Unable to break the formation, Mu Yunjin tried once more, only to be bounced back again. She could only sit dejectedly on the edge of the bed, frowning, her face clearly showing her displeasure.

After waiting for a long time, there was still no movement outside.

“Zixiang…”

Mu Yunjin had run out of patience and tried calling for Zixiang, unsure if her voice could penetrate the formation. If it couldn’t, she would suffocate in here.

“Zixiang…”

Mu Yunjin called out twice, increasing her volume.

“Consort, is something the matter?” After a moment, Song Chun’s voice came from outside the door.

“Phew, someone finally responds to me! Come in and help me break this formation in the room!” Mu Yunjin secretly sighed in relief that she hadn’t been completely abandoned.

Song Chun pushed open the door and, upon entering, discovered that a formation had been set in the room, trapping Mu Yunjin inside. He initially wanted to help her break the formation, but then thought again—this formation must have been set by His Highness, right?

…

…

Song Chun hesitated.

If the Prince personally set this formation, might there be some purpose to it?

After a pause, Song Chun scratched his head. “This subordinate doesn’t know how to break this formation. I’ll go find the Prince to break it. Please wait a moment, Consort.”

With those words, not waiting for Mu Yunjin to speak, he turned and ran out.

Mu Yunjin pouted and snorted, not knowing what game Chu Li was playing!

……

Song Chun made his way to an empty pavilion and, seeing Ding Xian guarding the door, whispered, “Is His Highness inside?”

“Yes, dining with Consort Rong and the Ninth Princess,” Ding Xian replied.

“Well…” Upon hearing this, Song Chun hesitated.

Ding Xian frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“His Highness set a formation for the Consort. The Consort seems to have awakened and now can’t leave the formation. I originally wanted to help her break it, but since the formation was set by His Highness, I don’t know what his intentions were, so I didn’t dare to break it for the Consort,” Song Chun answered honestly.

“Are you stupid? If the Consort asks you to break the formation, you should hurry and do it! Be careful that His Highness might get angry when he finds out!” Ding Xian spoke bluntly.

Song Chun was taken aback. “You said it, not me. If something goes wrong, don’t blame it on me.”

“Well…” Ding Xian also paused, unsure what to do. He glanced into the empty pavilion, stroked his chin, and thought of someone.

“Isn’t Little Huang around? Go find him to break the formation for the Consort. With his smooth talk, he’s not afraid of either His Highness or the Consort.” Ding Xian patted Song Chun’s shoulder.

Song Chun immediately understood and went back to find Huang Yan.

Ding Xian stood there, watching Song Chun walk away, feeling that something wasn’t quite right. After thinking for a while, he remembered that the relationship between the Consort and Consort Rong wasn’t exactly cordial…

So, was this the reason His Highness had set the formation for the Consort?

Ding Xian, fearing some misunderstanding might arise between the two women, quickly stepped into the empty pavilion. Reaching the hall door, he knocked.

“Enter,” came Chu Li’s voice.

Ding Xian pushed the door open and immediately saw Chu Qingyuan clinging affectionately to Consort Rong’s arm, her face beaming with happiness. Consort Rong was leaning against Chu Qingyuan, her face showing a faint smile.

Chu Li sat to the side, his expression mild, not as cold and distant as usual.

Ding Xian walked to Chu Li’s side and bent down to whisper in his ear, “The Consort has awakened.”

“Mm.” Chu Li nodded.

Ding Xian understood and walked out.

……

Mu Yunjin waited for a long time before finally seeing Chu Li push open the door.

As soon as she saw him, she angrily grabbed the pillow behind her and threw it straight at Chu Li. But she had forgotten about the formation in front of her, and the pillow bounced back upon touching it, hitting her full in the chest.

“Ow!” Mu Yunjin cried out.

Chu Li’s face showed amusement as he dispelled the formation in the room and walked toward Mu Yunjin. Before he could get close, Mu Yunjin, having recovered, threw another pillow at him.

Chu Li easily caught the pillow, only to see Mu Yunjin dash out like the wind.

A moment later, she lazily returned.

“Chu Li, my bladder was about to explode!” Mu Yunjin sighed deeply. Having slept for so long, she had already felt the urge, and being delayed by this formation had almost forced her to resolve the issue right there!

“Where did you go? Why did you set up a formation?” Mu Yunjin sat down and poured herself a cup of water.

Chu Li looked at her and raised his eyebrows. “Mother came and was seen by Little Ninth. Fearing her crying out would wake you, this Prince set up a formation.”

“Uh…” Mu Yunjin’s hand holding the teacup paused, a flash of discomfort appearing in her eyes and quickly disappearing. She smiled at Chu Li. “Then Little Ninth must have been ecstatic?”

She remembered that Little Ninth had mentioned Consort Rong just that afternoon!

“Mm.” Chu Li nodded.

Mu Yunjin poured herself another cup of water, her heart rate increasing significantly. Regarding Consort Rong, she had initially thought she was acceptable when first meeting her, but now, after more interaction, she preferred to avoid her if possible, best not to meet at all.

But she was Chu Li’s mother, and it was inevitable they would cross paths.

Sigh.

How difficult.

Though Mu Yunjin had slept for a long time and it was already dark, she now had no trace of sleepiness. She could only sit in the rocking chair, making scattered attempts at conversation with Chu Li.

