After sitting in the Mingxiang Teahouse for a long time, the weather outside gradually darkened, as if it were about to rain.

“Miss, it’s about to rain. Should we head back now?” Zixiang looked out the window with concern. They hadn’t brought umbrellas, and she worried they might get caught in the rain on their way back.

Before Mu Yunjin could answer, a heavy downpour began.

Zixiang immediately reached over to close the window, then walked to the door and opened it to ask the waiter to bring in some coal for heating quickly.

“How can it start raining so suddenly? Who knows how long it will last now!” Zixiang felt somewhat dejected as the room grew colder after the rain began.

Mu Yunjin wrapped her scarf around herself again. Soon after, the waiter knocked on the door and added more coal to the brazier in their private room.

“Miss, the rain seems to be getting heavier,” Zixiang frowned as she listened to the sound of rain outside.

“It’s fine, we can wait here for a while. If it’s dark and we still haven’t returned, the manor will send someone to look for us,” Mu Yunjin said, extending her hands over the coal basin to warm them.

Zixiang nodded.

…

…

…

After sitting in the private room for a while longer, there was another knock at the door.

“Come in,” Zixiang said directly, thinking it was the waiter.

The next moment, the door was pushed open, and a figure dressed in purple stood in the doorway before walking in slowly.

Seeing who it was, Zixiang immediately stood up and smoothed her clothes. “Your Highness…”

Chu Li gave a faint acknowledgment, then walked over to Mu Yunjin, his lips curving slightly. “Have you been waiting long?”

Mu Yunjin shook her head and glanced at Chu Li. “How did you know I was here?”

“Song Chun told me,” Chu Li said plainly.

Mu Yunjin suddenly understood. Song Chun was the leader of the shadow guards who had been following her discreetly since returning to Diehua City.

“Are you done shopping?” Chu Li looked at the several brocade boxes nearby, then turned to Mu Yunjin and reached out to rub her face. Finding her face a bit cold, he frowned slightly.

Mu Yunjin had already finished most of her shopping. Initially, when Chu Li first entered, she had been thinking they could finally go home, but hearing his question, she suddenly changed her attitude.

“Not yet!” Mu Yunjin said.

“Then I’ll accompany you. Let’s go home early after we finish…” Chu Li slightly extended the last syllable, his gaze warm and still as he glanced at Mu Yunjin’s neck.

Mu Yunjin knew Chu Li was thinking inappropriate thoughts again. She reached out and punched him lightly, then stood up. “Then you can hold the umbrella for me!”

“All right,” Chu Li agreed with a smile.

Zixiang, standing to the side, found their conversation almost surreal.

She vaguely remembered that about half a year ago, before Miss and His Highness were married, they often ran into each other in this teahouse. Back then, His Highness had been cold and aloof, barely speaking more than a few words to Miss, let alone showing his smile.

Looking at them now, her Miss had truly married the right person.

…

Mu Yunjin had explored the entire street below during the afternoon. Now, strolling in the rain again with Chu Li under an umbrella had a different flavor.

When they entered a rogue shop, the proprietress didn’t recognize who they were at first, but when she saw the people standing before her, her smile carried a hint of terror.

Was she seeing things?

Weren’t these the Ning Prince and his consort?

Wait a minute… was the person holding the umbrella just now the Ning Prince?

Were the two of them out shopping in the rain under an umbrella without a single servant or attendant?

The proprietress suddenly felt as if her shop was headed for disaster. For these two important figures to venture out in the rain with umbrellas to visit her shop, surely nothing good would come of it!

This was terrible…

But she couldn’t recall offending the Ning Prince’s consort in the afternoon…

“Which of these two colors do you think looks better?” Mu Yunjin, completely unaware of the proprietress’s imagination, casually picked up two pots of rouge with similar colors—one peach pink and one honey pink. The difference was so subtle that it was almost indistinguishable unless examined carefully.

“This one,” Chu Li pointed to the peach pink. He really couldn’t see any difference between the two colors.

He didn’t understand why women would distinguish between peach pink and honey pink when the colors looked the same.

Incomprehensible…

Mu Yunjin nodded and went to look at other cosmetics nearby.

The proprietress stood to the side, as if struck by lightning, motionless. Were these two here to buy things?

But hadn’t the Ning Prince’s consort already come to buy items in the afternoon?

And the Ning Prince, how could he be… so gentle…

The proprietress pondered and still found it somewhat creepy.

After Mu Yunjin selected several more items, the proprietress immediately approached. “Your Highness, let me package these for you.”

“Mm, thank you,” Mu Yunjin nodded with a smile.

Chu Li walked to the counter, pulled out a silver note from his sleeve, and placed it on the counter with an expressionless face, watching the proprietress pack the items with a cold gaze.

After finishing packaging, the proprietress looked up and was suddenly startled by Chu Li’s icy expression. Wasn’t he quite pleasant just a moment ago?

“Your Highness, here you…” The proprietress extended her hand, trembling.

Chu Li reached out to take the brocade box, put his arm around Mu Yunjin’s waist, and walked out.

After they left, the proprietress let out a heavy sigh of relief, repeatedly clutching her chest. “Oh my, I was scared to death…”

But wasn’t the Ning Prince incredibly doting on his consort?

He even personally held an umbrella for her.

Several shopkeepers on the street were given quite a fright today.

…

Returning to the manor with a bountiful harvest, Mu Yunjin was in high spirits. In her memory, Chu Li had never accompanied her like this, browsing from shop to shop on the street.

