Upon hearing his words, Mu Tiantian closed her eyes even tighter.

Yin Jiahan reached out and gently stroked her trembling eyelids. Her long eyelashes brushed against his fingertips, making his heart itch.

Three years have passed, and she seems unchanged; she is still as afraid of corpses as ever.

"Oh my god, there's a corpse in Xiaohan! The corpse is infested with maggots!" That year, because the war had just ended, there were refugees who had died in the war or starved to death in the desolate wilderness; their corpses were rotting and stinking.

Mu Tiantian timidly clung tightly to Yin Jiahan, who was the same height as her.

That was the first time he had been so close to her. She always had a faint milky scent that made him want to keep smelling it. He wanted to be held by her forever.

"Don't be afraid, sister, Xiao Han will protect you." He carried her through the forest littered with corpses with his thin body.

He said to her, "Sister, you won't abandon me, right? If you abandon me, I'll rot like these corpses. You won't watch me rot, will you?"

"Pah, pah, pah! My Xiaohan is so handsome, how could he possibly rot? Your older sister will never abandon you. I'll be watching you get married and have children in the future."

"I don't want to get married, I want to marry..." my older sister.

He wanted to marry his older sister, but she was so beautiful, would she be willing to marry him?

Later, he thought he was old enough to marry her, but she cruelly abandoned him.

Thinking of this, Yin Jiahan kissed her lips in revenge.

The wound on her lip, which had just scabbed over after applying ointment, was reopened by his kiss.

He only relented after he calmed down.

Mu Tiantian's lips were slightly swollen from being kissed, adding a touch of allure to her sweet face.

Glug~

Mu Tiantian snapped out of her daze, opened her eyes, and blinked. "I'm hungry..."

"Wait here." After saying this, Yin Jiahan left the secret chamber and closed the stone door.

Mu Tiantian stood rooted to the spot, too afraid to move, and asked Qi Tong, "[There are no corpses, are there?]"

System: [He's just kidding you. It's just a regular escape room, and the decor looks pretty good.]

Mu Tiantian felt relieved after hearing Qi Tong's words, turned around, and looked around the underground secret room by candlelight.

Apart from the lack of windows, the furniture style is that of a woman's boudoir.

This looks exactly like it was prepared for her.

She walked to the table and sat down, waiting to be fed.

After leaving the room, Yin Jiahan smelled a strange fragrance in the courtyard. He sprinkled Gu powder on the black-clad man who had been following him, and only he could smell the Gu powder.

He will know who sent the people who were following him today when he goes to court tomorrow.

...

"My lord, I saw that the Grand Preceptor went to a residence behind Xiliang Mountain."

"He was alone?"

The man in black recalled what he had seen and replied, "It seems there was also a woman."

"A woman?" Jing An put down the blueprint in his hand and asked doubtfully, "Did you see her clearly?"

"Your subordinate... could not see her face clearly. The woman disappeared when the Grand Preceptor was resting." He only dared to follow Yin Jiahan from a distance. If Yin Jiahan had not been less vigilant than before, he might have returned empty-handed as usual.

“The Xiliang Mountain residence…” Jing An recalled the place and scoffed, “Useless.”

The man in black didn't understand what the Marquis meant. Was he referring to him as a good-for-nothing?

He dared not speak.

At this moment, Jing Jue pushed open the door and entered, "Father."

Jing An waved to the man in black, signaling him to step back.

"You still know to come back." Jing An put the blueprints away.

"Father, I'm not opening Chang Le Fang anymore."

"What, have you figured it out?" This son is such a worry. He won't go to the army camp when asked, and he won't marry the princess when asked. Instead, he runs a music hall and spends his days loafing around like a scoundrel.

"No, I lost everything," Jingjue said casually. "Besides, I reckon that princess hates me to death and will never marry me. So, Father, for the sake of my life's happiness, please find me a wife now."

Jing An frowned. "What do you mean?"

“I almost broke the princess’s arm today, so she’s probably crying to the emperor right now. If the emperor blames me, I hope you can put in a good word for me, Father. Even if the princess doesn’t want to marry me, please don’t blame me too much.” Jing Jue spoke without fear, but rather with a hint of smugness.

Today, Dongfang Zixin and Xiahou Yu went to his Chang Le Fang to play and lost a lot of money. So he started lending her money and playing with them himself.

Because he was too strong, the two suspected he was cheating. In order to escape, they deliberately said that their Chang Le Fang had stolen her silver, but in the end they were still caught by him.

He said he would dislocate their arms, but he was really just trying to scare them. If it weren't for Miss Mu Mu, he would have at most dislocated their arms, thus achieving his goal of making Dongfang Zixin hate him.

This is also why he deliberately disguised himself as a bearded man and introduced himself to the two men.

"Nonsense!" Jing An slammed his hand on the table. "How could you almost break the princess's arm?"