“Has Jingyang left?” She remembered the girl had been clamoring to go back.

Chu Li shook his head.

“She hasn’t left?” Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t know.”

“…” Mu Yunjin was speechless.

After sitting idle for a while, Chu Li changed out of his outer robe, preparing to bathe in the hot spring. Before entering the small door to the hot spring pool, his lips curved into a smile as he tilted his head toward Mu Yunjin. “Do you want to join me?”

“No!” Mu Yunjin’s face reddened, knowing that following him in would surely lead to no good. She sullenly refused.

Chu Li remained standing, looking at her, his lips curling into a smile. He gave Mu Yunjin an enchanting, seductive smile. “Are you sure?”

“Tsk—” Mu Yunjin drew in a sharp breath. Was this guy trying to seduce her with such a flirtatious smile?

Ah, Chu Li had learned some bad habits…

In the end, Chu Li returned to her, bent down, and slung her over his shoulder, walking toward the hot spring pool…

“Why carry me like this? Can’t you carry me like a princess?!” Before entering, Mu Yunjin was still complaining.

……

Knowing that Chu Qingyuan had been staying at the mansion these past two days, and afraid she might oversleep, Mu Yunjin specifically asked Chu Li to wake her the next morning before they went to sleep the previous night.

Now, Mu Yunjin kept yawning, tilting her head as she helped Chu Li put on his outer garments, then looking down to help him tie his belt. Since she rarely did these things, even tying a belt took her quite some time.

“Done.” Mu Yunjin looked at the fully dressed Chu Li before her and smiled at him.

Chu Li reached out to caress her face, his tone warm. “Thank you, beloved Consort.”

“It’s my duty, no need for thanks.” Mu Yunjin lowered her eyes somewhat embarrassedly, feeling her words were somewhat insincere before speaking them.

She had said it was her duty, but she had only done it a few times in total. Who could blame her for living a leisurely, lazy life and particularly loving to sleep in? Each time Chu Li got up and left, she was sound asleep, completely unaware.

This really shouldn’t be the case…

“Sit down, this Prince will draw your eyebrows.” Chu Li led her to sit at the dressing table and picked out an eyebrow pencil from her jewelry box.

The last time he mentioned drawing her eyebrows, they had been delayed by certain indescribable activities. Now that Chu Li mentioned eyebrows again, Mu Yunjin felt somewhat expectant.

“Close your eyes.” Chu Li’s mind was distracted by her gaze.

Mu Yunjin obediently closed her eyes.

Chu Li bent down slightly, holding the eyebrow pencil, and gently traced along her brows. Having never done this before, Chu Li was as awkward as Mu Yunjin had been when helping him dress.

Tracing along the contours of her eyebrows, Chu Li felt for the first time that for him, a woman’s hairdressing and eyebrow drawing was more difficult than climbing a mountain of knives or diving into a sea of fire.

After all, he didn’t have particularly skilled hands.

“Are you done?” After a long while, Mu Yunjin, who had been sitting upright, felt her waist getting sore.

Throughout the process, she had felt the eyebrow pencil on her brows, but she remembered that Zixiang usually only took a few strokes. Why had Chu Li taken so long…

Mu Yunjin had a bad feeling…

“Done,” Chu Li replied.

Mu Yunjin opened her eyes, first smiling at Chu Li, then turned excitedly to look in the bronze mirror. Upon seeing herself, her smile froze instantly…

“Chu Li, did you just go out and catch two caterpillars and stick them on my eyebrows?”

……

After leaving Liquan Pavilion.

“When is that Holy Maiden from Southern Court coming?” Mu Yunjin asked, walking alongside Chu Li, suddenly remembering this matter.

“In another two days,” Chu Li said.

Mu Yunjin nodded and touched her eyebrows. She had wiped them too forcefully with a damp cloth earlier, causing so much pain she felt her eyebrows might fall out.

“Sister Jinhua…” An intimate, enthusiastic voice came from ahead.

Mu Yunjin looked up, and seeing who was standing not far away, lowered her eyes and secretly rolled them. She slowly walked over. “Weren’t you supposed to have gone back? Why are you still here?”

Hearing this, Jingyang lowered her head and spoke softly, “Sister Jinhua, I’m sorry. I was too willful yesterday. I’ve already had all the broken items replaced with new ones. For some porcelain pieces that couldn’t be matched exactly, I found similar ones to put in their place.”

“It was my fault for losing my temper. Can you forgive me?”

Jingyang spoke very softly, but every word reached Mu Yunjin’s ears. Mu Yunjin had initially felt a headache upon seeing Jingyang, but after hearing these words, she was both surprised and astonished.

Had this girl been possessed?

She seemed like a completely different person overnight.

The tone in which she just spoke had a hint of obedience and sincerity…

Was there something wrong with her ears?

With these thoughts, Mu Yunjin raised her eyes, her clear gaze falling steadily on Jingyang before her.

Jingyang kept her head low, her hands clasped together in nervousness, her shoulders similarly drooping. At this moment, she looked both small and pitiful.

Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together, somewhat confused.

“Sixth Brother, Sixth Sister-in-law, what are you all doing standing here?” An excited voice came from behind.

Chu Qingyuan, having seen Consort Rong yesterday, was in an exceptionally good mood today. She bounced over to Mu Yunjin’s side and, seeing Jingyang hanging her head, didn’t put on a sour face.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Did someone bully you?”