Chapter 79 The Former Dynasty Princess
If it weren't for Princess Yanya's extraordinary beauty, Mu Xi would have been the first to lash out.
But Mu Xun's address of "Madam" piqued Mu Xi's curiosity even more.
Princess Yan Ya's expression changed; she was ultimately embarrassed.
The old woman behind him took the opportunity to step forward and whisper a few words in his ear.
It was unclear what the old woman said, but she bowed to Mu Xi and said, "I apologize for disturbing you. Our Highness has other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."
Mu Xi cupped her hands in greeting.
Princess Yanya seemed to want to say something more, but was eventually stopped by the nanny beside her and gracefully left.
"You don't need to worry about it." Mu Xi watched the group leave before remembering Mu Xun. She turned back and smiled, only to find that Mu Xun had no expression at all.
Mu Xun noticed Mu Xi's slight surprise and instead said, "If a person cares, no matter how much others advise them, it's useless. If a person doesn't care, no matter what others say, they can find peace of mind on their own."
“You’re right.” The more Mu Xi got to know Mu Xun these days, the more she admired Mu Xun’s mindset.
Mu Chong listened from behind with a disdainful expression.
Mu Xi caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye and glared at it.
Turning her head, she remembered to ask Mu Xun, "Do you know who this Princess Yan Ya is?"
"You don't even know Princess Yan Ya?" Mu Chong retorted, unconvinced.
Mu Xi was dissatisfied with Mu Chong's attitude, but she had already come up with a way to deal with him during this time: "Bao Fan, take him away."
The phrase "tied him up" originally meant tying Mu Chong up when he disobeyed orders, and then having Bao Fan keep an eye on him.
But fearing that Baofan might be too silly to keep an eye on things, they let him hold one end of the rope.
Ke Baofan's eating would be delayed if he held the rope in his hand, so he tied the end of the rope to his wrist. This way, he could eat without delay and still hold Mu Chong's hand at any time.
However, this really made things difficult for Mu Chong.
Mu Chong looked down on Bao Fan a million times, while Bao Fan looked down on everyone except for food.
Therefore, in order to punish Mu Chong, Mu Xi would threaten to tie the two of them together every "meal time".
Mu Chong was far weaker than Bao Fan. When Bao Fan ate, he used both hands and devoured the food in a whirlwind. After a meal, Mu Chong couldn't even lick a crumb. One of his hands was being pulled and tugged around, and he ended up with a face full of food. In the end, he had no temper left.
"You can't do this to me." Mu Chong was on the verge of tears.
Mu Xun then thought of another possibility: "It seems that the Red Carp Guards who escorted Princess Yan Ya before we left the city were the ones who were protecting her. If we don't want to run into those Red Carp, we might as well rest here and avoid them."
"Who exactly is Princess Yan Ya?" Mu Xi was even more surprised, because neither the former king nor the current king had any daughters in the original owner's memories.
Mu Xun didn't rush to answer. He first gave the Taoist temple money for incense and candles, and then asked the Taoist nun to prepare tea and snacks.
The group went to the backyard to rest for a while.
The backyard is quiet and secluded, with the Bamboo Grove Retreat built beside a mountain stream.
Mu Xi then sent Bao Fan to "lead" Mu Chong, along with some pre-prepared cakes, to the bottom of the mountain stream to eat and play.
Bai Wei and Bai Jizhui watched from behind.
Tao'er and Ze Lan brewed tea.
Mu Xi was enjoying the cool shade under the trees, watching from afar.
Mu Xun then spoke: "The so-called 'Princess Yan Ya' was the last princess of the former Dayan. More than twenty years have passed, and no one mentions her anymore. The current king has long since bestowed upon her the title of 'Lady Qifeng,' so if anyone mentions her now, that's all they will call her."
“She probably doesn’t like the title ‘Lady Qifeng’,” Mu Xi said.
The divine physician Luo sighed and said, "Alas, a slave of a conquered nation, how could she possibly like me? I've heard very little about her over the years, I never expected to meet her here today."
Mu Xi then remembered something else: "Oh, then isn't she aunt and niece to the rumored 'Princess Shuoting'?"
Legend has it that when Dayan was destroyed by the Mu clan, the crown prince fled to the north and later gave birth to a baby girl in a place called Shuoting. She was known as "Princess Shuoting" by the common people.
There are even rumors that the Hanhai Army that Crown Prince Yan took away back then has been gathering in the north, just waiting for Princess Shuoting to raise her voice so that they can fight back and reclaim the throne.
Thinking about it this way, the theft of the late king's remains could be related to the old forces of the previous dynasty.
At this moment, a Taoist nun also brought over some tea and snacks made by the Taoist temple.
Doctor Luo casually asked, "Does Lady Qifeng come here every year around this time?"
The nun thought for a moment and replied, "There are two seasons a year. In recent years, she has indeed come to give some money for lamp oil to our temple every July and December."
Doctor Luo nodded.
After the nun left, Mu Xi asked, "What is it? What has Doctor Luo thought of?"
Doctor Luo shook his head: "It's nothing, it's just strange. Besides this small Taoist temple, the only other place around Mingshan is your mother's grave. People usually choose big temples to worship gods, so why did she come to such a remote little temple?"
"Perhaps she believes in everything and prays everywhere she goes." Mu Xi picked up a pastry, but accidentally dropped it on herself. She quickly picked it up and threw it aside, not intending to eat it anymore.
Doctor Luo was still pondering: "Don't forget, this entire Mingshan area was bought by your father and will be used as a burial ground in the future."
"Oh?" Mu Xi really didn't care. Her hands were temporarily covered in oil stains, but she didn't pay any attention to it.
Mu Xun, however, was quick-witted and took out his own handkerchief to hand it over.
Mu Xi was about to take it when she remembered something: "Never mind, you're a germaphobe, don't use your handkerchief and then throw it away, it's too wasteful."
Mu Xun was taken aback: "What is 'obsessive-compulsive disorder'?"
"I heard that you feel uncomfortable if anything you've used has a stain, so you just throw it away." Mu Xi now has a good impression of Mu Xun in every way, except that she thinks it's very fussy for a grown man to be so fastidious.
Mu Xun didn't argue. Seeing that Mu Xi was still holding up her "oily hands," he pulled her over without saying a word and wiped them with a handkerchief: "I don't feel comfortable looking at you like this."
Mu Xi was speechless. She let him wipe it, then took a sip of tea and returned to the previous topic: "Who knows? She's not waiting for me here, is she? But did Doctor Luo notice that faint wisp between her brows? Could she be a great sorceress?"
"Take this plate down and give it to you as a reward," Mu Xi said, pointing to the plate of pastries she had just eaten three pieces of.
"Alas..." Doctor Luo couldn't help but sigh with regret.
Just as I was about to say something, a gust of wind suddenly blew up, and the once bright and sunny sky darkened instantly.
The weather is hot and rainy, and changes in an instant.
Mu Xun immediately stood up: "Judging from the weather, it might rain soon. We need to get down the mountain before the heavy rain, otherwise the mountain path will be difficult to traverse."
Mu Xi had just sat down, and before she was even settled, she wanted to gossip about the former dynasty's princess for a while longer, but she could only stand up as well.
Mu Xun turned back and gestured to Bai Wei and Bai Ji in the distance, then instructed his attendants in the distance: "Go and prepare to return immediately."
So the group hurriedly packed their belongings and carriages. They did not encounter any Red Carp along the way. Only when they entered the city were the Imperial Guards on high alert, but in the end they returned to the Jun Mansion safely.
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