Chapter 7

Li Mu wanted to stay in the small garden, and Li Zhi didn’t want to leave either, so they stayed together.

With more than one person around, Li Mu reverted to being silent. She returned to her spot to continue reading while Li Zhi sat beside her, occasionally giving her a piece of pastry or gently teaching her when she encountered words she didn’t understand, as if they were back to the carefree days before Li Zhi married.

When the old madam sent someone to inquire, Li Zhi got up and went to the old madam’s courtyard, paid her respects, and then returned home with the old madam Ning from her husband’s family.

Before leaving the small garden, Li Zhi asked Li Mu if she wanted to return to the old madam’s place together, but Li Mu had come here to avoid visitors, so she naturally declined.

Li Zhi didn’t insist, gave a few reminders, and left Li Mu to stay in the small garden until all the guests had left before returning to the old madam’s courtyard.

After the birthday banquet, Li Yunxi and Lin Qiwu’s relationship visibly grew closer. Li Mu often heard Feixing bring back news that Eighth Miss had been taken out by Princess Kangning to play somewhere.

Li Yunxi frequently invited Lin Qiwu to visit their home, and the two children often came to find Li Mu.

After avoiding them a few times, Li Mu eventually had to entertain them.

The book described the adult Lin Qiwu as proud, unable to see the male protagonist’s greatness, and highly skilled in martial arts with a strong and tough demeanor. However, in Li Mu’s eyes, the ten-year-old Lin Qiwu was just a lively, energetic, and loyal little girl. She wore the bracelet Li Yunxi made with colorful threads and brought the little rabbits she hunted for Li Yunxi.

Once, when Lin Qiwu saw Li Yunxi helping Li Mu recognize characters, she complained about having too much homework. Li Yunxi, worried for her friend, came up with a bad idea, suggesting that Lin Qiwu secretly bring her homework over so they could do it together, thinking it would be faster and give them more time to play.

Lin Qiwu thought it was feasible, and the two started doing homework together. Unexpectedly, the next day, court lady Qiu Zhu visited the Li family, spoke with the old madam, Madam Qian, and Li Yunxi’s mother, and then Li Yunxi was sent to study with Lin Qiwu. It was said that their teacher was a great scholar, and Li Yunxi’s father, upon hearing the scholar’s name, often went to the Grand Princess’s residence to pick up Li Yunxi after school only to have a few words with the scholar and get some guidance.

What was originally one person’s homework became two people’s.

Li Yunxi, trying to help, ended up getting herself involved, becoming busy every day and visiting Li Mu less frequently.

That day, Li Yunxi and Lin Qiwu didn’t have classes. They stayed in Li Mu’s small room to catch up on homework, saying that they couldn’t concentrate elsewhere and that it was quiet and comfortable here.

Lin Qiwu also brought some exotic ingredients from the palace, saying they were scarce and from foreign lands. She had already instructed the small kitchen to prepare them, and once ready, they would let the old madam and Li Mu try them together.

Seeing that they were treating her place as a study room, each doing their own thing without needing her to entertain them, Li Mu relaxed and focused on reading and practicing calligraphy.

During the day, Li Mu’s room didn’t have incense burning, but the lingering scent of the calming incense from the night before was still present, soft and subtle. The sunlight streaming in from the window made the room feel incredibly peaceful and warm.

A breeze blew through, causing a delicate tinkling sound from the collision of pearls and jade, making Lin Qiwu, who didn’t particularly enjoy doing homework, look up. Following the sound, she saw a small pearl lantern.

The pearls on the lantern were smaller than grains of rice; each was crystal clear, strung around the lamp frame in the style of a palace lantern, exquisitely crafted.

Qianyun loved this lantern and, fearing it would gather dust and lose its luster, carefully wiped it down with a cloth on this sunny day and left it to air in the room before putting it away later.

Lin Qiwu found the lantern familiar and was about to ask Li Mu about its origin when Feixing, as if reminding her, said, “This lantern was a gift from you to my miss.”

