Chapter 34: Murong Xi Has Returned

Yun Xiyan was startled, her face turning pale. Lowering her head, she replied, "Yes, Xiyan agrees as well. I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly." Did she have any other choice? If she didn't say this, and her Imperial Sister decided to conduct a thorough investigation, the truth about the arrows would surely come to light, and the Empress would never forgive her.

Upon leaving the Yaoguang Palace, Yun Xiyan’s expression was chilling. She clenched her fists so tightly that the veins stood out, though she was unaware of it. Although she had not been held accountable for her sister’s injury, she had been placed under house arrest for four months. Emperors have always despised infighting among their progeny, and it was clear the Empress now harbored deep reservations about her. Everything had been meticulously orchestrated by her sister; leaving the prison was the centerpiece of her sister's plan. Her sister had been released due to a lack of evidence, and the Empress had even tasked her with investigating the death of the Princess. Her sister’s schemes were now so profound that she had to be careful not to leave any incriminating trails; she needed to return and devise a new plan.

Yun Qange spent some time chatting privately with her father, sipping grapefruit tea and enjoying a few osmanthus cakes, but eventually, she could no longer bear his nagging. It was always the same refrain: "My child, now that you are out of prison, I am at ease. But when you return home, do try to restrain yourself. Pick up fewer handsome men, stop harassing decent women, and show more affection to the husbands you already have..."

Under her father’s teary-eyed gaze, Yun Qange boarded the carriage back to her estate. Rubbing her temples to soothe a headache, she sighed; her father cried far too easily, shedding tears at the slightest provocation. Men of this era were truly difficult to handle, though, fortunately, the three men in her household seemed relatively normal for the time being.

As soon as Yun Qange stepped off the carriage, a pink blur tackled her, soaking a patch of her skirt. "Hey, Dieyi, you've ruined my dress!" She tapped Dieyi on the head with her fist.

"Wuwu, Princess, you’re finally back! I was so worried while you were gone for all those days. That hateful Xiangcao wouldn't let me go with you, wanting to keep you all to herself! Hmph, if the Empress's Consort hadn't sent word that you would be back late and to prepare, I wouldn't even have known you were returning." Dieyi’s large eyes welled up with tears. So much for being gentle, she thought; the Princess was so fierce.

A warmth flooded a corner of the young woman's heart. Her father was truly kind to her—or rather, to the original owner of this body. It was a pity the original had not cherished such familial bonds.

"Hey... prison is hardly a place of amusement, so why would you call that 'keeping me to yourself'?" She felt a sense of helplessness toward the naturally airheaded girl.

"But I could have kept you company, Princess. Look, you’ve grown so thin from hunger."

"Have I?"

The sunlight seemed to hold a touch of tenderness, bathing everyone who had come to welcome the Princess home.

"Here, here, and here..." Dieyi gestured up and down Yun Qange’s frame. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she leaned in mysteriously and whispered in her ear, "Princess, Young Master Xi has returned. He is waiting for you in your courtyard."

"What? Murong Xi is back?" Yun Qange’s mouth hung open, wide enough to fit an entire egg.

She wondered if he had been to his own quarters yet; she had already cleared out everything in his room...

"He is back, and he has already visited his own courtyard." Xiangcao’s gloating voice reached her ears. Yun Qange looked up to see her steward, Xiangcao, holding a sword and standing at the entrance with a large group of handsome men.

Yun Qange thought that Xiangcao’s expression of anticipation for a show was truly, deeply annoying!