Chapter 153: The Northwest, Treasure of the Previous Dynasty

Turning around, she saw Xu Qingzhou's family quietly standing nearby, watching with smiles. She smiled lightly and said, "Manager Xu, you have had a hard journey."

Xu Qingzhou hurriedly stepped forward with his wife and children to pay respects to Shen Qianmo. "This humble subject greets the Princess."

Xu Qingzhou's wife, Lady Wang, was a quiet and modest woman. They had three children: the eldest daughter, ten years old, already showed considerable composure and delicate beauty, while the two sons, aged seven and four, both looked bright and clever, their darting eyes occasionally turning toward Shen Qianmo with a look of pure curiosity.

Shen Qianmo stepped forward to help the children up and said to Xu Qingzhou, "Manager Xu, there is no need for such formalities. I am very glad that you could all come with Mother Xu. However, the Northwest is, after all, not as prosperous as the capital; I hope you will forgive any discomforts you may encounter."

After rising, hearing Shen Qianmo's words, Xu Qingzhou said with great apprehension, "What is the Princess saying? For this humble subject to be able to follow the Princess is the fortune of three lifetimes. According to the Princess's instructions, this humble subject has already sold the Falling Jade Pavilion and the First Fragrance Pavilion. These are the account ledgers, and I ask the Princess to inspect them."

With that, Xu Qingzhou took two thick ledger books from his bundle and respectfully handed them to Shen Qianmo.

"You have worked hard, Manager Xu." Shen Qianmo had always been confident in Xu Qingzhou's administrative abilities. She instructed Luzhu to take the ledgers and then ordered that Xu Qingzhou's family be escorted to rest first.

The Falling Jade Pavilion and the First Fragrance Pavilion were dowry properties left to her by Xie Yun. Now that she was far away in the Northwest and the state of the Duke's Manor was far inferior to before, Shen Anyan had set his sights on these two shops, intending to make them his own. Therefore, Shen Qianmo decided to make a clean break and had Xu Qingzhou sell both establishments.

As it turned out, Xu Qingzhou had not辜负 her trust; the selling price was far higher than her expected valuation.

Mother Xu also took out a list and said to Shen Qianmo, "My Lady, this old servant has brought all the valuable items from the Wind Lotus Courtyard as well as your dowry. This is the inventory, have a look."

Shen Qianmo clasped Mother Xu's hand and said, "Mother Xu, how could I not trust your work? Keep the inventory for now, there is no rush to look at it. Besides, just let Luzhu take some guards to move the transported goods. You must be tired from such a long journey; everyone should go and rest first."

Although Mother Xu still wanted to chat with Shen Qianmo, she was getting on in years and truly exhausted from the bumpy journey, so she had no choice but to retire with the others. Meanwhile, the young maids, though showing traces of fatigue, were in high spirits and refused to go rest, instead surrounding Shen Qianmo and Luzhu, chattering happily and endlessly.

Luzhu glanced at the maids surrounding her and asked in puzzlement, "Where is Qingluo? Why didn't she come?"

A maid in green pouted and said with disdain, "Sister Luzhu, don't even mention her. Ever since the Young Lady's accident, she has never settled down in the manor. She has been acting all secretive, nobody knows what she was up to. This time, when the Prince sent people to fetch us, she simply vanished without a trace. We couldn't find her anywhere, so we had no choice but to come here first. However, we left a mark in the courtyard; if she sees it, she should know where we've gone."

"Outrageous!" Luzhu exclaimed indignantly upon hearing this. "Considering how well the Young Lady usually treated her, I never expected that dead girl Qingluo to be so ungrateful. If I ever see her, I will surely give her a sound thrashing."

For a moment, the young maids began to chatter and argue all at once. Shen Qianmo could not help but massage her temples and sigh. Truly, three women make a market; that saying was an eternal truth.

After finally managing to placate the maids and sending Luzhu to lead them off to rest, the great hall finally returned to peace.

Watching Luzhu's retreating figure with the maids, Shen Qianmo stood in the shadowed part of the hall, thinking of the girl Qingluo, and could not help but sigh inwardly at how unpredictable fate could be.

In truth, she felt a sense of guilt toward Qingluo. To begin with, that girl was also a pitiful soul. What kind of terrifying place Shadow Gate was—even if she had never witnessed it, she could well imagine. Working under the vicious and ruthless Mo Hanshan, days naturally could not be easy. No matter what, she bore some responsibility for Qingluo turning out the way she did.

She wondered what plans the girl had. Back at Snow Ridge, she could tell that Qingluo held deep resentment toward her and had continuously lurked secretly around her to search for the Mo Token, presumably remaining extremely loyal to Mo Hanshan. Now that she had left the Duke's Manor, she must have returned to Shadow Gate.

Sighing lightly, she decided not to dwell on these vexing matters. Just as she turned around to look at the ledgers Xu Qingzhou had handed her moments ago, her body was gently embraced from behind. A low murmur followed closely by her ear: "Mo'er, I'm sorry."

Shen Qianmo was slightly stunned. Why on earth was this fellow apologizing to her out of the blue? However, after a brief moment of thought, she understood what he meant.

He must have been feeling guilty on her behalf because Shen Anyan had publicly severed father-daughter ties with her.

She smiled, leaning her head against his chest, and grasped the arms that encircled her body, speaking softly, "Silly, I'm fine. It's just that it hasn't been this lively in a long time, so I'm a bit unaccustomed to it for the moment. Besides, you know my true identity and origins, so I wasn't all that heartbroken. It's just that now I don't even have a maternal family to fall back on, so you are forbidden from bullying me in the future."

