After the mind-reading and gossip-eating incident, officials in the imperial city were demoted one a

"Mu Youxi, you pretended to be weak and kind in the Mu family, stole the princess's things, and still dared to appear in front of the princess. You are really shameless."

Qiao Biluo, Mu Ningyan's follower, blocked Mu Youxi's way.

Mu Youxi frowned, pursed her lips, and a hint of annoyance flashed in her eyes. Without responding, she turned to leave.

Another follower, He Zhixuan, stepped forward with a fierce look and rudely shoved Mu Youxi.

"Stop pretending to be high and mighty. I'm talking to you!"

Mu Youqi stumbled and almost fell, but her maid Caiyun caught her in time.

"Don't go too far!"

Mu Youxi's eyes burned with anger, and she finally couldn't help but yell at them.

"Excessive?" Qiao Biluo sneered. "Are you more excessive than me? You stole Princess Chang Le's position in the Mu family!"

At this moment, Mu Ningyan sat in the pavilion, eating pastries in silence, but her eyes revealed a hint of relief.

He watched all this quietly, a slight smile playing on his lips, looking like he was enjoying a good show.

"I am a dignified young lady of the Mu family, loved by my family. How did I become someone who steals Mu Ningyan's things?"

"You should all fawn over her and stick around her. What kind of people are you to make things difficult for me?"

Mu Youxi looked at the person in front of her with disdain.

"Who are you calling a sycophant?"

Qiao Biluo's arrogant face instantly darkened, and she glared at her, furious and embarrassed.

The young ladies who could follow Mu Ningyan were all from families with low official ranks, and they disliked being spoken of in this way.

Ignoring these clowns, Mu Youxi took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and solemnly addressed Mu Ningyan.

"Cousin, I never intended to compete with you for anything. Please keep these people in check."

"Hmph, who would believe your nonsense!" He Zhixuan sneered. "The Grand Prince Consort dotes on you but is very strict with the Princess. You must have spoken ill of the Princess to the Grand Prince Consort."

"Who the Grand Prince Consort likes is his business, what does it have to do with you, Miss He?"

Caiyun couldn't stand seeing them bully their master, so she glared angrily at He Zhixuan and retorted defiantly.

"How dare you, a mere servant, speak to me like that!"

He Zhixuan raised her hand and slapped Caiyun hard across the face.

Seeing her maid being hit, Mu Youxi slapped He Zhixuan back without hesitation.

"Mu Youxi, how dare you hit me?"

He Zhixuan covered her slapped cheek, staring at her in disbelief, her voice sharp and piercing.

"What's there to be afraid of, He Zhixuan? This is the palace. If you dare to cause trouble here, do you think Mu Ningyan will definitely protect you if something really happens?"

"Princess, you must stand up for me!"

With tears in her eyes, He Zhixuan ran quickly to Mu Ningyan's side, grabbed her sleeve, and cried out.

Mu Ningyan's face turned ugly. Mu Youxi's actions towards the person who hit her showed that she was not respected.

“Cousin, Zhixuan was just disciplining a girl.”

Mu Youxi sneered: "Cousin, she hit Caiyun first. Just because she's your lackey, does that mean I don't even have the right to fight back?"

Ye Yaoyao and her group approached the pavilion but did not go any closer; instead, they watched from the sidelines.

"Mu Ningyan is so hateful, always letting those lackeys bully my cousin."

Liu Langyue frowned, her brows furrowed in indignation.

"What's going on with those sisters?" Xin Chuli touched Liu Langyue with her hand.

“Ah Li, many people know about this. Let me tell you, the eldest princess and my third uncle’s marriage has broken down, and my third uncle went to a temple to practice Buddhism.”

Mu Ningyan grew up by the side of the eldest princess and rarely saw her third uncle. As she grew older, she became more and more arrogant and domineering.

Perhaps it was because he saw how close his third uncle and cousin were! From then on, he disliked his cousin, and later became increasingly intolerant of the elders treating her well.

Liu Langyue lowered her voice and explained quickly.

"Mu Ningyan is starved for love! No wonder she's so eager to get noticed," Ye Yaoyao commented.

"Lack of love?" Liu Langyue looked at Ye Yaoyao in confusion.

"She went to her maternal grandfather's place, and everyone treated her very well! Her third uncle went to practice Buddhism, and he's always been rather detached from emotions, so... it's alright!"

“Cousin, some people need more love.” Ye Yaoyao raised an eyebrow and nodded seriously.

[Alas! Princess Mu Ningyan has a noble status, but she doesn't have a good life. The eldest princess is strong-willed, and she has been strictly controlled since childhood.]

At an age when they need their father's love, they are abandoned and miss their father, secretly hiding and crying. Children always like to do things to attract the attention of adults.

The Princess's residence was rife with trouble, and as she grew older and was left unsupervised, her temperament became increasingly domineering.

Liu Langyue looked at Mu Ningyan with a complicated expression. She really was starved for love!

"Her parents are really at odds." Every family has its own problems, Xin Chuli, who is 'well-informed', exclaimed.

"I don't know how my third brother and the princess ended up like that. He used to like her a lot." Mu Yunmeng didn't know what had happened back then.

My aunt also said that the prince consort likes the princess, so there really is no romantic entanglement between the three of them.

So why doesn't the eldest princess like my mother? Is it because my mother is prettier than her, and she's jealous of her?

Ye Yaoyao stroked her chin and began to analyze again.

[Host, stop your mind from expanding.]

Emotional entanglements? The Liu family mother and daughter looked at Liu Yunshu in confusion, only to see her shake her head helplessly.

My daughter had previously imagined a love-hate relationship between the three of them, but now she completely believes that they really have nothing to do with each other!

"Perhaps the eldest princess didn't like the grand prince consort, and the grand prince consort saw through the vanity of the world and became a monk," Xin Chuli guessed.

"Don't talk nonsense." Madam Xin gently patted her daughter's head.

"My third uncle did not become a monk; he simply practiced Buddhism in a temple while still keeping his hair."

Hearing her cousin say this, Ye Yaoyao thought of the person who watered the vegetable garden at Taiyou Temple.

[System, could that Regretful Hermit I met last time be the Grand Prince Consort?]

【Yes. 】

[It seems the prince consort has been looking at radishes for too long and now sees everyone as radish-like, actually saying I look like my scumbag father.]

Liu Yunshu felt a pang of panic. She had met the Grand Prince Consort before, and he would surely have recognized the others...

Liu Yunshu clutched her chest, feeling her heart pounding wildly.

"Mother, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Ye Xiyao noticed that something was wrong with her and helped her up with a concerned look.

"Let me see." Ye Yaoyao took her mother's hand to check her pulse when she heard that her mother was not feeling well.

"I'm fine." Liu Yunshu tried to pull her hand away, but Ye Yaoyao grabbed it back.

"Mom, your heart is beating so fast, it's a sign of being frightened."

Ye Yaoyao looked at her suspiciously. She was standing there perfectly fine, so why was she so frightened?

[System, I still suspect my mother and the Grand Prince Consort have an affair.]

[What's the basis for this?] The system was dumbfounded; how did the host come back to this again?

【We were just discussing the Grand Prince Consort, and my mother panicked. That means it's not that the Grand Prince Consort likes her, but that she likes the Grand Prince Consort.】

Liu Yunshu blushed, feeling several probing gazes fixed on her.

[Daughter, stop overthinking! It's nothing like that.] Liu Yunshu cried out in her heart.