Mu Yunjin smiled and shook her head, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Mm.” Chu Li nodded, helping her to her feet.

On their way out of the ancient tree courtyard, Mu Yunjin looked at Chu Li. “By the way, how did you finally deal with Minister Yan?”

“Grand Tutor Zhuang is a meticulous person. He gave Yan Qiuhuai a cane and told him to use his judgment,” Chu Li said lightly.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow. “Did Yan Qiuhuai hit himself?”

Chu Li shook his head. “No.”

“Yan Qiuhuai couldn’t bring himself to do it, so Grand Tutor Zhuang had Madam Yan do it instead,” Chu Li added.

Mu Yunjin’s steps faltered as she looked up at Chu Li. “So you had them hit their people?”

“They did it, not me,” Chu Li replied with a touch of innocence in his voice, glancing at Mu Yunjin.

…

…

Mu Yunjin suddenly burst out laughing.

Grand Tutor Zhuang, despite his age, still had quite a few tricks up his sleeve for dealing with people.

…

Arriving at Master Huaiyuan’s meditation courtyard, everything was the same as before, with a Go board set up.

Today, when Mu Yunjin saw the board, she no longer felt overwhelmed as she had in the past. Instead, she excitedly pulled up a chair and sat down beside it, looking at the board.

Mu Yunjin might not know how to play Go, but Fu Huan did!

Moreover, Fu Huan’s Go skills had been taught by Si Qing himself!

“Does the Princess Consort wish to play today?” Master Huaiyuan looked at Mu Yunjin with surprise.

Mu Yunjin nodded.

“Then come here,” Chu Li, seeing that she wanted to play, pulled Mu Yunjin over to sit on his lap, holding her in his arms.

Mu Yunjin leaned back against Chu Li, picked up a white stone, and made the first move on the board.

Master Huaiyuan followed with his move.

During the game, Master Huaiyuan had initially intended to give Mu Yunjin a few handicap stones, but her skill was far more exquisite than he had imagined. She pressed him at every turn, leaving him no escape.

These Go skills were taught by Chu Li himself—there was no need for any handicap.

Chu Li watched from the side as Mu Yunjin played, and each move she made matched exactly what he would have done himself, clearly following the same style as when he played.

But he had never taught her Go.

In the past, when watching him play, she had always seemed distracted, her gaze never lingering on the board.

What was going on?

“The Princess Consort has won. This old monk concedes,” Master Huaiyuan sighed as he looked at his hopeless position on the board, shaking his head.

Mu Yunjin laughed lightly. “Let’s play another round!”

“Alright,” Master Huaiyuan agreed.

Soon, another game was finished, and Master Huaiyuan conceded once more. “So the Princess Consort has been hiding her talents all along!”

“Not at all. The Master was letting me win. Let’s continue playing,” Mu Yunjin said.

“After losing two games in a row, this old monk needs a breather. I’d like to see Prince Ning play a game against the Princess Consort,” Master Huaiyuan said, already vacating his seat.

Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows and turned to look at Chu Li with anticipation.

Chu Li set Mu Yunjin down, stood up, and walked to the opposite side of the board.

Looking at Chu Li across from her, Mu Yunjin gave a mischievous smile. “Chu Li, I’ll win this game too, don’t you think?”

“So confident?” Chu Li raised an eyebrow.

Mu Yunjin curled her lips. “Yes, so don’t give me any handicap.”

“Fine, I won’t,” Chu Li said gently.

Then, Mu Yunjin made the first move, and Chu Li followed closely.

During the game, Mu Yunjin kept her eyes fixed on the board, confirming that Chu Li’s playing habits were identical to Si Qing’s.

Though on the board, it seemed the opponent was being pressured at every step, in reality, he always left two potential breakthroughs.

Each time Mu Yunjin placed a stone, she moved toward the alternative breakthrough point that Chu Li had left, easily avoiding his attacks.

Across from her, Chu Li was also surprised, occasionally raising his eyes to look at Mu Yunjin, realizing that she seemed unusually familiar with his Go habits and rhythm.

By the end of the game, Mu Yunjin had indeed won.

“Hahaha, magnificent! This is the first time I’ve seen someone defeat Prince Ning in a single game,” Master Huaiyuan laughed heartily.

Mu Yunjin smiled faintly and stood up. “You two continue playing. I’ll go to the Buddha Hall to light some incense.”

“Light incense?” Chu Li didn’t understand why she suddenly wanted to do this.

In his opinion, she had never enjoyed such activities.

Mu Yunjin touched her belly. “To pray for your precious daughter, of course.”

“Go ahead,” Chu Li said, showing a smile as he glanced at her belly.

Mu Yunjin hummed lightly. “Hmph, just mentioning your daughter makes your heart melt!”

With that, she walked out slowly.

After Mu Yunjin left, Master Huaiyuan’s smile faded as he looked at Chu Li. “Your Highness, Chu Qing has been hiding in the secret tunnel by the hot spring pool of the former Prince Ning’s Mansion during this period.”

“Mm, I understand,” Chu Li replied.

…

By the time Mu Yunjin left the meditation courtyard, the sky outside was nearly dark.

When she arrived at the Buddha Hall, Yan Lingshang was already at the front of the queue, with no one waiting behind her.

Upon seeing Mu Yunjin, Yan Lingshang immediately waved to her. “Princess Consort, you’re here.”

Mu Yunjin nodded, surprised that Yan Lingshang had waited patiently in line.

After entering the Buddha Hall, Mu Yunjin knelt before the Buddha statue, closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and prayed devoutly for the child in her womb.

