Lu Zixiu returned to his room, changed into a set of night clothes, bypassed the guards, and leaped lightly from the west wall of the Regent's Mansion, disappearing into the night.
...
"My Lord, the man was killed with a single palm strike, and it was the long - lost Cloud - Shattering Palm in the martial arts world." Bai Ke covered the corpse with a white cloth.
Mu Yanming was sitting not far away, staring intently in the direction of the corpse.
After a long while, he spoke, "Keep an eye on Lu Zixiu."
Zixiu! I hope you won't let me down. Otherwise...
Thinking of this, Mu Yanming shook his head and stood up.
Bai Ke glanced at the sky. "My Lord, it's getting late. Go back to the mansion early. In a few days, it will be your wedding day. You should take good care of yourself."
"Let's go."
Mu Yanming walked towards the door. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. Bai Ke also stopped and pricked up his ears to listen to the movement outside the window.
Seeing this, Lu Zixiu quickly left. Bai Ke was about to chase after him, but was stopped by Mu Yanming. "He deliberately let us find him."
Bai Ke was puzzled. "My Lord, I don't understand. Lord Lu was one of the first people to deal with things in order to save the Crown Prince back then. And what you are trying to do now is to clear the names of all the people. Why does Young Master Lu oppose us?"
Mu Yanming looked at the deep night. "Maybe he is not opposing us. He just has his own considerations."
After walking out of the morgue, Mu Yanming strolled in the deserted streets of the capital city under the night sky.
Bai Ke followed behind, pricking up his ears to listen to the movement around.
"Bai Ke, stop sending people to watch Zixiu. Just strengthen the guard of Jingtingyuan."
Bai Ke nodded. "Yes, My Lord. I understand."
The two walked on. A crescent moon hung in the night sky, and the twinkling starlight shone on Mu Yanming.
When he returned to the mansion, he deliberately went to the courtyard where Lu Zixiu lived. The lamp was on.
He raised his hand and gently knocked on the door. Lu Zixiu came over and opened the door.
Seeing Mu Yanming, his face was as gentle, calm as usual, showing no flaws.
He smiled and looked at Mu Yanming. "My Lord, why aren't you asleep so late?"
Mu Yanming walked in on his own. Seeing the chessboard on the table, his Adam's apple moved. He turned to look at Lu Zixiu.
"I can't sleep. Let's play a few rounds of chess."
Lu Zixiu sat down with a smile. "I always lose to you, My Lord. It really dampens my enthusiasm."
Mu Yanming dropped a black piece. "This is not your real strength, is it?" He looked up at Lu Zixiu sitting opposite. "You can always lose to me quietly, which means you can guess every move of mine. This is your real strength, right?"
The smile on Lu Zixiu's face faded a bit. He licked his lower lip, adjusted his breath, and said, "Since you've seen through me, My Lord, how can it be called quietly? I really admit defeat, Zixiu."
Seeing that Lu Zixiu had no intention of playing chess, Mu Yanming stood up. "Go to sleep."
After saying that, he left the room.
When he returned to his own room, he took off his outer robe and hung it on the screen. But he just couldn't fall asleep in bed.
In his mind, there was the lingering kiss during the day. Her soft, crystal - clear lips were as red as cherries.
As he was thinking, he actually fell asleep while savoring the memory.
...
In the following days, Mo Qinghuan prepared some medicine and sent it to Mrs. Lan. The consultation fee and the medicine together cost a total of one thousand taels of gold.
Although Mrs. Lan felt heart - ache, seeing that her complexion was getting better and she no longer felt so stuffy in the chest when walking, not like before when she was always worried that she might stop breathing.
Moreover, for the sake of her daughter's arm, she obediently prepared twenty palanquins of dowry. Every day, she would send someone to ask Mo Qinghuan if she wanted anything else in a feigned manner.
After being rejected by Mo Qinghuan several times, they stopped asking.
And Mo Qinghuan never saw that mute servant again after that.
"Miss, she is so hateful. Why did you treat her? Let her die of illness," Shuang'er said indignantly. When she finished speaking, Dan'er glared at her and gently tapped her head.
"I've told you many times to think before you speak! You just can't remember."
Mo Qinghuan smiled. "This is Shuang'er's personality. She is lively and smart, and can't hold back her words. But you are just the opposite of her. So you two sisters are a perfect match."
She put down the book in her hand. "As for why I treated Mrs. Lan, I naturally have my own considerations. Think about it. If there is no one to take care of things when I get married, or if she dies of illness, then who should I hand over the huge General's Mansion to?"
Shuang'er moved a stool and sat in front of the desk. "But Mrs. Lan treated you like this..."
"No matter how she treats me, it's undeniable that she has indeed managed the General's Mansion in an orderly manner for so many years. So, for now, I still need her."
After hearing Mo Qinghuan's explanation, Shuang'er put on a smiling face and propped her chin on the desk.
"Miss, tomorrow is your wedding day. Aren't you excited?" She looked at Mo Qinghuan with starry eyes.
Mo Qinghuan stood up and walked to the window. Her voice was cold. "It's just a marriage of mutual benefit. There's nothing to be excited about."
Shuang'er remembered the kiss yesterday and blurted out, "But Miss, what about yesterday..."
When mentioning that incident, Mo Qinghuan bit her lip and said nothing.
"Shuang'er, I just remembered that I have something else to do. Come and help me." With that, she pulled Shuang'er away.
Mo Qinghuan recalled Mu Yanming's passionate kiss yesterday. Her face flushed. She quickly shook her head and returned to the room.
...
Originally, Mo Qinghuan didn't think much of it. She didn't know if it was because of Shuang'er's question or something else...
Mo Qinghuan couldn't fall asleep all night. The next day, when Dan'er and Shuang'er came in with the wedding dress in their arms, they were startled by Mo Qinghuan, whose hair was in a mess and who had dark circles under her eyes.
"Miss, what's wrong with you?" Dan'er stepped forward anxiously to check on Mo Qinghuan.
Shuang'er covered her mouth and snickered. "Miss must be too excited, so she didn't sleep all night."
Mo Qinghuan got out of bed and sat in front of the dressing table. Looking at herself in the mirror, she asked herself in her heart, "Am I really that excited? Am I excited about marrying Mu Yanming or excited about leaving this General's Mansion full of strange people?" Dan'er put the wedding dress on the rack beside.
Mo Qinghuan's eyes fell on the wedding dress.
"Shuang'er, open it."
Shuang'er and Dan'er worked together to hold up the clothes, but were shocked by what they saw...
"This... Miss, the wedding dress has been damaged! What should we do?"
The fiery - red wedding dress had been cut several times, and the fabric was torn into pieces. Dan'er and Shuang'er were so anxious that their eyes turned red, but Mo Qinghuan's face showed no sign of panic.
"Shuang'er, take this wedding dress to Mrs. Lan. Don't say a word. Just come back after delivering it."
With a thought, she took out the key she had put into the space a few days ago.
When she took out the medicine from it before, she thought that since things could be taken out, she might as well try to put things in. Unexpectedly, it really worked.
She walked to a locked cabinet, opened it, and took out a piece of clothing from it.
"Miss, this is..." Shuang'er walked over. When she saw the wedding dress, her mouth opened so wide that an egg could fit in it.