Song Duo was not killed.
Nor was he really injured.
He just had a cut on the corner of his mouth.
A-Ying had wanted to slice off his tongue, but her aim had been slightly off, and because he had scrambled backward in terror onto the ground and dodged a bit, the tip of the blade merely grazed the corner of his mouth. It was nothing major.
Even so, it scared Song Duo so badly that he fell flat on his back and nearly wet his pants.
Clutching his bleeding mouth, he was too shaken to speak, still half out of his wits with fright.
A-Ying stood over him, sword in hand, radiating killing intent as she looked down at him and said coldly, "To dare malign the Crown Prince—you deserve to die!"
Terror and fury flashed in Song Duo's eyes as he panted heavily. "You... how dare you..."
Mu Yinyue spread her hands. "I told you long ago, she is the person the Crown Prince gave to me. Have you grown tired of living? To speak ill of the Crown Prince right to her face—she showed immense restraint by not separating your head from your shoulders on the spot. Count yourself lucky."
Song Duo was choked with rage.
Having suffered losses at the hands of both Mu Yinyue and A-Ying over the past two days, he was boiling with frustration. A venomous glint flickered in the depths of his eyes, like a viper fixated on its prey, enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.
In the end, he said nothing more. Gritting his teeth, he scrambled up, clutched his mouth, and left.
Mu Yinyue let out a soft "tch." "He looks thoroughly unconvincing in his defeat."
A-Ying replied with a blank face, "It's not just looking unconvincing. He genuinely isn't convinced."
Mu Yinyue chuckled. "Well, that's just fine. The more frantic and exasperated he gets, the easier it will be for him to lose his footing. Who knows, we might even reap some unexpected rewards."
A-Ying said, "Mm, indeed."
Mu Yinyue fell silent.
*Actually, you don't have to reply to every single sentence.*
***
"Mu Yinyue simply cannot be allowed to live any longer."
Over on the Song family's side, after Song Duo recounted Mu Yinyue's movements for the day, Marquis Song's eyes turned vicious as he delivered the final verdict.
Song Duo said in a deep voice, "This son understands, hiss..."
Stretching the corner of his mouth, which had just been cleaned of blood and treated with ointment, he let out a hiss of pain. He shrank the arc of his lips as he spoke, making his words somewhat indistinct.
"But now she has the backing of the Crown Prince, and he has even sent people to protect her. How are we supposed to get rid of her?"
Hate and malice were unmistakable in the depths of Marquis Song's eyes as he said coldly, "If we can't do it openly, we'll resort to the shadows. There are plenty of people right now who want her dead. A single dose of poison to finish her off, and then we just find a scapegoat to take the blame."
"No matter how formidable the Crown Prince once was, he is nothing more than a cripple now. Even if Your Majesty still protects him, a blind man is bound to be deposed sooner or later. As long as we have Prince Yi, why should we fear him?"
Song Duo thought it over and decided he had indeed been taking the Eastern Palace too seriously.
"Understood. Then this son will find a way to get hold of some poison and quietly put an end to her."
Marquis Song instructed, "Mm. Once she is dead, you can just have your mother raise the child."
Marquis Song was unaware that Mu Yinyue's child was not actually Song Duo's.
Back then, Marquis Song had ordered Song Duo to find a way to marry Mu Yinyue, but the scheme of having Mu Yinyue lose her chastity to someone else while passing the child off as Song Duo's was entirely plotted by Song Duo and Cheng Jiaojiao. Cheng Jiaojiao simply refused to let Song Duo truly touch Mu Yinyue.
However, Song Duo had never breathed a word of this to his parents, so the entire Song family operated under the belief that the child Mu Yinyue bore was truly Song Duo's.
The idea of engineering a double homicide to kill both mother and child had likewise been solely the brainchild of Song Duo and Cheng Jiaojiao.
Song Duo opened his mouth, wanting to tell his father the truth about this, but after a second thought, he decided there was no need.
