In the following period, the phoenix feather mark on her wrist never appeared again, and neither the cat spirit nor the crane spirit showed up again. Seeing that this matter had subsided, Mu Yunjin didn’t dwell on it further.

Early in the morning, Mu Yunjin got up. After washing and dressing, she had just stepped out of her bedroom door when she saw Chu Li and Ding Xian entering from outside Liquan Pavilion.

Seeing Chu Li, Mu Yunjin couldn’t help feeling as if it had been ages since she last saw him. She couldn’t calculate exactly how many days it had been.

Since marrying into the Sixth Prince’s Mansion, it had been at least about two months, but the number of times she had seen Chu Li could be counted on one hand.

This person was truly mysterious.

“Greetings, Prince’s Consort.” As soon as Ding Xian caught sight of Mu Yunjin, he cheerfully greeted her with a bow.

Hearing Ding Xian’s voice, Chu Li also looked in Mu Yunjin’s direction. His eyes showed signs of fatigue as he parted his thin lips and said, “Morning.”

“Morning,” Mu Yunjin responded softly.

After speaking, Chu Li walked toward his bedroom.

…

…

Ding Xian stood at the doorway. After Chu Li entered his room, Ding Xian turned around and walked out.

“You two are always being so secretive. What exactly are you doing?” As Ding Xian approached, Mu Yunjin asked curiously.

Ding Xian paused, scratched his head, and gave an awkward smile. “It’s just that His Highness has some private business matters to handle. Nothing important.”

“Business matters?” Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows, clearly showing an ‘I don’t believe you’ expression.

“It is! I wouldn’t dare lie to you, Prince’s Consort. Do you remember the thirty thousand taels of gold that His Highness took out when buying your jade pendant? That all came from his private business ventures.” Ding Xian spoke in a hushed voice.

Put this way, Mu Yunjin believed it somewhat. But recalling the conversation she overheard between Ding Xian and someone else that day, which involved the Eastern Lin Kingdom, Mu Yunjin knew that things weren’t that simple.

“Alright, you go rest now,” Mu Yunjin said to Ding Xian.

Ding Xian immediately nodded and added, “Prince’s Consort, remember not to let anyone know about His Highness’s private business dealings.”

After speaking, without waiting for Mu Yunjin to respond, he ran out of Liquan Pavilion as if his feet were oiled.

Mu Yunjin stood in place with her arms crossed, watching this scene. She couldn’t help but feel somewhat bemused. Looking back and pondering for a moment, it seemed that Chu Li had quite a few secrets.

……

Walking out of Liquan Pavilion, after just a few steps, she happened to meet Mamma Shen carrying breakfast.

Upon seeing Mu Yunjin, Mamma Shen immediately smoothed her clothes and then said, “His Highness has been out on business these past few days and must not have rested well. Why don’t the Prince’s Consort first take this breakfast to him and let him eat before resting?”

After speaking, without waiting for Mu Yunjin to nod in agreement, Mamma Shen pushed the tray into Mu Yunjin’s hands.

Mu Yunjin was slightly taken aback and looked down at the steaming chicken and shredded porridge. Though somewhat helpless, she didn’t want to disappoint Mamma Shen’s good intentions, so she nodded.

Carrying the breakfast, she walked back toward Liquan Pavilion.

When she reached Chu Li’s door, Mu Yunjin pursed her lips and lightly knocked on the door.

There was no response from inside.

Seeing no response, Mu Yunjin reached out and knocked several more times, but still did not hear Chu Li’s reply.

“This…” Mu Yunjin frowned.

After trying to knock once more and still receiving no response, her heart tensed, and she lifted her foot and kicked open Chu Li’s door.

“Chu Li!”

After kicking open the bedroom door, Mu Yunjin called out loudly.

“This prince is here.” A cold voice, mixed with a hint of wickedness, came from another room.

Mu Yunjin froze for a moment and looked in the direction of the voice. Only then did she discover that there was another door in Chu Li’s bedroom.

Mu Yunjin put down the porridge in her hand, stepped forward, and upon reaching the door, pushed it open and walked through.

What met her eyes was a mist of steam. She saw that outside the room was a place similar to a small garden, and in this small garden, there was a hot spring pool.

At this moment, Chu Li was leaning against the wall of the hot spring, eyes closed in concentration. His hair, which had been tied up earlier, was now let down, and the black strands were soaked by the spring water, exuding a certain charm.

Seeing this scene, Mu Yunjin pursed her lips. She didn’t approach closer but stood at the doorway, leaning against the door frame.

“I’ve left the breakfast outside your room.”

“Mm.” Chu Li gave a light acknowledgment, without saying anything extra.

Mu Yunjin twitched the corner of her mouth, glanced at the misty scene, and muttered, “You know how to enjoy yourself.”

After speaking, a low laugh was heard from the hot spring pool.

“I’ll leave now. Remember to finish the porridge before resting, otherwise Mamma Shen will nag again.” Mu Yunjin looked at Chu Li’s back silhouette, very much wanting to mischievously walk to the poolside and see everything, but after thinking about it, she turned and left.

Walking into Chu Li’s bedroom, Mu Yunjin looked around and found that the most abundant items in Chu Li’s room were candlesticks.

Looking around once more, Mu Yunjin’s peripheral vision caught sight of her jade pendant.

Her footsteps paused involuntarily. She walked over, picked up the jade pendant from the table, and placed it in her palm.

Her original jade pendant had pink tassels, clearly a girl’s item.

Now Chu Li had replaced it with blue tassel strands and tied two small jade beads on it, forcibly transforming it into a man’s object.

