Forced love, an inescapable fate

Mu Qingli had no doubts about the true identities of Wanyue and Baiyu, especially Wanyue. She thought she was just a simple-minded girl with a miserable life. Since they were about the same age, she was not on guard at all after she said these words.

After hearing what Mu Qingli said, Wan Yue felt quite uncomfortable, but these things were not something she could change, so she secretly made up her mind to try her best to protect the safety of Princess Qingli within her ability.

The courtyard was actually not far from Mu Qingli's shop, and the two arrived soon.

When she opened the door, Mu Qingli saw Jiang Ci sitting in the yard, probably waiting for her.

She smiled and walked forward happily.

"Brother, why don't you rest? Are you waiting for me?"

Jiang Ci showed his usual obedient smile and nodded.

"Sister, you must be very tired today, but I can't help you at all. Am I useless?"

"How could that be? You got hurt because you were helping Wanyue. You're very brave, how could you be useless? Stop imagining things. By the way, have you eaten yet?"

"Mr. Bai cooked dinner, and I wanted to wait for you to come back and eat together, but you didn't come back until dark. I think you must be too busy. Sister, let's eat together."

Mu Qingli scratched her head a little embarrassedly. She had eaten a lot of the food Su Minsheng brought her because she had been hungry for a long time, and she was still full. But seeing that Jiang Ci had not eaten yet because he was waiting for her, she couldn't bear to let him eat alone.

So she winked at Wanyue who was about to speak, and Wanyue understood what she meant.

"Young Master, Miss, take your time eating. I'm not too hungry right now. I'll go to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for tomorrow."

After Wanyue left, Mu Qingli looked at Jiang Ci awkwardly as he politely asked Bai Yu to place the heated meals one by one on the stone table in front of her.

Mu Qingli was a little dumbfounded when she saw the food which was obviously twice as much as usual, but she had no choice but to bite the bullet and pick up the chopsticks.

"Mr. Bai's cooking skills are really good. Haha, these six dishes and one soup look really appetizing. Mr. Bai, you should eat too."

Bai Yu stood beside Jiang Ci, shaking his head like a rattle.

"Girls, I've eaten. You guys take your time. Miss Wanyue probably can't handle it all by herself. I'll go see if I can help."

After saying that, he left immediately, fearing that Mu Qingli would say anything more.

Mu Qingli felt like crying but had no tears, but she also tried her best to appear to have a strong appetite.

"It's delicious. Mr. Bai's cooking skills are really good. Brother, you should eat more so that you can get better faster."

Jiang Ci smiled and said nothing, but just used his uninjured arm to keep putting food into Mu Qingli's bowl.

Looking at the bowls piled up like a mountain, Mu Qingli was really miserable. If she had known this would happen, she should have eaten less of the food that Su Minsheng had sent her.

But seeing Jiang Ci carefully picking up food for her and using his eyes to tell her that it was not enough, Mu Qingli could only eat it bite by bite obediently.

Bai Yu and Wan Yue stood in front of the kitchen window, watching Mu Qingli eating with difficulty but trying to put on a smile. Both of them felt a little sorry for her.

"Bai Yu, don't you think His Highness is being too mean? Didn't the princess just eat the food Su Minsheng sent? Why would he go to such lengths?"

Bai Yu touched his chin and turned his head to look at her.

"That's why I said he was treacherous before, but you didn't believe me. Look, this is the real him. Princess Qingli probably thought Your Highness was concerned about her, so, you have to be more careful when you follow Your Highness in the future."

"Tsk tsk, she's truly wicked. I even feel a little sorry for the princess. I don't know what their relationship was like before, but from what I've observed over this period of time, Princess Qingli truly treats Your Highness with sincerity. Don't you think Your Highness is even slightly touched?"

Moving?

Bai Yu sneered in his heart. He thought that if Wan Yue knew the truth about what Mu Qingli had done to His Highness in the Qi Palace, he would never say such words even if he was beaten to death.

The first time Bai Yu met Jiang Ci was one night three years ago. That night, Bai Yu mingled with the eunuchs in the Qi Palace and met for the first time the young master he would protect in the future.

I remember that night the moonlight was hazy, and the entire Qi Palace was filled with singing and dancing. Everyone was celebrating the fiftieth birthday of Emperor Qi Sheng. The entire palace was bustling with activity, and many people from outside opera troupes and acrobatic troupes were invited to perform in the palace. It was during this opportunity that Bai Yu and his team succeeded in their plan, which had been planned for nearly a year. Bai Yu and four other secret guards successfully infiltrated the Qi Palace and lay lurking for a long time. Their purpose was to protect the hostage in the Qi Palace - Jiang Ci, the sixth prince of Jing State.

The Emperor Qi Sheng of Qi State has become more and more absurd in recent years. He has a corrupt lifestyle and even openly keeps a boy catamite. Many ministers of Qi State know about their emperor's hobby. In order to please him, on his birthday, someone secretly sent the boy catamites prepared in advance into the palace.

Since Bai Yu and his companions had just sneaked into the palace at that time, although they had some understanding of Jiang Ci and Mu Qingli's situation in the Qi Palace, they thought that Qi would at least make superficial efforts for the prior agreement between the two countries. They originally thought that Jiang Ci and his companions would also appear at the birthday party. However, it was not until they heard the palace maids and eunuchs insulting and slandering Jiang Ci and Mu Qingli behind their backs that they realized that Qi had already disregarded the original agreement between the two countries and treated the two hostages extremely harshly.

That night, Bai Yu and his men searched almost the entire Qi Palace, but could not find any trace of Jiang Ci and Mu Qingli.

However, they actually found Jiang Ci among the boy catamites sent by the ministers. At that time, he had been drugged and was in a semi-coma. However, in order to stay awake, he bit his arm with all his might, and his entire arm was bleeding.

Since Bai Yu had seen Jiang Ci's portrait before, he recognized him at a glance.

He couldn't believe that the dignified Sixth Prince of Jing Kingdom would be treated as a boy lover and offered to the old pervert Emperor Qi. Fortunately, they arrived in time. If they were a step later, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, everyone was celebrating Emperor Qi's birthday that night, so they had the opportunity to rescue the person successfully.

After rescuing the people, they sent them back to their residence - Qinghe Palace. Although Jiang Ci and Mu Qingli were not welcomed at that time, at least the place they lived in was acceptable. Jiang Ci was accompanied by Nanny Li and the maid Luzhu who were brought from Jingguo, and Mu Qingli also had two maids.