Mo Qinghuan, who had already gotten into the carriage first, had no idea what was going on. She only heard Bai Ke shout "Protect the lord" and then Mu Yanming got into the carriage.
Seeing Mu Yanming, she finally let out a sigh of relief, with a flicker of heartache in her eyes.
These days were really nerve - wracking. Leng Nier was right. Being in the capital was like being in the center of a whirlpool. One slightest mistake and they wouldn't even know how they died.
"Drive the carriage. Head for the palace."
The coachman of the Regent's Mansion was also an experienced one. Facing the rain of arrows flying through the air, he was not the least bit flustered and steadily drove the carriage towards the palace.
Along the way, Mo Qinghuan could hear the occasional sounds of fighting outside. She didn't dare to lift the curtain to look, for fear that an arrow might shoot in.
On the contrary, Mu Yanming sat firmly like a mountain, eyes closed, showing no sign of panic.
Finally, the carriage arrived safely at the palace gate.
The two of them got off the carriage and walked towards the palace. But at this moment, suddenly an arrow flew from a tree not far away.
Seeing this, Mu Yanming pulled Mo Qinghuan away. But he had no weapon in his hand and couldn't block the arrow flying at full speed. Just as the arrow was about to pierce into Mu Yanming's body, Mo Qinghuan turned her ring and shot at the arrow. The hidden weapon hit the arrowhead, changing the arrow's flight path. Then it shot into the palace gate.
The person in the dark, seeing that the first strike failed, dropped the bow and arrow and fled.
Mu Yanming stepped forward, with a solemn face, and pulled out the arrow from the palace gate.
"If you want this king's life, come and take it openly. Doing such despicable things is really contemptible."
He threw the arrow on the ground, held Mo Qinghuan's hand and walked into the palace.
She walked silently beside him. When they reached the Azure Wave Hall, all the ministers and their wives were already there.
"Brother Wang, come quickly. I've been waiting for you for a long time."
With that, he pulled Mu Yanming away. Mu Yanming looked back at Mo Qinghuan. Mo Qinghuan shook her head, indicating that she was fine.
She found the seat of the regent and obediently sat there without looking at anyone.
However, there were always some trouble - makers who liked to provoke her on their own initiative.
Gu Qinglan was wearing a yellow ruqun today. But her complexion didn't look very good, so she couldn't carry off this yellow dress. Instead, it made her skin look a bit darker.
She squatted in front of Mo Qinghuan mysteriously. "Regent's Consort, do you want to know where the regent went last night..."
Mo Qinglan thought it was ridiculous. She looked at Gu Qinglan, with a teasing look in her eyes. "Does Miss Gu want to tell this consort that the lord was with you last night?"
Gu Qinglan's face flushed red instantly. She slapped the table lightly. "What are you talking nonsense about! I'm serious. I'm asking you, didn't the regent return to the mansion last night?"
Mo Qinghuan was too lazy to play riddles with her, so she asked directly, "Just say it straight."
Gu Qinglan looked unconvinced, but she still leaned forward and whispered.
"Lord Ling died last night, and his head hasn't been found yet. Do you know about this?"
Mo Qinglan rolled her eyes and lowered her eyes, ignoring Gu Qinglan.
Seeing that Mo Qinglan ignored her, Gu Qinglan whispered, "Last night, besides accompanying the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to interrogate the servants of the Ling Mansion, the regent also went to a place, the Myriad Flowers Tower."
Hearing this, Mo Qinglan looked up at her. "What did he go to the Myriad Flowers Tower for?"
Gu Qinglan's mood became low. "I heard that the new top courtesan of the Myriad Flowers Tower, Miss Shishi, is extremely beautiful, with a graceful figure and plays the pipa very well."
"The lord went to see her?"
Gu Qinglan nodded angrily. "I also heard from others that last night was Miss Shishi's virginity auction, and the lord spent five thousand taels to keep her for the whole night."
