"You didn't come back all night," Mo Qinghuan changed the topic. "You must be exhausted. I'll ask Dan'er to prepare breakfast as soon as possible."
She jumped out of bed and was about to go out when Mu Yanming pulled her into his arms. "Don't try to change the topic with this king!"
"Your Highness, I just had a nightmare. Can you not make a mountain out of a molehill?"
Only then did Mu Yanming let go of her.
"As for you, after being busy all night, did you find the person?"
Mu Yanming shook his head. "By the time we got there, the person was already gone. However, the things left behind indicated that the eldest prince had indeed been there."
Mo Qinghuan looked into Mu Yanming's eyes and always felt something was off.
"I remember that Young Master Lu once told me never to underestimate your abilities. Now that I think about it, it's really true."
It didn't make sense that Mu Yanming himself couldn't find the missing eldest prince and his wife, unless Mu Yanming himself didn't want to find them.
Or perhaps, it was he himself who was hiding them...
Thinking about the dart incident last night, was Mu Yanming just putting on a show for her?!
"Don't think too much. By the way, you said last night that the people from the Gu Mansion already know your identity, right?"
Mo Qinghuan sat at the table, with her arms crossed on it. Her eyes were looking out of the courtyard at the busy maids and servants.
"Yes."
During breakfast, Mo Qinghuan was holding a bowl of soup, biting a silver spoon in her mouth as if thinking about something.
Mu Yanming ate a little and then put down his bowl. He stared at Mo Qinghuan and found that she hadn't taken a single bite since she picked up the bowl.
So he got up, walked over, and took the bowl from her.
"Is it not to your taste?" He put the bowl on the table, and Mo Qinghuan simply stood up and walked out.
It wasn't that the food was not to her taste, but the big python with fangs and drooling last night had taken away her appetite.
Mu Yanming followed behind her and returned to the Yangyang Palace. There was a lake in the middle of the yard of the Yangyang Palace, and there was a pavilion by the lake. She stood under the pavilion, looking at the rippling lake surface blown by the wind.
Suddenly, an illusion appeared in front of her eyes. A big python suddenly rushed out from the bottom of the lake, scaring her to stagger back several steps. She almost fell.
"What's wrong with you?" Mu Yanming supported her from behind, and his scrutinizing gaze fell on Mo Qinghuan's face.
Mo Qinghuan felt exposed. It was as if she was transparent in front of him.
"I..."
"Your Highness, Miss Gu from the Prime Minister's Mansion is here," the gatekeeper bowed and reported on the steps with his hands clasped.
Mu Yanming let go of Mo Qinghuan. The two of them sat at the table on which there was an unfinished chess game.
"Dan'er, go and bring some snacks for the princess," he ordered coldly. But Mo Qinghuan shifted her gaze and continued looking at the lake.
When Gu Qinglan walked over, she happened to see Mu Yanming reaching out to tuck the stray hair that had been blown by the wind behind Mo Qinghuan's ear.
Suddenly, she felt a tightness in her chest.
After a few breaths, she adjusted her expression and walked over. "Greetings to the Regent and the Regent Princess."
Mo Qinghuan lazily lifted her eyelids and even yawned.
She was really sleepy, but this scene looked different in Gu Qinglan's eyes.
The hand in her sleeve was tightly clenched into a fist.
"What's the matter?" Mu Yanming looked at her, and she quickly withdrew her gaze from Mo Qinghuan.
"Your Highness, Qinglan is here on behalf of her younger brother to thank the princess for her help yesterday."
Mo Qinghuan looked at her speaking to Mu Yanming in a high - pitched voice and carefully sized her up with her chin in her hand.
Gu Qinglan felt extremely uncomfortable being stared at by her and blurted out, "What are you looking at?"
Mo Qinghuan smiled faintly. "I've been looking for a long time but didn't see what you brought to thank me. Could it be that you came empty - handed?"
"You!" Gu Qinglan was about to flare up when her eyes glanced at Mu Yanming, and she forced the words back.
Dan'er brought the snacks and put them in front of Mo Qinghuan. But Mo Qinghuan stood up. "I'm not eating. I'm going back to my room."
Dan'er supported her and left the pavilion.
As soon as Mo Qinghuan left, Gu Qinglan immediately put on a wronged face. "Your Highness, the princess..."
"What about her?" Mu Yanming glanced at Mo Qinghuan's back, and the hand behind his back tightened slightly.
Gu Qinglan lifted her dress and stepped onto the steps. She walked to Mu Yanming's side and looked up at him slightly.
"Your Highness, can we change the matter we talked about last time? After all, he is my own father!"
She bit her lips, with tears in her eyes, looking extremely pitiful. Normally, which man wouldn't feel heartache at such a sight?
But Mu Yanming was no ordinary man. He pinched Gu Qinglan's chin and nodded slightly. "What right do you have to bargain with this king?"
"Yes, Qinglan has no right. But at least Qinglan knows how to be chaste and abide by the propriety of men and women. Unlike the princess, who, as a woman, practices medicine. Doesn't Your Highness care at all or get angry when the princess treats other men?"
"This king's princess is not for you to comment on."
Dan'er turned her head and saw this scene. "Miss, look..."
Mo Qinghuan looked back and saw Mu Yanming and Gu Qinglan seemingly about to kiss...
She quickly covered Dan'er's eyes. "Kids shouldn't look at this." Then she dragged Dan'er back to the room.
Back in the room, she curled up on the couch in a daze. Shuang'er pulled Dan'er aside.
"Sister, what's wrong with the miss?" Dan'er helplessly shook her head. "The miss is sad."
"Sad? Why is she sad?" Shuang'er looked sideways. Mo Qinghuan was curled up there alone. "She really does look sad. What on earth happened? Who bullied our miss? Tell me and I'll go teach her a lesson!"
As she said that, she rolled up her sleeves.
Dan'er pressed down her restless little hand. "Look at how capable you think you are. It's the prince and that eldest miss from the Prime Minister's Mansion. Go ahead and see who will teach whom a lesson!"
Shuang'er immediately wilted. "Ah? Are they teaming up to bully our miss? Why?"
Dan'er knew she couldn't explain it to her. "Fine, I won't talk to you anymore. I'll go to the kitchen to bring some food for the miss."
Over at the pavilion, Gu Qinglan stupidly hugged Mu Yanming's waist again.
Mu Yanming said coldly, "Miss Gu, hugging this king so boldly in public. Is this what you call being chaste?"
Gu Qinglan immediately let go of him and took a few steps back.
Mu Yanming snorted and walked past her. She was feeling extremely sad at heart, but when she saw Dan'er seemingly looking in this direction.
So she immediately put on a smiling face and walked over.
"Where is your princess?"
Dan'er saw the smug smile on her face and wished she could scratch it off. So she said in a bad tone, "The princess is resting." She deliberately emphasized the words "the princess", and sure enough, she saw the smile on Gu Qinglan's face freeze.
But she quickly adjusted. "Your name is Dan'er, right? Go back and tell your princess that the prince said he will marry me soon."
Then she turned around and walked away haughtily.