The Aloof Prince Chapter 127 - Wishful Thinking

Translator: Rize
Editor: Larkspur
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Qin Muyue’s words drew attention towards Mu Yunjin. She glanced at Qin Tai Fei on the sickbed and looked at the meddlesome girl and in a cold tone said, “Secret.”

Suddenly, Qin Muyue was robbed of her interest, she moved her eyes away then walked to Rong Wangfei’s side.

Meanwhile, Zheng Tai Hou approached and looked at Qin Tai Fei. Taking a deep breath, she sorrowfully said, “Xiangxian, be at ease, aijia will take good care of the young ones.” Although such were her words, she soon covered her mouth, her face bursting with joy.

Mu Yunjin was too lazy to care about these women and simply retreated to Chu Li’s side. The fellow had been rooted to the spot ever since they arrived, she raised her eyes to look at him. “Are you going to go and speak words of comfort?”

“Let’s go.” Chu Li shook his head and turned to leave.

Mu Yunjin quietly followed.

Behind them, Qin Muyue looked pensively at the pair of departing figures.

♚

Walking back to the carriage, Mu Yunjin automatically ignored Qin Tai Fei’s first few words and only conveyed to Chu Li the latter part. “Is there a peach tree in Shui Yun Temple?”

Chu Li nodded and looked at Mu Yunjin.

“Qin Tai Fei told me to go to Shui Yun Temple and look under the peach tree, isn’t it suspicious?” she said, a little curious.

“Let’s talk about it later.” Chu Li didn’t seem at all concerned.

Seeing his indifference, Mu Yunjin spoke no more, and as such the entire journey back was spent in silence. 

Although she was usually cocooned in her own world most times, she was aware of the oppressive aura the man beside her was emanating today. Therefore, she resolved to stay mum lest she accidentally steps onto a minefield.

Sitting in the carriage, she rested her head on the edge of the carriage by the window, Qin Tai Fei’s words incessantly coursing her mind. The part … about not letting them live peacefully … Are there any bad things awaiting them?

Mu Yunjin sighed, her eyes a little glum. She had no way of knowing things, and the old woman couldn’t have been more cryptic. 

Before she knew it, the carriage came to a stop outside Huangzi Fu. Mu Yunjin took the lead to go down the carriage. A few steps into the door, she discovered that Chu Li had not followed. Ding Xian was sitting outside the carriage and had no intention of going down either.

“Are you going somewhere?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Ding Xian nodded. “His Highness is going out of the city, because of the news from the palace we have been delayed, otherwise, it is estimated that we should have arrived.”

“Oh.” With that simple acknowledgment, she walked right inside the Fu. She did not ask where they were going or when they would return.

Watching the departing figure, for a moment, Ding Xian felt awkward. He was shaken by the angry voice that roared from within: “Set out!”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Mu Yunjin had just entered the gates when she heard the sound of wheels. When she turned around and saw the carriage leave, she stomped her feet.

“Huangzi Fei, what’s wrong? How is Qin Tai Fei?” Shen Momo had been waiting by the door ever since the pair of husband and wife had departed. When she saw the mistress’s distressed face, she thought she was worried about Qin Tai Fei.

Mu Yunjin was not in a good mood when she replied, without a thought, she blurted the first words that came to her. “She won’t die for the time being but is only a breath away.”

Shen Momo turned rigid, embarrassedly smiled, and went to the side. Huangzi Fei’s words always surprised her.

In the Fu’s back garden, a dazed Mu Yunjin leaned on the pavilion pillar. Her fingers scratched the pillar making ‘zi-zi’ sound.

Zi Xiang was holding a plate of fruit, and looked at her mistress, shrinking her neck. “Young Miss, the person is dying, you should open up a little.” 

“En.” Seeing that Zi Xiang was talking about Qin Tai Fei’s matter, Mu Yunjin did not deny and nodded. After a moment, she seemed to have returned to her senses, looked up towards the sky, and let go of the pillar. “I’ll go out and might return late.”

Zi Xiang nodded.

Mu Yunjin walked through the back door of the Fu. She then entered the stables, led the red-maned horse out, saddled up, and rode in the direction of Shui Yun Temple.

♚

One hour later Mu Yunjin stopped at the gates of Shui Yun Temple. Getting off the horse, she looked at the temple before her, feeling a little helpless. 

Such a place for worship is hiding a lot of secrets ...

Mu Yunjin went in and directly to the mountain to the rear of the temple, if she was not mistaken, the location of the Peach Forest was in the mountain.

Just as she arrived at the back mountain, she suddenly understood the saying that enemies meet on a narrow road.

She saw Wenyuan and Mingyuan carrying a bucket. They too saw her just when she had. They simply stood and looked at each other in dismay for a while. Then, pursing her lips, Mu Yunjin moved forward as if she had seen nothing.

Wenyuan and Ming Yuan looked blankly as Mu Yunjin approached. Unable to bear it any longer, Wenyuan finally spoke out. “That Sutra is with you, it should be useless to you, why do you insist on taking it?”

“Then, is it useful to you?” Mu Yunjin retorted.

“Of course it is!” Wen Yuan replied in an excited voice. “After Abbot Kong Shi’s death, Shui Yun Temple has no candidate to replace him. Although Senior Brother Huaiyuan is popular among the masses and I call him senior brother, but I came to Shui Yun Temple earlier than him!”

