Chapter 86
She rushed to Mu Yulu's side: "Your Highness, what's wrong? Don't frighten me!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand and touched Mu Yulu's arm: "You're all wet. If you don't go back and change your clothes soon, you'll catch a cold. Let's go back quickly."
Just then, the chief steward of the Prince's mansion led a group of guards toward Mu Yulu. After stopping in front of her, he bowed respectfully, but spoke without any emotion: "Your Highness, the Prince says that you have made a serious mistake and he has ordered that I take you to the ancestral hall immediately to kneel and reflect on your actions."
Mu Yulu raised her head, her eyes vacant as she looked at him. Tanxiang, standing beside her, couldn't help but speak up, "The Princess is soaked to the bone. Even if she's to be punished by kneeling in the ancestral hall, she should change her clothes first. The weather is so cold; if she goes to kneel without changing, she'll definitely get sick..."
The steward interrupted her without any mercy, but didn't say much. He simply repeated what he had just said: "His Highness has given orders that the Princess Consort must immediately go to the ancestral hall to kneel as punishment."
Tanxiang glanced at Mu Yulu with pity, wanting to plead for her, but Mu Yulu stopped her.
"I'm fine, you can go back first." Mu Yulu said this lightly, and then, wearing her soaking wet clothes, she followed the steward to the ancestral hall.
As soon as you step into the ancestral hall, a pungent scent of sandalwood mixed with the smell of dust hits you. The hall is dimly lit, with only a few lamps flickering weakly between the beams and pillars, barely illuminating the densely packed ancestral tablets on the offering table.
As she knelt before those memorial tablets, her mind began to wander again. Mu Qinhan's father was the late emperor, and his mother was a concubine in the palace. His ancestors were naturally emperors of all dynasties. She wondered who was enshrined in these ancestral halls.
Seeing that she obediently knelt down, the chief steward of the Prince's mansion left without saying a word with his guards. The heavy doors of the ancestral hall closed behind Mu Yulu, cutting off all light and sound from the outside.
The moment the door closed, a cold wind swept through, soaking Mu Yulu completely. The chill carried by the wind instantly penetrated her clothes and went straight to her bones.
This chilling pain and the despair of being imprisoned overlapped with memories of a past life, and the fear of being abandoned by the whole world and waiting to die in despair surged in like a tidal wave once again.
She neither hid nor avoided them, letting these negative emotions engulf her at the bottom of the sea. It was at this moment that she finally understood her former naivety.
She actually hoped that Mu Qinhan would let her go on his own initiative.
She forgot that he was the most powerful person in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom. Even the most ordinary officials, with a little power, would want to take all the rare things into their own pockets, let alone Mu Qinhan.
Even if it's something he no longer needs, he would never let go of it as long as it once belonged to him.
Time passed in contemplation. After an unknown amount of time, when the lamp oil was almost used up and the light in the ancestral hall became increasingly dim, someone finally came in carrying a food box.
Mu Yulu glanced back at the person who had come, then a cold smile appeared on her lips: "Sandalwood? I didn't expect they would still let you bring me food."
Tanxiang walked up to Mu Yulu and opened the food box. "His Highness has instructed that you will only kneel in the ancestral hall to reflect on your mistakes. All other treatment will remain the same. His Highness still has feelings for you."
Mu Yulu silently thought to herself, "Yes, there are indeed feelings involved, and these feelings seem quite deep." She couldn't even imagine how angry Mu Qinhan would be if she had scared Liu Wenshuang into falling into the lake in her past life, and what methods he would use to punish her.
The punishment of kneeling in the ancestral hall was nothing compared to the punishment in his previous life. It seems that Mu Qinhan in this life is already deeply in love with her.
She glanced down at the food in the lunchbox, then looked away, clearly not having any appetite. "Take it back. I don't want to eat it."
"Your Highness, please eat something. You haven't eaten all day. What if you ruin your health by starving yourself?" Tanxiang earnestly advised her. "Or you could have a sip of soup to soothe your throat."
Mu Yulu remained silent, only shaking her head with a pale face.
Not to mention she has no appetite right now, even if she had a big appetite and could eat all this food, she wouldn't eat it now.
It seems that Mu Qinhan has some affection for her now, so she should make good use of it. As long as the news of her not eating or drinking gets out, Mu Qinhan will definitely not sit idly by.
Tanxiang hadn't considered this possibility. She was still trying to persuade Mu Yulu to eat, but seeing that the other party was completely unmoved and determined not to eat a single bite, she had no choice but to take the food back.
She picked up the food box again, stood up to leave, but hesitated and stopped. After a struggle in her mind, she leaned down and whispered in Mu Yulu's ear, "Today when I went outside the manor to buy things, I ran into someone asking about your recent situation."
