Mu Zhuohua looked at the ladder in front of her, feeling a little uneasy.
"Juli, have you inquired clearly? Is there really no one living next door?"
Guo Juli set up a ladder on this side of the wall, and then picked up another ladder and put it down on the other side of the wall.
"I have inquired carefully, and I have also checked. It seems that the door opposite has never been opened."
Mu Zhuohua felt relieved when she heard it.
Liu Yan didn't know why he transferred her to Lifan Temple and let her work under his nose. These days, Liu Yan didn't look for her much, and didn't know how those clues were investigated. Gu Yixiao's life experience and the origin of Huanyang Powder have always been a big stone hanging in Mu Zhuohua's heart. Her intuition told her that once Liu Yan found out the truth, it would be very likely to be unfavorable to her, so she must find out the truth before Liu Yan, and then choose whether to tell the truth or destroy it.
Guo Juli was strong and quickly set up the ladder.
"Miss, I'll hold the ladder for you, you climb over and take a look."
Mu Zhuohua climbed up the ladder and climbed to the top of the wall in a few steps. Looking at the opposite side, it was indeed pitch black, and it didn't look like anyone lived there.
"I'll go over and take a look and come back. Juli, you stay at the ladder below."
After Mu Zhuohua finished her instructions, she climbed down the ladder from the other side.
The house next door was indeed quite large. The place where Mu Zhuohua went down the ladder was the kitchen. She leaned over and took a look. There were no signs of fire. Now she was sure that no one lived there, and she felt relieved.
Mu Zhuohua tiptoed through the wing rooms, around the corridor, through the lobby, and saw a rockery in the back garden.
"My mother said that her family also has a rockery..." Mu Zhuohua looked at the rockery, muttered to himself, and laughed and shook his head, "It's not surprising that rich families have rockery."
Mu Zhuohua walked around the rockery and went deeper. After passing a half-moon arch, Mu Zhuohua suddenly noticed something unusual.
She faintly smelled a scent of medicine...
Mu Zhuohua sniffed and became more certain of her judgment.
The smell of medicine... This was indeed where the imperial physician lived. How many medicinal materials must have been placed in a place that had not been inhabited for so many years to emit such a strong smell of medicine?
Mu Zhuohua's heartbeat quickened, and she quickened her pace, rushing towards the direction where the smell of medicine came from. Mu Zhuohua eagerly ran into a small courtyard, where the smell of medicine was the strongest!
However, Mu Zhuohua suddenly stopped, holding her breath and staring at the scene in front of her.
There was a tree in the courtyard, and under the tree there was a round pool. The pool was not big and could only accommodate two people at most. At this time, there was a person sitting in the pool. The person had his back to Mu Zhuohua, with his long hair tied up and tied in a crown, revealing a slender, white neck, and a strong and broad back.
How could there be someone? How could there be someone!
Mu Zhuohua froze in place, not knowing whether to advance or retreat.
At this time, the man spoke: "Zhimo, bring the wine pot on the table."
Mu Zhuohua's pupils shrank - King Ding!
How could it be him!
Mu Zhuohua froze - if she turned around and ran, she would definitely be caught!
She glanced at the stone table next to her. There was a silver wine pot on the table. She could pretend to be Zhimo, hand the wine pot to Liu Yan, and then quietly retreat. Zhimo didn't talk much anyway. She took a gamble that Liu Yan didn't find out it was her...
After Mu Zhuohua made up her mind, she pretended to be calm and walked towards the stone table. After picking up the wine pot, she walked towards Liu Yan.
Liu Yan was immersed in the pool. There was a lamp hanging on the tree next to him. He was holding a book and reading it. It seemed that he had no intention of turning back. Mu Zhuohua felt more confident.
Liu Yan held the book in his left hand and reached out to take the wine jug with his right hand. Mu Zhuohua handed the wine jug over, but Liu Yan grabbed her wrist unexpectedly. Liu Yan pulled hard, and Mu Zhuohua leaned forward and fell into the pool with a scream. Liu Yan had already thrown away the book. He twisted Mu Zhuohua's hands behind her back with his right hand and strangled her throat with his left hand. His slender fingers held her tightly like eagle claws.
"How dare you! Who sent you here!" Liu Yan asked coldly.
Mu Zhuohua's abdomen was against the edge of the pool, and Liu Yan's whole body weight was pressed on her back. The hand on her neck mercilessly left red marks on her fair skin.
"Prince, Prince..." Mu Zhuohua begged for mercy with difficulty, "It's me..."
Liu Yan was stunned for a moment and loosened his hand slightly: "Mu Zhuohua, why is it you?"
