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

To dispel Qingyanzi's doubts, Mu Lingxuan deliberately pretended to be impatient.

"Does the Imperial Advisor distrust me so much? Then why bother cooperating with me? Mu Qingfu is my father's most beloved niece. If I were to imprison her simply because she saw my father, wouldn't that confirm the news of my father's serious illness?"

"Mu Qingfu is reckless. I have already given her a good scare, and I believe she won't say anything more once she leaves the palace."

With that, he flicked his sleeves forcefully: "Grand Preceptor, you seem to have forgotten that I am a prince, and soon to be sitting on that chair. Please watch your tone and manner of speaking. If there is a next time, I will definitely not let this go so easily."

Qingyanzi narrowed his eyes as he stared at Mu Lingxuan's angry departing figure. Mu Lingxuan's impatient and arrogant demeanor displeased Qingyanzi.

But he didn't dwell on Mu Qingfu any longer; he just spat out a contemptuous "naive. Does she really think that sitting in that chair will give her control over everything? She's dreaming. When you ascend the throne, it will be the end of your life."

What Qingyanzi wanted to do was to use Mu Lingxuan's identity to whitewash Xiaoyue'er's reputation.

To successfully clear Xiaoyue'er's name and make her a true descendant of the Mu family, allowing her to rightfully inherit the throne and become the new emperor.

And this new emperor has his blood flowing in his veins.

After Mu Lingxuan and Qing Yanzi feigned anger, he kept his promise and brought Gu Junxi into the palace just one day later.

Gu Junxi wore a human skin mask this time, disguising herself as Mu Lingxuan's personal maid. After several days of treatment, Emperor Sheng's complexion improved at a visible speed.

However, this led Qingyanzi, who had been waiting for Emperor Sheng's death every day, to discover something amiss.

One day, while Gu Junxi was treating Emperor Sheng, Qingyanzi suddenly barged in. Even Xu Decai, who was guarding the door, didn't have time to inform him.

Gu Junxi frowned.

Mu Lingxuan turned around and pressed Gu Junxi down onto the soft couch on one side, deliberately tugging at his clothes.

The moment Gu Junxi and Mu Lingxuan's eyes met, Gu Junxi understood what Mu Lingxuan meant.

Despite her disgust, for the sake of the bigger picture, she gritted her teeth and shamefully let out a cry.

Qingyanzi hurried along, but paused briefly upon hearing the shout before quickening his pace again. Entering the inner hall, he saw Mu Lingxuan pressing a woman down onto a soft couch.

He was only a meter away from his father, whose fate was still unknown, yet he was comfortably indulging in pleasure with women.

Filial piety truly breeds strength.

Qingyanzi scoffed, thinking Mu Lingxuan was being too pretentious. Why couldn't he do it elsewhere? He had to come here to perform for the living dead, seeking thrills.

Qingyanzi wanted to leave, but as soon as he took a step, he realized something was wrong. Mu Lingxuan wasn't solely devoted to Gu Junxi and determined to marry her; how long had it been, and he was already with another woman?

To confirm his suspicions, Qingyanzi walked directly to the soft couch and said, "Prince Xuan, this is a new beauty. Won't you introduce her to me?"

"Your Highness, this servant is afraid." Gu Junxi pretended to be scared, covering most of her face with the blanket, leaving only her eyes showing.

Mu Lingxuan knew that Qingyanzi's purpose in doing this was to see clearly who the person on the bed was, and not to ask him to introduce them.

In these extraordinary times, if we don't let Qingyanzi succeed, things will probably get even more complicated.

After thinking for a moment, Mu Lingxuan took the initiative to pull the blanket off Gu Junxi's hand: "What are you afraid of? The Imperial Advisor is not a tiger. Is he going to eat you?"

"Your Highness is so annoying," Gu Junxi said coquettishly, lowering her eyes.

Mu Lingxuan was genuinely charmed by Gu Junxi's coquettishness, but he also understood that it was just an act.

I really hope this isn't just acting, but something that actually happens.

Mu Lingxuan's eyes darkened, and he lifted Gu Junxi's face to show Qingyanzi: "Grand Preceptor, take a good look. She's just a cute little maid in the manor. She's there to pass the time when you're bored."

The human skin mask was not as beautiful as Gu Junxi herself, but it was still quite attractive.

It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. If the human skin mask is too ugly, it will look out of place on Gu Junxi's face.

These days, Qingyanzi no longer suppressed his true nature, becoming a groom every night, and could be described as having slept with countless women. Although he was momentarily amazed by Gu Junxi's human skin mask, he quickly looked away.

At the same time, the doubts in my heart still hadn't disappeared.

"Isn't His Highness Prince Xuan only fond of Gu Junxi? What, after only a few days, are you already tired of the honeymoon?"

To lull Qingyanzi into a false sense of security, Mu Lingxuan seemingly unconsciously played with Gu Junxi's hair.

He wasn't very interested, and gave a disdainful snort: "What's the point of a wooden stake whose emotions are entirely controlled by me? Besides, once you get a woman, you realize she's just like that. I was too foolish before, giving up the whole forest for one tree. From now on, I will be a benevolent person."

"Imperial Advisor, I'm going to continue. Do you still want to watch?"

Mu Lingxuan touched Gu Junxi's face, making a gesture as if to kiss her.

Qingyanzi smiled, turned and left.

The reason he trusted Mu Lingxuan was because Mu Lingxuan expressed his views on women.

Women are meant to be entertained; to keep a woman in your heart is the most foolish thing you can do.

Seeing Qingyanzi turn around, Mu Lingxuan breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't dare to be careless and simply moved a little further away from Gu Junxi.

Of course, he didn't want to be far away from Gu Junxi, simply because he saw resistance towards him in Gu Junxi's eyes.

He wanted to show respect and didn't want to force Gu Junxi.

Qingyanzi originally intended to leave, but suddenly had a whim to experience what kind of emotions Gu Junxi would feel after being neglected by Mu Lingxuan.

He could sense the Gu poison he created. He had just closed his eyes when he suddenly opened them again. He discovered that the Gu poison belonging to Gu Junxi was nearby.

Qingyanzi turned his head, his sharp gaze fixed on Gu Junxi on the soft couch.

He chanted incantations as if performing a ritual. He then spoke aloud: "Stand up for me."

Gu Junxi's facial expression froze, her eyes instantly went blank, and she actually stood up.

Gu Junxi's actions confirmed Qingyanzi's thoughts. Qingyanzi was furious and went back to loudly continue his command: "Tear off your disguise."

Without thinking, Gu Junxi actually took off the human skin mask from her face.

"Qingyanzi, what do you want to do?" Mu Lingxuan got out of bed, spread his arms to protect Gu Junxi behind him, and stared at Qingyanzi with an unfriendly expression.

Qingyanzi almost laughed out of anger at Mu Lingxuan; his body was filled with the rage of being teased by Mu Lingxuan.

"Prince Xuan, I was just about to ask you this: what exactly are you trying to do? Secretly having Gu Junxi treat the Emperor's illness—do you really not want to sit on this throne?"

“But Father Emperor is my father Emperor.” Mu Lingxuan rarely showed any responsibility, saying that this was his idea.