After the birthday banquet, the Duke of Zhao and his wife were seeing off the guests at the door. Zhao Yiyi pulled Mo Qinghuan into her boudoir.
"What's up?" Mo Qinghuan asked curiously when she saw Zhao Yiyi acting so mysteriously.
Zhao Yiyi sat down at the table with a worried look on her face. Her belly was already showing.
But her complexion was very poor. Mo Qinghuan had thought that since she had moved back to the Duke's Mansion, she would feel better and it would be more convenient for her to carry the baby.
But it seemed that was not the case.
"Do you have something on your mind?"
Zhao Yiyi nodded. She took Mo Qinghuan's hand. "I really don't know what to do. Can you give me some advice and tell me what I should do?"
Mo Qinghuan pulled out her hand and gently patted Zhao Yiyi's back of the hand, comforting her softly. "Okay, tell me what exactly happened. Let me see if I can come up with a solution for you."
Zhao Yiyi heaved a heavy sigh and drooped her eyes.
"It's like this. Actually, I'm not having a good time in the Duke's Mansion either. Every day my mother urges me to move back to the General's Mansion. But you know, if I move back, not to mention whether my safety can be guaranteed. The most important thing is the baby in my belly. I don't want anything to happen to him. But I'm also worried that if I don't go back for a long time, that Mo Yao will capture the General's heart completely. Then won't I... won't I lose everything?"
Mo Qinghuan had actually thought of this situation long ago. When Zhao Yiyi moved back to her natal family, she knew that there would surely be some complaints from her family.
But she didn't expect Zhao Yiyi to be under such great psychological pressure.
"Haven't you told your mother the reason why you moved back? Can't you wait until after you give birth before going back?"
"That's what I planned, but my mother has been trying to persuade me more and more frequently these days. I'm really afraid that one day I won't be able to hold on."
As she said this, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. She raised her hand to cover her face and said in a broken voice, "Qinghuan, do you know? I envy you so much. The Regent is chaste and only loves you. He only treats you well. Ning Shouzhang seems to treat me well, but actually, he treats everyone well. I'm not the only one or the most special one to him."
She wiped away her tears and looked up at Mo Qinghuan.
"This is also the reason why I'm so conflicted about whether I should go back or not."
After hearing what she said, Mo Qinghuan suddenly felt heartache.
It's said that a woman's good birth is not as good as a good marriage. But in this era when men are in the dominant position, no matter whether a woman has a good marriage or not, she has to bear the mainstream of this secular world. Taking care of her husband and children is a woman's obligation.
Many women rarely went out. The noble ones would do some needlework in the house, drink tea, and have gatherings with other noble ladies.
The lower - class women not only had to take care of their husbands and mothers - in - law, but also their husbands' other wives. Strictly speaking, they couldn't even be considered as having a real husband.
"Yiyi, listen to me. Mo Yao has evil intentions. If you go back, there's no guarantee that she won't do something to the baby in your belly. Since you've already moved out, just wait until after you give birth before going back. After all, the baby is the most important."
Mo Qinghuan comforted Zhao Yiyi like this, but actually, she already had a plan in mind.
The Lan mother - daughter pair had killed the original Mo Qinghuan. Now she had the upper hand over Mrs. Lan. Next was Mo Yao. As long as she took care of Mo Yao, Zhao Yiyi could go back to the General's Mansion without worry.
But she couldn't tell Zhao Yiyi this for the time being, so as not to let her live in constant expectation.
"Okay, I should go back. Take good care of yourself. Don't think about so many unhappy things. Always remember that you have a baby in your belly. You have to think about him."
Zhao Yiyi nodded and got up to send her out of the door.
Mu Yanming was standing not far away in the courtyard. Ning Shouzhang was standing on Mu Yanming's left, bowing his head, as if listening to what he was saying.
Mo Qinghuan walked up to the two of them and reached out to hold Mu Yanming's arm.
"My Lord, let's go back."
Then she turned to look at Zhao Yiyi and gave her an encouraging look.
Zhao Yiyi smiled back to let her rest assured. In fact, seeing the affectionate relationship between Mo Qinghuan and her husband, her heart felt even more sour.
The two of them left the Duke's Mansion. By this time, it was getting dark. There were no stars or moon in the sky. It was pitch - black and one couldn't see anything.
Mo Qinghuan was tired after a busy day. She closed her eyes and leaned on Mu Yanming's shoulder.
The carriage was moving forward slowly when suddenly it stopped with a thud. Mu Yanming quickly reached out to protect her.
Mo Qinghuan opened her sleepy eyes and asked Mu Yanming, "What's going on?"
Bai Ke lifted the curtain. A gentle breeze blew in, driving away Mo Qinghuan's drowsiness.
"Report to Your Highness, it's just a wild cat."
The carriage continued to move forward. When they got back to the Regent's Mansion, Mu Yanming jumped off the carriage first, picked Mo Qinghuan up horizontally in his arms, and walked towards the Yangyang Hall.
...
At this moment, there were several dull thuds in the dungeon.
Mu Shengze had been sitting cross - legged on the bed, closing his eyes to rest. After hearing the sound, he opened his eyes and looked outside the prison door.
Several black - masked men knocked out the guards at the prison door, felt for the keys on his waist, and opened the prison door.
"Your Highness, the Prince of Rui, please come with us quickly."
After the previous incident, Mu Shengze thought it was safer to stay in the dungeon. Before he figured out how to deal with Mu Yanming and Mu Yefeng, he decided to stay in the dungeon.
So he said to the black - masked men, "No matter who sent you here to rescue me, you should go first. I'm not planning to leave the dungeon for the time being."
The black - masked men looked at each other in dismay. The people outside had been working hard for him. Today, they finally found an opportunity, and it seemed that they were about to succeed, but he didn't want to leave.
The black - masked man was angry but didn't show it. He walked up to Mu Shengze, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your Highness, please don't be willful. Come with us quickly. It will be too late if we delay."
He earnestly persuaded Mu Shengze. Mu Shengze looked up at him and saw that the black - masked man was frowning at him.
Just as he was about to say something to refuse, the black - masked man raised his hand and struck him on the neck.
Mu Shengze hadn't even uttered the word "You" when he fainted.
The black - masked man turned around and waved to his subordinates. Immediately, two men came up and carried Mu Shengze out.
Taking advantage of the night and having the Queen's access token in their hands, they easily transported Mu Shengze out of the palace.
It was definitely not safe in the city, so the carriage drove all the way towards the palace gate. When they reached the palace gate, the guards at the gate conducted a routine inspection.
"Brother guard, we came into the city to do business. We encountered some problems during the day and were delayed, which is why we missed the time to leave the city. Please be kind enough to open the gate and let us out."
As he said this, he stuffed a large bag of silver into the guards' hands. The two guards looked at each other and then opened the gate.