Mu Yunjin glanced at the spider web entangling her feet and silently sighed. These wolf spiders were indeed extraordinary, capable of producing such strong and durable webs in such a short time.

At this moment, with poisonous smoke billowing ahead and her feet firmly trapped, Mu Yunjin felt helpless and exhausted.

Who was the clever person who devised this scheme?

She was caught between dangers—if the poisonous smoke didn’t kill her, holding her breath would eventually cause her to suffocate…

Thinking this, Mu Yunjin tried to bend down to remove the spider webs entangling her, but being seven months pregnant with a large belly, she could no longer squat down.

Nearby, Huang Yan had been trying to break through the dining hall door to rescue Hua Ying since she had been pulled inside, and thus hadn’t noticed Mu Yunjin’s predicament.

Xu Heyu had already escorted the pregnant Qu Xinyao away first.

Qiqi and Qingmeng, noticing Mu Yunjin’s distress, quickly squatted down on either side of her to help remove the spider webs from her feet.

Mu Yunjin now felt the spider webs around her ankles growing tighter. Gradually, she found it harder to hold her breath, and dizziness began to overtake her.

…

…

In this critical moment, Mu Yunjin bit her lip, closed her eyes, mobilized her inner strength, and summoned the fire phoenix in her mind.

*Luaner, come quickly!*

Qingluan was the fire phoenix’s name.

During the summoning, Mu Yunjin’s body began to sway slightly, clearly struggling to remain standing.

At her feet, she felt her ankles nearly being cut off by the tightening webs.

Qiqi and Qingmeng couldn’t hold on either, silently cursing as they wondered what these spider webs were made of—harder than rawhide rope and impossible to untangle.

“Cough, cough, cough…” In her frustration, Qiqi couldn’t help inhaling a mouthful of the poisonous smoke.

Instantly, her face turned black and her lips purple.

Seeing Qiqi’s condition, Mu Yunjin’s heart raced with fear, and she intensified her inner energy.

In that flash of a moment, when she felt she couldn’t hold on any longer, a phoenix cry rang out…

“Qiang qiang…”

A red phoenix emerged from Mu Yunjin’s back, flapping its wings. With another cry, the phoenix spewed a burst of intense flames from its mouth.

The flames shot out in all directions, instantly burning away the spider webs at Mu Yunjin’s feet.

Freed from the spider webs, Mu Yunjin stumbled and involuntarily gasped.

In that instant, Mu Yunjin felt the world spinning around her as intense pain surged through her heart and lungs. She immediately reached out to steady herself against the doorframe, trying to regain her composure.

Simultaneously, a wave of spiritual energy surged within her womb.

After the red phoenix’s flames had destroyed the spider webs, Hua Ying rushed out from inside and scattered a handful of powder at the poisonous smoke.

In an instant, the smoke throughout the room dispersed.

Once the poisonous smoke cleared, Hua Ying noticed Qiqi lying unconscious on the ground. Startled, she immediately fed her a medicinal pill and inserted several silver needles into her head, sealing several acupoints in her body.

“My lady, have you been poisoned too?” Hua Ying caught sight of Mu Yunjin leaning against the doorframe and was greatly alarmed.

After examining Mu Yunjin’s condition and finding that the poisoning wasn’t severe, she breathed a sigh of relief and gave her a medicinal pill.

“My lady, try to circulate your energy and use your inner strength to force out the poison,” Hua Ying instructed.

Mu Yunjin nodded slightly and began to circulate her energy.

“Huang Yan, quickly go check my room,” Mu Yunjin suddenly said to Huang Yan.

Huang Yan was stunned for a moment before understanding her meaning and running toward the back garden.

…

Many people at Prince Ning’s residence had been poisoned during the recent incident, but fortunately, this poison wasn’t difficult for Hua Ying to neutralize.

After expelling the poisonous smoke, the spiritual energy in Mu Yunjin’s womb also dissipated.

Once again, Mu Yunjin wondered what exactly she was carrying that knew how to protect itself with spiritual energy.

After detoxification, Mu Yunjin hurried to Li Quan Pavilion.

At the door, she saw Huang Yan about to rush out. Seeing Mu Yunjin, he urgently said, “Someone has indeed broken in.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin immediately entered.

Stepping inside, she found the room in complete disarray. Her dressing table and wardrobe had been thoroughly ransacked.

Many of her accessories were scattered across the floor…

Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together and walked to the wardrobe to look inside.

“Is anything missing?” Huang Yan asked anxiously.

Mu Yunjin shook her head and chuckled lightly, “After the attack by that person in black last time, we moved all important items elsewhere.”

“That’s good. I wonder who was clever enough to devise such a scheme—trapping us all in the front hall while His Highness was away, to tamper with things in the back garden,” Huang Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, clenching his fists.

Mu Yunjin appeared unconcerned, “If it’s a fox, its tail will show eventually.”

Huang Yan nodded, suddenly feeling as if Mu Yunjin already knew something…

However, since His Highness had forbidden him from speaking carelessly, he naturally wouldn’t mention anything unnecessary to Mu Yunjin, to avoid disturbing her pregnancy.

By now, people from the front hall had come over.

