The weather had been nice recently. When Mu Yunjin had nothing to do, she would carry little Chu Mu to the courtyard outside. With more people in the Prince’s mansion lately, everyone would sit together during the day to chat and play chess, making life quite pleasant.

“It feels like these children change every day,” Jiang Qingxue remarked as she looked at the child in Mu Yunjin’s arms.

Mu Yunjin lowered her gaze and slightly curved her lips.

“Here, let me hold him.” Jiang Qingxue reached out her hands.

Mu Yunjin nodded and handed the child to Jiang Qingxue.

Nearby, Taoist Fengxuan was playing chess with Huang Yan again. Mu Yunjin walked over to the chess table and sat down, softly asking, “By the way, didn’t we hear before that Chu Qing and Rong Min’s armies had joined forces? Why haven’t we heard anything more about it?”

“Who knows what they’re up to? Like your son, they’re full of new tricks every day,” Taoist Fengxuan replied.

Mu Yunjin smiled knowingly.

On the other side, Qiqi, who had regained her eyesight, was being pulled out of the room by Hua Ying. The two walked toward the pavilion.

…

…

“Oh, the little cat girl is here. Quick, sit down,” Taoist Fengxuan stood up, offering his seat to Qiqi.

Qiqi looked at Taoist Fengxuan with a smile. “Elder, you sit. I’ve fully recovered.”

“That’s good. It would be such a shame if those big eyes of yours couldn’t see,” Taoist Fengxuan said with a smile.

Hearing this, Qiqi blinked her eyes. “Good people are blessed by heaven.”

“Right, right, that’s the principle,” Taoist Fengxuan nodded in agreement.

Looking at Hua Ying and Qiqi, Mu Yunjin felt deeply moved. If it hadn’t been for Hua Ying and Qiqi risking their lives to help her this time, she and her child might not have survived.

“Everyone’s here! The weather is getting hot. Come and have some fruit,” Mamma Shen approached, carrying several plates of cut fruit and some clear tea.

Mu Yunjin took a sip of tea and looked at Mamma Shen’s cheerful face. “Mamma, has something good happened?”

“I just checked the calendar and realized it’s almost the seventh day of the month. His Highness’s birthday is coming soon,” Mamma Shen said with a smile.

The seventh day…

Mu Yunjin was momentarily stunned.

Was it Chu Li’s birthday again? She hadn’t realized that a whole year had passed so quickly.

Speaking of Chu Li’s birthday, she still didn’t know when her current body’s birthday was…

“That’s perfect! It’s about the same time as the little one’s full month celebration. We can celebrate them together,” Taoist Fengxuan said with a smile.

Nearby, Huang Yan and the others nodded in agreement.

Mu Yunjin tugged at the corner of her mouth, revealing a faint smile, and also expressed her agreement.

Chu Li didn’t return from the palace until dusk. There was less than half a year left until the one-year deadline he had agreed upon with Emperor Ximing.

Mu Yunjin had been waiting for Chu Li in the room at Liquan Pavilion.

When she saw Chu Li push open the door and enter, Mu Yunjin walked over to his side and helped him remove his outer garments. “Are you tired?”

“Not tired,” Chu Li lowered his gaze with a smile.

After changing into more comfortable clothes, Chu Li walked to the bed and looked at little Chu Mu, who was awake, and reached out to play with him.

“Why did you stay at the palace all day today? Was there something important?” Mu Yunjin asked from the side.

Hearing this, Chu Li turned to look at Mu Yunjin and shook his head. “Nothing special. Just that Chu Ye hosted a banquet, and it took longer than expected.”

Mu Yunjin understood upon hearing this.

…

The next day, Chu Li had nothing to do and suggested taking Mu Yunjin to Water Cloud Temple for a visit.

The other people in the mansion were also free, so they split into several carriages and headed to the Water Cloud Temple together.

The season was perfect, and the back mountain of Water Cloud Temple was full of various flowers in bloom, making the scenery quite beautiful.

In the carriage, little Chu Mu seemed excited, perhaps because it was his first outing. He kept smiling, and no amount of coaxing could get him to sleep.

Seeing him happy made Mu Yunjin happy as well.

“Let me hold him,” Chu Li said, frowning at Mu Yunjin, who was reluctant to let go of the child.

Mu Yunjin handed him to Chu Li.

Chu Li held little Chu Mu with one arm and drew Mu Yunjin into his embrace with the other.

Soon, the carriage stopped at the entrance of Water Cloud Temple.

Everyone got out of the carriage, looked around, and then walked in.

“My goodness, Water Cloud Temple has so many people coming to offer incense throughout the year,” Taoist Fengxuan said, looking at the queue of people with amazement.

“Well, it’s the most famous temple in the area,” Huang Yan replied.

Nearby, Qiqi looked inside and sniffed. “The vegetarian food smells so good.”

“Didn’t you just eat? Are you hungry again?” Hua Ying raised an eyebrow at her.

Qiqi smiled sheepishly and patted her stomach. “It took half an hour by carriage from the city to get here. It’s normal to be hungry! Hua Ying, come with me to eat some vegetarian food?”

Before Hua Ying could agree, Qiqi had already pulled her toward Jingxin Garden.

After running a few steps, she turned back to look at Mu Yunjin. “Master, are you coming?”

Mu Yunjin originally didn’t want to go, but when asked, she suddenly felt hungry too. Seeing that Chu Li was holding little Chu Mu, she nodded and ran toward Qiqi.

With the three women gone, the remaining men all walked toward the Meditation Hall.

