Shuang'er returned to the prince's mansion first.
"Your Royal Highness, I'm back," she said as she ran into the room in a few steps.
When Mo Qinghuan saw her, the heavy stone in her heart finally dropped.
She stepped forward and took Shuang'er's hand. Her tone was a bit reproachful. "Why did you come back so late?"
Shuang'er rolled her eyes and lowered her head.
"Your Royal Highness, this servant deserves to die for making you worried," she said as she knelt on the ground with a thud.
Mo Qinghuan helped her up. "I'm not blaming you. It's just that your sister went out to look for you, and she hasn't come back yet."
Just as she finished speaking, Dan'er rushed in.
She had seen Shuang'er at the entrance of Yanyang Hall just now.
She rushed up to Shuang'er and punched her hard twice.
"You little rascal! Where did you go?" she cried and shouted at Shuang'er.
Shuang'er knew her sister was worried. She lowered her head and bit her lips.
"I..."
Dan'er was angry. Regardless of Mo Qinghuan and Bai Ke, she shouted, "What 'I'? Can't you even speak properly?"
Shuang'er also got angry. She let go of Mo Qinghuan's hand and ran towards the side room.
Dan'er glanced at Mo Qinghuan and quickly chased after her.
Bai Ke also followed. Mo Qinghuan shook her head helplessly.
The next day was the palace banquet. She got up early and only then noticed that Mu Yanming hadn't come back the whole night.
Dan'er dressed her with a long face. Shuang'er tidied up the room in silence.
She sat in front of the dressing table and looked at the two sisters through the mirror. She guessed that they must have had an unpleasant time last night, otherwise they wouldn't be like this. Shuang'er would have been chattering away long ago instead of being so quiet.
Just as she was about to console them, Mu Yanming came back.
His expression was very solemn, and the air pressure around him was very low.
She waved at Dan'er, and Dan'er stepped back. Before leaving, she also nudged Shuang'er.
She stepped forward and took the cloak he took off.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Mu Yanming sat at the table and rubbed his temples with his hand.
"Qinghuan, Lord Ling is dead," he said hoarsely, sounding extremely tired.
Her hand that was pouring tea paused. She looked up at Mu Yanming.
"Lord Ling? Which Lord Ling?"
He looked up at her. His eyes were full of bloodshot, looking like he hadn't slept all night. "Ling Yu's father, Ling Xianyin."
Mo Qinghuan sat down in front of him and took Mu Yanming's hand. She knew that Ling Xianyin knew a lot about what happened back then. So during this period, Mu Yanming had been trying to contact him to get more clues...
Unexpectedly... the man was actually dead...
"Who did it?"
"The investigation is still in progress. But he died in his own study, and the door of the study was locked from the inside."
Mo Qinghuan pushed the tea in front of Mu Yanming. "A locked-room murder case. Has the body been examined? How did he die?"
Mu Yanming sighed lightly. "He was beheaded by the attacker. The time of death was during dinner last night."
"Didn't anyone hear any noise when he died in his own mansion?"
Mu Yanming shook his head. "Everyone in the Ling Mansion has been interrogated. There are no suspicious points. Ling Yu said that his father had just obtained a precious treasure and would stay in the study for a long time every day. Moreover, his father didn't eat after noon, so no one called him for dinner."
Mo Qinghuan analyzed carefully what Mu Yanming said.
Mu Yanming continued, "This prince heard that he had a list in his hand, a list of people involved in Father's case. He promised this prince that he would give it to this prince after the New Year's banquet."
"So, someone leaked the news. The people on the list killed him and took the list to protect themselves."
He nodded, his eyes full of exhaustion.
Mo Qinghuan couldn't bear it. She took his hand and advised, "Don't worry. There should be clues in the secret room of the general's mansion. I've already asked Qing Heng to speed up the renovation. We should be able to find the key soon." She helped him up.
"You haven't rested all night. Go and get some rest."
She helped Mu Yanming towards the bed. Suddenly, he hugged Mo Qinghuan tightly in his arms.
So tightly, as if a floating duckweed had suddenly grabbed a life-saving straw.
"Go to sleep. You're already very tired."
She knew that Mu Yanming couldn't fall asleep, so while he wasn't paying attention, she injected him with a sedative.
He leaned on Mo Qinghuan's shoulder and fell asleep. She had a hard time getting him onto the bed.
After lunch, Bai Ke came over excitedly. As a result, he saw the door tightly closed. Dan'er and Shuang'er were standing behind Mo Qinghuan. Mo Qinghuan was lying on the lounge chair, looking quite comfortable.
"Your Royal Highness, where is the prince? Ata Huan is awake."
Mo Qinghuan stood up and looked towards the room. "He's resting. I'll go and have a look."
Mo Qinghuan followed Bai Ke towards the side hall.
Sure enough, Ata Huan was awake. She was sitting up in bed, and there was an empty bowl on the bedside table.
She walked over, sat in front of the bed, and grabbed Ata Huan's wrist to feel her pulse.
"Very good. You've recovered quite well. But you have many wounds on your body. You still need to rest for a few more days before you can get out of bed."
Ata Huan nodded. "Thank you, Your Royal Highness. Where is the prince? I have something to say to him."
Mo Qinghuan put away her things and stood up. "He's resting. You can tell him what you have to say later. I'll leave now. I won't disturb your rest."
She returned to Yanyang Hall. Just as she reached the entrance of the courtyard, she saw Mu Yanming pull open the door and stand in the corridor with a gloomy face.
She walked over and smiled at him. There was still a look of exhaustion in his eyes.
His voice was hoarse when he spoke. "Go and change your clothes. We still have to go to the palace for the banquet."
After saying that, he walked towards the study.
"Wait a minute. Ata Huan is awake and said she has something to say to you. Go and see her," Mo Qinghuan called out to him.
He just gave a faint "hmm" without saying whether he would go or not, and then walked towards the study.
She entered the room and changed into a royal blue princess dress. There were lifelike phoenixes embroidered on the royal blue skirt, and the eyes and the tails of the phoenixes were decorated with pearls and jade.
Dan'er did her hair in a bun and put hairpins, pearls, and jade on her head. In the middle, she inserted a hairpin in the shape of an eight-tailed phoenix. The tassels hung down to the forehead ornament. Her earrings were in the shape of golden phoenix tails. The table she was sitting at was also carved with phoenix patterns.
Mu Yanming came back after changing his clothes. He was also wearing a royal blue prince's uniform today. There was a gold crown on his head. The collar was embroidered with cloud patterns in gold thread. The wide sleeves were embroidered with coiling dragon patterns. The boots were also embroidered with gold thread. Every part of his body showed his noble status.
The two walked side by side. When they walked from Yanyang Hall to the main entrance of the prince's mansion, there came a burst of sighs.
When they reached the main entrance of the prince's mansion, Mo Qinghuan had just got into the carriage first. Mu Yanming hadn't even stepped into the carriage yet when suddenly an arrow flew from the roof of an inn not far away.
It shot straight at Mu Yanming.
Bai Ke was quick-witted. He drew his sword and blocked the arrow.
"Protect the prince! Quickly protect the prince!" Bai Ke shouted. Then, twenty people in black tight-fitting clothes rushed out of the mansion and surrounded the carriage.