No matter what, his father took some comfort in the belief that he had a grandson. If he learned the child wasn't really his, it would likely deal him a crushing blow.
Besides, his father was gravely ill and didn't have many days left anyway. It was better to let him depart with this comforting illusion. Once his father was gone, he could simply let that bastard child meet an untimely end.
"Yes."
Marquis Song cautioned, "You must be careful in how you handle this. Since the Crown Prince has assigned people to Lady Mu, you must be extremely cautious with the poisoning so you don't leave any openings for the Crown Prince's people to exploit. Lady Mu holds the status of the Crown Prince's physician. If the Crown Prince's people catch us trying to assassinate her, the charge of plotting against the Heir Apparent will render everything we've done so far completely useless."
They had gone to immense trouble to pin the embezzlement of disaster relief funds on the Mu family; they couldn't afford to have that hard-won framing undone by a charge of trying to assassinate the Crown Prince.
Gently pressing the corner of his mouth, Song Duo replied in a low voice, "Yes, Father, I understand."
***
After returning from this excursion, Mu Yinyue recuperated quietly at the Song residence for three full days, and her body finally regained a bit of strength.
Well, and Mu Wuyou had blossomed quite a bit—fair, plump, and thoroughly round.
Ji Chengyin had sent word that the physician reported Old Madam Mu's condition was showing signs of improvement, and everyone else was doing well, with physicians visiting the prison every single day.
Aside from the items she had brought on that first day, the Crown Prince had also had additional daily necessities delivered to improve the living conditions of the Mu family in prison.
Presumably, this was out of consideration for the child.
Regardless of the reason, knowing the Mu family was well allowed her to set her mind at ease.
Yet, there were troubles as well.
Because the Mu family's case had caused such a massive uproar, countless people were waiting for the execution of the Mu family to be carried out.
Instead, the execution had been temporarily stayed. At first, people assumed there were new discoveries in the case, but then someone leaked word that it was actually the Crown Prince who had interceded with the Emperor to delay the Mu family's sentencing.
Fanned by the flames of interested parties, rumors began to spread through the streets that the Mu family's embezzlement case might have been orchestrated by the Crown Prince himself.
At court, factions supporting Prince Yi seized upon the matter to make trouble, and neutral censors also submitted inquiries, formally petitioning for a thorough investigation into whether the Crown Prince was connected to the scandal.
There was every fear that fresh complications would arise.
Mu Yinyue was deeply worried that these public rumors would affect the stay of execution for the Mu family, and that the Emperor might alter his decision just to appease public opinion and protect the Crown Prince.
However, just as she was about to ask A-Ying to find out whether there would be any twists in the situation, Ji Chengyin had Molai relay a message to A-Ying.
A-Ying passed it along: "His Highness the Crown Prince tells Madam to set her mind at ease. The stay of execution for the Mu family will not change; His Highness is fully capable of protecting them."
Having received such an assurance, Mu Yinyue finally felt entirely at ease.
Yet, just as she wanted to ask a question, the message had already arrived...
Mu Yinyue asked, "Is your Highness some sort of roundworm inside my stomach?"
"..."
A-Ying thought about it seriously and said, "Probably not."
Mu Yinyue was rendered numb.
"I think he definitely is."
A-Ying replied, "This subordinate thinks not."
Mu Yinyue: "..."
Forget it.
It was utterly redundant trying to exchange banter with A-Ying.
At that moment, Lianqiao walked in to report, "Madam, lunch has been delivered. You can come eat now."
Just in time—she was hungry.
Mu Yinyue got up, headed to the outer room, and sat down to eat.
Her postpartum meal was quite lavish.
Of course, it hadn't always been this lavish.
It had been rather poor at first, but after Mu Yinyue sent A-Ying on an errand, her confinement meals suddenly became rich and bountiful.
Mu Yinyue was quite satisfied.
She picked up the bowl of chicken broth before her, intending to take a sip to moisten her throat.
Yet just as she was about to drink, the hand stirring with the spoon came to an abrupt halt.
*There is poison in this.*