Farewell Flower Festival

On the way to the Jiuxingsi, a beggar suddenly rushed out from the street and fell in front of the carriage, then ran away in a panic. When the passers-by were attracted by the beggar, a man passed by the carriage and said through the window:

"Tonight at midnight, at the pavilion in the center of the lake."

Mu Tianling pulled aside the curtain and looked outside. After lowering the curtain, he gave an order, and the carriage continued to move forward.

After arriving at the Nine Punishments Department, Governor Yuan came over to ask Mu Tianling about Mu Tianchen's situation. After hearing Mu Tianling say that he was fine, Governor Yuan said meaningfully, "If the Third Prince was in trouble, the Emperor would definitely investigate thoroughly. It's hard to say what he would find out by then." Mu Tianling said, "From what Lord Yuan said, the Third Prince is fine now, so Father won't investigate it?" Governor Yuan smiled and said, "Your Highness misunderstood. The most important thing is that the Third Prince is fine." He also praised, "The Third Prince is strict in military discipline and does not fight or compete. It's really rare. No wonder the Emperor thinks highly of the Third Prince."

Mu Tianling said: "I didn't expect that Lord Yuan admires Third Brother so much. I will tell Third Brother about it someday so that he can know Lord Yuan's feelings."

Governor Yuan gave a dry laugh, looked a little embarrassed, and said he had something to do and left first.

When it comes to arguing with people, Governor Yuan has never had the upper hand over Mu Tianling.

After Governor Yuan left, Mu Tianling asked Fei Yu to find Captain Yu. He asked Captain Yu if he had ever heard his adoptive father mention anyone else in the family before. Captain Yu thought about it and to his impression, his adoptive father had never mentioned anyone in the family and he had never asked.

"Your Highness, what happened?" Captain Yu knew that Mu Tianling would not ask about this matter for no reason.

Mu Tianling thought about it and said that a man came to his house a few days ago and said that his father was Xu Hai's former subordinate, named Liu Lei. Hearing this, Captain Yu was surprised. Mu Tianling said that the other party's identity had not been verified yet, and asked him not to mention this matter to his adoptive father first, as it might be a trap. Captain Yu agreed.

……

Chaoyan was embroidering something in the room when Eunuch Wu came over and said that Shen Cheng had arrived. Chaoyan was delighted and asked where her brother was. Eunuch Wu said he was in the hall. Chaoyan put away the embroidery frame and went to the hall with Amber.

When Chaoyan came over and saw Shen Cheng, she happily called him "brother". Shen Cheng also happily called him "Xue'er" and brought her some supplements. He asked her how she was feeling and said that he saw her feeling a little uncomfortable at the foot of the mountain the night before yesterday. She wondered if she had caught a cold. Chaoyan said she was fine now.

Shen Cheng was relieved to see that she was in good spirits. Chao Yan asked about the investigation of the assassins. Shen Cheng shook his head. No one was found alive, and no valuable clues were found on the assassins. Chao Yan said that they would find out sooner or later, and the mastermind would definitely not be able to escape.

When Mu Tianling came back with the braised pork elbow from Zhenxiulou, he saw smoke coming out of the kitchen and thought there was a fire. Eunuch Wu said that Chaoyan was making beggar's chicken, but Mu Tianling had never heard of beggar's chicken. When he came to see what was going on, he saw Shen Cheng was there too, guarding the small earth pit with Chaoyan, where firewood was being used to bake.

Seeing Mu Tianling, Chao Yan waved happily and asked him to come over, saying that he came back at the right time and they would be able to eat soon.

"Don't you want to eat the braised pork elbow?" Mu Tianling handed over the food box in his hand. Chaoyan took the food box and told Mu Tianling that they would eat together later. Then she handed the food box to Amber and asked her to put it in the kitchen first.

Shen Cheng poked the fire and asked Chaoyan if she wanted to add more firewood to the pit. Chaoyan said no. Mu Tianling asked why Shen Cheng came, and Shen Cheng said he came to visit Chaoyan.

