Your Highness, please stop chasing me.

Upon hearing Ye Shangyuan's message delivered by Ye Yi, Mu Xue suddenly felt a surge of anticipation.

She asked Yoruichi, "What happened in the capital?"

Yoruichi didn't answer immediately, but instead looked at Muyuki.

She quickly waved her hand and said, "If it's inconvenient for you to tell me, you don't have to pay attention to my question."

Yoruichi shook his head and stammered, "It's not that I can't say, but how much does Miss Fifth know about Ren Yuan?"

"Brother Ren? Why are you suddenly bringing him up? We only just got to know each other today." Mu Xue was curious, but she still answered Ye Yi's question honestly.

After considering for a moment, Yoruichi asked again, "How much does Miss Fifth know about Ren Yuan's identity?"

Mu Xue thought for a moment and said, "I've heard him mention it. He's from the capital and is familiar with Grandpa Zong."

Ye Yi nodded and continued, "Ren Yuan was saved by Master Zong three years ago, and he has regarded Master Zong as his savior ever since, and he always helps Master Zong whenever he asks for something."

He continued, "He is the only son of the newly appointed Minister of War, and he and Lord Shen are cousins."

"Wow, his identity is not simple!" Mu Xue was a little surprised. She did not expect Ren Yuan's identity to be so complicated.

"Brother Ren and the young marquis are cousins? But I don't think you two have a very good relationship?" Mu Xue asked.

When Ye Yi heard Mu Xue's question, he replied, "The young marquis and Ren Yuan have never had a good relationship since childhood. Their mothers didn't get along when they were young, and after the two wives gave birth to their children, they have always been competing with each other."

Mu Xue became interested and asked, "Aren't their mothers sisters?"

Hearing this question, Yoruichi asked curiously, "Miss Mu, are you and Miss Liu sisters?"

Mu Xue choked on her words; their relationship was quite complicated!

She smiled, gestured for him to continue, and said, "Please continue."

"Both ladies are illegitimate daughters of the Duke of Qi's family. It's quite strange, considering that the Duke of Qi has married several wives and concubines, but only has these two illegitimate daughters. The Duchess of Qi declared that she would choose one of the daughters to raise herself, which is why the two concubines are at odds with each other," Ye Yi said.

Mu Xue listened in surprise and couldn't help but ask, "The Duke of Qi's mansion didn't have a single heir? What happened later? Who became the legitimate daughter?"

Yoruichi shook his head and said, "No."

Mu Xue asked, "No? You haven't adopted any of them?"

Mu Xue said, "Come to the study with me, and you can continue your story there."

The two entered Mu Xue's courtyard one after the other, and Su Su came out to greet them.

"Lord Ye Yi," Su Su greeted him.

"Miss Susu, you don't need to be so polite," Yoruichi said.

"Miss, I'll go get some hot food," Su Su said.

“Okay, I’m hungry too,” Mu Xue said.

After the two entered the study, Su Su quickly brought out two plates of pastries and tea.

Mu Xue sat down and asked, "You said the Duke of Qi's mansion has no heir, so what's the Duke of Qi's mansion like now...?"

Yoruichi took a sip of tea and continued, "Just when the Duchess of Qi was choosing to adopt the eldest daughter, the old Duke of Qi, unwilling to accept this, took two more concubines and finally had a son. At that time, the Duke of Qi was in high spirits every day. However, his good fortune did not last long. When his son was three years old, it was revealed that he was not the Duke of Qi's biological son."

Mu Xue asked in surprise, "Who leaked it?"

Yoruichi looked at Mu Xue for a long time before finally saying, "My lord."

Mu Xue choked. This person is truly ruthless! He was only a few years old back then!

Ye Yi hurriedly explained, "My lord learned about this by accident when he was a child. At that time, it was because Ren Yuanyuan and the young marquis were at odds that my lord found out and began to think about how to bring down the Duke of Qi's middle-aged son."

"Madam Ren and the concubine of the Duke of Qi at that time were close friends. They often pondered how to have a son, so the Duke of Qi's late-life son must also be related to Madam Ren," Ye Yi added.

Mu Xue said, "According to your logic, wouldn't this Duke of Qi have suffered a considerable blow?"

Ye Yi nodded: "What Fifth Miss said is right. Duke Qi fell seriously ill and has since devoted himself to Taoism and no longer insists on having children."

Mu Xue suddenly thought of Ren Yuan and Shen Ji's mother.

She asked, "The Duke of Qi's mansion only has two young ladies, how could they fall out?"

Yoruichi scratched her head awkwardly and said, "After this son died, the two sisters had a good relationship. At least they got along well. It was because of a marriage that they turned against each other."

Mu Xue immediately understood and said, "Could it be that the two sisters like the same person?"

Ye Yi choked, then decisively shook his head.

Fearing that Mu Xue might say something shocking, he quickly said, "Although the two young ladies are born out of wedlock, they are the only two young ladies in the Duke of Qi's mansion, and both are virtuous, talented, and beautiful. There is a constant stream of people coming to propose marriage."

"Lord Shen had already taken a liking to the elder sister, while Lord Ren had chosen the younger sister for his son. The sisters knew this and were content to await their marriages. However, before the wedding, rumors spread that Young Master Ren actually liked the elder sister as well. The younger sister was unhappy. She had secretly met Young Master Ren once and was quite fond of him. After hearing this rumor, she began to find fault with everything her elder sister did, constantly causing trouble, which escalated the situation. In the end, even Ren Yuan and the young lord couldn't stand each other." Ye Yi finished speaking in one breath, letting out a great sigh of relief.

Mu Xue found it laughable that the two sisters had been bickering for over twenty years because of this ridiculous rumor.

Thinking this way, she asked the same question.

Yoruichi shook his head and said, "I don't know what the two ladies are thinking. But the two young masters have met and started fighting at the drop of a hat."

"Ye Yi, is this a matter in the capital, and what does it have to do with Ren Yuan?" Mu Xue asked.

“Miss Wu is right. The Prince’s anger was also due to this matter,” Yoruichi affirmed.

“If the prince hadn’t been poisoned, we would have rushed back to the capital to deal with the assassination attempt on the Minister of War’s entire family, since the prince is unconscious. We’ll leave this matter to the young marquis to handle secretly. The emperor is still young, but he’s very playful. He was cornered in the Imperial Study by the former Minister of War every day, and in a fit of anger, he dismissed him from his post,” Ye Yi said.

"This young emperor is quite something! He acts cleanly and efficiently, I like that," Mu Xue said admiringly.

"Fifth Miss, if the Emperor heard this, he would definitely like you very much," Ye Yi said insincerely.

He continued, "But the emperor's word is law. Chen Gong never expected that he would lose his official position just because he blocked the Imperial Study and failed to get the emperor to come out. So he went to the gates of the Prime Minister's residence and the Regent's residence to make trouble every day."

"Is your prince afraid that people will find out he's not in the capital, so he rushed back overnight to deal with this matter?" Mu Xue asked.

“The current Minister of War is Ren Yuan’s father, Ren Hengqiu,” Yoruichi said.