Your Highness, please stop chasing me.

Ye Shangyuan shook his head slightly and said, "The situation in the capital is now clear. It is obvious that the Wing King and the Jing King's Mansion are just cooperating. Mo Cheng'an is probably already a spy planted in our Xiyu Kingdom by the Dongli Kingdom. Right now, we need to find out as soon as possible how many people in the court are on the Wing King's side and how many have already defected to the Dongli Kingdom."

Upon hearing Ye Shangyuan's words, Mu Qinghe instantly understood his meaning. He said, "Does Your Highness want me to return to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and, by leveraging the mansion's style and reputation, secretly investigate the list of those people?"

To everyone's surprise, Ye Shangyuan shook his head again and said, "The General has been away from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion for many years. It's time for him to go back and take back what belongs to him. In the past few years, you've been away from the capital, and the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion has made a lot of fools. That was your grandfather's hard work, so don't let it go to waste."

Mu Qinghe also fell silent. After a short while, he spoke up, "Your Highness is a military officer and does not understand such roundabout ways. You may speak frankly, Your Highness."

Ye Shangyuan didn't waste any time. He said directly, "I need you to go back and inherit the title of Duke of Zhenguo. Only then will Mu Mu be a true legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo. In addition, she is the only daughter of Princess Shengping. The Empress Dowager will give her a glorious title. Only then can I ask for her hand in marriage."

Mu Qinghe instantly bristled!

Mu Qinghe jumped up, pointed at Ye Shangyuan's nose and said, "You, Ye Shangyuan, so you wanted me to go back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion just so that my little Wu could have a status worthy of you? Let me tell you, I don't agree! I absolutely do not agree to let my little Wu marry you!"

Ye Shangyuan was not angry. He calmly picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and then said, "General Mu cannot make decisions about Mu Mu's affairs."

Mu Qinghe choked, speechless.

Ever since Mu Xue entered the Mu family mansion, she has only visited him a limited number of times, let alone called him "father."

He suddenly sat down angrily and said sullenly, "Isn't this all the idea of ​​you smart people? My own daughter doesn't even call me 'Dad' anymore."

Ye Shangyuan's eyes flickered slightly. He remembered that he and his father had discussed asking him to help persuade Mu Xue.

So, Ye Shangyuan casually asked, "What do you mean by that, General?"

Remembering the plan he had discussed with Mu Sheng, Mu Qinghe glanced at Ye Shangyuan and, as a last resort, said, "Back then, Wanwan's health was already quite poor. However, she discovered that someone not only wanted to harm her but also eliminate Xiao Wu. So, she secretly arranged that whole scheme..."

......

As Mu Qinghe recounted the story, Ye Shangyuan understood the whole story. While everyone thought that Mu Xue had become mentally impaired because of the poison Mu Qinghe had given her, in reality, Mu Qinghe had only given Mu Xue an ordinary pastry.

It didn't matter whether Mu Xue sent her the pastries containing poison every day or not, Shen Wan wouldn't live more than a few days anyway.

Mu Qinghe looked sorrowful; clearly, this was a painful past he didn't want to recall.

Upon hearing this, Ye Shangyuan couldn't help but be moved by Princess Shengping's maternal love, sacrificing her own life to give her child a chance at survival.

He asked, "If you didn't feed her poison, how could Mu Mu have such a potent poison in her body?"

Mu Qinghe said with a wry smile, "Xiao Wu was born prematurely, so his body was weaker than other children. In addition, children are weak and he was exposed to poison for a long time. By the time I found out, it was too late."

Ye Shangyuan understood; he had also thought of this. He then asked, "Did you investigate who poisoned him back then?"

"Yes, I investigated, but no matter how I investigated, all the leads would be cut off as soon as we reached the capital. In addition, I had just experienced the pain of losing my wife and was facing the possibility of losing Xiao Wu, so I had no choice but to give up the investigation," Mu Qinghe said helplessly.

Ye Shangyuan didn't hide anything and said directly, "I have found some clues. Would the general like to hear them?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Qinghe's eyes widened, and he asked impatiently, "Who is it??"

Ye Shangyuan didn't waste any time. He said, "Mu Mu got some information through Granny Kang and asked me to investigate it. The results were pretty much the same as what Mu Mu and I had guessed."

Ye Shangyuan glanced at the excited Mu Qinghe and continued, "Back then, the Duke of Zhenguo's second wife, Madam An, obtained some ancient medicinal formulas from the Daoist Wuyi. I also sent people to investigate secretly. These formulas were all for regulating the body, replenishing qi and blood, and were probably meant for your concubine An. However, during my secret investigation, I discovered that Concubine An and this Daoist Wuyi had known each other for a long time."

Ye Shangyuan had been observing Mu Qinghe's expression. Hearing this, he saw no surprise on Mu Qinghe's face, and Ye Shangyuan understood.

Then he continued, "The General must know that this sixth young lady of the Mu family, Mu Jiaojiao, is not your daughter?"

“Yes, back when I first arrived in Yu Nan City with Wanwan, she had already told me about this. I thought that since we wouldn’t see each other again, I could let it go, after all, she was a distant cousin I grew up with. But who would have thought that in just one month, the An family would come after us with that child,” Mu Qinghe said calmly.

Ye Shangyuan asked, "When Aunt An came after us, didn't you ever think about sending them back to the capital?"

Mu Qinghe replied, "How could I not have thought about it? We tried to send them away, but we couldn't get rid of them at all. Madam An was so desperate that she said if we went back to the capital, Old Madam An would kill them all. Wanwan couldn't bear to see the child who was about the same age as Xiao Wu, so she stayed."

Mu Qinghe continued, "Fortunately, the mother and daughter were quite decent; they never appeared before me until Wanwan passed away. That's why I left Xiao Wu in her care when I went to the border. But is there something wrong with the An family?"

Mu Qinghe couldn't sit still any longer. He remembered how, back in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, Old Madam An often made trouble for Shen Wan and looked down on Mu Xue in every way.

Ye Shangyuan nodded and said, "Mu Jiaojiao is the child of the An family and Daoist Wuyi. I suspect that this Daoist Wuyi is very likely the current Imperial Preceptor Wuyi."

Mu Qinghe looked at Ye Shangyuan in surprise.

He asked uncertainly, "So Your Highness suspects that the poison that Wanwan and Xiaowu were given to An Shi by Wudaoren, and then An Shi poisoned them?"

Ye Shangyuan dropped another bombshell, saying, "It's not a doubt, Mu Mu once said that the poison she was ingested was called Flying Flower. This poison has a very pleasant smell and can adhere to a person's skin for a long time. It cannot be washed off with water. Only people who come into direct contact with it will smell this. She smelled it on Aunt An."