She clung tightly to Mu Yanming's hand. Helpless, he stopped what he was doing and let her go.
"You're so silly..." Mu Yanming reached out and gently tapped Mo Qinghuan on the nose.
Her face flushed bright red instantly. "I'm tired. I need to rest..."
She turned and crawled onto the bed, pulling the covers over herself.
...
Min Feiyan returned to the Prince Rui's Mansion. The Prince Rui was leisurely making tea by the river.
Seeing her come back, he beckoned to her. "Come here."
Min Feiyan had something weighing on her mind, so she walked very slowly.
The Prince Rui's expression turned cold. When she was still one step away from him, he threw the teacup in his hand at her.
The teacup spun in the air and flew straight towards her, hitting her right on the forehead.
"What are you dawdling about for?" Before she could figure out what was going on, she heard Mu Shengze's scolding voice.
She lowered her head, trying to figure out how to tell Mu Shengze about this matter.
Seeing Min Feiyan looking so gloomy, he completely lost the mood to drink tea. He threw the teapot onto the stove and stormed off towards the room angrily.
The sudden movement stirred up the charcoal under the stove, and the sparks floated in the air before disappearing into smoke.
Min Feiyan stared blankly for a while, then suddenly forced a bitter smile.
She recalled the more than three years on the mountain. The two brothers were practicing martial arts.
She and Leng Nier were doing needlework. When they were bored, they would go into the mountains to pick wildflowers together.
The days were so carefree. But why, why had things turned out like this?
Was power really that important?
So important that a father could sacrifice his own flesh and blood, so important that a once harmonious family would end up fighting each other.
She didn't want to see the two brothers reach that point in the future...
But now everything was developing in a bad direction.
She slumped down in front of the stone table, looking at the boiling kettle with tear - streaked eyes. A tear dropped onto the back of her hand.
...
On the other side, Leng Nier returned to the mansion. The Second Prince was practicing swordsmanship.
Seeing Leng Nier come back, he put down his sword and walked towards her.
He held her hand and gently helped her sit down at the table.
There was a soft cushion on the stone bench, and there was warm tea and snacks on the stone table.
"Your Highness, there was a little accident today..."
Mu Yichen's expression changed instantly. "What happened?"
Leng Nier held his hand back and comforted him. "The Crown Princess... "
She lowered her head, suddenly not knowing how to continue.
"What about her?"
Mu Yichen was obviously a bit impatient. Leng Nier quickly tried to calm his nerves.
"She tried to push me, but I dodged. But... " She looked at Mu Yichen guiltily. "Madam General Ningyuan took the fall for me and almost had a miscarriage..."
Mu Yichen let out a sigh of relief, but his expression was still very solemn. "General Ningyuan has always been neutral in the court and has never shown any preference. So I've never had much of a relationship with him. But this time his wife was injured while trying to save you. We should go and thank them in person."
Leng Nier nodded. She knew that since she was pregnant, no matter what, Mu Yichen wouldn't scold her.
She just wondered how the Crown Princess's life would be after she returned to the Prince Rui's Mansion.
And that Mo Qinghuan, she was really capable. Even though Zhao Yiyi had fallen so hard, she still managed to save the child in her womb.
It seemed that she had to get on good terms with Mo Qinghuan just in case.
...
"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!"
Mo Qinghuan sneezed three times in a row.
She sat up in bed, rubbed her eyes and looked at Mu Yanming.
He was sitting in front of the writing desk, carefully studying the Book of Changes in his hand.
She yawned, got out of bed, walked to the table and poured a glass of water. Then she smiled and teased Mu Yanming.
"When did Your Highness become interested in the Book of Changes?"
Mu Yanming looked up at her with the book in his hand.
"I'm thinking about whether I should tell the Emperor about the Prince Rui's matter."
Mo Qinghuan put down the water cup and walked up to him.
"No matter how loyal the Left Prime Minister is to the Emperor, he's still just a subject. No matter how cruel and criminal the Prince Rui is, he's still the Emperor's son. I don't think the Emperor would be willing to punish the Prince Rui to avenge his subject."
Mu Yanming blinked his eyes seriously.
"The situation is special now. The position of the Crown Prince has been undecided. Moreover, the Emperor may not be unaware that it was the Prince Rui who killed the person."
Mo Qinghuan nodded. "You're right. Maybe it was even the Emperor's intention! Just like the time when you were assassinated."
"Me being assassinated?"
"Don't you remember? It was when you left the palace. It was Lu Zixiu who took a knife for you that time."
"Yeah." He put down the book, stood up and walked to the window. "I wonder what Zixiu has been up to lately?" He tapped his fingertips gently on the window sill twice.
Mo Qinghuan suddenly remembered the time when they staged a fight to make others think that she and Mu Yanming had fallen out.
Even the Left Prime Minister thought that there was something going on between her and Lu Zixiu.
She suddenly found it ridiculous. At that time, they planned to pretend to have a feud so that others would think they were at odds and thus would not target Mo Qinghuan. But unexpectedly, she almost got killed at the palace banquet.
"By the way, has there been any progress on the matter of me falling into the water in the palace last time? Was it the Queen?" She suddenly looked at Mu Yanming.
Mu Yanming turned around and looked at her, reaching out to ruffle her hair gently.
"It wasn't the Queen."
"Oh." Mo Qinghuan turned around and walked out. "I'll go and see A Tahuan."
She walked towards the side hall.
When she turned the corner, she heard Bai Ke and Jing Hua chatting.
"Jing Hua, do you think which one of the Dan'er sisters is prettier?"
Jing Hua chuckled twice. "Brother Bai, why are you asking this? Do you like one of the Dan'er sisters? Oh!"
Jing Hua suddenly let out a cry of pain. Mo Qinghuan curled her lips. It must be Bai Ke bullying Jing Hua again.
But then she heard Bai Ke's voice.
"Your Brother Bai is a real man. If I like someone, I'm not afraid to admit it. I do like Miss Dan'er... " He let out a long sigh. "Alas..."
"What's wrong? Why are you sighing?" Jing Hua was munching on a pancake happily.
"Alas, the Princess will definitely not agree to marry Dan'er to me."
After saying that, he sighed again.
Jing Hua laughed. "Of course. Not only is Sister Dan'er beautiful, but she's also the Princess's favorite. And look at you..." He sized Bai Ke up and down.
Bai Ke wasn't happy to hear this. "What do you mean? Am I not the Prince's favorite, too?"
"Hahaha, Brother, you always say I'm stupid. I think you're the fool!"
Bai Ke was confused and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Look, if you want to get married, you should at least have a house. You can't let the girl live nowhere after marrying you, right?"
Mo Qinghuan walked out and laughed. "Yes, Bai Ke. If you want to marry Dan'er, not to mention an eight - sedan - chair wedding, you should at least know where your home is."