Seeing the messy room, they instinctively asked Mu Yunjin if anything was missing.

After all, not long ago, someone had come to steal East Lin Country’s military orders.

Although these military orders weren’t of great concern to them, if they were truly stolen, it would certainly cause unnecessary trouble.

Combined with Zixiang’s recent demise, everyone felt things were becoming increasingly bizarre.

“Find someone to clean this up,” Mu Yunjin said without elaborating, walking out to sit in the courtyard.

“That was dangerous earlier. If not for the fire phoenix’s timely appearance, we all would have died.” Qiqi’s throat still felt uncomfortable, and she shuddered thinking about what had happened.

Hua Ying also came over to sit down, “Indeed. When I was trapped in the dining hall, I was nearly attacked by the wolf spider swarm. Those weren’t ordinary wolf spiders.”

“Hey, are you alright?” Huang Yan approached, looking awkwardly at Hua Ying.

Hua Ying glanced at Huang Yan, shook her head, and didn’t say much.

“Princess Consort, let me check your pulse,” Qingmeng approached Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin nodded and extended her wrist.

Qingmeng reached out and placed her fingers on Mu Yunjin’s wrist.

After a moment, Qingmeng sighed with relief, “You’re fine. Everything is good.”

“That’s good,” Mu Yunjin smiled slightly, stroking her belly.

Speaking of which, this child was truly resilient.

At this moment, Daoist Wind Xuan flew into the courtyard from outside. Seeing everyone safe, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

“Elder, how did it go? Did you catch the person?” Qiqi inquired.

Daoist Wind Xuan snorted softly, “When caught, the person committed suicide on the spot, leaving no clues.”

Committed suicide on the spot…

Just like that person in black from the other day.

It seemed the mastermind behind all this was truly meticulous.

First, they had calculated that Chu Li would be summoned to the palace because of Chu Qing’s war declaration, then immediately deployed numerous five-step snakes and wolf spiders to entangle them.

However, despite all their calculations, they still failed to prevent their successful escape.

Mu Yunjin thought that after these consecutive failures, that person would soon become impatient.

At this moment, Nanny Shen walked in from outside, carrying several bowls of red bean porridge, “After all that commotion earlier, I’m sure none of you ate properly. Have something simple first.”

Nanny Shen placed the bowls on the table.

Thinking about what had happened earlier, she still felt creeped out. In all her years, she had never encountered such a life-threatening situation.

Indeed, strange incidents seemed to be increasing lately.

Mu Yunjin took up a bowl and sipped the red bean porridge. The sweet, glutinous texture made her feel much better.

…

Chu Li didn’t return until nightfall. As soon as he stepped through the gate, Huang Yan gave him a detailed account of what had happened at noon.

Chu Li frowned deeply and walked toward the back garden.

The room had been tidied up by now, with everything restored to its original place, showing no signs of disturbance.

Mu Yunjin was sitting in a rocking chair, staring at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.

Hearing the door open, she looked toward Chu Li.

Chu Li approached her, bent down, and asked gently, “Would you like to return to Huang Yu Pavilion for a while?”

Mu Yunjin looked at Chu Li, pressed her lips together, and considered for a moment.

Indeed, in her current pregnant state, it was not convenient to be involved in any conspiracies or conflicts. The most important thing for her now was to safely deliver this child.

“Alright, I’ll go to Huang Yu Pavilion tomorrow,” Mu Yunjin decided and agreed.

Chu Li’s thin lips pressed together, his gaze somewhat heavy.

That night, neither Mu Yunjin nor Chu Li slept well.

In the latter half of the night, they both clearly sensed another disturbance in the residence.

Dense footsteps could be heard on the roof.

From the sound of the footsteps, they could initially determine that it wasn’t just one person but a large group.

Mu Yunjin and Chu Li instantly opened their eyes, listening to the movements around them.

Chu Li had recently set up an extensive network of defenses in the residence. Anyone who could successfully infiltrate now must be formidable—this group would not be easy to deal with.

After a moment, Chu Li whispered to Mu Yunjin, “Sleep soundly. I’ll go out and check.”

With those words, he flew out, taking the jade pendant from under the pillow before leaving.

After Chu Li left, Mu Yunjin could hardly sleep. She sat up on the bed after a while, her heart inexplicably beginning to race, feeling a sense of foreboding.

After some time, the sounds outside gradually faded, but Chu Li had not returned.

Mu Yunjin frowned, got out of bed, and wanted to go outside to see.

Just as she moved, an overwhelming pain suddenly struck her abdomen. The pain was heart-piercing and bone-gnawing, turning Mu Yunjin’s face pale instantly as her body began to tremble.

This was a pain Mu Yunjin had never experienced before.

At the same time, Mu Yunjin felt her belly swelling outward, a sensation of hot distension coming in waves, as if threatening to burst her belly. The child inside seemed uncomfortable, constantly kicking her violently.

In just a short moment, the discomfort made it impossible for her to walk. She collapsed onto the bed, her breathing becoming rapid.

Gradually, along with this pain, Mu Yunjin felt something slowly flowing out of her body…

Reaching down to check, she drew back her hand to find it covered in fresh blood…