The broken silence made both Li Mu and Li Yunxi look over. Lin Qiwu was momentarily stunned, then awkwardly said, “Yes, I gave it to her.”

Li Yunxi, pulling her mind out of her homework, exclaimed, “It’s beautiful.”

Lin Qiwu nodded slowly, “Yes, it is… My elder brother found it for me. I thought it was beautiful, so I gave it to Sister Mu.”

After saying this, Lin Qiwu, rarely showing a bit of unease, looked at Li Mu with a guilty expression and added in a small, inexplicable voice, “My elder brother may be lacking in virtue, but he’s still a good person.”

Li Mu: “…” Do you even hear what you’re saying?

Li Yunxi didn’t understand either, looking at Lin Qiwu with a puzzled expression.

Fortunately, the small kitchen had finished cooking the exotic ingredients Lin Qiwu brought, and she quickly changed the subject, pulling Li Yunxi and Li Mu to the outer room to eat.

The food from the small kitchen was served in soup pots. The old madam had already received one, and they each had a small pot. The pot lids had small holes for steam to escape, and even before opening it, Li Mu smelled a familiar scent.

Li Mu was dazed, wondering if she had smelled it wrong.

When the lid was opened, the rising steam carried the aroma of the food. Li Mu stared at the contents of the bowl, which were stewed with meat, and her heartbeat quietly quickened.

Li Mu picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, confirming her suspicion. The exotic ingredient Lin Qiwu brought from the palace was indeed potatoes.

…

“Stop pretending to write letters as if they’re from me to Sister Mu!” Lin Qiwu stormed into King Yan’s residence next door after returning from the Li family, warning Lin Que.

Lin Que casually flipped through the memorials the Ministry of Rites sent, barely responding with a “Hmm.”

Lin Qiwu didn’t expect such a calm reaction from Lin Que and such a straightforward agreement. She was skeptical, “Really? You really won’t write them anymore?”

Lin Que looked up and, as she wished, said a bit more, “You didn’t tell me to stop writing earlier. Now that you’re anxious, isn’t it a bit too late?”

It’s been months.

Lin Qiwu choked up, “I… I wasn’t very familiar with Sister Mu before. I just listened to you and was curious if she was really foolish…”

Lin Que: “Not curious anymore?”

Lin Qiwu firmly replied, “Now I think it doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean?”

Lin Qiwu paused. “I don’t know how to explain,” she thought for a moment, “Sister Mu is gentle and indifferent, not just to me but to everyone. You know I hate it when people treat me differently because of you and Auntie, but she and Yunxi don’t. That’s why Yunxi and I are friends, and I’m friends with her, too. Whether she’s foolish or not, she is who she is! Anyway, stop writing. If you need to investigate, do it yourself. Don’t pretend to be me to deceive Sister Mu anymore!”

Lin Que: “Alright, I won’t write anymore.”

Satisfied, Lin Qiwu turned and returned to the Princess’s residence, where she met Gu Chi, who had just returned.

Gu Chi asked where she had been, and she didn’t hide it.

After listening, Gu Chi frowned, “He’s still writing letters to the Li family’s Fifth Miss in your name?”

Lin Qiwu: “He won’t write anymore. He promised me.”

Gu Chi said nothing more but later went to King Yan’s residence.

Lin Qiwu, being young and naive, simply followed Lin Que’s words, diving into investigating whether Li Mu was truly foolish, thinking that was Lin Que’s real purpose. But Gu Chi wasn’t a child, nor was it his first day knowing his brother. He sensed something unusual and knew how extraordinary his brother’s attention to the Li family’s Fifth Miss was.

If the Li family’s Fifth Miss were only pretending to be foolish and stealing letters, his brother would at most have his subordinates investigate. He wouldn’t spend so much time and personally write letters. There had to be another reason, so he came to ask for answers.