“You want to be the head abbot?” Mu Yunjin captured the essence of his words.

Wenyuan nodded.

“Heh—” Mu Yunjin sneered. “Then it is really fortunate that the sutra is in my hands. If Shui Yun Temple lets you become the head abbot, I am afraid that it will close down sooner than later!”

“You!” Wenyuan angrily clenched his fist, wanting to step forward. But right then, Mingyuan pulled him back and shook his head at him.

Wenyuan calmed down, he suddenly recalled his two meetings with Mu Yunjin, it was not easy taking action against her. Thus, without speaking further, he picked up his bucket and continued walking.

Seeing that the two people leave just like that, Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow in curiosity. But she as soon brushed it aside and continued towards her destination.

Arriving at the Peach Forest, Mu Yunjin suddenly felt that she had met with a difficult problem.

So many peach trees, which one did Qin Tai Fei mean? ...

Mu Yunjin sighed. Even if she dug under the trees for half a day, she still might not find anything.

Autumn was approaching, each peach tree was bald, there was nothing meant to be seen here.

“Hehehe, Huangzi Fei is here.” A lone voice drifted from behind her.

Mu Yunjin looked back only to find Master Huaiyuan. She didn’t know when he had arrived, but he was standing not far away wearing a sile.

Mu Yunjin nodded at him. “Master is passing by or especially made a trip to see me?”

“You are an intelligent person; you naturally know that this old man came to find you.” Master Huaiyuan’s smile deepened as he looked towards the Peach Forest.

“These peach trees have already blossomed and borne fruits, they will be bare for some time ... not worth seeing.”

Mu Yunjin pursed her lips. She felt Master Huaiyuan’s words held a deeper meaning.

“Qin Tai Fei came here in the past, does she have a particular peach tree that she is fond of?” Mu Yunjin asked.

Master Huaiyuan mysteriously smiled. “You like to investigate things, sooner or later it might do you harm. If this old one did not guess wrong, you concealed today’s visit from Liu Huangzi’s people, right?”

“……….” Mu Yunjin was baffled by Master Huaiyuan’s words, she could not tell if he would help her or not.

Seeing that she didn’t speak, Master Huaiyuan spoke again. “His Highness Liu Huangzi’s mind is meticulous, he thinks over things thoroughly. Huangzi Fei is his counterpart, your temperament is rather careless and impatient, later you should listen to Liu Huangzi carefully.”  

Thinking of Chu Li, Mu Yunjin’s mood turned a little gloomy, this Peach Forest was suddenly not interesting anymore.

They left the woods and along the way Mu Yunjin curiously asked Master Huaiyuan. “Master, do you know what Chu Li has been up to?”

Mu Yunjin always felt that there were many things Chu Li had been hiding. Furthermore, she felt that Rong Fei’s matter was not as simple either. Of course, she knew that even if she asked, Master Huaiyuan had Chu Li’s back and would never sell him out.

“When the time comes, His Highness will naturally tell you." Master Huaiyuan escorted Mu Yunjin to the temple gates, put his hands together, and made a sincere show of etiquette.

Mu Yunjin curled her lips. Such mysterious words ... The more she heard, the more she became numb to it.

It’s just that …

From start to finish, Chu Li had treated her as an outsider. Even Qin Muyue knew and understand Chu Li better than herself. She turned even gloomier. 

Exiting the temple gates she rode her horse going farther and farther from the Shui Yun Temple.

After Mu Yunjin left, inside the doors of the Shui Yun Temple, a purple silhouette slowly emerged. Hands behind his back, he gazed fixedly at the trotting figure.

Master Huaiyuan looked at the person and smiled. “The thing under the peach tree, did you already take it?”

“En.” A cold and indifferent voice sounded.

♚

By the time Mu Yunjin returned to the Fu, the sky had already darkened. Zi Xiang had already prepared her dinner, but she did not eat. Instead, she went directly to her room and laid down to sleep.

Today, somehow, she felt especially tired. It wasn’t long before she sank into a deep sleep.

When midnight came, Mu Yunjin suddenly opened her eyes. The room was dark and quiet but there seemed to be some small sounds ... as if something was crawling and gradually approaching her.

Mu Yunjin immediately sat up but did not light a candle. Under the moonlight in the hazy room, she saw on the ground two small black dots approaching her.

Her heart trembled in fear, she focused her senses and looked towards the ceiling. She could perceive that there was someone on the roof.

The two black little dots were getting closer, she flew from the bed, picked up a candlestick on the table, and lit it up. She could now see the whole room clearly and especially the specks crawling towards her. Her eyes completely sank. The two insects were the size of a fingernail and moving towards her bed.

Mu Yunjin clenched her teeth and looked at the two insects, her heart seething in rage.

How could she not know what those bugs were?

Not long ago, when she had heard that Qin Tai Fei was afflicted with mother gu. She had privately found and read some books related to it to understand the poison. She also saw a picture of the parasite, and it was not only the child gu in front of her but also the mother gu.  

Mu Yunjin broke out of her pondering, threw out silver needles, and pierced the child and mother gu. The two crawling insects were motionless.

She quickly blew out the candle and looked up. Who was the person on the roof?

Qin Muyue?

If it were really her, then this time, she had really miscalculated. Did she think that everything would go smoothly?

Such wishful thinking! 

♚♚♚

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