Seeing that the brother and sister seemed to be having a lot of fun when he was not around, Mu Tianling asked Shen Cheng if he had anything else to do. Shen Cheng said nothing, and also asked Mu Tianling with concern if he was busy today. Mu Tianling said he was not busy, so he thought about coming back early to accompany Chaoyan.

But Shen Cheng didn't hear the subtext that Mu Tianling wanted to be alone with Chao Yan, and said that he had nothing to do today so he thought of coming over early to visit Chao Yan.

Listening to this confusing conversation, Chao Yan couldn't help but laugh secretly. When Mu Tianling's gaze swept over her, she changed the subject and said that it was almost cooked and could be eaten.

Shen Cheng impatiently pushed away the ashes, revealing a lump of burnt yellow earth. As soon as he stretched out his hand, he was slapped back by Chao Yan.

"Brother, aren't you afraid of the heat?"

Reminded by Chaoyan, Shen Cheng touched the back of his head a little embarrassedly. Chaoyan had already prepared and covered it with a thick rag, and then asked Shen Cheng to try whether it was still hot. At first, Shen Cheng was touched by Chaoyan's thoughtful consideration for him. After putting his hand on it to test the temperature, he suddenly realized that something was wrong and pointed at Mu Tianling and said, "Why don't you let your brother-in-law try?" Chaoyan smiled and was about to quibble, but Mu Tianling said, "Of course you feel sorry for me as your husband and are afraid that I will get burned."

Shen Cheng was speechless, the pain in his heart came unexpectedly.

Seeing that her brother looked very hurt, Chaoyan comforted him, "Brother, I feel sorry for you too. I'll get you another rag to prevent you from getting burned." After that, she slipped into the kitchen.

After a while, Chao Yan quietly stuck her head out to look outside the door. When Mu Tianling saw her coming, she immediately retracted her head and went back to continue eating the pork elbow.

After a while, she heard a sound of "Xue'er" and immediately wiped her mouth and hands with a handkerchief. Shen Cheng came in with a rag holding the beggar's chicken. When Mu Tianling came in, he glanced at the plate of braised pork elbow and moved over to block the plate as if nothing had happened.

"Xue'er, how do you eat this?" Shen Cheng's attention was all on the beggar's chicken and he didn't even notice the plate of braised pork elbow.

Chaoyan took out the small hammer she had prepared in advance and knocked open the scorched yellow soil. A fresh fragrance of lotus leaves wafted out. Shen Cheng thought it was fun and wanted to knock on the soil too, so Chaoyan gave him the small hammer.

After the soil was almost knocked off, Chaoyan opened the lotus leaves, and an enticing aroma wafted out. The chicken inside was baked to perfect golden color.

Shen Cheng couldn't wait to taste it, so Chaoyan pulled off a chicken leg for him and gave the other leg to Mu Tianling while she ate the chicken wings. Shen Cheng liked the beggar's chicken after taking a bite, and suddenly had an idea and told Chaoyan to try a fish next time. Chaoyan thought this was a good idea, and the brother and sister agreed.

Mu Tianling said it was getting late and asked Shen Cheng when he would go back. Shen Cheng asked him if he wanted to get rid of him. Mu Tianling didn't say yes or no, but his attitude seemed to be tacit agreement.

"Brother, His Highness doesn't want to chase you away, he's just worried that you might be delayed. If you don't have anything else to do, why don't you stay and have dinner together?"

"Okay~"

"..."

……

Shen Cheng went back after dinner.

When Chaoyan came back from sending Shen Cheng, Mu Tianling was reading in the room. She came over, bent down, and pecked him on the face, and he pulled her into his arms. He told her that he had to go out for a while, and asked her to go to bed first and not wait for him.

"Then your highness please come back soon."

"Ah."

He lowered his head and pecked her on the forehead, his expression gentle as water.