Several days passed peacefully.

Little Chu Mu, being more than two months premature, spent his days either eating or sleeping. Occasionally, he would wake for a while, but before long, he would drift back to sleep.

Mu Yunjin and Chu Li also spent their days resting in their room, which was quite peaceful.

However, both tacitly avoided mentioning anything about Qingmeng.

…

On this day, Imperial Tutor An arrived at Prince Ning’s residence.

Stepping into the back garden, he saw Elder Wind Xuan playing chess with Huang Yan and the others in the courtyard. He smiled and walked over, patting Elder Wind Xuan on the shoulder.

“Old friend, I heard you were badly injured in the recent battle,” Imperial Tutor An teased.

Elder Wind Xuan glanced at Imperial Tutor An and sighed, “Look, Kong Shi, stop with these after-the-fact comments. My ears have grown calluses from hearing them.”

…

…

Just days ago, he had been mocked by that old woman Murong, and today he was being teased by Kong Shi.

It was truly infuriating—after all, he was one of the three greatest martial artists in the world. How could he continue his reputation in the martial arts world after this?

“How are those two doing?” Imperial Tutor An asked.

“They’re all fine—a family of three, harmonious and happy!” Elder Wind Xuan said with a pout.

Imperial Tutor An nodded in understanding, “I heard it’s a boy?”

Elder Wind Xuan gave an affirmative sound.

Hearing this, Imperial Tutor An tapped his fingertips, making a quick calculation, and his lips curved into a smile.

“What are you smiling about?” Elder Wind Xuan asked.

“This child being a boy is exactly right! If it had been a girl, that girl Yunjin would have undoubtedly died this time,” Imperial Tutor An said softly.

At these words, everyone playing chess stopped and looked at Imperial Tutor An.

Huang Yan had been focused on his moves and hadn’t been paying attention to Imperial Tutor An, but upon hearing this, he couldn’t help asking, “What does that mean?”

“Originally, male is yang and female is yin, but Chu Li he…”

Imperial Tutor An almost revealed that Chu Li, as the Nether God of the underworld, had yin attributes, while Mu Yunjin, as the Blazing Phoenix Woman, had yang attributes…

Since ancient times, only the realm of yang could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

If this child had been a girl, sharing the same attributes as Chu Li, there would have been no spiritual energy within her.

But as a boy with yang attributes, following Mu Yunjin’s lineage, he was a descendant of the celestial spirits, able to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Therefore, at the critical moment, that boy was able to use spiritual energy to protect himself and Mu Yunjin.

However, explaining this to Huang Yan and the others would be meaningless—they wouldn’t understand.

“It’s nothing, just thinking aloud,” Imperial Tutor An said with an awkward smile.

Huang Yan silently rolled his eyes—what a tease!

“Come, come, join us in chess,” Imperial Tutor An sat down in an empty spot.

“Didn’t you come to visit the sick? Why aren’t you going in?” Elder Wind Xuan asked.

Imperial Tutor An tugged at the corner of his mouth, “There’s no rush. It’s good that everyone is fine; there’s not much to see anyway.”

“Didn’t Consort Rong come with you?” Elder Wind Xuan asked again.

“Why would she come with me? We have no relationship!” At the mention of Consort Rong, Imperial Tutor An showed disdain.

Hearing this, Elder Wind Xuan looked Imperial Tutor An up and down, “Kong Shi, although you’re no longer a monk at Water Cloud Temple, when did your speech become so vulgar? Amitabha, good, good—shouldn’t ‘unworthy one’ be more your style?”

“Probably from spending too much time with that girl Yunjin,” Imperial Tutor An picked up a chess piece and placed it on the board.

“That naughty girl is indeed a bad influence!” Elder Wind Xuan muttered.

Imperial Tutor An raised an eyebrow, “If she’s not well-behaved, isn’t that the responsibility of you, her master?”

“…” Elder Wind Xuan was speechless.

After bantering for a while, they got to the main point.

“These days, we’ve underestimated Chu Qing,” Imperial Tutor An muttered. “She has bought off all the border tribes beyond the frontier. Now, the chiefs of more than a dozen frontier tribes have joined Chu Qing’s faction.”

“Although these tribal chiefs rarely venture beyond the frontier, they are all skilled in their abilities. Some are even on par with you and me,” Imperial Tutor An said.

At these words, the faces of everyone playing chess in the pavilion darkened.

“Damn these bastards!” Song Chun, who was observing the chess game, clenched his fists in anger.

Ding Xian patted Song Chun, signaling him to calm down.

Originally, Song Chun had been the most honest and loyal among them, but since Zixiang’s incident, he had become increasingly irritable and quick-tempered.

If not restrained, he would eventually cause trouble.

Huang Yan played with the chess piece in his hand, showing no urgency, “This young master believes we will win. What’s there to fear about a few tribal chiefs?”

“Good, that’s the spirit!” Elder Wind Xuan praised.

“Huang Yan, seeing you reminds me of something,” Imperial Tutor An smiled at Huang Yan.

Feeling Imperial Tutor An’s smile, Huang Yan instinctively got goosebumps, feeling uncomfortable, “What is it?”

“Do you still like Miss Hua Ying?” Imperial Tutor An asked.

Hearing this question, Huang Yan’s expression became unnatural as he lightly coughed, looking around to check that Hua Ying wasn’t present. Then he quickly nodded.

