On the street, Mu Yunjin wandered, completely unable to think of what birthday gift to prepare for Chu Li.

As she strolled, she unconsciously arrived at the entrance of the Xiang residence.

She initially thought to pretend not to notice and take a detour, but suddenly remembered that Mu Yunhan was in the residence. Without further thought, she stepped inside.

Asking Mu Yunhan for gift ideas might not be a bad approach. It was better than just wandering around.

The steward, seeing Mu Yunjin, immediately came forward and bowed to her, “This humble one pays respects to the Sixth Prince’s consort.”

“Is my brother in the residence?” Mu Yunjin asked as she stepped through the door.

The steward shook his head, “The young master was summoned to the palace this morning and hasn’t returned yet, but he should be back soon.”

“All right, I’ll wait then.” Mu Yunjin entered the front hall. Seeing it empty, she walked toward the back garden.

…

…

Just a few steps into the back garden, she heard Mu Xiarou’s joyful voice—

“Mother, look, this is the gold bracelet Father gave me yesterday. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Mu Yunjin walked closer and saw Mu Xiarou and Luo Ningyu, mother and daughter, sitting in the pavilion, drinking tea with smiles on their faces.

“Yes, it’s very beautiful,” Luo Ningyu nodded with a gentle smile.

“Father has been paying more attention to his daughter lately, constantly sending me new clothes and jewelry. And now, father doesn’t go to Mingzhu Tower anymore, completely neglecting Fourth Sister,” Mu Xiarou said, giggling with delight.

Hearing this, Luo Ningyu shook her head at Mu Xiarou, “Rou’er, don’t talk nonsense.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Listening to the casual conversation between mother and daughter, Mu Yunjin pressed her lips together slightly, then took a detour, pretending not to have seen them.

After returning to Shihua Pavilion, Mu Yunjin walked toward her former bedroom, then looked at the furnishings inside, which were the same as before her marriage.

Moreover, there was hardly any dust on the table, showing that someone had been cleaning regularly.

Mu Yunjin moved a rocking chair and sat down in the courtyard, waiting for Mu Yunhan to return.

“With the Third Madam in charge, it’s much better than when the First Madam was here,” Zixiang looked around and said to Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin smiled, “Yes, now that Su Biqing is dead and Wei Hanqiao has almost gone mad, the Third Madam has finally risen to prominence.”

Zixiang seemed to somewhat understand, “The Fifth Miss’s temperament has also improved a lot, she’s not as arrogant as before.”

“Yes, I wonder what Mu Lingzhu has been planning these days,” Mu Yunjin said calmly. She didn’t believe that Mu Lingzhu would learn her lesson and live peacefully.

……

After sitting idly in Shihua Pavilion for about half an hour, Lord Mu strode in. Seeing Mu Yunjin inside, he breathed slightly heavily.

“I heard from the steward that you had returned, so I came to see,” Lord Mu smiled at Mu Yunjin, his tone friendly.

Mu Yunjin stood up and looked at Lord Mu, noticing beads of sweat on his forehead and his slightly labored breathing, indicating he had hurried over.

For a moment, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

“Yes, I was passing by the gate and decided to come in and look around,” Mu Yunjin smiled.

Lord Mu nodded, looking at Mu Yunjin with some guilt, “This will always be your home. Come back to visit when you can.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin suddenly recalled past events and found it difficult to accept Lord Mu’s words.

“Yunjin is back,” Mu Yunhan walked in at this moment, timely dissolving the somewhat awkward atmosphere.

Seeing Mu Yunhan arrive, Lord Mu said to both of them, “Then you two chat. I’ll go first.”

Before leaving, he paused his steps, turned his head to Mu Yunjin, and said, “Yunjin, stay for dinner later.”

“Alright,” Mu Yunjin nodded.

After Lord Mu left, Mu Yunhan looked down at Mu Yunjin and asked, “Why did you suddenly come back?”

“I came specifically to find you,” Mu Yunjin smiled. “Chu Li’s birthday is approaching, and Mamma Shen asked me to prepare a birthday gift, but I can’t think of what to give.”

“So I came especially to ask you, what do you men like?”

Hearing Mu Yunjin’s words, Mu Yunhan’s eyes showed amusement, “Earlier, you were acting completely indifferent to Chu Li, but now you’re coming to me specifically for his birthday gift. Truly, a daughter given in marriage is like water poured out.”

“Brother, what nonsense are you talking?” Mu Yunjin pouted. “Chu Li’s birthday will certainly draw attention from many people. I can’t give something shabby, can I?”

“I’m just teasing you,” Mu Yunhan reached out and poked Mu Yunjin’s forehead. “It’s just that the Sixth Prince is so reclusive, what he likes might also be quite peculiar.”

Peculiar?

Mu Yunjin pondered this.

After a while, all Mu Yunjin could think of were various styles of lanterns, nothing else.

She thought, if she gave him a lantern, her room would probably be blown up by firecrackers the next day.

Forget it.

Just as she was feeling helpless, a servant ran in from outside, “Young Master, the Fifth Princess has come to the residence.”

Hearing it was the Fifth Princess, Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows, “Are you sure it’s the Fifth Princess, not mistaken?”

“In reply to the Sixth Prince’s consort, it is indeed the Fifth Princess.”

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin gave an awkward smile and looked at Mu Yunhan, “This Fifth Princess is getting serious.”

When Mu Yunjin and Mu Yunhan arrived at the front hall, they saw Lord Mu and Luo Ningyu entertaining Chu Qingchang. Chu Qingchang sat in the main seat, her eyes full of arrogance.

