Mu Yanming glanced at Mo Qinghuan's movement and stepped forward to grab her wrist.
There was an almost undisguised storm in his eyes. He said coldly, "Do you still remember who you are?"
Mo Qinghuan looked up and met Mu Yanming's cold gaze without the slightest fear.
"Of course I remember. I'm Mo Qinghuan!"
Mu Yanming's face instantly turned ten times gloomier than before, and the strength in his hand increased.
It hurt so much that Mo Qinghuan raised her hand to resist, but he still held her wrist tightly and refused to let go.
"My lord, don't be like this. Since she doesn't want to go back, just let her stay in the general's mansion for a few days."
Lu Zixiu stepped forward to persuade, but was coldly glanced at by Mu Yanming.
"Mo Qinghuan, don't forget that you're not only Mo Qinghuan, but also this king's princess consort!"
Mo Qinghuan shook off his hand. "Really? Do you still regard me as your princess consort?" She lowered her eyes to hide the deep sadness in them.
"If you still regarded me as your wife, you wouldn't have brought a woman back out of the blue, let alone said that you wanted to take a concubine of equal status! You've never respected my feelings. So, I don't care if I'm the princess consort of the regent or not."
Mu Yanming was enraged by her words and directly picked her up horizontally on his shoulder.
"Mu Yanming, put me down! I don't want to go back to the prince's mansion with you. I don't want to go back and see that woman."
Mu Yanming slapped her butt hard and whispered in a voice only audible to the two of them, "My good princess consort, aren't you overacting a bit..."
Mo Qinghuan suddenly stopped struggling. When Mu Yanming slapped her just now, she instantly felt her face heat up, and the tips of her ears also burned. She was so ashamed that she didn't know what to say.
Seeing that she had calmed down, Mu Yanming put her down.
But as soon as Mo Qinghuan was put down, she firmly looked at Mu Yanming. "I've said I won't go back. Even if you force me back now, it's useless. I'll still leave, unless you break my legs."
Mu Yanming frowned helplessly, with a pained look on his face as if betrayed by his beloved.
"Fine, this king will let you go."
After saying that, he gave Lu Zixiu a meaningful look and then turned around and left.
Only after Mu Yanming turned around did Bai Ke step forward and try to persuade Mo Qinghuan. He didn't want Mo Qinghuan to leave the prince's mansion from the bottom of his heart because if the princess consort was not there, the prince's military training time would definitely become as long as before again. He didn't want that.
"Princess consort, which man doesn't have three wives and four concubines? Please don't be angry with the prince. Besides, we can all see that the prince cares about you. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come out to look for you in the middle of the night. Am I right?"
Mo Qinghuan gave Bai Ke a disdainful look. What kind of comfort was this? It was better not to say anything.
So she pouted aggrievedly, looking as if she was about to cry.
"Bai Ke, you don't understand at all. One day when you meet someone you truly like, you'll understand my feelings today. You'll understand that when you love someone, you hope that the other person belongs completely to you."
"Bai Ke, aren't you coming!"
Mu Yanming snorted and turned back to glare at Bai Ke.
Bai Ke immediately obediently followed.
Mo Qinghuan walked in the opposite direction, and the moment she turned her back, a sly smile appeared on her face.
Lu Zixiu stood there, twitching for a while.
On the one hand, he didn't want to anger Mu Yanming, but on the other hand, he was really not very relieved to let Mo Qinghuan go back to the general's mansion alone.
After hesitating for a while, he started to chase in Mo Qinghuan's direction.
He always kept a distance of four or five steps behind her until he saw Mo Qinghuan enter the general's mansion with his own eyes, then he stopped.
After Mo Qinghuan returned to the general's mansion, Lan Shi was woken up by Cui'er.
"Madam, wake up quickly. The eldest young lady is back." She reached out and shook Lan Shi.
Lan Shi woke up with a start. She looked at Cui'er with an unhappy face. "Are you crazy? What are you making such a racket for in the middle of the night?"
Cui'er looked as if facing a great enemy. She bent down and whispered in Lan Shi's ear, as if afraid of being heard, "The eldest young lady is back. She's in the main hall now!"
Lan Shi opened her eyes in horror. "Wh...what? What is she doing back?" As she said that, she got out of bed and put on her shoes.
Cui'er shook her head and then said, "Madam, a few days ago, the eldest young lady deliberately exposed the second young lady's identity at the wedding of General Ningyuan. Could she be here to drive us out today?"
Lan Shi had already put on her shoes and stood up. Hearing what Cui'er said, she calmed herself down and then shook her head. "No. If she wanted to drive us out, she only needed to give an order, and someone would drive us out with our bedding. She didn't need to come here in the middle of the night, let alone come here in person."
Cui'er looked as if she understood.
"Madam means that she probably came back to her natal family because she was wronged in the regent's mansion..."
Lan Shi sat down at the table, and Cui'er quickly poured her a glass of water.
"Most likely. Didn't I hear that the regent brought back a woman from somewhere a few days ago? It's very likely that she really hit a snag."
She took a sip of tea and smiled smugly and gloatingly.
"Madam, don't we go and have a look?"
Lan Shi put down the teacup, walked to the door, and pulled it open. A cold wind blew in, making her shiver.
"Since she didn't send someone to call us, let's just pretend we don't know."
She closed the door and went back to bed. However, for some reason, she just couldn't fall asleep...
Scenes of how she and her daughter had treated Mo Qinghuan over the years kept flashing through her mind.
As she was thinking, Mo Qinghuan's venomous look suddenly flashed through her mind, scaring her so much that she trembled.
"Madam, are you okay?"
She shook her head absent-mindedly. "I'm okay. Go and rest."
...
In the main hall, Mo Qinghuan sat for a while. Then she stood up and walked towards her own courtyard.
Mo Yao's things had already been moved away, and there was nothing prepared here.
Just as she was wondering how to sleep tonight, she heard someone timidly call her at the door.
"Eldest young lady."
She turned around and saw a little maid walking over with bedding in her arms. "Hongguo."
Hongguo lowered her head and walked to the bed to make it for her.
"Why did the eldest young lady come back so late?"
Mo Qinghuan sighed. How should she explain this to this little maid who cared about her...
But after thinking about it, she decided not to. The more she explained, the more it would seem like she was covering up.
As soon as Hongguo heard her sigh, she immediately looked at her worriedly. "Eldest young lady, this maid knows that I'm just a maid, but it doesn't matter. If the eldest young lady is in a bad mood, you can tell this maid. Although this maid can't help you solve the problem, this maid knows that after you say out the unhappy things, you'll feel better."
Mo Qinghuan gave a soft "hmm". She had known for a long time that this Hongguo wanted to come to her side.
And she had always been trying hard to make herself familiar to her.
However, everyone was an independent individual. One didn't necessarily have to follow someone. It had nothing to do with loyalty. She was just not used to it.