First annul the engagement, then sever ties with the empress; the empress reigns supreme.

Just as Mu Lingye's palm was only half an inch away from Gu Junxi's face, it suddenly stopped.

The veins on his raised hand were bulging, as if he were engaged in a struggle with someone.

Standing not far away, hidden in the shadows like a rat in a sewer, Leng Xuanjue kept repeating silently—hit her.

But the hand didn't fall. Suddenly, he sensed something and felt a strange pain in his chest. Mu Lingye withdrew his raised hand.

“The order cannot be executed, fine, very good.” Leng Xuanjue realized that it was Mu Lingye’s reason that was resisting, just like before when he asked Mu Lingye to hug him.

He has always enjoyed challenges; if something is too easy, he finds it uninteresting.

"Alright, we've had enough fun for today, let's call it a day."

Leng Xuanjue placed his hand on the spot where his chest had just hurt, smiled wickedly, and silently issued another order—leave now without listening to any explanation.

Not far away, Mu Lingye immediately looked at Xuan Ying, who was still entangled with Mu Qingfu: "Come back."

As soon as Mu Lingye gave the order, Xuan Ying immediately withdrew and returned to Mu Lingye's side, leaving together with him.

Gu Junxi tried to persuade her to stay and ask questions, but she didn't get a chance.

"Xixi, you see? This is Mu Lingye's attitude towards you. Your fate if you follow him is already foreseeable. This should only be the beginning." Mu Lingxuan stood to the side watching with a gloomy expression. After Mu Lingye left, he walked to Gu Junxi's side.

"Get out! This all started because of you. Who knows what tricks you've been up to behind the scenes? Stop pretending to be a good person." Without Xuan Ying's restraint, Mu Qingfu immediately pulled Gu Junxi behind her the moment Mu Lingxuan approached, glaring angrily at Mu Lingxuan.

Zuo Chengfeng, who hadn't been able to help his wife earlier, joined in and shielded Gu Junxi behind him.

Mu Lingxuan glanced at where Leng Xuanjue was hiding, and when he saw Leng Xuanjue nod at him, he knew that today's matter was over.

He is quite satisfied with the current result and knows when to stop, otherwise it would be too conspicuous and arouse suspicion.

Mu Lingxuan flicked his sleeve, pretending to be too lazy to argue with Mu Qingfu, and turned to leave.

As soon as Mu Lingxuan left, Mu Qingfu immediately turned around and grasped Gu Junxi's hands: "Xixi, what exactly happened just now? Why did Mu Lingye suddenly speak so rudely to you and have such a bad attitude? Isn't he madly in love with you?"

Gu Junxi was in a daze when she heard Mu Qingfu's words. She looked up and said seriously but a little embarrassed, "Who said... he loves me to death."

"You're still letting people talk about it? Everyone's seen how clingy he's been to you lately. Besides, Chengfeng said that Mu Lingye had been putting up with him a lot before, and it was all for your sake." Mu Qingfu said casually, hands on her hips, "Are you saying he suddenly became possessed by a demon?"

Gu Junxi didn't reply to Mu Qingfu. She lowered her eyes and pondered to herself, repeating what Mu Qingfu had said: "Yes, as you said, he loves me to death. But suddenly he treats me like this. Is it a demonic possession?"

Due to partial memory loss, Gu Junxi couldn't understand why Mu Lingye's attitude had suddenly changed so drastically.

She only remembered seeing Mu Lingxuan from afar. She originally wanted to avoid him, but for some reason, she ended up standing with him instead.

Could it be simply because she spoke a few words to Mu Lingxuan?

That Mu Lingye is too petty.

Moreover, the slander against her just now has already caused verbal harm, which is too much.

Mu Lingxuan and Leng Xuanjue orchestrated a complete rift between Gu Junxi and Mu Lingye, ensuring their relationship could never be the same even without the drugs. Everything proceeded smoothly, except for one unforeseen variable.