When she glimpsed Mu Yunhan entering, her eyes filled with smiles, but when she saw Mu Yunjin beside him, her smile completely disappeared.

“Why are you here?” Chu Qingchang asked coldly.

Mu Yunjin found it laughable, “This is my maiden home.”

Hearing this, Chu Qingchang felt her question was inappropriate. She then ignored Mu Yunjin and looked at Mu Yunhan, “Yunhan, yesterday I was curiously studying a book on military tactics and didn’t understand some parts, so I came specifically to consult you.”

Yunhan…

Hearing this intimate form of address, Mu Yunjin felt a chill. She cursed inwardly, Who do you think you are!

Mu Yunhan felt awkward being addressed like this by Chu Qingchang. He coughed slightly and looked up at Mu Yunjin, “As it happens, Yunjin also has questions for me. Why don’t we go together?”

Chu Qingchang paused, turned to look at Mu Yunjin, her gaze full of severity, but unable to object, she followed Mu Yunhan toward the pavilion in the back garden.

Mu Yunjin also stepped up to follow.

……

In the pavilion.

“Mu Yunjin, whatever questions you have, ask them quickly and leave,” Chu Qingchang said rudely to Mu Yunjin as soon as they sat down.

Mu Yunjin poured a cup of tea, leisurely took a sip, glanced sideways at Mu Yunhan, and then smiled, “Brother, that poem you taught me last time, I’ve memorized it. Today, you can teach me how to write it.”

Mu Yunhan saw the craftiness in Mu Yunjin’s eyes and smiled, “Alright.”

Soon after, a servant brought brush and ink.

Mu Yunhan picked up the brush, wrote a few lines of poetry on the paper, then handed it to Mu Yunjin, “You try.”

“Sure.”

Mu Yunjin took the brush, heavily dipped it in ink, and then began to write on the paper in a crooked manner.

Chu Qingchang looked at the characters from Mu Yunjin’s brush tip with contempt, truly not understanding how such an incompetent person had the good fortune to marry Chu Li.

“Yunjin, that’s not right. This isn’t a left-falling stroke, it’s a right-falling stroke,” Mu Yunhan pointed at the second character Mu Yunjin had written.

Mu Yunjin nodded and continued to dip ink and write.

“No, you don’t need to dip so much ink, and this part is a hook, not a left-falling stroke…”

“This should be vertical, come straight down in one stroke…”

“You wrote this character wrong, it’s not ‘xiang en’ (mutual kindness), it’s ‘xiang si’ (mutual longing), understand?”

“Wrong, wrong, not right…”

For the next full hour, Mu Yunhan ‘patiently’ taught Mu Yunjin how to write the poem.

Chu Qingchang, neglected to the side, was almost fuming with anger. Looking at the high stack of wasted paper beside Mu Yunjin, she very much wanted to mock her, but with Mu Yunhan present, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

After all, from what she had seen, the brother and sister were very close.

After waiting for about another quarter of an hour, Chu Qingchang became truly impatient and said, “Yunjin, Fifth Sister remembers that Sixth Brother’s poetry is also quite good. Why don’t you go home and ask him?”

“Fifth Sister, please wait a little longer. I’m almost done writing. Once I finish, I’ll leave, I promise not to disturb you,” Mu Yunjin said without looking up, continuing to write.

Chu Qingchang’s face fell as she glared at Mu Yunjin and took a deep breath.

After another half-hour, Mu Yunjin’s voice continued unabated, “Oh, I wrote it wrong again. This character is so difficult to write. Let me rewrite it!”

“Bang—” The sound of a teacup shattering.

“Fifth Sister, what’s wrong?” Mu Yunjin looked up, gazing at Chu Qingchang with surprise.

“Fifth Princess, are you alright?” Mu Yunhan also asked.

Chu Qingchang bit her lip, struggling to control her emotions, and turned to Mu Yunhan with a gentle smile, “Yunhan, I suddenly remembered something I need to do. I’ll go back first and visit you another day.”

With these words, Chu Qingchang rose and left, supported by her maid.

After Chu Qingchang left, Mu Yunjin immediately threw down the brush in her hand and flexed her wrist, “I’m exhausted. This Fifth Princess has quite the patience.”

She had waited three hours.

Mu Yunhan looked at Mu Yunjin with a smile and asked, “So in this hour and a half, did you learn to write this poem?”

“Of course I did,” Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows.

After saying this, Mu Yunjin remembered something, “This Fifth Princess truly seems determined to have you now. What will you do?”

“Do you want to quickly find a nice girl to marry before the Emperor bestows a marriage?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Mu Yunhan’s expression darkened slightly as he pondered Mu Yunjin’s words, “You make a good point.”

“Oh? You’re taking it seriously? I was just talking nonsense,” Mu Yunjin laughed. “The Fifth Princess is dignified in appearance, quite nice.”

“However, marrying a princess would make you a prince consort, and you’d have to endure whatever comes your way. That’s not good.”

Mu Yunhan looked at Mu Yunjin helplessly and shook his head, “You little girl, don’t worry about my affairs. Why don’t you think about how to prepare the Sixth Prince’s birthday gift?”

“I almost forgot about that until you mentioned it. But his birthday isn’t until the seventh day of next month, so there’s no rush for the next few days. I’ll think about it slowly.”

Mu Yunhan nodded, “It’s getting late. Let’s go have lunch first.”