“I have some clues about how to remove the beast spirit form. Are you interested?” Imperial Tutor An raised an eyebrow.

“Interested!” Huang Yan’s eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded, dropping the chess piece in his hand and leaning toward Imperial Tutor An, eagerly waiting for his clue.

Imperial Tutor An beckoned him to come closer.

Huang Yan leaned in, and Imperial Tutor An whispered in his ear.

“What are you two saying? I can’t hear a word!” Elder Wind Xuan said impatiently.

“It’s nothing to do with you anyway, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t hear,” Imperial Tutor An said, then smiled at Elder Wind Xuan.

Elder Wind Xuan turned away angrily.

Everyone was taking advantage of his injured state.

After hearing Imperial Tutor An’s words, Huang Yan’s heart was filled with shock and disbelief.

To remove the beast spirit form, one only needed to go to a place called Biyue Spring in the Tiansheng Continent and drink its spring water.

It sounded simple, but in practice, it was not so easy.

…

Chu Li had a strong constitution and, after a few days of rest, could already move about, but Mu Yunjin, needing to observe postpartum confinement and having lost too much vital energy due to premature birth, was ordered not to leave her bed for a month.

“Imperial Tutor An has arrived,” Chu Li said as he changed clothes, looking at Mu Yunjin on the bed.

Mu Yunjin lay on her side, propping up her head, “Let him come; I can’t go out anyway.”

Chu Li smiled at her words, walked over, and stroked her head, “Then stay here and play with the child for a while.”

As he spoke, little Chu Mu, who had just been sleeping, cried out with a “wah.”

Hearing this cry, Chu Li’s smile deepened.

Mu Yunjin gave Chu Li a side-eye, reached out to pick up the child, and gently soothed him.

After Chu Li left, little Chu Mu immediately stopped crying, blinking his round eyes at Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin knew that although a newborn’s vision wasn’t very good and he might not see her, from this angle, it was enough to melt her heart.

So this was what being a mother felt like.

Mu Yunjin smiled softly and took little Chu Mu’s small hand in hers. As soon as the soft little hand was placed in her palm, waves of spiritual energy flowed into her body.

Each transfer of spiritual energy made Mu Yunjin’s body feel lighter, reducing her discomfort and weakness.

“What exactly are you made of, child?” Mu Yunjin said to little Chu Mu, talking to herself.

Little Chu Mu opened his mouth, looking at Mu Yunjin.

After playing for a while, little Chu Mu fell asleep again. Mu Yunjin held the child, reluctant to let go for a long time.

At this moment, Jiang Qingxue and Hua Ying quietly entered.

Seeing them arrive, Mu Yunjin put little Chu Mu down and turned to look at the two.

“Is the child asleep?” Jiang Qingxue looked at little Chu Mu.

Mu Yunjin nodded, “Just fell asleep not long ago.”

Jiang Qingxue understood and sat down nearby with Hua Ying.

“Those men outside are all gathered together talking about who knows what, and that girl Qiqi is sleeping again, so Hua Ying and I had to come visit you,” Jiang Qingxue smiled.

Hua Ying also smiled, her eyes revealing some thoughts.

Earlier, when she was near the courtyard, for some reason, she had heard Imperial Tutor An’s secret message—

“Young man, let me tell you, to remove the beast spirit form, just go to the Tiansheng Continent and drink the water from Biyue Spring.”

These words didn’t seem to be directed at her.

But the secret message had still reached her.

Biyue Spring’s water…

At this moment, Hua Ying was tempted.

But if she became fully human, she would no longer have a snake spirit form, unable to freely move between water and land. Perhaps all her poison skills would also disappear with it.

At this moment, Hua Ying hesitated.

“Hua Ying, do you have something on your mind?” Mu Yunjin noticed that Hua Ying had been lost in thought since sitting down and glanced at her.

Hua Ying came back to her senses and shook her head, “I was thinking about what might happen when we go to the Tiansheng Continent.”

“My lady, do you know a place called Biyue Spring?” Hua Ying suddenly asked.

Biyue Spring?

Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows, processing the name. It seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.

After a moment, Mu Yunjin still shook her head.

In that instant, she caught the disappointment in Hua Ying’s eyes.

Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together but didn’t pursue the topic further.

“Yunjin, that Elder Murong who came the other day, what did she do before?” Jiang Qingxue suddenly inquired.

Hearing this question, Mu Yunjin was startled again, then looked meaningfully at Jiang Qingxue, “She was once the mistress of the Fenghua Sect.”

“Fenghua Sect…” Jiang Qingxue murmured, frowning, “A familiar name.”

“Familiar?” Mu Yunjin carefully observed Jiang Qingxue.

Jiang Qingxue nodded and looked up at Mu Yunjin, “Perhaps I heard it somewhere before.”

“Hmm.” Mu Yunjin tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“Your father was planning to come see you a few days ago, but with the world on the brink of chaos, I asked him to stay in North Ming Country instead of coming here,” Jiang Qingxue said.

Mu Yunjin nodded.

“After the first day of the seventh month, if everything settles down, your father is also preparing to abdicate,” Jiang Qingxue sighed.

“In the future, you two should live well together,” Mu Yunjin said.

Having missed the first half of life, if one could grasp the second half, one should not miss it again…