After exchanging a few casual words with the Princess Consort, Chu Qingmeng prepared to return to her own residence to rest. As she passed through the front courtyard, she noticed a sudden influx of guards stationed outside Mo Liufang's quarters. Exhausted from several days of running about, Chu Qingmeng cared for nothing now except getting back to rest, and so she let the matter pass without inquiry. Mo Liujin, however, took in the scene at a glance; understanding the implication, a flicker of alertness crossed his eyes. Without breaking his stride, he escorted Chu Qingmeng all the way back to her estate.
Upon returning, Chu Qingmeng collapsed onto her bed and fell fast asleep. Chunhe and Xiazhi took turns keeping watch over the room, neither noticing that the hidden guards in the shadows had doubled in number.
Meanwhile, back at the Prince's Mansion, Mo Liujin and Mo Liuyuan knelt in silence inside Concubine Liu's rooms, enduring her scoldings without a word of protest. Only when her anger had subsided somewhat did she stop to take a sip of water to moisten her throat. With a heavy sigh, she slowly began, "Jin'er, you and Yuan'er have been clever since childhood. I know I cannot dictate your choices, but I only want you both to have a good path forward! Born as sons of a concubine from my womb, if you do not secure an advantageous marriage to bolster your futures, how can you hope to go far in life?"
Chapter 23