Mo Lingchen stared at her silently, his dark eyes revealing no emotion.

Chu Qinghe felt a moment of fear, but quickly calmed down; she was a princess, after all.

Even if he knew she was the one who killed him, he wouldn't dare do anything to her.

Moreover, he has no evidence. As long as he doesn't admit it himself, no one can pin the blame on her.

"My lord, why are you looking at me like that?"

Mo Lingchen suddenly let out a cold laugh: "Is the princess relieved now?"

Chu Qinghe stared straight at him, her tone matter-of-fact: "What are you worried about? You suspect this matter has something to do with me, the princess?"

"Isn't it you?"

"Of course not. If I wanted to kill her, it would be easier than crushing an ant."

"Even if I, the princess, kill her openly and honestly, no one can do anything to me?"

Why should I deny it?

"Your Highness, please don't look at me with prejudice."

"I brought Elder Qi here today to help you, so why are you treating me like this?"

Chu Qinghe's tears welled up with grievance, as if she had truly been wronged.

Mo Lingchen looked at her tears and seemed to soften for a moment: "Is it really not you?"

"Hmph, I, the princess, have always been upright in my actions. Since I said I would let her go, how could I go back on my word?"

"If she refuses to leave, I, the princess, will certainly not let her go."

"But I heard that she had an accident on her way out of the capital."

"She's leaving soon, so why should I, as a princess, try to kill her?"

"Would I, a princess, so belittle myself that I am not even as good as... a courtesan?"

Mo Lingchen seemed to believe her and nodded slightly: "Let's take it as the truth."

"I will definitely find out the truth."

Chu Qinghe was pleased to see that he believed her; men really can't stand seeing women's tears.

"Are you planning to stay by her side forever?"

"Should we bury her as soon as possible?"

Mo Lingchen stared at the pale woman on the hospital bed, his gaze deep and tender: "She's not dead yet."

"But Old Qi said she was no different from a dead person."

"She's not dead yet," Mo Lingchen repeated.

"So how do you plan to handle this matter?"

"If you still refuse to consider my feelings, I will really get angry."

Her words were half threatening and half coquettish.

"Princess, please go back first. Let me stay with her a little longer. I will handle this matter and will definitely be back before dinner."

Chu Qinghe gritted her teeth and finally agreed.

It seems that Qiuyue's method worked; at least he was willing to speak to her calmly.

She believed that, given time, the prince consort would fall in love with her.

They would be spending every day together from then on, and it was inevitable that they would develop feelings for each other over time.

As time goes by, he will gradually forget about Jin Mudan, and he won't need to bother with a dead person.

At dinner time, Mo Lingchen returned to the princess's residence on time. Chu Qinghe was very happy and prepared a table full of delicious dishes.

She served him food without mentioning the golden peony. That night, Mo Lingchen rested in the study.

In the following days, Mo Lingchen would visit Jin Mudan every few days.

Chu Qinghe knew all this, but she did not stop him or express her dissatisfaction. Instead, she pretended not to know anything and would not bring it up.

This seemed to be a tacit agreement between the two, and neither of them would easily break the surface peace.

Su Yujiao observed Jin Mudan's condition every day, but it didn't seem to be improving.

There may be no miracle; she may spend the rest of her life in a coma.

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival, Chen Zhou led his army back in triumph.

Originally, this battle was not easy to turn the tide of. However, the old emperor of the Jin Dynasty suddenly passed away, and the Jin royal family was in turmoil. The Jin army had no choice but to withdraw its troops, return the lost territory, and sign a peace treaty.

However, the cities that Lu Ziqian had previously occupied were taken back by the Jin Kingdom, and the Jin Kingdom no longer submitted to the Da Ming Kingdom.

Even so, this victory was hard-won for the Great Ming Kingdom.

Without Chenzhou, relying solely on the Marquis of Jing'an, the Great Ming Kingdom would likely have lost most of its territory.

The emperor was overjoyed and led all the officials to personally greet him. The people were also delighted and lined the streets to welcome him.

"Your Majesty, this humble subject wishes to file a petition with the Emperor!"

Suddenly, a discordant sound came from the back of the group, intermittent and unclear.

The source of the sound was far away. After all, the emperor was on a high platform on the city wall, protected by countless imperial guards. It was impossible for ordinary people to get close.

Wang Liyang was accompanying the emperor and the army when the officials behind him changed their expressions.

When Wang Liyang saw the man's expression change drastically, he suddenly had a bad feeling. Then he vaguely heard the sound of someone complaining to the emperor.

Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood and seemed not to have noticed the voice, Wang Liyang gave the official a wink.

The two arrived at a secluded place: "What happened? Who is that person?"

"My lord, I beg you all to save me."

"You know him?"

"We can't let him see the Emperor, otherwise the matter of military rations will be brought up."

"What?" Wang Liyang's expression changed drastically; just what he feared had come to pass.

He had a bad feeling when he heard someone shouting that they wanted to file a complaint with the emperor.

Unexpectedly, it really is related to military rations.

"What exactly happened?"

"My son is Lin Pingxi, the magistrate of Qingshui County in Yangzhou. He is also involved in the military provisions."

Wang Liyang remembered this name; he had received tribute from the magistrate of Qingshui County, and this name was on the list.

Lin Che recounted his son's bizarre actions: digging up the grave and digging up the burial goods, then killing him to cover it up.

As Lin Che spoke, he kept wiping his sweat in a hurry: "This person is cunning and has found many substitutes."

"I thought he was dead, but I never expected him to appear in the capital and even want to file a complaint with the Emperor."

"Please, Your Excellency, save my son..."

Wang Liyang was so angry he wanted to kill someone. How could there be such a stupid person in the world? Stupid as they were, they were also greedy and immoral, yet vicious and incompetent.

Enraged, Wang Liyang kicked Lin Che over. If this matter were to be exposed, he would be the first one to be finished.

"You...you have really killed me."

"Quickly...go down and stop him." He ordered his trusted aides to stop Su Qingyu.

However, the next second, he saw Lu Ziqian appear behind Su Qingyu, as if he were protecting him closely.

Moreover, their direction was towards the war drums below the city gate, which were originally meant to welcome the triumphant army.

However, the main army has not yet arrived, so it is not yet time to beat the drums.

If the war drums were to be sounded at this moment, it would surely attract the emperor's attention.

Wang Liyang broke out in a cold sweat. Luckily, his men hadn't gone down yet, otherwise he definitely wouldn't be a match for Lu Ziqian.

If Lu Ziqian were to arrest him in public, he would definitely be implicated.

But if no one goes down to stop him, he will be in big trouble.

Lin Che, who was standing next to him, had obviously seen Lu Ziqian as well, and was pacing around anxiously.

What should we do?