In the Zen monastery.

Chu Li sat before the chessboard where Master Huaiyuan and Master An had been playing earlier, his cold eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at the half-finished game.

After waiting for a long time, footsteps finally approached from outside.

“Greetings, Prince Ning.” As soon as Master Huaiyuan entered, he bowed slightly to Chu Li, feeling somewhat nervous—this was the first time he had kept Chu Li waiting for so long.

Chu Li raised his head, his sharp gaze falling on Master Huaiyuan, and smiled coldly, “Where is she?”

Hearing this indifferent tone, Master Huaiyuan and Master An exchanged glances, realizing that what Mu Yunjin had said was true—Chu Li had indeed lost his memory.

“Is Your Highness referring to Princess Ning?” Master An spoke up, taking over the conversation.

Upon hearing the word “princess” again, Chu Li gave Master An a cold glance, with a chill spreading around him, and repeated, “Where is she!”

“Princess Ning is not here,” Master An replied. At this moment, they certainly couldn’t allow the two to meet casually.

…

…

“Hmph…” Chu Li gave a light snort, his gaze profound. “The Divine Decree, I am determined to obtain it. Even if that woman flees to the ends of the earth, I will hunt her down!”

“Prince Ning is so cruel to his wife? Don’t you remember how you would ache for half a day whenever she slightly frowned in the past? You would even risk your life for Princess Ning…” Master An spoke, deliberately disturbing Chu Li’s state of mind.

Chu Li paused slightly, darkness surging in his eyes.

“Not only that, does Prince Ning has no impression of the Princess in his memory? Yet everyone around refers to her as your Princess?”

Chu Li pressed his lips together without speaking.

“Then let me tell Your Highness, you have lost that portion of memory about Princess Ning. Currently, you have only temporarily forgotten her. Your Highness must not act impulsively at this critical moment. If you do something to harm Princess Ning, when your memory returns in the future, you may regret it deeply.”

Beside them, Song Chun, hearing Master An’s words, opened his mouth in surprise. No wonder their lord had been behaving strangely—he had lost his memory?

And he couldn’t remember the Princess?

How peculiar.

“Also, if Your Highness doesn’t believe me, you can ask those around you, such as Huang Yan, Lord Xu, and Lord Qu,” Master An said leisurely.

At this moment, Chu Li’s mind was filled with a thousand thoughts.

Memory loss—how could he have lost his memory…

In his impression, there were no blank spaces in his memory, so how could it be, as the monk said, memory loss?

But if it wasn’t memory loss, why did everyone call that woman his Princess? He had no recollection of marrying her, especially a woman with such a notorious reputation.

And risking his life for that woman?

What attractive qualities did that woman possess that would be worth risking his life for?

These people were being ridiculous.

Thinking this, Chu Li stood up, saying nothing, and walked out.

Song Chun immediately followed, but was pulled back by Master An, who then whispered, “Be wary of Consort Rong, and remember to invite Huang Yan and the others to come.”

Among Chu Li’s subordinates, young Huang Yan was the most quick-witted and fearless. With him around, it would be more difficult for Consort Rong to succeed.

Song Chun was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

…

After Chu Li left, Mu Yunjin emerged from the secret chamber. She had heard everything that was said, and her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

She couldn’t return to Prince Ning’s mansion for now. Suddenly, she realized that without Chu Li, she had nowhere to go.

Looking at the time, she saw it was approaching dusk. Mu Yunjin thought for a moment and decided to go to River Moon City first.

“I’m leaving now,” Mu Yunjin said glumly.

“Hmm, be careful,” Master An nodded, and added, “I’ll also be returning to the Southern Court Country for a while.”

“What about Consort Rong?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Master An sighed lightly. “I’ll visit Prince Ning’s mansion first to check on her situation before deciding.”

“Alright, I’m going now,” Mu Yunjin nodded.

With that, Mu Yunjin walked out, heading towards Peace of Mind Hall. She remembered that the secret passage from Water Cloud Temple leading outside was the route closest to River Moon City.

She didn’t know if Chu Li was lying in ambush for her outside, so taking the secret passage would be safest.

Ah, how frustrating.

…

Meanwhile, after returning to his mansion, Chu Li went directly to the Clarity Spring Pavilion room.

As soon as he stepped in, his peripheral vision fell on the dressing table nearby. He walked over, and as he approached the dressing table, he found that it was covered with various cosmetics and several boxes of hairpins and jade ornaments.

He casually opened a jar of rouge and found it was half-used.

Chu Li furrowed his brow and walked to the wardrobe, opening it to see colorful embroidered dresses at a glance. The shoe cabinet nearby was also filled with many pairs of embroidered shoes, all of which had been worn.

That woman…

Chu Li remembered that this was indeed his room, but he had never had intimate contact with any woman, much less allowed one to live in his room.

Yet the current scene confirmed what the monk at Water Cloud Temple had said was true.

At this moment, someone gently knocked on his door.

“Come in,” Chu Li said coldly.

The person who entered was Consort Rong, accompanied by a graceful young woman of beautiful appearance and ethereal temperament, holding a tray.

“Li’er, you must be tired after a busy day. Mu’er just learned how to make this white fungus soup from me. Try it,” Consort Rong said with a smile, giving a look to the young woman beside her.

