Back in the tent, Mo Yu helped the Imperial Concubine lie down.

"Your Majesty, I have inquired. The Imperial Guards only allowed the man to leave after they saw His Highness Prince Yong's token."

A cold glint flashed in the Imperial Concubine's phoenix eyes. "Since she is restless, then she has only herself to blame."

"Can we find out who set the fire?" After all these years of fighting in the palace, how could she not see that it was arson? Once the fire broke out, Liu Manli's affair was exposed to the public.

"It was too dark, no one could see clearly."

The imperial concubine tucked the blanket in and waved her hand.

"Never mind, no matter who it is, it's all for the position of Princess Yong."

As dawn broke, another night passed.

Inside the Jokhang Temple, Yuwen Wuji ordered his carriage to be returned to the palace; he needed to go back and handle matters related to the imperial examinations. He couldn't wait to bring the Xie family down!

After seeing Yuwen Wuji off, Song Yaozhu went back to her room to pack her luggage.

"Are you going back to the city?"

Song Yaozhu nodded. "Yes, the spring hunt isn't over yet, and Yuwen Wuji has already returned to the city, which means something has happened in the city. I have to go back and check it out."

"No need to go back..."

Before Xie Liwei could finish speaking, he met Song Yaozhu's indifferent gaze and swallowed his words back. He thought to himself, she has her own ideas.

"I will go back with you."

“No need, Your Highness needs to recuperate now. If you come back with me, wouldn’t that arouse Yuwen Wuji’s suspicion?” Song Yaozhu originally wanted to pack her luggage and leave directly, but seeing him standing in front of her, she thought he had something to say. After waiting for a while, seeing that he did not speak, she asked, “Does Your Highness have any other instructions?”

After a long pause, Xie Liwei finally asked, "What did you send Lord Yu to do?"

Song Yaozhu asked Yongle to help cover for her and led Yu Gong out of the city gate, but she hasn't seen Yu Gong since leaving the city, which can only mean that she assigned Yu Gong a task.

Song Yaozhu did assign Yu Gong a task, but it wasn't anything major. The main purpose was to send him out to lay low and avoid being found by the Gao family.

"Let him go out and clear his head. If Your Highness wants to find him, surely you'll find a way?"

They must have some way of contacting each other. Seeing that he was trying to make conversation, Song Yaozhu naturally knew that he didn't want her to return to the city.

"Does Your Highness not want me to go back?"

Xie Liwei pursed his thin lips, stepped aside to let her pass, and stubbornly insisted, "No."

Song Yaozhu glanced at him suspiciously. She was now very wary, fearing that Xie Liwei might have ulterior motives towards her.

It's good that they're separated, to prevent them from developing feelings for each other over time!

Song Yaozhu returned to the city in the evening and summoned the steward to inquire about the events that had transpired at the mansion during this time.

“There are indeed people in the Gao family keeping an eye on our residence.”

"Has anything significant related to the imperial examinations happened in the city these past few days?"

"I haven't heard anything major, but I have heard that several students were caught cheating on the imperial examinations this year."

Song Yaozhu acknowledged that she understood. She had someone tidy up the house and set out the meal when the gatekeeper announced that the Song family had sent someone to find her.

Song Yaozhu frowned slightly. What's going on with the Song family?

Grand Tutor Song and Song Wenyue went to the hunting grounds to accompany the emperor; the two sons of the Song family should have just finished their examinations. Why did the Song family send someone to find her?

A short while later, the person entered the flower hall. The person who came was Ran Niang, the nanny who served Madam Song.

"This servant greets Your Highness." Ran Niang stepped forward and bowed.

Song Yaozhu waved her hand, "What is it?"

"Madam is not feeling well these days and misses her daughter dearly. She would like to invite the Princess Consort to come home to visit her and stay for a few days."

Song Yaozhu paused slightly. Could it be that Madam Song was dying? Otherwise, why would she send someone to invite her so soon after returning to the city?

It was obvious that someone was keeping an eye on the Prince's residence.

Moreover, it's not even certain whether it's a real illness.

"Alright, please wait a moment, I'll have someone pack your luggage."

Granny Qin was also surprised. They had just returned to the manor and were already going out again!

Song Yaozhu had someone take Ran Niang out to wait, and then leisurely ate her meal.

"Granny Qin, I will bring the gold and silver. As for the matters of the Prince's Mansion, you can make your own decisions on minor matters, and for major matters, send someone to the Song Mansion to ask me."

When Granny Qin heard that the princess wasn't taking her along, she was anxious, but she knew that the princess was aware of the situation, so she went to attend to her duties.

When the group arrived at the Song residence, it was already dark. Ran Niang said, "Madam has already asked me to prepare a room for you in the courtyard. The conditions are not as good as yours in the Prince's mansion, but it is closer to Madam."

Song Yaozhu waved her hand, she didn't care where she lived.

Caijin and Caiyin, the two maids, were unhappy. Madam Song was ill, and it was already outrageous to have a married woman return to care for her, let alone keep her in the courtyard. Wasn't this deliberately tormenting their princess?

Upon entering the house, a wave of heat mixed with the bitter smell of herbs and the aroma of incense hit her. Song Yaozhu was not used to the smell and shrank her nose.

It was the end of March, and there was still a charcoal brazier in Lin's room, which showed that she was indeed quite ill.

"Madam, the Princess Consort has arrived!"

Wang, the eldest daughter-in-law inside the house, also stood up and bowed, "Your Highness, you've finally arrived!"

Song Yaozhu looked at her. Compared to the last time she met Wang, she looked much more haggard. Her face seemed to have aged several years. She was listless and had a bitter expression.

"How is Mother?"

"My mother was deeply troubled and had constant nightmares. She had finally started to recover a few days ago, but for some reason, she fell ill again and even developed a fever." Wang was extremely worried.

Because of Song Yaozhu's words last time, everyone in the household entrusted her with serving her mother-in-law. That wasn't all; the second branch of the family even tried to seize her control of the household. She gets up before dawn every day to handle the household affairs and then serves her mother-in-law her medicine. Tell me, what daughter-in-law would do that?!

And her unreliable husband, who had finally escaped from the examination hall, was someone she was hoping would help her share the burden, but he was nowhere to be seen and spent his days drunk in restaurants!

Wang held a handkerchief and wept. Even though the person in front of her was her sister-in-law, she still couldn't help but want to pour out her grievances to her.

Song Yaozhu made a quick decision: "Send the young mistress back to her room to rest. I'll take care of things here."

Wang had a lot to say, but the thought of getting rid of this hot potato made her run away as fast as she could.

Song Yaozhu brought the royal physician from the Prince's mansion. After taking Madam Song's pulse and examining the medicine she was taking, the physician simply said there was no problem; the problem lay in people's hearts.

Song Yaozhu sent the physician back to the mansion and went to a side room to rest.

Ran Niang hurriedly chased after her, "Your Highness, don't you care whether Madam lives or dies? She is your mother!"

"Which eye of yours saw that I, the princess, didn't care?" Song Yaozhu retorted.

"The doctor has examined me, and I've taken the medicine. What else do you need me for? To cry by my mother's side? She's not dead yet. What am I doing crying and sobbing in her ear? It's no wonder my mother has nightmares every night because of your cries, you servants! If working in the Song household is this difficult, I'll take the liberty of releasing you all from your posts!"

Ran Niang: "......"