In the middle of the night, approaching silently in such a place, even if the other party was Mu Zhuohua, Liu Yan did not relax his mind and let go of his grip on her.
"Your Highness, it's a misunderstanding... I just heard that no one lives next door, so I came here out of curiosity. I didn't expect to see Your Highness bathing here. I was afraid of causing Your Highness to misunderstand, so I wanted to pretend to be Zhimo and hand you the wine pot and leave. I didn't expect... cough cough..."
Mu Zhuohua's throat was itchy and sore, and he couldn't help coughing.
Liu Yan said coldly: "Is it such a coincidence?"
Mu Zhuohua burst into tears and said: "Your Highness, this may be fate! I don't know martial arts, how could I be bad to you..."
Liu Yan slowly loosened his right hand. Liu Yan thought it was an assassin just now, and he did not leave any room for him. At this moment, Mu Zhuohua's right wrist had been clamped with a red and purple streak.
Mu Zhuohua raised her right hand and rubbed her painful wrist, crying and saying, "Thank you for the bracelet given by the prince..."
Liu Yan couldn't help but curled his lips, then turned cold again: "Do you think you can hide it from me? Zhimo's lightness skills are outstanding, and he never makes any sound when he walks. Your footsteps are too revealing."
Mu Zhuohua felt a little wronged: "I didn't mean to hide it... Your Highness is kind and merciful, can you spare me?"
Liu Yan looked down at Mu Zhuohua. She was dragged into the pool by Liu Yan. At this moment, her body was almost soaked. Her green shirt was tightly attached to her petite body. There were two dazzling red spots on her throat, and there was another circle of red and purple marks on her wrist. She looked very aggrieved and pitiful with tears. However, it was not the first day that Liu Yan knew Mu Zhuohua. This girl was really good at pretending to be pitiful and miserable. He still hadn't completely dispelled his doubts, so he naturally couldn't let her go.
At this time, Zhimo happened to come back. Looking at the naked man and woman in the pool, one was naked and the other was soaked, he rubbed his eyes in confusion.
He just went to get a bowl of medicine, what happened here?
"Zhimo, get my clothes for Mu Zhuohua to change into."
Zhimo got the order, put down the medicine bowl, and went into the room to get clothes.
Liu Yan planned to stay here for a month, so he prepared a lot of clothes. Zhimo found two sets and put them on the wooden table next to the pool.
Liu Yan said to Mu Zhuohua, "Turn around."
Mu Zhuohua obeyed and turned his back obediently, and then he heard the sound of Liu Yan getting up from the water.
It's not like I haven't seen it before - Mu Zhuohua complained in his heart.
There was a rustling sound of clothes coming from behind, and after a while, Liu Yan said again: "Put on clean clothes, I'll wait for your reply in the room."
After Liu Yan said that, he went into the house, while Zhimo waited outside the yard.
Mu Zhuohua got up from the pool and sneezed in the night wind. He quickly dried his body and changed into Liu Yan's clothes.
Liu Yan's clothes all smelled of galangal, which was very pleasant. Mu Zhuohua couldn't help but sniffed hard, but it was a pity that the clothes didn't fit her. She wrapped the belt around her waist twice, and the sleeves were longer than her knees, making her look like a child who had stolen adult clothes. After
Mu Zhuohua put on her clothes, she looked around.
This medicine pool was not formed naturally, and it was filled with warm stones. Warm stones are special minerals produced in the Western Regions. This kind of stone can absorb heat and medicinal properties. People in the Western Regions boil warm stones in medicine, and then massage them on the waist, back, chest and abdomen to promote blood circulation and enhance the absorption of medicinal properties. Warm stones are also precious things, just like jade and jadeite, and this pool is filled with warm stones, which can be said to be extremely luxurious.
Mu Zhuohua could roughly tell from the smell in the medicine pool that they were those herbs. Liu Yan soaked in the medicine bath, presumably to adjust the sequelae of the previous toxic imbalance. Mu Zhuohua lowered his head to see what was written on the book that Liu Yan threw away, and suddenly realized something, and suddenly raised his head to look at the lamp hanging on the treetop.
Next to the lamp, an apricot flower was blooming.
This is an apricot tree.
This is a hot spring.
Mu Zhuohua suddenly figured out something - she had thought that there was a hot spring in her maternal grandparents' home before, which was a guess from her mother's memories. Her mother remembered that when she was a child, she fell from a tree and fell into a hot spring. The water was deep and hot, and she almost drowned. She took it for granted that it was a big hot spring, but she forgot one thing. Gu Yixiao was very young at that time. A small hot spring was enough to drown a little girl of five or six years old!
Mu Zhuohua looked at the medicine pool. If it was such a medicine pool, it was entirely possible...