Most importantly, his patience was admirable, showing no signs of impatience or displeasure throughout the process.

Zixiang had already returned ahead of them. Seeing Chu Li carrying several brocade boxes, she immediately stepped forward to take them, and looking down at the boxes, asked in surprise, “Miss, didn’t you already visit these shops in the daytime…”

Before finishing her sentence, she wisely closed her mouth.

“Your Highness, My Lady, dinner is ready. Would you like to dine now?” Mamma Shen approached, smiling at Chu Li and Mu Yunjin.

They both nodded and walked toward the dining hall.

Just as they sat down in the dining hall, a young maid came in from outside. “Your Highness, My Lady, there is a young woman named Yuan Xia requesting an audience.”

Hearing it was Yuan Xia again, Mu Yunjin pursed her lips and looked at Chu Li. “This Yun Shimgleng probably didn’t get any help from the National Preceptor and won’t give up anytime soon. Should we clarify things with her?”

“Let her wait for now,” Chu Li said casually, then looked at Mu Yunjin. “Eat.”

Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together and nodded, picking up her chopsticks and starting to eat leisurely.

Throughout the meal, she ate somewhat absentmindedly, but Chu Li occasionally helped her with dishes and reminded her to eat more.

Dragging on, the meal took more than half an hour.

After eating, Mu Yunjin remembered Yuan Xia waiting outside and couldn’t help but look at Chu Li. “Yun Shimgleng, should we meet her?”

“You go meet her. Women’s business, handle it yourself,” Chu Li said to Mu Yunjin with a slight smile.

“Fine,” Mu Yunjin didn’t know how to face Yun Shimgleng, but it wasn’t a solution to have her send people to the manor gate with messages every day.

With that, she stood up and said to Zixiang, “Take her to the side hall.”

“Yes, Miss.”

…

In the side hall, after Mu Yunjin waited for a while, Zixiang brought Yun Shimgleng in.

Today, Yun Shimgleng still wore a white robe, her figure graceful and her appearance fresh and clean. Due to the injury on her forehead, she had deliberately used a string of beaded curtains to cover that area.

As soon as she entered, without saying a word, Yun Shimgleng knelt directly before Mu Yunjin.

Zixiang and Yuan Xia were both startled.

“You two, go out first,” Mu Yunjin waved her hand at them.

Zixiang understood and left with Yuan Xia.

With only Mu Yunjin and Yun Shimgleng left in the side hall, Mu Yunjin sat in her chair, looking down at Yun Shimgleng. “You kneel to me as soon as we meet—are you trying to morally coerce me?”

Though she wasn’t sure if Yun Shimgleng would understand what “moral coercion” meant.

“Ning Prince Consort…” Yun Shimgleng raised her eyes, which were filled with glistening tears. “As long as you agree to help awaken Feng Che, I am willing to be your slave for life!”

“Do you love him that much?” Mu Yunjin asked.

“Yes,” Yun Shimgleng answered firmly. “If possible, I would exchange my life with his. I would die in his place, as long as he can live well!”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows slightly. Judging by this intensity, it seemed like true love!

“Then how can I tell whether you are a scheme sent by Black Robe Feng Lan?” Mu Yunjin asked. That day in Ghost Valley Cave, when Yun Shimgleng walked over to Black Robe with the red bead, she had been extremely surprised.

She had nearly died fighting the deep red spirit crocodile in the Deep Pool, only to find that the bead had been in someone else’s hands all along.

So all that time, she had risked her life for nothing!

“I…” Yun Shimgleng was ashamed by Mu Yunjin’s words, nervously clutching the hem of her clothes and lowering her gaze. “I’m sorry, I truly did it for Feng Che out of desperation back then.”

“But now you’re begging me for the sake of Feng Che too, aren’t you? If I didn’t know hypnosis techniques, you certainly wouldn’t be kneeling here begging me. Yun Shimgleng, how can I trust you?” Mu Yunjin gazed silently at Yun Shimgleng, feeling utterly complex emotions toward this woman.

Instinct told her that Yun Shimgleng was a good person who had been forced to exchange conditions with Black Robe for Feng Che’s sake.

But instinct was just instinct, not necessarily fact.

After hearing Mu Yunjin’s words, Yun Shimgleng’s body trembled violently. She looked up at Mu Yunjin, opened her mouth, but found she had so much to say yet didn’t know where to begin.

Suddenly, she pulled the butterfly hairpin from her head and thrust it toward her fair neck…

“Ding—”

Mu Yunjin released a silver needle from between her fingers, knocking away the butterfly hairpin, and gazed at Yun Shimgleng with dark eyes.

“Ning Prince Consort, I can die. I can die to atone for my sins! As long as you can save Feng Che. He is so good, how can he be trapped forever in that ice coffin by a curse…”

After saying this, Yun Shimgleng was sobbing with tears streaming down her face.

Mu Yunjin’s heart gradually softened. Yun Shimgleng’s devoted tears couldn’t possibly be fake, could they?

With this thought, Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together and spoke somewhat awkwardly, “Stand up and speak.”

“Ning Prince Consort, do you agree?” Yun Shimgleng’s face lit up, seeing that Mu Yunjin had suddenly changed her tone.

“Isn’t Feng Che in Ghost Valley Cave? Even if I agree, you’d have to bring his body out first. I don’t want to go to that dreadful place again…”