Once again, the private room fell silent. No one had expected Mu Yunjin to throw the question directly at Chu Li.

This made things interesting indeed.

Chu Li narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold light flashing in their depths, while the corner of his lips revealed a somewhat mocking smile. “Following heaven’s will.”

These four words made everyone’s thoughts diverge.

Though Chu Li’s words didn’t directly reject Qin Muyue, they implicitly acknowledged Mu Yunjin.

Heaven’s will—truly a convenient reason.

“Hmph, this pleasant tea gathering has suddenly become disappointing. Wanxiu, let’s return to the palace!” The Fifth Princess, somewhat displeased, made a face, stood up, and left with her maid.

After the Fifth Princess departed, Chu Qing patted Chu Xin, who had been watching the drama unfold beside him, raised an eyebrow, and smiled, “Eighth Brother, we should leave too.”

Chu Xin immediately nodded.

When the two reached the doorway, Chu Qing turned around, his handsome face still smiling, and looked toward Chu Qingyuan, “Little Nine, aren’t you coming with your brother?”

Chu Qingyuan was startled, then quickly realized his meaning and chuckled, “Of course I’ll go with Third Brother.”

After several people left, the once lively private room now contained only Mu Yunjin and Chu Li.

Rain could still be heard outside the window. Mu Yunjin leaned against the chair and let out a long sigh, “Ah, it seems Your Highness the Sixth Prince has quite a lot of romantic entanglements.”

“You flatter me,” Chu Li said lightly, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin smiled, “It seems my days after marrying into your household won’t be very peaceful either.”

“This Prince believes you have your ways of dealing with such matters,” Chu Li smiled faintly, with a peculiar light hidden in his ink-black eyes.

At least so far, she wasn’t one to suffer in silence. Revenge for every grievance was her most prominent characteristic.

This trait alone attracted his great interest.

As dusk passed, the heavy rain outside continued unabated, making the sky completely dark as if it were already night.

Ding Xian entered the room and added several more candles to the private room that had previously been lit only by sparse candlelight. The room immediately brightened.

Mu Yunjin found the bright light throughout the room somewhat glaring and frowned with distaste.

“It’s dark now, I should head back,” Mu Yunjin, unable to bear the brightness filling the room, stood up and spoke to Chu Li.

Chu Li glanced at Mu Yunjin and nodded slightly.

After Mu Yunjin left the private room, she immediately let out a long sigh and took out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, which were uncomfortable from the candle smoke.

“What’s wrong with Miss?” Zixiang, who had been guarding the door, was confused to see Mu Yunjin wiping her eyes as soon as she came out.

Mu Yunjin waved her hand dismissively, then looked back at private room number one. Through the window cracks, she could see abundant candlelight still spilling out.

Seeing this, she shook her head helplessly. It seemed that no one in this world was perfect; even the most perfect person had flaws.

Wait, perfect?

Had she just been praising Chu Li as perfect?

Mu Yunjin was somewhat startled by her thought, then pursed her lips and quickly left the second floor.

When they walked out of the teahouse, the previously torrential rain had stopped. Mu Yunjin smiled and immediately said to Zixiang, “Good luck, the rain has stopped. Let’s run.”

With that, the mistress and the servant quickly ran away.

At this moment on the second floor, a gaze was following Mu Yunjin’s gradually disappearing figure. Ding Xian stood to one side, following Chu Li’s line of sight.

“Your Highness, this Third Miss Mu doesn’t seem like someone who would understand formation techniques. Do you believe, as Master Huaiyuan said, that she can break the formation imprisoning Consort Rong?”

When Mu Yunjin returned to the mansion, while passing through the back garden, she happened to encounter Su Biqing and Mu Lingzhu, mother and daughter, strolling in the garden.

The two hadn’t expected to meet Mu Yunjin there, and their steps faltered as they looked at her with inscrutable gazes.

Aunt Li was following behind Su Biqing at this time, her face still bruised. Upon seeing Mu Yunjin, she instinctively retreated several steps, like a mouse encountering a cat.

Su Biqing noticed Aunt Li’s unusual behavior, and her face darkened with displeasure. She recalled how, not long ago, she had found Aunt Li tied up by her hands and feet in the mansion’s dog kennel. At that time, Aunt Li’s hair was disheveled, her face and hands scratched by dogs, yet she had been unable to fight back.

After untying her, Aunt Li had been bound for so long that she couldn’t flex her hands and feet for some time, and it took several days of recovery before she could barely stand and walk.

Thinking of this, Su Biqing couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at how vicious that little bitch was.

“Oh, it’s Yunjin. I wondered who it was. After not seeing you for half a month, this mother almost forgot about your existence in this mansion,” Su Biqing sneered. Despite having suffered many setbacks recently, she still couldn’t help but mock Mu Yunjin whenever she saw her.

“Likewise,” Mu Yunjin laughed coldly, not bothering to argue with the mother and daughter. She walked around them, preparing to leave.

Seeing Mu Yunjin about to leave, Su Biqing called out, “By the way, today this mother happened to go to your courtyard looking for you and took a look at your coming-of-age ceremonial robe and wedding dress. They are truly exceptional!”

Mu Yunjin’s footsteps paused, then she smiled faintly, “Yes, Yunjin thinks they’re excellent too.”