The young woman immediately stepped forward, placing the tray on the table, and approached Chu Li, “Your Highness, please try it.”

“You’re called Mu’er?” Chu Li, hearing those two words, narrowed his eyes and glanced at the young woman.

Nearby, Consort Rong stepped forward, laughing lightly, “Li’er, what joke are you making? She’s Yun Mu’er, who sleeps with you on the same bed every night. Don’t you remember her?”

“Mother, His Highness is probably just teasing Mu’er.” Yun Mu’er covered her mouth with a smile, her cheeks slightly red.

“Yes, yes, it seems I’m getting old and don’t understand you young people,” Consort Rong’s eyes filled with even more amusement.

Chu Li frowned slightly, examining this Yun Mu’er closely. Her features somewhat resembled the woman from Minister Mu’s mansion.

But he had no impression of that woman from Minister Mu’s mansion.

As for this Mu’er, he seemed to have heard her name before…

Seeing Chu Li deep in thought, Consort Rong turned her eyes and looked around, then said, “Mu’er, it’s getting cold. Are the clothes in your wardrobe too thin? We should have the tailors send over more winter clothes.”

“And these shoes are getting cold to wear. Let’s change them all tomorrow so you don’t catch a chill.”

Hearing this, Yun Mu’er nodded and smiled, “Don’t worry, Mother. His Highness already instructed Nanny Shen a few days ago.”

“That’s good. Li’er is truly wonderful to you, there’s nothing more to say.” Consort Rong finished, looking at Chu Li again.

Chu Li raised an eyebrow, looking at Consort Rong, “Then what is my relationship with Mu Yunjin?”

“Her?” Consort Rong lowered her eyes, somewhat disdainfully. “Wasn’t she the one Empress Qin forced you to marry? You’ve sent her to live in the room diagonally across.”

“This room is where you and Mu’er sleep,” Consort Rong said, looking at Yun Mu’er.

Hearing this, Chu Li felt a chill rise in his heart. From earlier until now, he had heard two different versions, and between these two versions, someone was lying.

Thinking this, he ignored Consort Rong and Yun Mu’er, walking to the dressing table and opening the boxes of jewelry one by one.

Finally, his gaze fell on a white pearl hairpin. After examining it, he turned to look at Consort Rong, “If you say Mu Yunjin doesn’t share a room with me, then why was she wearing the matching earrings and pearl ornament from this hairpin set in her hair today?”

Consort Rong was stunned, having not noticed this detail.

Yun Mu’er stepped forward, looked at the pearl hairpin, and spoke with some grievance, “Sister Yunjin often comes to the room when the Prince is away and picks out some of Mu’er’s accessories. Mu’er can’t do anything about it…”

“Really?” Chu Li gave Yun Mu’er a cold glance.

Yun Mu’er lowered her eyes and nodded.

“Then what about this rouge? Is this also yours?” Chu Li continued to question.

Yun Mu’er nodded again.

“If it’s yours, then why is this rouge peach-colored, while what you’re wearing on your cheeks is honey-colored? Among all these rouges on the table, there doesn’t seem to be the honey-colored one you’re wearing,” Chu Li spoke coldly, looking at Yun Mu’er with a frigid expression.

This time, both Consort Rong and Yun Mu’er were shocked, staring wide-eyed at the rouge Chu Li was pointing to. The difference between peach powder and honey powder was subtle—how could he distinguish them at a glance?

After saying those words, Chu Li himself was somewhat surprised. Since when had he become so knowledgeable about women’s items?

More troubling was that at this moment, a small face floated in his mind—that incomparably beautiful small face, adorned with peach-colored rouge.

Thinking of her face, Chu Li’s headache worsened…

“Your Highness, the honey-colored rouge that Mu’er used this morning just ran out and was thrown away. The new one hasn’t been bought yet,” Yun Mu’er explained, shrinking her neck, appearing thoroughly pitiful and wronged.

At this moment, someone gently knocked on the door again.

“Come in.”

The door was pushed open, and Huang Yan stepped in. After just a few steps, he heard Consort Rong barking at him, “Get out! I am discussing family matters with your lord!”

Huang Yan was startled at first, but then pretended not to hear, approaching Chu Li, “Your Highness…”

“Huang Yan, how dare you! You ignore my words!” Consort Rong was furious, but with Chu Li present, she couldn’t directly take action against Huang Yan.

Chu Li looked at Huang Yan and asked in a flat tone, “What is it?”

“It’s like this—the Princess is at Water Cloud Temple now. She says it’s cold and asked me to bring her a cloak…”

As he spoke, Huang Yan walked to the wardrobe on his own, continuing, “She said the cloak is the third one from the left in the wardrobe, a brocade blue one with hibiscus flowers printed on it…”

“Found it, this is the one. What else did she say… Oh right, she also said she lost her dagger in Ghost Valley Cave and asked me to bring her another one.”

“She said the dagger is at the bottom of the box at the very back of the wardrobe. Let me look… Ah, found it, found it!”

After taking out the box, Huang Yan indeed retrieved a dagger from it, then put everything back in its original position and smiled at Chu Li, “Fortunately, the Princess knows where all her things are kept. Otherwise, hidden so secretly, I really wouldn’t have been able to find them…”