As soon as Huaying spoke, Mu Yunjin sensed the gravity of the situation, and her heart inexplicably sank.

Qiqi frowned beside her, “Huaying, what’s wrong?”

“Let me examine it first before saying anything. I don’t dare conclude yet,” Huaying replied, taking out a silver needle and pricking Mu Yunjin’s finger to collect a small sample of blood.

Mu Yunjin pressed her lips tightly together, clasping her hands as her body trembled slightly with nervousness.

After a long while, Huaying’s tense expression relaxed somewhat, and she let out a gentle sigh of relief, “It’s fine, there’s no problem. I was overthinking.”

Mu Yunjin and Qiqi looked at her with puzzled expressions.

Huaying looked at the two of them and explained, “When I first entered, I faintly smelled strychnine seed, which is an extremely poisonous herb. I was concerned, so I checked, but fortunately, there’s no trace of strychnine in Master’s blood, just a similar scent.”

“But Master just said she truly has discomfort in her abdomen. How do you explain that?” Qiqi frowned as she spoke.

Huaying shook her head, “I can’t explain that either. I’m skilled in poisons, but I don’t truly understand the art of nurturing a pregnancy.”

…

…

“Alright then, but since you’ve checked and found no problems, there probably really aren’t any,” Qiqi said with a smile.

Mu Yunjin felt her emotions rise and fall dramatically. Hearing Huaying say everything was normal was naturally the best news, and her heart settled down a bit.

…

It had been several months since Huaying and Qiqi had met with Mu Yunjin. Now that they finally had a chance to meet, the three sat in the garden and began chatting.

“Master, a few days ago I went to Heyue City to have some fun and ran into Sister Xinyao. She’s also over two months pregnant,” Qiqi mentioned, propping her chin with her hand.

Mu Yunjin smiled, “I’ve heard about that too, but it has been a long time since I’ve seen her.”

“It’s been too peaceful lately. I’ve been idle at Phoenix Pavilion every day, and it feels somewhat strange,” Qiqi shrugged, her tone casual and unconcerned.

Huaying took a sip of water, “Yes, indeed, it has been too quiet lately.”

At the mention of this, Mu Yunjin also felt somewhat emotional.

Look at how this world had forced them all—after just over two months of peace, they felt unsettlingly idle.

“In the beginning, Huang Yan visited Phoenix Pavilion quite diligently, but lately, he’s nowhere to be seen,” Qiqi suddenly brought up this topic, glancing at Huaying beside her as she finished speaking.

Huaying frowned slightly but didn’t speak.

Mu Yunjin didn’t know what to say, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

At this time, Qingmeng happened to pass by the garden. Seeing Qiqi and Huaying there, her eyes revealed a hint of surprise before she walked over with a smile, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you two.”

“Sister Qingmeng…” Qiqi’s eyes brightened upon seeing Qingmeng. She stood up, stretching out her arms to greet her.

Huaying also stood up, nodding and smiling at Qingmeng, “Sister Qingmeng.”

Qingmeng hooked the corner of her lips upward, smiling and nodding at them.

“Princess Consort, you’ve just recovered from illness. Be careful not to catch a chill sitting in the garden,” Qingmeng said after sitting down, turning to look at Mu Yunjin.

Then, she spoke to a small maid standing nearby, “Go fetch a cloak for the Princess Consort.”

The little maid nodded and immediately headed toward the Liquid Spring Pavilion.

“Sister Qingmeng, have you been staying here all this time?” Qiqi looked at Qingmeng with a smile.

Qingmeng sighed and said teasingly, “Indeed, I have. His Highness is so attentive to the Princess Consort, not letting even the slightest movement slip by, so I was ordered to stay here until the little Prince, oh no, little Princess is safely born.”

Hearing this, Qiqi and Huaying expressed deep sympathy.

Mu Yunjin hooked the corner of her mouth upward, but inside, she was delighted.

With the women chattering away, another day quickly passed.

…

That night, Mu Yunjin was once again alone in her room.

Although she knew Chu Li was in Linyin City, until she could see him in person, she couldn’t completely settle down.

Candles were lit in the room as Mu Yunjin casually picked up a book and began flipping through it listlessly.

After an unknown amount of time, very light footsteps could be heard from far outside.

Hearing the footsteps, Mu Yunjin instinctively thought Chu Li had returned and wanted to get out of bed to welcome him.

But just as she sat up in bed, Mu Yunjin suddenly realized that these footsteps didn’t belong to Chu Li. On the contrary, they were particularly unfamiliar and didn’t belong to anyone in the manor.

Mu Yunjin was momentarily startled, then instinctively extinguished the candles and lay back down, listening to the movement outside.

The footsteps grew closer and finally stopped at Mu Yunjin’s door.

Mu Yunjin kept her eyes open, staring intently outside, only to see a faint smoke slowly drifting in through the gap in the door.

Seeing this, Mu Yunjin instinctively covered her nose and mouth with the blanket, channeled her inner power, and squinted at the increasingly dense smoke.

Almost at the same moment, the sensation of heat and fullness returned to Mu Yunjin’s abdomen, accompanied by the baby kicking her from inside.

Mu Yunjin bit her lip, carefully sat up from the bed, and quietly entered the small chamber of the hot spring pool.