Long Yao largely agreed that Mu Lingye was indeed possessed by a demon. She only liked Gu Junxi and always favored Gu Junxi no matter what happened: "Sister Xi, your Great Sheng Crown Prince is truly possessed by a demon. It's just that Prince Xuan hugged you, that's nothing. It was all forced by Prince Xuan. Although you didn't resist, it's not your fault."

"What did you say? Mu Lingxuan hugged me?"

"Xixi didn't resist?"

Gu Junxi and Mu Qingfu turned their heads at the same time to look at Long Yao.

Long Yao blinked and nodded: "Yes, what's the problem?"

Then, realizing there was indeed a problem, she said, "Sister Xi, didn't you know that Prince Xuan hugged you? His Highness the Crown Prince and I watched there for a long time, and I was the one who came over and pulled Prince Xuan away."

Long Yao looked puzzled and pointed to the spot where she and Mu Lingye had stood.

Gu Junxi glanced at it and immediately understood the crux of the matter: "Cousin, I really don't know that Mu Lingxuan hugged me. This part of my memory is blank, and I feel like I'm being controlled. I want to find my uncle."

Prince Su came to the banquet today, but Ning Haitang doesn't like such occasions, so Prince Su only made a brief appearance before returning to his residence to accompany Ning Haitang.

"I'll accompany you back to the Prince's Mansion right now." Mu Qingfu had no interest in the banquet to begin with, so she immediately stated her position, then turned her anger towards Zuo Chengfeng: "Are you coming or not?"

Zuo Chengfeng was now completely under Mu Qingfu's thumb, but he was happy to do so. Zuo Chengfeng said ingratiatingly, "Let's go, of course we'll go. Wherever my wife is, I'll be there."

"Stop being so glib. Men can change. Who knows, you might turn into a demon like Mu Lingye someday." Mu Qingfu rolled her eyes, showing no regard for Zuo Chengfeng.

Zuo Chengfeng silently cursed Mu Lingye a hundred times in his heart in frustration. When they were rivals in love, Mu Lingye would deliberately show off her affection in front of him every day and seize every opportunity to smear him. Now that they had finally become in-laws and were no longer enemies, Mu Lingye was not a good person and kept dragging him down.

He was destined for a miserable life.

Zuo Chengfeng wanted to cry but had no tears.

Although Zuo Chengfeng and Mu Qingfu hadn't been married long, Gu Junxi was already used to their way of getting along. She ignored him and said to Long Yao, "Long Yao, thank you for telling me all this. But don't tell anyone else about this. Otherwise… I'm afraid you'll be in danger."

When a certain period of her memory suddenly went blank, Gu Junxi felt that this was a kind of illness, an illness that seemed to be controlled by someone.

This strange feeling coincided with Mu Lingye's sudden inability to perform the marital ceremony with her.

If she and Mu Lingye were truly being plotted against, or were under the influence of some kind of secret magic, witchcraft, or evil spell, then the person behind it must be secretly watching them.

If that person knew that she became suspicious because of Long Yao's words, she might take action against Long Yao.

Although the possibility is extremely small, it is not impossible.

Long Yao was truly naive; she had no idea how serious the situation was. She blinked and asked, "Sister Xi, why do you say that? Was there something wrong with what I just said?"

Sometimes, ignorance is a form of self-protection. After all, the less you know, the safer you are. Gu Junxi truly couldn't understand how someone as naive as Long Yao could have grown up in the Dayu Imperial Palace. Or was it that Long Yao, like Feng Yang, also had someone protecting her all along?

I truly hope that Long Yao can always retain this innocence.

Gu Junxi patted Long Yao's head: "It's alright, just try to stay with the Dayu delegation and don't get separated."

"Oh." Long Yao listened to Gu Junxi's words.

Gu Junxi, Mu Qingfu, and Zuo Chengfeng left the palace together. Unbeknownst to them, someone was indeed watching them.