Mu Yulu, who had been listlessly drooping her eyelids, suddenly opened her eyes upon hearing the news. She glanced cautiously out the window and asked in a low voice, "Do you know who's asking about this?"
Tanxiang gritted her teeth and, having already said it, simply told everything she knew: "The person inquiring about your recent situation was a young girl, very young, who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old."
"She said she had been back in the capital for some time and had long since found out that I was now your personal maid. She observed me for a long time and only came to question me after confirming my character."
The girl, who was sixteen or seventeen years old, had left the capital and had only recently returned. Mu Yulu had already confirmed that the girl was either Xinyun or Mohe.
She continued in a lower voice, "Besides asking about my recent situation, did she tell you anything else?"
Tanxiang gritted her teeth again, looking like she was ready to risk everything: "She also told me that she would be staying in the capital for a while. If you have anything you want to say to her, you can try to pass it on to her. If she has anything to tell you, she will also try to get the message through."
Mu Yulu listened and nodded.
Judging from this way of speaking and this composed demeanor, she was already certain that the person who came was Mo He.
At this moment, Tanxiang asked her, "Your Highness, are you really going to send her a message? Do you want to leave the palace?"
Before Mu Yulu could speak, she continued, "Actually, I know you don't want to stay here, and you didn't marry the prince willingly. Now that I see you suffering so much, I secretly hope you can leave. But this is the Regent's Palace, heavily guarded, and the prince is powerful and has elite troops under his command. You can't escape."
“I was there on the day you married the prince. I saw a swordsman in white come and take you away.” Recalling the scene that day, Tanxiang’s voice still held undisguised fear: “But in the end, you were still brought back.”
"Even the white-clad swordsman, with his exceptional martial arts skills, couldn't take you away. I'm afraid that young lady won't be able to take you either. In the end, not only will she fail to leave, but she'll also anger the prince..."
“If I anger him, I might die.” Mu Yulu interrupted Tanxiang: “But if I don’t leave, I will die right now.”
She looked up at Tanxiang, her eyes filled with desolation, yet a glimmer of hope shone in them: "Tanxiang, would you help me?"
Sandalwood nodded without hesitation, then shook its head hesitantly. "I'm just a servant. How can I help you?"
Mu Yulu held her hand: "Mu Qinhan doesn't trust me. Every time I leave the manor, a team of guards follows me. But you've always been a member of the Prince's manor, so he can't suspect you for the time being. Every time I go out to buy things, you can help me pass a message to that girl."
Tanxiang responded and then nodded again: "This servant's life was originally saved by the Princess. If it weren't for the Princess's pity for me, the Prince would have ordered someone to give me twenty lashes and then send me away after I made such a big mistake when I was serving the vegetables that day."
She grasped Mu Yulu's hand in return: "I'm willing to help you pass on the message."
Mu Yulu's gaze was deep, as if she was pondering something. After a moment, she instructed, "Don't leave the manor for the next two days. You must remain calm and pretend that nothing has happened. Once I have made my plans, I will find a suitable opportunity to let you go out and deliver the message."
After saying that, she raised her hand with pity and stroked Tanxiang's face, which had turned as pale as hers from fear. "Don't worry, I will think of a suitable way to get you out of the palace as well."
Tanxiang shrank back and said, "I was sold into slavery by my family when I was young and became a lowly person. Later, I came to the Prince's Mansion. My indenture was in the hands of my master. Even if I escaped from the Prince's Mansion, I would still be a homeless vagrant. I have nowhere to go."
“Silly girl, you helped me so selflessly, didn’t you ever think about what would happen to you if I really escaped?” Mu Yulu emphasized, “No matter how well we hid before, as long as I escape, Mu Qinhan will find out about you sooner or later.”
She said firmly, "You must come with me. As for what will happen after we leave, we'll talk about that when the time comes."
“We have to get out of here first.” She then gripped Tanxiang’s hand even tighter. “They describe people from the outside world as wolves and tigers, but that’s just to deceive us. Believe me, the outside world isn’t that scary. The world is vast, and there’s always a place for us. Don’t be afraid, I’ll be with you.”
Mu Yulu's words were truly inspiring. Tanxiang felt a surge of courage she had never felt before. She looked into Mu Yulu's eyes and nodded vigorously.
"Alright, you should go now. Staying here too long will arouse suspicion. Remember to come at the same time tomorrow." Mu Yulu glanced at the food box and instructed her, "I still won't eat the food you bring tomorrow, but you have to come."
Tanxiang nodded in a daze. Although she didn't understand what Mu Yulu was trying to do, she still did as she was told. The next day, she brought the food box again and then took it back untouched.
Soon, news of Mu Yulu's refusal to eat or drink reached Mu Qinhan, and on the evening of the third day, he finally appeared at the entrance of the ancestral hall.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