“Indeed, this time, Lingzhu’s aren’t as good as yours,” Su Biqing said with a faint smile.

After that, Mu Yunjin didn’t bother to respond to Su Biqing anymore, not wanting to continue bickering. She simply walked toward Shihua Pavilion.

Behind her, Su Biqing watched Mu Yunjin’s retreating figure with a smile and spoke softly to Mu Lingzhu, “This time, this mother made a feint. Mu Yunjin will surely think this mother has tampered with her ceremonial robe and wedding dress, and will thoroughly examine them when she returns.”

“Yes, given how many times we’ve harmed her in the past, she must be suspiciously paranoid now. If she can’t find any problems, she might even discard those two garments. That would be quite amusing,” Mu Lingzhu covered her mouth and laughed.

When Mu Yunjin returned to Shihua Pavilion and entered her bedroom, she saw her two fine garments, which had been stored in the wardrobe, carelessly thrown on the bed. Her eyes narrowed slightly with displeasure.

Zixiang immediately ran over, picked up the two garments, and carefully examined them. Finding no damage, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately, there’s no problem,” Zixiang said, then continued, “Miss, you don’t think they’ve poisoned the garments again, do you?”

As she spoke, Zixiang put down the garments and looked at her hands somewhat fearfully.

Mu Yunjin laughed coldly, walked over, and folded the two garments, putting them back in the wardrobe. Then, crossing her arms, she spoke with some annoyance.

“Such childish tricks, and they think they can fool me.”

Zixiang was a bit confused, not fully understanding Mu Yunjin’s meaning. “Miss, aren’t you going to check them?”

“I doubt they would dare tamper with these garments. These two pieces were custom-made according to Empress Qin’s and the Ninth Princess’s wishes. If something went wrong, it would offend both Empress Qin and the Ninth Princess together. I think they can discern the consequences of such actions,” Mu Yunjin explained.

Zixiang nodded, seeming to understand yet not fully comprehending, then pouted, “Miss, today while we were away, they entered our courtyard at will and rummaged through our things.”

“Let them be. There are only ten days left anyway,” Mu Yunjin spoke indifferently, though her eyes held deeper meaning.

The next day, Mu Yunjin unusually woke up early and specifically went to the front hall to have breakfast with Minister Mu and the others.

At the dining table, Mu Yunjin, accustomed to rising late, let out a big yawn, her expression full of weariness.

Su Biqing, after eating a piece of pastry, noticed this and looked toward Mu Yunjin, “Yunjin, didn’t you rest well last night? Why do you look so tired?”

“Yes, thanks to mother’s kindness, I barely slept all night,” Mu Yunjin said flatly.

Hearing this, Su Biqing and Mu Lingzhu exchanged glances, with obvious joy in their eyes. After suffering so many setbacks at Mu Yunjin’s hands, they had finally scored a point.

Mu Lingzhu looked at Mu Yunjin, and the memory of the incident at Water Cloud Temple flashed in her mind. She silently wondered how the Empress Dowager’s arrangements were coming along.

Just then, the butler hurriedly walked in from outside, went to Mu Lingzhu’s side, and bowed slightly, “People from the Fourth Prince have come to say that he invites the Fourth Miss to go boating in the suburbs today.”

“The Fourth Prince?” Minister Mu and Su Biqing were startled.

The butler nodded, “Yes, it’s the Fourth Prince’s people.”

After the butler spoke and walked away, Su Biqing curled her lips and looked at Minister Mu, who had a thoughtful expression, “It seems the Fourth Prince is interested in Lingzhu.”

Minister Mu nodded, but his face held an inscrutable meaning.

Everyone knew that the court was currently divided into two factions: Empress Dowager Zheng’s and Empress Qin’s. The Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince happened to belong to opposing sides, in a state of confrontation.

Now that his daughters are marrying two princes, Minister Mu, as the current Prime Minister, should remain neutral, but now it would probably not be so easy to maintain neutrality.

The Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince were indeed two major challenges.

Su Biqing seemed to see through Minister Mu’s thoughts, and smiled, “Master, it’s almost time for court.”

Minister Mu nodded, his expression somewhat grave. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, adjusted his official robes, and walked out.

After Minister Mu left, Su Biqing looked at Mu Lingzhu and saw no joy in her eyes. She then spoke with a half-smile, “Lingzhu, go prepare quickly.”

“Mm,” Mu Lingzhu nodded, showing no enthusiasm on her face as she stood up and walked toward the back garden.

Seeing Mu Lingzhu leave with such a lack of interest, Mu Yunjin chuckled, leisurely eating her silver ear soup, “Little sister doesn’t seem very happy.”

“Happiness is not shown in the moment, but in who laughs last,” Su Biqing smiled gracefully.

“Yes, mother makes a good point,” Mu Yunjin nodded and stretched lazily. “The Fourth Prince is truly magnanimous. Even knowing that his little sister likes the Sixth Prince, he still invites her to go boating. I wonder what he’s planning.”

“Hmph, with Lingzhu holding the title of Western Yuan’s top talented lady, there are plenty of officials and nobles coming to propose marriage. No need for you to worry about her,” Su Biqing said mockingly.

Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips, “I’m not meddling, just concerned about my little sister.”

As she finished speaking, Mu Lingzhu, having changed clothes, walked out with a solemn expression. She greeted Su Biqing and then left with Hongxia.