From inside Feng Jiu’er’s room, there floated a sound that made it impossible to draw near.

Ye Luosha had never in her wildest imagining expected that these two young people, inside the room, were actually… were actually doing that kind of thing.

After suspecting that someone had been eavesdropping outside, she had immediately chased after them with Elder Stone, certain the eavesdropper was Feng Jiu’er — but of all things, Feng Jiu’er was right now inside the room with Mu Mu, and they were…

Those faint, intimate sounds that drifted to her ears were enough to make even a woman like Ye Luosha redden with embarrassment.

Elder Stone’s aged face also flushed red, and he instinctively stepped back two paces.

Ye Luosha retreated as well, putting a good distance between herself and the door before she managed, “She… she and Mu’er…”

“Palace Mistress, we… we should probably go back first.” Elder Stone had also not expected Feng Jiu’er and Mu Mu to do something like this. Yet hadn’t she only very recently been exchanging tender words of parting with her Ninth Imperial Uncle?

Back then, everyone had been certain that the Ninth Prince and Feng Jiu’er were inevitably a pair. Nobody had imagined that so soon after, Feng Jiu’er and Mu Mu would do something like this.

Once a thing like this was done, there was no going back — the two of them would have to walk forward together. But what would become of Wu Ya?

“And yet my Mu’er has barely begun to recover. How could Feng Jiu’er seduce him at a time like this?”

If Mu’er came to some accident because of this, could Feng Jiu’er bear that responsibility?

This girl — how could she have no sense at all? Not a thought for Mu’er’s condition.

Elder Stone, though also worried about Mu Mu, thought… “It’s already come to this — can we really go in now and interrupt?”

They could hardly barge in and put a stop to things halfway through — that might well harm the Young Palace Master’s body even more.

The two exchanged a glance, listening to the ambiguous sounds drifting from inside, both faces unable to hold back a deep blush.

In the end, Ye Luosha let out a sigh, turned, and left.

Elder Stone cast one last look at the door, then could only turn and follow in Ye Luosha’s footsteps.

So it seemed that no one had been eavesdropping outside after all — it must have simply been the wind passing through.

No one had eavesdropped — and besides, certain things had to be acted upon.

Though… he couldn’t help glancing back once more in that direction. In the end, his footsteps quickened and he left the area.

Not until the sound of footsteps outside had faded completely into silence did Feng Jiu’er throw off the covers and climb up from on top of Mu Mu.

“I’m sorry. I… had no other choice.” She rubbed a hand over her face, her mood still tangled and complicated.

Mu Mu’s mood was equally complex and difficult to name — but differently so from Jiu’er. His complexity came only from the fact that the sounds Jiu’er had made just now, however much he knew they were false, had been far too alluring.

If they had been real, perhaps… Mu Mu reined in his thoughts and also sat up, his gaze falling on the side of her face. “You stepped out a moment ago and heard something you shouldn’t have. Someone intends to harm you?”

These people — none of them had any good intentions toward her.

Feng Jiu’er didn’t know how to answer. If she hadn’t gone outside, she wouldn’t have known that Ye Luosha and Elder Stone were this desperate to be rid of her.

Though she had already expected these two would have some kind of plan, she truly hadn’t thought it would come this quickly.

The heart is made of flesh — that saying was not remotely suited to any of them.

When Mu Mu had been injured, everyone still needed her, so she had lived perfectly well. Now that Mu Mu was better, they wanted her dead. Where was their conscience?

She closed her eyes for a moment, a helpless feeling washing over her. Talking to these people about conscience — she’d probably be killed a hundred times over before it made any difference.

“Who is it that wants to harm you?” Mu Mu had not gone out just now, and didn’t know who the people outside had been — only that there were two of them. The inner energy of both was considerable, one slightly stronger than the other, and from the sound of the breathing, the stronger one seemed to be somewhat advanced in age.

Two people here, traveling together, neither young, both with no small inner energy… “Is it Ye Luosha and Elder Stone?”

Jiu’er still said nothing. Mu Mu had originally been one of their people — and of course she believed Mu Mu would not help them harm her. But regardless, Mu Mu had been raised single-handedly by Ye Luosha. Ye Luosha was called his master, but she was more like a mother to him.

To speak ill of his foster mother in front of Mu Mu — Jiu’er could not do it. Even if Mu Mu had now lost his memories and could no longer recall whatever bond he and Ye Luosha shared, she still didn’t want to be the person who stirred things up from behind.

“Mu Mu, can you stay out of this? I can…”

“No.” Just now she had been desperate enough to resort to performing a scene with him — that alone showed how serious this was.

If they hadn’t performed that scene, would it have brought a threat to her life?

“If it’s not safe here, we leave.” He stood up, and truly moved to gather his belongings.

“That won’t work. Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet — leaving so abruptly, like that, would be dangerous.”

And moreover, this wasn’t simply a matter of walking out the door. If she took Mu Mu and left, Ye Luosha and Elder Stone would certainly give chase.

At that point — did she leave Mu Mu behind with them, or did she take him with her and flee to the ends of the earth?

In Mu Mu’s current condition, how could he be dragged along on a desperate flight?

“You want to go to Phoenix City to find your Ninth Imperial Uncle?” Mu Mu fixed his gaze on the small figure standing before him, pressing his lips together. “I’ll take you there.”

“You…”

“Don’t worry — I’m not going to fight your Ninth Imperial Uncle to the death.” Since his body was not yet fully recovered, he might not be able to protect her. After all, Ye Luosha’s martial skill was far from weak, and there were too many capable fighters around them.

He could not protect her now — but perhaps her Ninth Imperial Uncle could.

“Once I have recovered, there will naturally come a time when I seek him out for a duel. But before I have the ability to protect you, I can take you to his side.”

“Mu Mu…” Feng Jiu’er didn’t know what to call the kind of feeling Mu Mu had for her.

Knowing full well that she cared for the Ninth Imperial Uncle, yet for her safety, he was actually willing to take her to the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s side.

Did loving someone not mean keeping them at your own side? And all the more so — delivering her straight to a rival?

Or perhaps — Mu Mu’s feelings for her weren’t all that deep, and he regarded her more as a life-and-death companion?

“I like you. I want you to be my wife. That will never change.”

Mu Mu’s eyes deepened slightly, and in one glance he read through her thoughts. “But right now I don’t have the ability to protect you — I can’t stand by and watch you be harmed.”

“Once I am fully recovered, I will take you back from your Ninth Imperial Uncle’s side.”

Though he said this lightly, there was no room for argument in it. With such certainty and such resolve — who would dare to doubt?

It was just that none of this was what she wanted. “Mu Mu, if we could keep things between us purely simple — perhaps that would be best for everyone.”

Mu Mu thought for a moment before answering, “Very well. If you and he can keep things purely simple, then I can do the same.”