Mo Canglan smiled casually.
Yet his brows and eyes carried the oppressive force of a gathering storm.
“My fiancée is not someone just anyone can strike.”
The words were spoken lightly.
But they swept through the hall like a freezing wind.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly.
Mo Jinglin’s face alternated between green and pale.
The red handprint on his cheek was unmistakable, the swelling clearly visible.
Yet he didn’t dare say another word.
Perhaps the earlier threat about “yielding the throne to someone more worthy” had truly shaken him.
Mo Jinglin understood Mo Canglan’s temperament.
He knew his imperial uncle was capable of almost anything.
So no matter how furious or resentful he felt, he could only clench his fists and endure it.
Mo Canglan spoke indifferently.
“It’s getting late.”
His eyes rested on the Crown Prince.
“Does Your Highness still intend to stay?”
Mo Jinglin pressed his lips together.
His expression was ugly beyond words.
Without saying anything further, he shot Yun Zi’rao a final look before turning and leaving.
Prime Minister Yun and Madam Yun accompanied both Prince Zhan and the Crown Prince outside.
As they stepped into the courtyard, someone hurried toward them.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince has arrived and I failed to greet you in time—”
Only when he approached did he notice that Prince Zhan was present as well.
Yun Zexuan’s expression froze.
He quickly bowed.
“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Greetings, Prince Zhan.”
Madam Yun frowned.
“Zexuan, didn’t I tell you to stay in your room and focus on your studies?”
“Please forgive me, Mother.”
Yun Zexuan lowered his head respectfully.
“I heard that His Highness had arrived and felt I should pay my respects.”
“And regarding my sister’s fall into the water—”
“Zexuan!”
Madam Yun’s voice turned sharp.
“Enough.”
“Fell into the water?”
Mo Jinglin’s expression changed immediately.
“How did Jun’er fall into the water?”
Prime Minister Yun was equally startled.
“When did that happen?”
He turned toward Madam Yun.
“Why wasn’t I informed?”
Madam Yun frowned slightly.
“I’m still investigating the matter—”
“After returning from the Laundry Bureau, Zi’rao harbored resentment toward Jun’er and me.”
Before Madam Yun could finish, Yun Zexuan coldly glanced at Yun Zi’rao.
He seemed eager to condemn her.
“She held Jun’er’s head underwater and nearly drowned her.”
“When I arrived, she even kicked both of us into the lake.”
“Jun’er was soaked through.”
“If I hadn’t rescued her, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”
A brief silence followed.
Mo Jinglin’s expression darkened.
Instinctively, he looked toward Yun Zi’rao.
“If you’re angry, direct your anger at me.”
“What did Jun’er do wrong?”
“Did you think that by drowning her, you’d become the Yun family’s only daughter again—”
“Did you leave your brain in the Crown Prince’s residence?”
Mo Canglan’s cold voice cut him off.
His handsome face was filled with disdain for stupidity.
Mo Jinglin froze.
“Imperial Uncle?”
Mo Canglan’s gaze swept lazily over Yun Zexuan from head to toe.
“If Yun Zi’rao had pushed Yun Zijun into the water while her guard was down, that might sound believable.”
“But after witnessing her attack…”
His eyes narrowed.
“You still expect me to believe that a grown man like you was kicked into the lake by her?”
He paused.
“Use that pig brain of yours and think about how likely that actually is.”
Mo Jinglin’s face flushed red.
For once, he had no rebuttal.
Yun Zexuan was tall and strong.
Even without martial training, he was still a healthy adult man.
Yun Zi’rao, meanwhile, was a frail young woman covered in injuries.
The story certainly sounded suspicious.
“Prince Zhan!”
Yun Zexuan grew anxious.
“I’m telling the truth!”
“Yun Zi’rao only looks weak. In reality, she—”
“Enough!”
Madam Yun’s voice rang out sharply.
“Yun Zexuan, you have truly disappointed me.”
His face instantly turned pale.
“Mother, I’m not lying—”
“Even if you favor Jun’er, you shouldn’t fabricate such ridiculous accusations against Zi’rao.”
Disappointment filled Madam Yun’s eyes.
There was even a trace of heartbreak.
“I personally saw the injuries on her body.”
“The physician examined her today.”
“He said her external injuries are severe.”
“Her internal injuries are chronic.”
“She’s seriously malnourished.”
“Let alone kicking a grown man into a lake—”
“Walking too quickly leaves her breathless.”
Her voice trembled with anger.
“Zexuan, I always thought you simply pitied Jun’er because of her hardships.”
“But what you’ve said today…”
“It chills my heart.”
Yun Zexuan stared at her in disbelief.