…

In Jingxin Garden, a large table of vegetarian dishes was quickly served.

During her postpartum confinement period, Mu Yunjin had been eating rich, meaty foods to nourish her body. Now, seeing these simple vegetarian dishes, she found her appetite stimulated.

Qiqi looked at a plate of tofu made to resemble fish, took a bite, and showed surprise on her face. “Why does it taste like fish?”

“Go ask the chef,” Hua Ying took a sip of tea and glanced at Qiqi.

Qiqi pursed her lips and continued eating.

While they were eating, the spiritual signal from Phoenix Feather Pavilion lit up simultaneously on all three of their wrists.

“What’s happening?” Mu Yunjin frowned.

“Something might have happened at the Pavilion. I’ll go back and check first,” Qiqi put down her chopsticks and stood up.

Hua Ying also stood up. “I’ll go with you.”

Then she looked at Mu Yunjin. “Master, please go to Prince Ning and wait for news from us.”

After that, the two activated the formless space and immediately disappeared from Mu Yunjin’s sight.

Finding herself alone in Jingxin Garden, Mu Yunjin lowered her gaze to look at the glowing spiritual signal on her wrist, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

…

The Meditation Hall was lively. Taoist Fengxuan, who had just argued with State Preceptor An a few days earlier, was now arguing with Master Huaiyuan, making everyone around unable to hold back their laughter.

Mu Yunjin entered and sat down on a chair nearby.

“Oh, why did you come back alone?” Taoist Fengxuan asked.

“Something seems to have happened at Phoenix Feather Pavilion. Qiqi and the others went back first to investigate the situation,” Mu Yunjin said while showing the spiritual signal.

Everyone looked up and indeed saw the signal flashing.

“Nothing serious should happen at Phoenix Feather Pavilion. Not only is its location secret, but those several hundred beast spirits inside aren’t pushovers, and there’s also that fish spirit,” Taoist Fengxuan said.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin nodded, feeling somewhat relieved.

“Wah… wah…” Little Chu Mu began to cry.

Hearing the child’s cries, Mu Yunjin immediately stood up, walked over to Chu Li’s side, and took little Chu Mu from him, softly comforting the baby.

“He’s probably hungry,” Chu Li said gently.

Mu Yunjin pouted, carried little Chu Mu, and skillfully walked toward a side chamber. “I’ll feed him.”

After entering the chamber, Mu Yunjin sat down and fed little Chu Mu.

After some time, little Chu Mu was finally full. As Mu Yunjin was about to leave with him, her eye caught something strange behind the Buddha statue in the chamber…

Mu Yunjin stood up, wanting to go over and check the statue, but fearing that she might trigger some mechanism that could harm the child, she decided to leave with him.

“Wah… wah…” Little Chu Mu started crying again.

Mu Yunjin looked down at him. “Why are you crying again?”

Little Chu Mu sobbed and stretched out his tiny hand, either intentionally or unintentionally, pointing at the Buddha statue.

Mu Yunjin frowned, gently tapped little Chu Mu’s forehead, and said, “You, did I give birth to a little monster?”

Little Chu Mu couldn’t understand his mother’s words, but still showed a happy smile.

Mu Yunjin stepped toward the Buddha statue.

She had been to this chamber once before, when State Preceptor An and Master Huaiyuan had helped her use the Crocodile Pearl to draw out the Celestial Token.

She remembered that day she was being hunted by an amnesiac Chu Li.

Walking behind the Buddha statue, Mu Yunjin saw a hollowed-out area with a protruding circular mechanism button inside.

Mu Yunjin didn’t dare to touch the mechanism button casually. She just examined it carefully and was preparing to leave.

As she was about to leave, little Chu Mu started crying again.

Not knowing what the child wanted, Mu Yunjin could only extend her hand to gently pat him, trying to comfort him.

When little Chu Mu cried, he touched Mu Yunjin’s sleeve, and with a “clang,” the Celestial Token fell out.

Mu Yunjin bent down to pick it up, and just as she was about to put it back in her bosom, she suddenly froze, looking at the mechanism button with an incredulous expression.

Then, she stepped closer and compared the Celestial Token with the circular mechanism button.

They matched perfectly in size.

This time, Mu Yunjin was even more surprised.

Was little Chu Mu trying to tell her that the Celestial Token could open the mechanism behind this Buddha statue?

But what would this mechanism reveal once opened?

Mu Yunjin looked down at little Chu Mu in her arms. “Hey, little one, give your mother some more hints.”

After she spoke, little Chu Mu closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

“…” Mu Yunjin pinched little Chu Mu’s bottom in frustration and carried him out of the chamber.

After leaving the chamber, Mu Yunjin didn’t want to stay in the Meditation Hall and said she wanted to go for a walk on the back mountain.

Chu Li accompanied her.

Once out of the Meditation Hall, Mu Yunjin told Chu Li about what had happened in the chamber.

“Do you think State Preceptor An would know about the mechanism behind the Buddha statue?” Mu Yunjin looked up at Chu Li.

Hearing this, Chu Li’s thin lips parted. “Were there any symbols around the Buddha statue?”

Mu Yunjin thought for a moment and shook her head. “I didn’t notice.”

“Perhaps the mechanism of the Buddha statue is related to the method of activating the Celestial Token,” Chu Li frowned, speculating.

Hearing this possibility, Mu Yunjin was somewhat surprised. “But doesn’t the ancient text from Thorny Cliff say that only the Tiansheng Continent has the activation method?”