If this was really her maternal grandparents' home, then the secret of her maternal grandparents was hidden in -
Mu Zhuohua's heartbeat accelerated, looking at the roots of the apricot tree.
No, you can't dig it now, you will be discovered!
Mu Zhuohua forced herself to retract her gaze and walked towards the door step by step - the most important thing at the moment was to find an excuse to get out.
Liu Yan waited for a long time, and finally waited until the door opened, and Mu Zhuohua walked in wearing loose clothes.
As soon as he entered the room, Mu Zhuohua knelt down like a tiger and shouted in a crying voice: "Your Highness..."
Liu Yan froze and looked at Mu Zhuohua with a frown - what kind of drama was this?
Mu Zhuohua's eyes were full of tears and he sniffed aggrievedly: "Your Highness, I know I was wrong!"
Liu Yan curled the corners of his lips and asked curiously: "Oh? What's wrong?"
Mu Zhuohua knelt on the ground with his hands on his knees, looking well-behaved: "Your Highness, I shouldn't have deceived you."
Liu Yan nodded: "How did you deceive? Tell the truth."
Mu Zhuohua said: "I told Your Highness that what happened tonight was a coincidence. I deceived Your Highness. In fact, I followed Your Highness."
Liu Yan chuckled and said: "Why did you follow me?"
Mu Zhuohua glanced at Liu Yan shyly, then lowered his head in panic, his slender fingers twisting the corners of his clothes nervously , hesitatingly said: "Your humble servant...well...your humble servant likes the prince!"
This answer really surprised Liu Yan. His forehead twitched suddenly. He lowered his head suspiciously and stared at Mu Zhuohua. The latter acted like a young wife and said shyly: "That day when I left the city, the prince saved my life and took good care of me. No one has ever been so good to my humble servant. I fell in love with the prince, but knew my status was low and I dared not marry someone of higher status. So I moved to Prince Ding's Mansion, just hoping to see the prince more."
Liu Yan did not believe a word of this. He looked at Mu Zhuohua's little head with a smile and tapped the table again and again with his index finger bent.
Mu Zhuohua couldn't wait for Liu Yan's response. She was uneasy about the rhythmic knocking sounds, so she swallowed and continued, "Tonight, I was sitting in front of the attic window on the second floor as usual, looking at Prince Ding's Mansion and missing the prince. Suddenly, I saw a figure who looked very much like the prince enter the next door, so I plucked up the courage to come over to find out what was going on. I didn't expect it to be you..."
Liu Yan smiled softly and said, "You are in love with me?"
Mu Zhuohua blushed and said, "Yes... yes..."
Liu Yan laughed jokingly, "Aren't you just after my money?"
She got five thousand five hundred taels from him, which was really not a small amount, enough for ordinary people to live on for several lifetimes. However, Mu Zhuohua said confidently: "Your Highness, I am the daughter of the richest man in Jiangnan, and I am not someone who has never seen money. There are so many rich people in Dingjing, why don't you want other people's money, but yours? Of course, it's because your Highness is different in your heart than others."
Liu Yan was stunned by this fallacy - but it was logically reasonable?
Mu Zhuohua said seriously: "Moreover, the reason why I am so bold is that it is because of the prince's indulgence and the seduction of me first!"
Liu Yan was blocked by her words for a long time and couldn't come back to his senses. He asked curiously: "When did I indulge you, and when did I seduce you?"
Mu Zhuohua stared at Liu Yan with burning eyes: "If the prince didn't like me, why did he give me so much silver, and specially reminded me to be careful of the eldest prince before the hairpin poetry meeting, and also covered for me at the poetry meeting, and later waited for me after the Qionglin Banquet. Isn't it afraid that I would be embarrassed by Your Majesty?"
Liu Yan frowned slowly and reflected deeply on himself.
Mu Zhuohua continued to say confidently: "Besides, when we first met, the prince was naked. After leaving the city, the prince risked his life to protect me. When I was sick, the prince took good care of me. A man is so considerate and thoughtful to another woman, so naturally he likes her. But the prince didn't take the initiative to speak, so he seduced me to speak!"
Mu Zhuohua paused slightly, his eyes moved, and he glanced at the flowers on the windowsill with some surprise, and smiled proudly: "The prince also accepted the flowers sent by me!"
The peony that bloomed on the windowsill, wasn't it her gift!
Liu Yan was speechless. He admitted that he did value Mu Zhuohua's talent and had a love for talent, but it had nothing to do with love between men and women. In his opinion, Mu Zhuohua was much younger than him, looked delicate and childish, but just a half-grown child. He was not a beast, so how could he have evil thoughts about her.