“Tsk.” Mu Yunjin made a sound and flattened her mouth before placing the jade pendant back in its original place. Just as she was about to leave, the door behind her opened.

She saw Chu Li, who had finished bathing, wearing a light purple robe, entering with pursed lips.

Seeing Chu Li come in, Mu Yunjin pointed to the porridge on the table. “Eat it while it’s hot.”

Chu Li nodded, sat down at the table, picked up the bowl of chicken shredded porridge, and began to eat methodically.

Mu Yunjin also found a chair to sit on, crossed her legs, and watched Chu Li eating porridge. “Every time you disappear for so long, are you staying within the city or outside?”

“Outside the city,” Chu Li replied calmly.

Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows and said, “Oh,” then continued, “So what do you do outside the city each time?”

“Business.”

Hearing the same explanation as Ding Xian’s, Mu Yunjin pursed her lips, slightly curled the corner of her mouth, and didn’t continue to ask further.

……

After leaving Chu Li’s room, Mu Yunjin saw Zixiang hurriedly coming to meet her, with a downcast face. “Miss, something has happened.”

“What’s happened now?” Mu Yunjin spoke calmly. These days, the words she heard most frequently were “something has happened,” to the point where she had become almost numb to it.

“This morning, the Court of Judicial Review was about to pronounce judgment on Miss Wen’s poisoning case. Before the interrogation, they discovered that Miss Wen had bitten her tongue and committed suicide in prison!”

“Moreover, before dying, she also bit her finger and confessed her crime on the prison wall, admitting that she deliberately poisoned with the intent to harm the Young Madam.”

Mu Yunjin narrowed her eyes slightly and let out a cold laugh. “This Chu Qingqiang moves quite fast.”

“What does the Wen family have to say about this now?” Mu Yunjin asked again.

“This morning, Master Wen was also found guilty of accepting bribes. Now all the members of the Wen family have been imprisoned in the imperial prison, awaiting execution!”

Hearing Zixiang’s words, Mu Yunjin’s expression gradually sank.

“Miss, what do you think should be done about this?” Zixiang asked.

“This matter was all orchestrated by Chu Qingqiang. What does it have to do with me? Even if the Wen family members are truly wronged, one can only say they were unfortunate to have caught Chu Qingqiang’s attention.” Mu Yunjin said indifferently.

Zixiang sighed and nodded, seemingly understanding yet not quite comprehending.

Without realizing it, they had walked to the garden where, as usual, Mamma Shen was sitting, needle and thread in hand, particularly focused on embroidering something.

Catching a glimpse of Mu Yunjin from the corner of her eye, Mamma Shen immediately put down her needlework and walked over. “Prince’s Consort, today is the sixth, and tomorrow will be the seventh. Where is your gift?”

Mu Yunjin was taken aback. Counting the days carefully, she realized that tomorrow was Chu Li’s birthday.

Thinking of the gift she had prepared earlier, Mu Yunjin instinctively asked, “Will Chu Li’s birthday be celebrated in the mansion or the palace?”

“His Highness has always disliked ostentation and doesn’t like celebrating birthdays. In previous years, it was always I who took the initiative to arrange celebrations for His Highness. This year is the same; it will be held here in the mansion. Since this year happens to coincide with His Highness’s new marriage, it will be livelier than in previous years.”

“That’s good.” Mu Yunjin felt relieved for some reason.

The gifts she had prepared, if taken to the palace, would likely face ridicule from the entire court.

“Seeing the Prince’s Consort’s mysterious manner, you must have prepared a grand gift for His Highness. This servant is looking forward to it,” Mamma Shen said with a smile.

Mu Yunjin twitched the corner of her mouth and curved her lips into a smile.

……

At night, at the dining table.

“Our Prince’s dining hall hasn’t been used for a long time. When His Highness isn’t home, the Prince’s Consort spends all day having meals in Liquan Pavilion. This place has been idle for quite some time.”

After pouring wine for Chu Li and Mu Yunjin, Mamma Shen spoke with a beaming smile.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows at Mamma Shen. “The way you speak, Mamma, it sounds as if without Chu— His Highness, I wouldn’t be able to eat properly.”

“It’s just this servant’s poor way with words. This servant knows that the Prince’s Consort is just being practical, having Zixiang bring meals to your room,” Mamma Shen added.

“You’re making it worse,” Mu Yunjin said with a smile.

On the side, Chu Li, listening to the continuous laughter, gradually had his eyes filled with tenderness.

How long had it been since such sounds were around him?

“Prince’s Consort, quickly pick some dishes for His Highness!” Mamma Shen said with a smile, lightly tugging at Mu Yunjin’s clothes from behind.

Hearing this again, Mu Yunjin felt somewhat helpless, wanting to tell Mamma Shen that no matter how much food they shared, it wouldn’t create feelings between her and Chu Li.

Though thinking this, she still placed quite a few dishes in Chu Li’s bowl in one go.

Just as she was about to pick up a spare rib for Chu Li, Mu Yunjin’s hand paused. “I think you mentioned before that you don’t like spare ribs.”

After speaking, the spare rib that was about to land in Chu Li’s bowl changed direction and ended up in her bowl.

“Your Highness, do you know? When you weren’t home, the Prince’s Consort spent all day telling this servant how much she missed you,” Mamma Shen said, seeing the somewhat silent atmosphere between the two, rolling her eyes slightly.

“…” Hearing this, Mu Yunjin was filled with embarrassment.

Chu Li, upon hearing this, raised his eyebrows slightly. Although he knew these words must be false, a mischievous interest appeared in his expression, and he couldn’t help but turn to look at Mu Yunjin.

“Did you miss this prince?”