin Munan’s words were firm. He had thought about it all night and finally made this decision.
“Qin Munan, take the antidote back.” Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows, chuckling softly. “This kind of thing is not suitable for a brother to do.”
“I don’t like your sister, and she has provoked me several times, each time making me want to kill her. If I poisoned her, it would be within reason.”
“But you’re different. You share the same blood, from the same lineage. How can you help an enemy poison your own family? So, take the antidote back. If I ever face Qin Muyue in battle in the future, I definitely won’t show mercy. There’s no need to let me use an antidote to control her.”
“As for yesterday’s matter, Qin Munan, I owe you a favor.”
Mu Yunjin calmly finished speaking. It wasn’t that she was being saintly, passing up an opportunity to poison Qin Muyue. Rather, she believed in herself, that she could defeat Qin Muyue fair and square in the future.
That woman was so irritating; how could she settle for simply poisoning her?
Qin Munan’s hand holding the porcelain bottle began to tremble slightly. When coming here, what he feared most was that she wouldn’t accept it. Her speech just now had undoubtedly severed the potential connection between them.
This woman was truly heartless.
After a while, Qin Munan put away the porcelain bottle, his gaze filled with depth as he looked at Mu Yunjin. After a moment, Qin Munan squeezed out a relaxed smile.
“Alright, I’ll remember that you owe me a favor.” Qin Munan said.
Mu Yunjin nodded, her lips curving into a smile.
Before leaving, Qin Munan’s footsteps slightly faltered. Looking at Mu Yunjin, his eyes held hesitation and a hint of pleading. “Um…”
“Hmm?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow.
“For the favor you owe me, could you embroider me a sachet to cancel it out?” Qin Munan lowered his gaze to look at the jade pendant at his waist. Since the sachet was torn by Qin Muyue last time, his daily spiritual support seemed to have disappeared along with it.
Mu Yunjin was stunned for a moment, then thought of the implication of a woman embroidering a sachet for a man. She shook her head at Qin Munan. “Qin Munan, some dreams should be awakened from.”
Some dreams should be awakened from…
Hearing these six words, Qin Munan’s eyes, which had contained a glimmer of hope, immediately reddened. The pain in his heart turned numb, as if torn into several fragments.
In his heart, it seemed someone was reminding him that his Yunjin would never return.
Qin Munan turned his back on Mu Yunjin and left. The moment he opened the door, several tears fell on his handsome, pale face.
No one would have ever thought that the decisive, brave, and resourceful General Qin on the battlefield would redden his eyes and shed tears for a woman.
……
When Mu Yunjin left the side hall, her mood wasn’t much better. Qin Munan’s visit had undoubtedly added a sense of guilt to her.
She occupied Mu Yunjin’s body, hurting the heart of her man.
Sigh.
If only that unfortunate woman could come back.
“After being alone for a while, you seem to have lost half your soul. What did you two talk about?” Chu Li’s chilly voice came from the side, his tone mixed with displeasure and mockery.
Mu Yunjin looked sideways and saw Chu Li walking out from behind a rockery. “So you’ve been eavesdropping all along?”
“I’m not that idle.” Chu Li’s gaze fell on her face, with a hint of scrutiny.
Just now, he had been waiting in the front hall, calculating the time. After waiting for a long while without seeing the two finish their conversation, he got up to check on the side hall. After just a few steps, he saw Qin Munan walk out, and he was… crying.
Chu Li found it hard to imagine what kind of relationship they had before. Or was it as Qin Munan had said earlier, that he had a one-sided love for Mu Yunjin? What could they have talked about just now to make Qin Munan cry?
A man crying for a woman—that showed the depth of his feelings.
The fact that his woman was so deeply loved by such a person made Chu Li inexplicably displeased. His mind also recalled Rong Jiu from a while back—that person’s feelings for Mu Yunjin were also not ordinary.
“Why are you staring at my face?” Seeing Chu Li’s clear gaze fixed on her face, Mu Yunjin couldn’t help but raise her hand to touch her cheek.
“It would be better if you were ugly.” Chu Li squeezed the words through his lips. If she were uglier, fewer men would think about her.
Mu Yunjin almost thought there was something wrong with her ears. Just as she was about to ask why, she caught Chu Li’s somewhat awkward expression and suddenly understood everything.
“Are you jealous? Or are you worried that someday I’ll be taken away by another man?” After saying this, Mu Yunjin even blinked her eyes at Chu Li, displaying an innocent look.
Seeing her cunning smile, Chu Li wanted to pull her over and give her a beating. This troublesome woman was trying to anger him to death.
“I think you’re the one who can’t leave me, right?” Chu Li stroked his chin, teasing her in return. He had a knot of anger today and didn’t want to let Mu Yunjin have the upper hand.
Hearing Chu Li’s counterattack, Mu Yunjin simply leaned against the doorframe, folded her arms, and looked up at the sky with a long sigh. “Who was it that confessed to me first? Otherwise, I might be enjoying the freedom of being single right now. After all, we haven’t had a wedding ceremony…”
As she was speaking, Mu Yunjin suddenly felt a chill come over her. She hugged her arms tighter and looked toward Chu Li, only to see his expression turn icy cold.
“Continue. What would you do being single…” Chu Li felt his liver aching from being angered by this woman.
Seeing that Chu Li’s jar of jealousy had spilled all over and he was on the verge of rage, Mu Yunjin naturally knew how to grasp the measure. So she changed her tune, “Being single, I’d travel around to various places, then buy local specialties to bring back to you…”
“…”
Chu Li’s originally tense face suddenly broke into a smile from irritation. His face, which had been full of coldness, was instantly replaced with hints of amusement.
In this lifetime, he had completely fallen into her hands.