Mo Qinglan unconsciously gritted her teeth, but she also thought it was impossible. What Gu Qinglan said might not be true. Maybe she was here to sow discord between them.
Therefore, she took a deep breath secretly, adjusted her smile and looked at Gu Qinglan.
"What do you tell me this for?"
Gu Qinglan looked at her with an expression of "you're so useless".
"What do you think? Of course it's to watch the lord well. Don't you hope that one day he'll bring a woman from the brothel into the mansion?"
Mo Qinglan thought it was ridiculous. "What? Are you worried that the lord will ruin his reputation because of a woman from the brothel?"
"Aren't you worried?" She stared at Mo Qinglan, and the fingers on the table tightened slightly, with blue veins showing on the back of her hand.
Mo Qinglan shook her head with a smile. "Miss Gu, you really care a lot about the lord's affairs. However, the way the lord and I get along is that if he doesn't say, I won't ask. So you don't have to worry so much."
She lowered her eyes, which was a clear signal for Gu Qinglan to leave.
After a while, Mu Yanming came back and sat down beside her.
"The Prince Rui is under house arrest, so Mu Yichen is in charge of tonight's palace banquet. He doesn't understand many things, so he asked this king for help."
"Okay," she just replied with a simple okay, not even looking up at him.
Mu Yanming sensed something was wrong. He held Mo Qinglan's hand on her knee, but she forcefully pulled it back.
"What's wrong?" He looked at Mo Qinglan.
She still kept her head down, her eyes looking at the tabletop, silent.
He asked again, "Qinghuan, what's wrong with you?"
Only then did Mo Qinglan look up at him, but there was a hint of scrutiny in her eyes, as if she was looking for the truth of what Gu Qinglan had said.
Sensing the strange look in her eyes, he reached out and touched her face, saying softly, "What on earth is wrong?"
She thought for a while and decided to find the answer from his own mouth instead of listening to others' provocation.
"Where did you go last night..." She stared at Mu Yanming when she asked the question.
Hearing the words "last night", he frowned slightly. Although it was just a moment, Mo Qinglan still caught it.
She seemed to have gotten the answer she wanted, so she averted her eyes.
"Qinghuan, this king will tell you when we get back."
Suddenly, Mo Qinglan turned to him with a smile. "So, you really had something to hide from me this morning?"
Mu Yanming blinked.
"His Majesty the Emperor is arriving, and Her Highness the Concubine Li is arriving."
A eunuch shouted. The emperor and Concubine Li walked towards the upper seats under the escort of a group of maids and eunuchs.
Everyone stood up and saluted. "Greetings to Your Majesty the Emperor, greetings to Her Highness the Concubine Li."
The emperor held Concubine Li's hand. After walking up the steps, he said to everyone, "All of you may rise."
Everyone sat down again. At this time, the envoy from the Northern Rong slowly walked in from outside the hall, carrying a box covered with a red cloth.
"The envoy of the Northern Rong, A Tuk, pays respects to the Emperor of the Li Kingdom. May Your Majesty live a long and prosperous life."
Mu Linyi nodded. "The envoy doesn't need to be so polite. Quickly take your seat."
"Your Majesty, this is the precious treasure that our king ordered me to bring. Please have a look."
The eunuch beside Mu Linyi walked down, took the box and placed it in front of the emperor on the low table.
Mu Linyi lifted the red cloth. The box was locked.
This lock was something Mu Linyi had never seen before. He looked at the envoy and asked, "Envoy, this box is locked. What do you want me to look at?"
The envoy smiled mysteriously. "Your Majesty, this is a lock that doesn't need a key. I've long heard that there are many talented people in the Li Kingdom. So I want to test the talents of the Li Kingdom to see if anyone can open this lock. If someone can open the lock, this precious treasure in the box will be presented to Your Majesty the noble emperor."
Mu Linyi twitched the corner of his mouth and looked embarrassed. He had never even seen it before. How could he open it!