Murong Yuanheng rubbed his chin against Shen Qianmo's shoulder and whispered low, "Mo'er, I have said it before: a single pair for a lifetime. I, Murong Yuanheng, will love only you in this life, and I will have only you as my wife, with never another marriage."

The low, magnetic voice echoed by her ear. Murong Yuanheng's firm and affectionate promise touched Shen Qianmo's heart deeply. She patted the back of his hand and said warmly, "I know, A-Heng, I believe you. By the way, how have the people sent from the Prince's Manor been settled?"

"Chief Steward Mu will handle it. Mo'er need not waste energy on such trivial matters; just rest at ease," Murong Yuanheng said lazily, clinging to her with a note of dissatisfaction.

Rest at ease again! Shen Qianmo could not help rolling her eyes inwardly. Turning around in his arms to face him directly, she chided playfully, "Murong Yuanheng, you refuse to let me do anything at all. Do you intend to turn me into a useless person?"

"And what if I do? My woman naturally doesn't need to do anything. Even if Mo'er becomes a useless person, this Prince will still love you just the same," Murong Yuanheng said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Helplessly, Shen Qianmo took his hand and placed it upon her slightly rounded abdomen, gently persuading him, "A-Heng, the baby is already over three months along. Master Situ said the condition is very stable; you don't need to be so nervous anymore. Furthermore, for a pregnant woman, being idle and sluggish all day long is not good either, so I want to find something to do."

Murong Yuanheng instinctively wanted to voice his objection, but as if suddenly thinking of something, the corners of his lips curled up, and a mischievous smile appeared on his handsome face. Leaning closer to her, he whispered softly, "Mo'er, since Master Situ says the condition is stable, can we perhaps..."

Seeing the wicked and ambiguous smile on his face, how could Shen Qianmo not understand what was running through his mind? In a mix of shyness and vexation, she couldn't help but give his arm a heavy slap, feigning mild anger as she scolded, "Murong Yuanheng, you scoundrel, what on earth are you thinking about in broad daylight?"

Yet Murong Yuanheng looked at her with an utterly innocent expression, aggrievedly complaining, "It was you, Mo'er, who said you wanted to find something to do."

Shen Qianmo froze, torn between laughter and tears. This rogue's skill at playing the scoundrel was truly becoming more refined by the day; was that what she meant by wanting to find something to do?

"Murong Yuanheng, stay away from me." Shen Qianmo gave him a huge eye-roll and forcefully broke free from his embrace.

However, Murong Yuanheng held her tightly in a persistent embrace, sighing softly by her ear, "Mo'er, I really missed you..."

Looking at the lean and handsome man before her acting aggrieved and coquettish, Shen Qianmo's heart softened. She abandoned her struggle and obediently let herself be held.

Murong Yuanheng contentedly breathed in the faint fragrance of the woman in his arms, yet his gaze fell with melancholic annoyance upon Shen Qianmo's slightly protruding belly. The more he looked, the more an eyesore that thing inside her seemed. He swore that once Mo'er birthed this child, he would never let her get pregnant again—it was perilous, troublesome, and thoroughly annoying.

A few days later, Mo Qingshan and the rest of the Mo family, who had been exiled to the desolate city, also arrived in Jingzhou City under the escort of Ye Qinglan and Baili Xiao.

"Adoptive Father, Uncle Mo, two Grand Uncles, you have had a hard journey." Shen Qianmo and Murong Yuanheng went out of the city together to welcome them.

Ever since their parting at the ten-mile pavilion outside the Shengjing capital, nearly half a year had passed unawares. Seeing Mo Qingshan's lean, thin appearance with his flowing gray beard once again, Shen Qianmo felt an extraordinary sense of warmth. The desolate city was a barren land, and conditions were naturally extremely harsh, but fortunately, the Mo family members were not delicate folk. Thus, all eighty-three people originally exiled were brought back without a single loss—a matter truly worthy of comfort.

Half a year of arduous living in the desolate city had made Mo Qingshan's lean face even more weathered, and his temples even more frosted with white. Upon seeing Murong Yuanheng and Shen Qianmo, he was overwhelmed with emotion, but seeing Murong Yuanheng's hair, which was even whiter than his own, he let out a soft sigh.

Although he was in the desolate city, members of the Mo clan still regularly reported outside news to him, so he was well aware of what Murong Yuanheng and Shen Qianmo had experienced over the past half year.

For these two children, reaching this point today had truly not been easy.

Reuniting after a brief separation, Ye Qinglan remained the same taciturn and cold-natured figure, exchanging a faint greeting with Shen Qianmo before receding into the crowd. Baili Xiao, meanwhile, kept trailing behind her, calling out constantly, "Brother Xie, Brother Xie!" Annoyed by the noise, Murong Yuanheng grabbed him by the collar, effortlessly lifting him off the ground, and with a dark, handsome face, said coldly, "Call out again, and this Prince will cut out your tongue."

Where on earth did this clueless fellow pop up from? Just looking at him was irritating. If not for the consideration that he had once helped Mo'er, he wouldn't have tolerated him until now!

Baili Xiao's face turned pale, his lips trembling as he muttered a few words, but ultimately intimidated by Murong Yuanheng's aura, he could only slink away and hide behind Ye Qinglan. That aggrieved little look provoked roaring laughter from the surrounding entourage.

"A-Heng!" Shen Qianmo shot Murong Yuanheng a glance, then turned to offer Baili Xiao an apologetic, reassuring smile, signaling him not to mind.

The group returned to the Prince Xuan's Mansion. Before they even had time to sit down and talk, Yan Mo hurried in to report a sensational piece of news to Murong Yuanheng.

Rumor had it that the treasure and the Imperial Jade Seal of the founding Emperor of the previous dynasty were hidden within the territory of the Northwest, and the Mo Token contained the map leading to this secret treasure!