Returning to Liquan Pavilion, as Mu Yunjin approached the door, she saw that Qingmeng had somehow returned to the Western Yuan Country and was now standing at the doorway with a bowl of medicinal soup, waiting for her.

Mu Yunjin glanced at the imperial guards nearby and asked Qingmeng to follow her inside.

Once inside, Qingmeng looked at Chu Li, put the medicine aside, and checked Mu Yunjin’s pulse.

After the examination, Qingmeng sighed slightly, frowning as she looked at Mu Yunjin. “Princess, your body is too weak. You cannot leave your bed for the next few days, until I confirm that you’re well again.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Yunjin realized that the child in her womb was in poor condition again, so she nodded in agreement.

Chu Li sat nearby drinking tea, seemingly not paying attention, but after hearing Qingmeng’s words, his eyes darkened slightly.

“Starting tomorrow, this medicinal soup should be taken three times daily,” Qingmeng instructed.

Thinking of the bitter taste, Mu Yunjin’s frown deepened.

…

…

Mu Yunjin lay on the bed, sighing occasionally. Getting pregnant at such a critical moment was truly life-threatening.

When Chu Li emerged from the hot spring bath, he heard a series of sighs and glanced toward Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin, seeing Chu Li finish his bath, kept her gaze fixed on him, watching his every move.

After a while, Chu Li walked to the bed and lay down.

As soon as he lay down, Mu Yunjin clung to him like an octopus, holding him tightly and biting her lip without saying a word.

Chu Li touched her hand, and finding her palm ice cold, he turned to embrace her gently.

“Chu Li, what should we do now?” After feeling Chu Li’s embrace, Mu Yunjin grew bolder and asked about Consort Rong’s situation.

“It’s nothing,” Chu Li replied lightly.

Mu Yunjin lowered her eyes. Chu Li made it sound simple, but how could it truly be nothing?

He was like this again, wanting to shoulder all troubles by himself.

Mu Yunjin didn’t know what to say. Perhaps because she had just taken the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine, drowsiness now overwhelmed her. After pondering to herself for a while, she fell asleep.

In the darkness, Chu Li breathed in her clean fragrance and tightened his arms around her.

…

The next day, throughout the streets and alleys of Diehua City, citizens gathered in small groups, fervently discussing certain matters—

“Have you heard? Prince Ning and the Ninth Princess aren’t our Emperor’s biological children…”

“I heard last night that Consort Rong was promiscuous and had relations with many men.”

“Never mind that—just look at the Ning Princess. She truly brings misfortune. First, she caused the death of Minister Mu’s family, then the death of the Holy Maiden Jiang Qingxue from Nanting Country, and now she’s bringing misfortune to the Ning Prince’s mansion…”

“Now that you mention it, that’s really how it is…”

“It seems this Ning Princess is an evil spirit. We should unite and ask the Emperor to deal with her!”

“You’re right. Who knows if, after destroying the Ning Prince’s mansion, she’ll bring disaster to our Western Yuan Country next?”

At the rear garden of the Ning Prince’s mansion.

“Your Highness, the citizens of the entire city have gathered and are kneeling at the palace gates, asking the Emperor to execute the Princess as well, claiming she is an evil spirit…” Ding Xian timidly reported the situation outside to Chu Li.

Chu Li’s expression remained cold, a flash of frost crossing his face.

“Your Highness, what should we do now?” Ding Xian felt a chill in his heart at Chu Li’s expression.

“She is unwell. Don’t let her know about this,” Chu Li said, his face dark.

Ding Xian nodded, “I understand.”

After a pause, he glanced at the imperial guards nearby and sent a secret message to Chu Li: “Huang Yan is ready.”

Chu Li nodded slightly, then stood up and walked toward the room in Liquan Pavilion.

In the room, Mu Yunjin sat against the headboard with Jiang Qingxue beside her. Today, she had specifically asked Chu Li to help her use the Thousand Faces illusion technique to disguise herself as an ordinary woman. She had changed into the servants’ attire from the mansion and stayed in the room to keep Mu Yunjin company.

Since their reconciliation and recognition as mother and daughter, the two had gradually opened their hearts to each other.

“Mother, you’re so skilled with your hands. When will you teach me to make clothes?” Mu Yunjin asked with a smile.

“When your body recovers, I’ll teach you to make some baby clothes for your child to wear in the future,” Jiang Qingxue replied.

Mu Yunjin nodded.

As they spoke, the door opened, and Chu Li entered from outside.

Seeing Chu Li arrive, Jiang Qingxue smiled faintly. “Alright, I’ll go to the kitchen to prepare some nourishing food for you. You two talk.”

After speaking, Jiang Qingxue left.

Only Chu Li and Mu Yunjin remained in the room.

Upon entering, Chu Li sat down in a chair nearby, holding a book. Throughout this process, he neither looked at Mu Yunjin nor spoke to her.

Mu Yunjin didn’t feel bored; she turned her gaze to stare directly at Chu Li.

After she had been watching him for an unknown length of time, Chu Li finally put away his book and looked toward Mu Yunjin. “Are you hungry?”

“Not hungry,” Mu Yunjin shook her head.

She suddenly realized that in recent days, Chu Li seemed very concerned about her hunger, asking her many times each day if she was hungry. At mealtimes, he would also force her to eat a lot.

Could it be that after losing his memory, Chu Li’s way of showing care for someone was to make them eat more?

“Hmm.” After hearing Mu Yunjin’s answer, Chu Li picked up his book again and continued reading.

Mu Yunjin pouted and lay down.