He was telling the truth.
Why wouldn’t Mother believe him?
Madam Yun took a deep breath.
Then she gently lifted Yun Zi’rao’s hands and held them up for everyone to see.
“Look at these hands.”
Her eyes reddened.
“Look at what kind of life Rao’er lived during those three years.”
“I don’t even dare think too deeply about it.”
“Whenever I do…”
“I feel like a complete failure as a mother.”
Yun Zi’rao lowered her gaze.
Silent.
Pale.
Fragile.
Her thin frame seemed so weak that a gust of wind might carry her away.
Madam Yun’s eyes filled with tears.
“I don’t care what her biological mother did.”
“I don’t care whether she truly targeted Jun’er or not.”
“She suffered enough in the Laundry Bureau to repay any mistake she could possibly have made.”
“Even if she’d committed some unforgivable offense, those three years should have erased the debt.”
She looked around coldly.
“From this day forward…”
“Anyone who dares frame, bully, or mistreat Rao’er again…”
“I will not spare them.”
After speaking, she bowed slightly toward the Crown Prince and Prince Zhan.
“Rao’er’s health is weak. She cannot remain in the wind for long.”
“I’ll take her back to rest.”
Without waiting for a response, she led Yun Zi’rao away.
Mo Jinglin stood silently.
Watching the retreating figures of mother and daughter.
His eyes darkened.
A trace of gloom flickered through them.
“Father!”
Yun Zexuan immediately turned to Prime Minister Yun.
“I’m telling the truth!”
“Zi’rao only appears weak, but in reality—”
“In reality, after three years in the Laundry Bureau, she mastered an indestructible divine technique.”
Mo Canglan laughed coldly.
His tone dripped with mockery.
“She can fly to heaven and burrow into the earth, accomplishing anything she pleases?”
He looked at Yun Zexuan with open contempt.
“If you’re truly this incompetent, then in my opinion, you’d be better off finding a secluded place and smashing your head against a wall.”
“At least then you’d stop embarrassing yourself.”
“And stop bringing shame upon every man in the empire.”
Yun Zexuan stiffened.
Humiliation flooded his face.
His anger burned fiercely.
Why wouldn’t anyone believe him?
He wasn’t lying.
The liar was Yun Zi’rao.
“If the Crown Prince wishes to stay for dinner, be my guest.”
Mo Canglan turned to leave.
Then paused.
Without looking back, he delivered one final warning.
“If anyone dares bully my fiancée again…”
“I’ll make sure their entire family never knows a moment of peace.”
Fiancée?
Yun Zexuan froze.
He instinctively looked toward Mo Jinglin.
Only then did he notice the clear handprint on the Crown Prince’s face.
His heart skipped a beat.
Someone had actually struck the Crown Prince?
Who would dare?
Could it really have been Yun Zi’rao?
Remembering her madness earlier that day, his anger surged anew.
She had attacked her brother.
Kicked both him and Yun Zijun into the lake.
And now she had even dared strike the Crown Prince.
Prime Minister Yun’s face remained dark.
“Prince Zhan came today to propose marriage.”
“He intends to marry Zi’rao.”
“What?”
Yun Zexuan snapped back to reality.
Disbelief covered his face.
“Prince Zhan proposed?”
“Father agreed?”
“Zi’rao agreed.”
Prime Minister Yun’s expression was equally grim.
Clearly, he wasn’t pleased with the outcome.
“Prince Zhan was determined.”
“He left no room for refusal.”
Yun Zexuan’s expression changed dramatically.
“Marriage is decided by parents and matchmakers!”
“How could Zi’rao agree so easily?”
What else could they have done?
Prime Minister Yun merely glanced at him expressionlessly.
His mood was terrible.
Without another word, he turned and headed toward his study.
Yun Zexuan then looked at Mo Jinglin.
“Why would Prince Zhan suddenly come to the Yun residence to propose?”
The Crown Prince’s face was dark with fury.
“My imperial uncle is deliberately opposing me.”
“What should we do now?”
Yun Zexuan’s expression also grew cold.
“Yun Zi’rao is certainly scheming.”
“Without anyone noticing, she’s somehow secured a marriage into Prince Zhan’s household.”
Mo Jinglin’s eyes narrowed.
“When did she ever meet my imperial uncle?”
Yun Zexuan thought for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
“I’ve never heard of them meeting.”
“She spent the last three years in the Laundry Bureau.”
“She had no opportunity to leave.”
“How could she possibly know Prince Zhan?”
Besides…
If Prince Zhan truly had some special connection to her…
Wouldn’t he have stopped her from entering the Laundry Bureau three years ago?
How could he have stood by and watched her suffer all that time?