Lin Que took out two letters and handed them to Gu Chi. One of the letters Lin Qiwu had seen, which described Li Mu’s encounter with a ragged monk six years ago. The other letter, sent last month, detailed how a Jinyiwei spy infiltrated Mingtai Temple and, after a month and a half, finally found a secret passage entrance in the abbot’s meditation room. The passage was partially collapsed, and after clearing it, they discovered it led to the inner palace, with the exit near the Grand Kitchen well, not far from the Chuanxin Hall.

After reading the letter, Gu Chi’s voice trembled with disbelief, “Is it Wudu?”

A ragged monk skilled in fortune-telling and eloquent… This description indeed resembled Master Wudu of Huguo Temple, who disappeared six years ago in the fire at the Chuanxin Hall.

The date of the fire was the same day that the old madam of the Li family encountered the ragged monk mentioned in the letter. Lin Qiwu didn’t notice this date and quickly skimmed over it, but Gu Chi immediately remembered that day.

Moreover, the relationship between Huguo Temple and Mingtai Temple had always been good. Wudu, disliking the strict atmosphere of Huguo Temple, often disguised himself as a ragged traveling monk and stayed at Mingtai Temple, frequently reading fortunes for the monks there to pay for his lodging. The monks at Mingtai Temple knew his identity but were too lazy to bother with him. When others heard the old madam of the Li family describe the ragged monk, they might not know his background, but the monks at Mingtai Temple would definitely think of Wudu. Yet, they insisted they didn’t know the monk’s origins, which was certainly suspicious.

The more Gu Chi thought about it, the more he believed he was right. His excitement stemmed from the fact that Wudu was not only skilled in fortune-telling but also in medicine and detoxification.

A few months before the late emperor’s death, Wudu was summoned to the palace to treat Lin Que. Unfortunately, on the day the emperor passed away, a fire broke out in the Chuanxin Hall. Wudu couldn’t escape, and many people were burned to death in the fire, their remains unidentifiable. No one knew if he was still alive.

Lin Que and Grand Princess Zhaoming quickly controlled the palace. The eunuch Cao Quan’an, desperate to save his life, told Grand Princess Zhaoming that Wudu had found a way to detoxify Lin Que. If they spared his life, he would reveal Wudu’s method.

Lin Que, bypassing Grand Princess Zhaoming, killed him without hesitation.

So, not only outsiders but even Grand Princess Zhaoming and Gu Chi wondered if Lin Que was insane. How could he be so ruthless, not even caring about his own life?

Unlike Gu Chi, Lin Que was quite calm. If it weren’t for Grand Princess Zhaoming’s recent years of praying for him, he wouldn’t have bothered to investigate whether the monk was still alive. He wouldn’t have sent Feixing to confirm if Li Mu’s sudden recovery from a severe illness last March was related to Wudu and if she had any secret contact with him. He wrote letters for several months to see if any of Wudu’s spies were around Li Mu. After all, the letters from the Princess’s residence seemed like daily trivialities to Li Mu, but to those who wanted to kill Lin Que, they occasionally revealed real and useful information. Any one of them could be enough to plan an assassination.

Wudu didn’t want to save him, and there were likely people around him who wanted to see him dead. They wouldn’t waste such a good opportunity. Now that it was confirmed that even if Li Mu was pretending to be foolish, she had no contact with Wudu and no hidden conspiracies, he naturally agreed with Lin Qiwu not to write to Li Mu anymore. As for Mingtai Temple, he had already taken measures to force the abbot, who was traveling, to return. Calculating the travel time, he should be back in the capital by May. All that was left was to wait.

“Don’t tell Mother yet to avoid getting her hopes up,” Lin Que reminded Gu Chi.

Gu Chi nodded and asked, “Was it really a coincidence that the Li family’s Fifth Miss managed to steal the letter?”

Lin Que smiled, “I don’t know. Should we have Cui Wanchi take her to the imperial prison for interrogation?”

Gu Chi: “…Pretend I didn’t ask.”

Lin Que didn’t write to Li Mu again, but seven days later, he received the first reply from Li Mu.