Standing at the entrance of the small chamber, Mu Yunjin could see that the door was being gently opened, and a dark figure walked in from outside. The figure was unfamiliar, but she could vaguely discern that it was a man, not very tall.

After entering the room, the person didn’t first explore the bed area, but began searching through cabinets and drawers, seemingly looking for something.

A moment later, the person walked to the cabinet and began going through the items inside.

Mu Yunjin watched from the side, not making any rash moves until she could determine what the person was looking for, but she already had her Phoenix Tail Whip firmly gripped in her hand, ready to strike at any moment.

Before long, the person found a brocade box from the cabinet. After opening it, a gleam of light emanated from inside.

The night pearl…

It was the night pearl given by Rong Jiu.

These past few days, she hadn’t gone out, so she had kept the night pearl in the cabinet rather than carrying it on her person. Not only the night pearl but also the military tally had been placed together in this box.

The person seemed to have come specifically for these two items. After obtaining them, he tucked the box into his bosom, not lingering any longer, preparing to leave.

Seeing this, Mu Yunjin was about to rush out and take action, but she found that her stomach was extremely uncomfortable. Especially since she didn’t know the intruder’s strength, she didn’t dare risk a confrontation.

As the person was about to exit, Mu Yunjin instinctively wanted to activate the Phoenix Pavilion’s spirit signal to call Qiqi and Huaying for help, but at that moment, the door was suddenly kicked open—

“Who’s there?!”

Accompanied by a deep and familiar voice, the black-clad person who had already reached the door quickly fled. His lightness skill was divine, and in the blink of an eye, he had vanished.

Ding Xian and Huang Yan, who were at Chu Li’s side, immediately flew after him in pursuit.

Mu Yunjin hadn’t expected Chu Li to return at this critical moment. Thinking of the night pearl and military tally, she hurriedly walked out of the small chamber and said to Chu Li, “Chu Li, the military tally was stolen by that person in black just now.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Li frowned, turned, and left the room, flying away.

…

The commotion in the night was not small, and people living in the nearby pavilions all came over. Qiqi and Huaying were the first to arrive. Seeing Mu Yunjin with a head full of cold sweat, they worriedly asked, “Master, are you alright?”

Mu Yunjin sat in a chair, holding her stomach, and shook her head.

Huaying observed this gesture and frowned, a contemplative look appearing in her eyes.

“How did you sweat so much again…” Qingmeng stepped forward to check Mu Yunjin’s pulse.

The result of the examination was, as always, completely normal.

Mu Yunjin’s discomfort gradually subsided. She stood up and walked to the door, looking around, finally noticing some ashes at the doorway.

Qingmeng followed Mu Yunjin’s gaze and, upon seeing the ashes, bent down to pick some up, giving them a gentle sniff, “It’s incense powder.”

Huaying also came over, smelled it, and confirmed Qingmeng’s words.

“Master, what happened just now?” Qiqi glanced at the ashes and looked toward Mu Yunjin.

“Someone came to steal the East Lin Kingdom’s military tally,” Mu Yunjin replied.

Hearing this, Qiqi and the others showed a hint of surprise, “To specifically come steal East Lin Kingdom’s military tally, doesn’t that mean the thief must also be from East Lin Kingdom?”

Mu Yunjin shook her head, “That I don’t know.”

After standing at the doorway for a while, Chu Li’s figure flew into the courtyard and stopped in front of Mu Yunjin, then handed her a brocade box.

Mu Yunjin’s eyes brightened upon seeing the box. She opened it to check and found both the military tally and the night pearl inside.

“Was the person in black caught?” Mu Yunjin asked without taking time to chat with Chu Li.

“When we caught up with him, he committed suicide,” Chu Li replied.

Mu Yunjin frowned, “Did he leave any clues? Could he be someone from East Lin Kingdom?”

“No clues were left behind, it’s still uncertain,” Chu Li answered gently.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin pursed her lips and clutched the brocade box tightly in her hand.

“Alright, let’s all return to our rooms now,” Qingmeng, seeing that Chu Li had returned, called for Qiqi and Huaying to leave Liquid Spring Pavilion.

Qiqi and Huaying nodded and left with Qingmeng.

…

“How are you? Are you hurt?” As soon as they entered the room, Chu Li lowered his head and carefully examined Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin shook her head, “I was hiding by the hot spring just now and didn’t alert the person in black.”

At these words, Chu Li raised an eyebrow, giving Mu Yunjin an admiring look. He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, “Well done, good girl.”

He preferred her hiding safely with her pregnant belly to engaging in fights…

“Were you tired during these past two days outside?” Mu Yunjin looked up at Chu Li while helping him undress.

Chu Li was surprised that she asked about him first instead of asking about Li Yingxuan’s situation. His eyes softened even more as he bent down to embrace her, “A little tired.”

“Go take a bath first, then get a good sleep,” Mu Yunjin held Chu Li, her heart full of concern.

Soon after, in the hot spring pool.

As usual, Mu Yunjin sat by the edge of the hot spring pool, chatting intermittently with Chu Li.

“Was Li Yingxuan rescued?” Mu Yunjin finally asked about this matter.

“Yes,” Chu Li nodded.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin also breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, “What about Yan Qiuhuai? Does he know martial arts?”

At the mention of this, Chu Li’s expression tightened. He turned to look at Mu Yunjin, his tone low, “This Yan Qiuhuai is not the Yan Qiuhuai we know.”