In the dining hall, the atmosphere was relaxed, filled with Bei Tang Wen Feng’s hearty laughter.

Mu Yunjin kept her head down as she ate, while Jiang Qingxue and Bei Tang Wen Feng occasionally helped her with the dishes. Throughout the meal, the two of them barely ate anything, just staring at Mu Yunjin.

“Why aren’t you two eating?” Mu Yunjin felt somewhat awkward being watched by them. She raised her eyes to glance at them, but after meeting their gaze, she lowered her head again.

Bei Tang Wen Feng was slightly taken aback, then broke into a smile. “So, compared to the food here and in Western Ming Country, which do you prefer?”

“Let me think…” Mu Yunjin dragged out the syllables, seeing how expectant Bei Tang Wen Feng and Jiang Qingxue looked. She smiled softly. “I like Prince Ning’s mansion’s food the best.”

“You girl… Oh right, why didn’t Chu Li come with you?” Bei Tang Wen Feng suddenly remembered to ask.

When Bei Tang Wen Feng mentioned Chu Li, Mu Yunjin couldn’t help but recall what Chu Li and Qu Xinyao had told her before she left. Her mood suddenly became heavier, and she pressed her lips together.

“Yunjin, what’s wrong?” Jiang Qingxue noticed the sudden change in Mu Yunjin’s mood and cast her a concerned look.

“It’s nothing. Chu Li is tied up with some matters in Western Ming Country and couldn’t get away, so he didn’t come with me,” Mu Yunjin said with a faint smile, glancing at Bei Tang Wen Feng and Jiang Qingxue from the corner of her eye.

…

…

They were in a good mood right now. Bringing up her purpose for coming at this moment might dampen their spirits. It would be better to wait a while before mentioning it.

…

After lunch, the three of them strolled around Jiang Qingxue’s residence. Bei Tang Wen Feng walked with his hands clasped behind his back, several times wanting to say something to Mu Yunjin, but each time the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back.

Mu Yunjin still walked with her head down. For some reason, when facing Bei Tang Wen Feng and Jiang Qingxue, she always felt somewhat shy and awkward.

“Yunjin, when we were in Western Ming Country before, your father prepared a hairpin for you, but at that time he was too shy to give it to you directly. I’ve been keeping it. Would you like to see it?” Jiang Qingxue spoke with a smile, her gaze falling on Mu Yunjin’s ponytail.

Bei Tang Wen Feng felt somewhat embarrassed when Jiang Qingxue mentioned the hairpin.

“Sure, let’s see it,” Mu Yunjin nodded in agreement.

Hearing this, Jiang Qingxue smiled at Bei Tang Wen Feng.

When they arrived at Jiang Qingxue’s room, Mu Yunjin looked around at the layout—it was simple and plain, which suited Jiang Qingxue’s style.

“Open it and take a look,” Jiang Qingxue took out a brocade box and handed it to Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin took the box and opened it. Upon seeing the hairpin inside, she let out a surprised sound, her eyes showing astonishment. She took out the hairpin and examined it in her palm.

“You don’t like it, do you? I said this hairpin is too plain, but that old fellow insisted on selling it to me, saying it was destined for me.” Bei Tang Wen Feng frowned.

Mu Yunjin looked at the hairpin in her hand. It was a black jade hairpin, its body as black as ink, without any other decorations, indeed looking simple and ordinary.

But her surprise wasn’t because the hairpin was ordinary, but because of its origin. “Was this bought from Xijin Garden in Butterfly City?”

“Yes, at the time I heard the shop owner was a peculiar old man who sold things based only on the destiny between the buyer and the item. Otherwise, even with ten thousand taels of gold, one couldn’t take even a hair from his shop. I became curious and went to take a look,” Bei Tang Wen Feng said with resignation.

“No wonder!” The moment Mu Yunjin opened the box, the Phoenix Tail Whip on her wrist had tightened a few times. So it came from the same place.

Mentioning Xijin Garden, Mu Yunjin seemed to remember something else. She looked at Jiang Qingxue. “The Qing Mansion in Xinyao City was also sold to me by someone from Xijin Garden.”

“Come to think of it, what the shop owner said wasn’t untrue. Things are only sold to those with whom they have a connection,” Mu Yunjin said, addressing Bei Tang Wen Feng.

Although she still didn’t know what purpose this black jade hairpin served, keeping it would certainly do her no harm.

“Shall I help you put it on?” Jiang Qingxue couldn’t hide the joy in her eyes. Just now, Yunjin had said that Qing Mansion was sold to her by someone from Xijin Garden. Did that mean she acknowledged the connection between them, that she had accepted her as her mother in her heart?

“Mmm,” Mu Yunjin nodded.

“Let me restyle your hair for you, and we’ll see how this black jade hairpin looks?” Earlier, when Jiang Qingxue mentioned this black jade hairpin, her purpose was to personally help Mu Yunjin style her hair once.

On the day of Mu Yunjin’s coming-of-age ceremony, she had spent a whole day staring blankly at a pearl hairpin in Southern Court. Later, when she met her, she discovered that Yunjin had already married Prince Ning, Chu Li. On her wedding day, someone else had styled Yunjin’s hair. At that time, she had wished that someday she could also help her daughter style her hair.

“That’s not necessary, is it? Styling hair is so troublesome, and also…” Before Mu Yunjin could finish her words, she had already caught the disappointment and regret flashing in Jiang Qingxue’s eyes. She faltered, pausing her speech.

Bei Tang Wen Feng naturally understood what Jiang Qingxue was thinking. Just as he was about to step forward to comfort her, he heard Mu Yunjin speak again—

“Actually, please help me style my hair. I might be going out with Huang Yan and the others later, and wearing this brocade dress with a ponytail doesn’t seem quite right.”