Jingjue briefly recounted what had happened, without mentioning Miss Mumu. He thought that once he found her and knew where she lived, he would explain to his father that he would propose marriage.

Jing An was furious after hearing this.

"Father, don't be angry. Please rest. I'm going back to my room." After saying this, Jingjue left the study and closed the door behind him.

Jingjue stood at the door for a while, his face solemn. If his father had known about this in the past, he would have been so angry that he would have taken out a rattan cane and beaten him until several rattan canes broke.

Now, however, my father just sulks. He's been acting strangely ever since he returned from the battlefield six years ago.

Jingjue could only tell himself not to overthink things and went back to his room.

at the same time.

Zixin, who had scaled the wall to enter the palace, fell off the wall with a cry of pain.

She carefully got up, and her heart skipped a beat when she caught sight of the golden boots in front of her. She looked up and saw a man in a dragon robe, looking down at her with a resolute and majestic air.

"Royal brother..." Zixin knelt on the ground with her head down, not daring to look at him.

"Get up," Dongfang Ziyi said, his voice laced with anger.

Zixin carefully stood up. She feared no one in her life except two people: her elder brother, the emperor, who stood before her, and the powerful imperial advisor, Yin Jiahan.

She couldn't afford to offend any of them, even though she was a favored princess.

"Didn't I tell you that you must return to the palace before the first watch of the night?" She even abandoned the palace servants who were protecting her. She is a princess. What if something happens to her?

"Yes." Zixin lowered her head like a child who had made a mistake.

Dongfang Ziyi said to the eunuch beside him, "Bring the person up."

"Yes, sir." The eunuch waved to the guards behind him.

The guards brought over the bodyguards and palace maids who were supposed to be protecting Zixin.

Upon seeing this, Zixin hurriedly said, "Brother, there's a reason why I came back so late today. It has nothing to do with them. I ditched them on my own. Today, I was captured by that disgusting and lewd Jingjue. He even tricked me and tried to break my arm. If it weren't for the help of a benefactor, I'm afraid I would have lost my arm."

"Since that's the case, then I'll punish them with twenty more strokes of the cane. They failed to protect the princess properly and even put her in danger. A total of fifty strokes of the cane, for the princess to witness." Dongfang Ziyi's ruthless words made Zixin's pupils dilate.

The two guards and two palace maids dared not utter a word of complaint and could only endure it, their screams echoing through the air.

Zixin quickly ran over and pushed away the person who was wielding the cane, then knelt on the ground. "Your Majesty, please calm down. Lanxin and Lanhui are too weak to withstand fifty strokes of the cane. If anyone should be punished, it should be Jingjue. How could Your Majesty allow your younger sister to marry such a scoundrel?"

Ziyi waved his hand to stop the guards who were beating him, and then whispered a few words to Eunuch Li beside him.

Eunuch Li bowed.

"Zixin, come with me." Ziyi said, walking forward.

Zixin glanced worriedly at the four people who were being punished.

Ziyi frowned when he saw that she was still kneeling on the spot, and raised his voice, "Zixin."

Zixin dared not disobey and followed. After walking for a while, Eunuch Li ordered the guards to continue beating her, "Gag her mouth, the princess cannot bear to hear screams."

Zixin followed Ziyi, glancing back at him. Through the gaps in the roadside trees, she could see the guards waving their boards, her lips pressed tightly together.

“Zixin, usually your brother tells you to return to the palace at the first watch of the night, but you always return close to the second watch. Your brother turns a blind eye to this, but now it’s past the third watch, and you almost had an accident. If your brother doesn’t remind them properly, how will they protect you next time?” Ziyi’s tone was calm, but he was actually reminding her that the emperor’s authority was not to be trifled with.

"Your Majesty, I understand."

"Tell me, what happened today?"

Zixin dared not hide anything and told him about Chang Le Fang.

"Mu Mu? What does she look like?"

"Akihito has almond-shaped eyes and delicate features. She is a very beautiful woman, wearing a light red dress with gold trim."

"Where is she now?" Ziyi asked excitedly, grabbing Zixin's arm.

Zixin had never seen her brother so excited before. Her arm was gripped so tightly that it hurt, and she struggled for a moment.

Ziyi noticed his loss of composure and let go, then calmly said, "Jingjue was disrespectful to you today, and I will deal with it myself. Starting tomorrow, you are not allowed to leave the palace for a month, and you are not allowed to go to Chang Le Fang."

"Yes." Zixin sighed. Xiahou Yu was right. She was under house arrest again.

"Where is this Miss Mu Mu you just mentioned?"

"My sister met her for the first time today, and I don't know where she is."

After thinking for a while, Ziyi said, "You should go back and rest first."

"It's my elder brother." Zixin left.

Ziyi returned to his palace and took out a portrait.

It must be her, Mu Tiantian.

...

After preparing the meal, Yin Jiahan put it in a food box and sent it to Mu Tiantian in the underground secret room.