The imperial study was brightly lit, and the guard knelt before Su Mu with his head bowed. His face was pale, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, clearly showing his nervousness and fear.
The guard, his voice trembling, said to Su Mu, "Your Majesty, I am incompetent and have allowed Mu Jin to escape. I have come to beg for forgiveness."
Su Mu sat behind his tall desk, his face ashen. After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Su Mu's voice was deep and authoritative, and the guard dared not raise his head. He took a deep breath and tried to steady his voice.
"Your Majesty, Mu Jin's personal guards are highly skilled in martial arts. Although they may not be able to defeat me, if I enter the General's Mansion, they will definitely track me down. Therefore, I have to keep watch outside the General's Mansion all day long."
"Today, I saw the General's carriage carrying Mu Jin leave the mansion as usual. I could see that there were two people in the carriage, so I assumed it was Mu Jin and her maid. Therefore, I followed the General's carriage to South Gate Street."
"As evening approached, the curtain of the general's carriage was accidentally blown open by the wind, and I then saw that the woman dressed in Mu Jin's clothes was not Mu Jin. I was shocked to realize that I had been tricked."
"I immediately rushed to the General's Mansion and found that Mu Jin and his guards had disappeared. I then ordered a search of the capital for half a day, but still could not find Mu Jin. I knew I had made a grave mistake, so I hurried back to the palace to ask the Emperor for punishment."
After hearing the report from the guards, Su Mu frowned, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes. He said in a deep voice, "Then will Prince Yi continue to go to the General's Mansion to look for Mu Jin these next few days?"
The guard reported, "Mu Jin hasn't seen Prince Yi these past few days, but yesterday she hosted a banquet for him. The princess and Prince Zhao from the Duke's mansion met at Shidinglou."
Su Mu couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Oh?"
The guard continued, "The King Yi's personal guards are more skilled in martial arts than I am, so I did not enter the Food Tower. The four of them stayed in the Food Tower for an afternoon, and then I saw the princess run out of the Food Tower, followed by Mu Jin and the King Yi."
"Later, King Yi escorted Mu Jin back to the General's Mansion on foot. I also heard Mu Jin tell King Yi not to come to the General's Mansion to see her for the next ten days, because she needed to develop medicine for her back injury for Marquis Mu Wei and could not be distracted."
Su Mu asked, "Has King Yi agreed?"
The guard nodded: "Prince Yi has agreed not to visit Mu Jin at the General's Mansion for the next ten days. I suppose he doesn't want Prince Yi to know that she has left the capital."
Su Mu sneered, "It seems that Mu Jin was afraid that Prince Yi would go to the General's Mansion and find that she was not there, so she went to look for her. It's a pity that my son, who is so smart, was actually deceived by Mu Jin."
Are you sure Mu Jin has left the capital?
The guard replied nervously, "It should be true. I even went to the city gate to inquire. This afternoon, the water cart from the General's Mansion went out of the city and returned an hour later than usual. Although the soldiers searched the water cart and found nothing amiss, I think that Mu Jin used that water cart to leave the capital."
Su Mu revealed a meaningful smile: "It's good that Mu Jin is far away from the capital, far away from my good sons, so that you can more easily harm her."
The guard's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said to Su Mu, "Your Majesty, please give me a chance. I will immediately take my men out of the capital to arrest Mu Jin."
The emperor looked intently at the guards before him, then suddenly laughed and said, "Go. Once you see Mu Jin, there's no need to bring her back to the capital. Just kill her directly. I'd rather she didn't entangle Marquis Mu Wei than keep her around to cause trouble for my two good-for-nothing sons."
Upon hearing Su Mu's words, the guard felt a great sense of relief. He kowtowed deeply to Su Mu and quickly left the imperial study.
In the inn in Luoyun County, Eleven said to Mu Jin, "Miss, you must be tired after a long day. Go to bed and rest. I'll stay here by the door tonight."
Mu Jin said, "Even if the emperor's men find out we're missing, they won't track us down so quickly. You must be tired today, so please rest on that soft couch."
Eleven smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, Miss."
Mu Jin frowned when he heard Eleven still calling him "Miss".
"Still calling me Miss? From the moment you left the General's Mansion to return to the Nangong Divine Sect, you were no longer the Eleventh Sister of the General's Mansion. You don't need to call me Miss anymore. Since you saved me time and time again, I have long regarded you as my family. You can call me Mu Jin or A Jin from now on."
Eleven looked at Mu Jin without speaking immediately. After a long while, she said, "I would rather always be Eleven of the General's Mansion."
Mu Jin said, "You are still Nangong Min of the Nangong Divine Sect. Even if you don't remember the past, those people will always find you and get rid of you. Fortunately, you have remembered the past, otherwise you would be in an even more passive position."
Mu Jin continued with a smile, "Can I call you Min from now on?"
Eleven nodded slightly, as if he had thought of something. He said to Mu Jin, "I have already contacted several elders of the Nangong Divine Sect who support me. They will be waiting for me in the town at the foot of Nangong Divine Sect Mountain. If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to reach that town in about half a month."
Mu Jin nodded: "Now that you have people who support you and a way to deal with it, I can rest assured."
Nangong Min paused for a moment, then said somewhat shyly, "Tomorrow will be very tiring, Ah Jin, go to bed and rest first."
Although the name "Ah Jin" was simple, the fact that it came out of his mouth made Nangong Min blush.
Mu Jin was used to Eleven blushing easily, so even if he turned back into Nangong Min, she didn't feel unfamiliar with him. Whether it was Eleven or Nangong Min, he was always warm and kind to her.
Mu Jin took off her shoes and lay down on the bed, turning to look at Nangong Min sitting on the soft couch opposite her and smiling.
"You must be tired today, so go and rest in the bed."
Upon hearing Min's approval, Mu Jin blinked, then quickly closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Min dared not move, sitting on the couch, afraid that if he moved even slightly, he would wake Mu Jin. He waited until Mu Jin's breathing became deep and steady before gently lying down, facing the bed, and looking at Mu Jin tenderly.
Early in the morning, the waiter brought breakfast to the two of them. Just as he was about to leave the room, Min called him back.
"Hey buddy, I see a commotion outside, what's going on?"
The waiter replied, "I don't know either. I heard that the imperial court is hunting down the two of them. The soldiers are holding portraits of the two and are standing at the city gates, checking everyone who is leaving the city."
Min continued, "Are there any portraits pasted on the city wall?"
The waiter said, "No, in the past, when the government was chasing fugitives, they would post pictures of the fugitives so that anyone who had seen them could notify the government. But now they don't, so we don't know what the people the government is chasing look like."
Min nodded and smiled at the waiter, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, sir."
The waiter said "No need to be polite" and helped the two close the door and go downstairs.
Mu Jin said to Min Youyou, "That old emperor is really quick."
Min smiled and said, "No need to worry. Since he didn't post our portraits, he obviously doesn't want some people to know. As long as we get around those people holding the portraits, we won't be afraid of others finding out."
Mu Jin nodded, agreeing with Min's point.
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