Nearby, as Chu Li picked up his cup to drink water, a secret message reached his ears: “Your Highness, we’ve succeeded!”

Hearing this, Chu Li narrowed his eyes slightly.

At this moment, the sound of even, shallow breathing filled the room. Chu Li turned his face to see that the person who had been staring at him just now was now sound asleep.

Chu Li gazed at her sleeping face, feeling warmth gradually bloom in his heart.

…

While this peaceful scene played out in the Ning Prince’s mansion, the outside world had erupted into chaos.

In the imperial prison.

“How could she just die like this? How do you people work?” The Minister of Justice, Wan Hongyuan, angrily kicked a jailer.

Then he knelt before a figure in imperial yellow. “This minister has failed in his duty. I request punishment from Your Majesty!”

Currently, many important figures have gathered in the prison: Emperor Ximing, the Empress, General Qin, Minister Yan, Chief Justice Chen Pu, and the newly wedded Chu Qing and Qin Muyue.

Qin Muyue had entered the palace today to serve tea to the Empress Dowager and the Empress. But just as she entered the palace halls, she heard news that Consort Rong had bitten her tongue to commit suicide in prison. She hurriedly rushed over.

Now, in the dark and damp imperial prison, Consort Rong lay flat on the ground, her face pale, with red blood continuously flowing from the corner of her mouth.

Wan Hongyuan knelt on the ground, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. Consort Rong was an important prisoner, and now that she had died in prison, his official career was likely over.

Indeed, Emperor Ximing, upon seeing Wan Hongyuan kneeling on the ground, angrily kicked him as well. “Useless! What are you good for?”

This Consort Rong had made him lose all face. If he couldn’t execute her in front of all the citizens of the city, he would never be able to ease the hatred in his heart!

“Open the cell door,” Qin Muyue suddenly spoke, addressing a jailer.

Hearing this, the jailer immediately stepped forward to open the door.

After it opened, just as Qin Muyue was about to enter, the Empress stopped her. “Muyue, you were just married yesterday. It’s inappropriate for you to approach such bloody things.”

“Mother Empress, it’s fine,” Qin Muyue smiled at the Empress.

Now that she had married Chu Qing, she naturally followed his form of address. Although the Empress was not Chu Qing’s birth mother, according to protocol, all princes and princesses in the palace had to respectfully address her as Mother Empress.

After speaking, Qin Muyue walked in and crouched beside Consort Rong’s body. She stared at her face for a while, then bit her lower lip and turned to look at Emperor Ximing.

“Imperial Father, this corpse is not Consort Rong. Someone has used a disguise technique to replace the real Consort Rong,” Qin Muyue declared.

Emperor Ximing was stunned. Immediately, the coroners from the Ministry of Justice rushed in and examined Consort Rong’s face for quite some time. Finally, they looked toward Qin Muyue with some anxiety. “Chen Wang Princess, there are no signs of disguise on this corpse.”

Hearing this, Qin Muyue remained unconcerned. “They didn’t use ordinary human skin mask disguises, but a type of illusion technique. I once fell victim to such an illusion.”

“Muyue, who cast this illusion on you?” the Empress inquired.

“It was done by one of Prince Ning’s guards. When Ning Princess Mu Yunjin was confined to Shuiyun Temple, it was that guard who disguised himself as Mu Yunjin and served the confinement in her place,” Qin Muyue explained.

Hearing another connection to the Ning Prince’s mansion, Emperor Ximing’s expression grew colder. The citizens causing an uproar at the palace gates this morning had already given him enough of a headache. He hadn’t expected to now be dealing with illusion techniques as well.

General Qin, noticing Emperor Ximing’s expression, also spoke up at an appropriate moment. “Indeed, this official can verify this matter. Muyue truly has been subjected to such face-changing illusions.”

Nearby, Chen Pu, who had been frowning all along, suddenly spoke up. He stepped forward to Emperor Ximing’s side. “Your Majesty, according to the Court of Judicial Review’s previous case protocols, to verify a deceased person’s true identity, a full-body examination is required. The illusion mentioned by Chen Wang Princess is not necessarily the correct conclusion.”

Hearing this, Qin Muyue glared at Chen Pu and sneered, “Minister Chen, everyone knows you are close to the Ning Prince’s mansion. Are you deliberately trying to cover up for them?”

“This official would not dare,” Chen Pu bowed slightly, then turned to look at Emperor Ximing.

“Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. If the deceased is indeed Consort Rong, it means she committed suicide out of fear of punishment. If it is not Consort Rong, then this is a major case requiring a thorough investigation. We cannot simply accept the explanation of an illusion without proper examination and then place blame on the Ning Prince’s mansion.”

Emperor Ximing frowned and nodded slightly. “Then, Minister Chen, how do you propose to prove that the deceased is indeed Consort Wan Yue?”

“This humble official boldly requests Your Majesty to personally participate in the examination,” Chen Pu words were clear. Since a full-body examination was needed, Emperor Ximing would naturally be the one most familiar with Consort Rong’s body.

Qin Muyue clenched her fists, wanting to speak further, but was stopped by a look from General Qin.

In this situation, if she continued to target Chen Pu and the Ning Prince’s mansion, it would inevitably arouse Emperor Ximing’s suspicions.

“Come, take the body to the examination room,” Chen Pu ordered several jailers, and then the group proceeded toward the examination room.

Behind them, General Qin and Chu Qing exchanged glances, their eyes filled with deep meaning.

After quiet returned to the prison, a figure in water-blue emerged from the shadows, walking to Chu Qing’s side with a sigh. “Ah, the opponent is too clever. This Crown Prince is truly anxious…”