“Ah! Help!”

“Someone, help…”

Suddenly, screams erupted outside the Buddha Hall.

Mu Yunjin’s eyes snapped open, and she stood up to walk outside.

At the bottom of the stairs, a group of black-clad men had appeared out of nowhere and were attacking the commoners who had just finished praying. Terrified, people scattered in all directions.

A group of monks armed with staves had rushed forward to engage the black-clad men.

Seeing the fighting, many of the commoners turned back and ran toward the Buddha Hall.

Mu Yunjin narrowed her eyes as she looked at the black-clad men, and when her gaze fell on one particular figure, she frowned. If she wasn’t mistaken, one of them was a subordinate of Qin Muyue, someone called Yang Lian?

What were these people doing here?

Seeing that the young monks were about to be overwhelmed by the specially trained black-clad men, Mu Yunjin flicked her wrist, sending several silver needles flying from her fingertips.

Two of the black-clad men, caught off guard, were struck between the eyebrows by the silver needles and fell to the ground, lifeless.

The attention of the black-clad men was immediately drawn to Mu Yunjin.

“Ah… Miss…” Zixiang cried out in fear, pulling Mu Yunjin to retreat.

“Go inside!” Mu Yunjin shouted at Zixiang, pushing her into the Buddha Hall. She glanced at the gathered commoners, then waved her hand to close the great doors of the Buddha Hall, preventing the black-clad men from entering.

Mu Yunjin stood alone before the closed doors of the Buddha Hall, her gaze somber as she watched the approaching black-clad men.

“Mu Yunjin, it’s you again!” Yang Lian exclaimed, clearly not expecting to encounter Mu Yunjin here.

Mu Yunjin narrowed her eyes. “Yang Lian, you’re a grown man. Why do you listen to Qin Muyue? She’s a deranged madwoman who has lost her mind. Why do you still follow her so obediently?”

Yang Lian was surprised that Mu Yunjin knew him and was aware of his situation. He paused, momentarily forgetting to attack.

“By the way, isn’t your master seriously injured and about to die? Instead of finding a place to celebrate, why are you here, killing people?” Mu Yunjin asked curiously.

By all reasoning, Chu Li’s judgment shouldn’t have been wrong.

“Brother Yang, this woman might know the whereabouts of the Rebirth Pill,” a black-clad man whispered to Yang Lian.

Mu Yunjin had exceptionally good hearing and, upon hearing this, understood the general situation.

“Qin Muyue wants the Rebirth Pill?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Hearing Mu Yunjin’s words, Yang Lian couldn’t tell if she truly knew the whereabouts of the Rebirth Pill or not, and hesitated for a moment.

“Mu Yunjin, we didn’t come here to cause trouble for you today. You’d better step aside, or don’t blame us for being impolite!” Yang Lian knew that Mu Yunjin wasn’t easy to deal with and didn’t want to waste time tangling with her.

Mu Yunjin laughed lightly, folding her arms. “But I came to the Water Cloud Temple today to pray for blessings. You just injured people in front of the Buddha Hall, bringing me bad luck. How do you propose to settle this account?”

She wasn’t afraid of these people. Even if she wasn’t confident in handling them herself, her husband was here too, so she wouldn’t be bullied for nothing.

“You woman, you don’t know what’s good for you!” Yang Lian said angrily, drawing the knife he carried and swinging it at Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin reached out her hand. “Are you determined to sacrifice yourself for Qin Muyue? Why bother? Didn’t that woman kill your former master?”

Yang Lian paused again.

Nearby, a black-clad man stepped forward, pointing at Mu Yunjin. “Enough talk! We listen to whoever our master is. It’s not your place as an outsider to speak!”

“Oh.” Mu Yunjin made a displeased sound and raised her palm, sending a blast of air into the black-clad man’s chest.

The black-clad man was immediately thrown back several meters, landing on the ground and coughing up blood, unable to rise.

“We came today to find the Rebirth Pill and don’t want to start a killing spree. Once we find the Rebirth Pill, we’ll leave,” Yang Lian lowered his stance, seeing that Mu Yunjin was difficult to deal with.

“If the Rebirth Pill is to save Qin Muyue, I advise you to give up that hope,” Mu Yunjin curled her lips in a cold smile.

Yang Lian was furious and, without another word, swung his knife at Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin sat on the railing, not moving at all.

Just as the knife was about to fall on her head, a flash of ice-blue light passed by…

With a “clang,” Yang Lian’s knife shattered into two pieces.

Looking at the handle that remained in his hand, Yang Lian stepped back and turned his head to see Chu Li, emanating a murderous aura, who had appeared beside him at some point.

Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows slightly, narrowing her eyes in a smile.

“Retreat!” Yang Lian, seeing the situation turning unfavorable, gave the order and leaped into the air.

After flying just two steps, the group was bounced back by an invisible barrier and fell heavily to the ground, groaning.

“You offend my person and think you can leave so easily?” Chu Li’s entire face was dark, his tone cold and displeased.

Yang Lian’s heart sank, not knowing what to do.

Master Huaiyuan also approached at this moment. Seeing the bloodstains on the steps and some seriously injured commoners, he frowned. “Amitabha Buddha, this sacred place of Buddhism… what a sin, what a sin…”

“Master, this is your territory. What do you think should be done?” Mu Yunjin looked at Master Huaiyuan.

Master Huaiyuan’s face tightened as he directed several young monks to come forward. “First, take these bandits and lock them in the dark room.”