Suddenly, Jiang Qingxue’s eyes brightened. She led Mu Yunjin to sit at the dressing table and gently began to untie the ribbon holding her ponytail.

Mu Yunjin stared at the bronze mirror, clearly seeing that as Jiang Qingxue helped her style her hair, her eyes were reddened and filled with tears, yet her lips were curved upward, unable to suppress her excitement and joy.

“Those pearl flowers look nice. Help me try those on too,” Mu Yunjin glanced at the jewelry box on Jiang Qingxue’s dressing table and randomly pointed at a pair of pearl flowers.

Jiang Qingxue nodded with a smile, her eyes curved. “Alright. What else do you like?”

“Let’s wear these earrings too. They match well with the clothes I’m wearing. And I like this peach-pink blush, and this…” Mu Yunjin chattered on, pointing at a pile of items. Everything that could be worn, she listed them.

When Jiang Qingxue helped Mu Yunjin put on the hairpin, her hands trembled noticeably. In her heart, there was a sense of relief and lightness. A wish she had held for so many years was finally realized.

While applying blush to Mu Yunjin’s face, Bei Tang Wen Feng watched from the side, his hands itching to help. He insisted on sharing the task with Jiang Qingxue, each taking half of Mu Yunjin’s face.

Mu Yunjin sat in place, with Bei Tang Wen Feng and Jiang Qingxue standing on either side of her. Both were focused on applying blush, especially Bei Tang Wen Feng, who had his eyes wide open and brows furrowed, as if he were performing an extremely complex and difficult task.

“The ruler of a country helping me apply blush—if the people here knew, they’d die of laughter,” Mu Yunjin teased, trying to make Bei Tang Wen Feng feel more at ease.

“Hah, I’m helping their Princess Jinhua apply blush. They’d be envious, not daring to laugh at me!” Bei Tang Wen Feng was happy too; at least this girl could now joke with him, which meant she no longer considered him an outsider.

After a while, once the blush was applied, Bei Tang Wen Feng took out a box of lip rouge. “Would you like Father to apply this for you?”

“That’s not allowed. Applying lip rouge and drawing eyebrows are Chu Li’s exclusive privileges, reserved only for him.” Mu Yunjin took the box of lip rouge from Bei Tang Wen Feng’s hand and began to apply it herself.

“See that? Prince Ning is Yunjin’s beloved treasure. You, as her father, must step aside,” Jiang Qingxue winked at Bei Tang Wen Feng, gently reproaching him.

As they were chatting, someone gently knocked on Jiang Qingxue’s door, and Huang Yan’s voice came from outside. “Princess Consort, are you there?”

“Yes, I am!” Mu Yunjin responded.

“Could you come out for a moment? I have something to tell you,” Huang Yan said, standing at the door.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin stood up, smiled at Bei Tang Wen Feng and Jiang Qingxue, and pointed outside. “I’ll go see what’s up.”

With that, Mu Yunjin pushed open the door and went out.

Huang Yan was leaning against the corridor wall outside. When he turned and caught sight of the ‘glittering’ Mu Yunjin, he was startled. Raising his eyes, he looked her up and down.

“Princess Consort, why are you dressed up like this for no reason? Isn’t it cumbersome? And your face is as red as a monkey’s backside, and your lips are colored like pig’s blood…”

Before Huang Yan could finish speaking, he felt a murderous aura coming from in front of him. Mu Yunjin was glaring at him, her eyes full of disdain. “What do you know? No wonder you can’t find a wife.”

“You…” Seeing that Mu Yunjin had touched on his weak spot, and noticing that she had come from Jiang Qingxue’s room, Huang Yan immediately understood. He changed his tone and looked at Mu Yunjin flatteringly. “Look at me, my mouth ran away with me just now. I almost forgot that Northern Ming Country is our Princess Consort’s territory. The name Princess Jinhua is known to all, of course, you should dress grandly and magnificently…”

“Enough. What did you want to see me about?” Mu Yunjin frowned, pointing ahead, indicating that Huang Yan should move to a more secluded place to talk.

Asked about the serious matter, Huang Yan immediately became solemn. “This morning, I wandered around the main street and discovered two people. Guess who they were?”

“Who?” Mu Yunjin was too lazy to guess.

“Qiuye and Qin Muyue.” Huang Yan’s expression turned cold. “They’re disguised as merchants coming to Northern Ming Country to do business, posing as father and daughter. They’re currently staying at an inn in the city.”

“Just the two of them?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t expected Qin Muyue to sneak away as well. She truly wouldn’t give up until she was at the edge of the Yellow River.

Huang Yan pursed his lips and shook his head. “They also have a coachman who looks about the same age as Qiuye. Whether he’s a real coachman or has another identity is hard to say.”

“By the way, have you mentioned to the ruler of Northern Ming Country why we’ve come to Northern Ming Country?” Huang Yan asked further.

“Not yet. I was planning to wait a bit before bringing it up,” Mu Yunjin frowned slightly.

Hearing this, Huang Yan also frowned. “Qiuye and the others have already arrived. The ruler of Northern Ming Country also knows you’re here. We absolutely cannot let him reveal that Princess Jinhua is in Northern Ming Country. Otherwise, our trip would be in vain.”

“Hmm, I’ll go talk to them now.” Mu Yunjin turned back, her steps hurried. She had originally thought that Qiuye and the others wouldn’t arrive so quickly, so she could wait a few days before telling Bei Tang Wen Feng and the others. Now, they were truly being caught off guard.

When she returned to Jiang Qingxue’s room, Bei Tang Wen Feng was just walking out the door. Upon seeing him, Mu Yunjin immediately stepped forward. “I have something urgent to tell you!”