As for the flower...
Liu Yan felt that he just left it.
Mu Zhuohua said more than that. She lowered her eyelids to hide the brightness in her eyes and said shyly, "If you didn't like me, why did you deliberately knock over my inkstone during the palace examination?"
Liu Yan paused, hiding his astonishment, and stared at Mu Zhuohua, "Why do you think it was me?"
Mu Zhuohua smiled and said, "I originally suspected it was the eldest prince. The eldest prince does hate me a lot, but after observing him recently, I got to know his character and knew he couldn't have done it. First, he doesn't think highly of my abilities and doesn't regard me as a threat at all, so he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to cut off my career path. Second, he has a straightforward personality and he wouldn't bother to do such a thing."
Liu Yan said, "What about me? I have no grudge against you, so why would I harm you? I helped you during the examination. If I had harmed you, why would you think you liked you?"
Mu Zhuohua said slowly, "I I thought the prince wanted to harm me, but later I thought about it and realized that it was not the case. After the banquet that day, I asked the prince if he believed me. The prince answered very confidently. He believed that even if I encountered such a difficult situation, I could face it calmly and would not lose my composure in front of the emperor and be dismissed. The prince spoke up for justice during the imperial examination because he did not want me to fail. The prince harmed me during the palace examination because he was protecting me. "Mu Zhuohua smiled cunningly, "The prince did not want me to be too prominent in the palace examination, rank too high, enter the Hanlin Academy, and be involved in the dispute between the princes for the throne, so he deliberately overturned the inkstone. Your Majesty is kind and will not care too much when he sees a little girl who is pitiful, let alone take me seriously. In this way, the prince can quietly take me under his command and bring me to the Lifan Temple. Your Majesty, am I right?"
Liu Yan looked into Mu Zhuohua's eyes steadily, and was silent for a long time before he chuckled.
"Being too smart is not necessarily a good thing."
Mu Zhuohua blinked her almond eyes, pinching the corner of her clothes in a serious and shy manner, and said, "Your Highness, I heard from the concubines that if a woman falls in love with a man, she will become stupid. I feel that I have become stupid after meeting Your Highness, otherwise I would not have been caught by Your Highness."
Liu Yan laughed at her pretentious appearance. There was such a little girl who could be so unpretentious, which made him feel angry and funny, and a little cute.
Mu Zhuohua was a little proud in her heart, as if she had guessed it right. In fact, she had been a little suspicious of Liu Yan at the Qionglin Banquet, but she could not find the motive for his behavior. It was not until today when she received the transfer from the Lifan Temple that she vaguely felt Liu Yan's thoughts, but she was not very sure, but there was one thing she was still somewhat sure of, that is, Liu Yan really valued her.
Naturally, she did not think that this was a love between children, but she was thinking about how to get close to Liu Yan and find an opportunity to dig out secrets under the apricot tree. In a hurry, she only thought of this stupid way - to please him and get close to him.
Men will not be too cruel to women who are crazy about them. This is what she learned from her father.
There are a hundred ways for women to seduce men. This is what she learned from her aunts.
The most useful survival skills she has learned in the past eighteen years are not taught in books, but taught by her aunts and sisters, to observe the words and expressions of men and cater to their preferences.
Liu Yan is also a man. Although he may have some physical problems, he should be similar psychologically. As long as he strokes her in the right way, she will always be able to find loopholes.
What's more, she felt that Liu Yan was inhumane, so she dared to approach him with confidence.
Liu Yan smiled and stared at Mu Zhuohua. Suddenly, his eyes moved and he said in a deep voice: "Come forward."
Mu Zhuohua was surprised and a little uneasy, but she didn't dare to disobey. She was kneeling at this moment, so she took a few steps on her knees and came to Liu Yan. But she forgot that she was wearing Liu Yan's clothes at this time. The wide robe was pressed by her knees, and when she moved, it was pulled down, revealing a large area of white skin on her chest.
Mu Zhuohua hurriedly raised her hand to tug at her collar, but Liu Yan suddenly pinched her chin and forced her to raise her head. Mu Zhuohua looked at Liu Yan's face that suddenly lowered, her heart skipped a beat, and a trace of panic flashed in her eyes: "Your Highness..."
Liu Yan's handsome face was close at hand, but he did not move any closer. He gently pinched her chin with his right hand, and gently stroked her face with his left hand, with his warm fingertips wandering on her cheek. Mu Zhuohua's whole body was stiff. This posture was too ambiguous. Liu Yan's hot breath brushed across her sensitive earlobes, making her tremble slightly, and a trace of fear gradually arose in her heart...
Could it be that she made a wrong bet, and Liu Yan was not a gentleman...
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