Your Highness, please stop chasing me.

Chapter 90 The Temptation of Power

Mu Jiaojiao couldn't get any information from Mu Qinghe, and she was feeling quite agitated, so naturally she wouldn't pass on any messages to Mo Shijie.

Aunt An noticed Mu Jiaojiao's agitation but didn't ask any further questions; she already knew what had happened earlier.

In all these days, apart from the first day when she went to pay her respects to Mu Qinghe, she had not gone to the Red Maple Courtyard again. She knew that even if she went, she might not see Mu Qinghe.

From the moment she first met Mu Qinghe until her aunt arranged for her to become a concubine in Mu Qinghe's courtyard, she understood one thing: she would never gain Mu Qinghe's favor in this lifetime.

Although she was unwilling, she now wanted to make her and Mu Jiaojiao's lives better.

Her current plan is no longer to become the mistress of the Mu family. As long as Mu Jiaojiao can marry into the royal family, her status will definitely be elevated.

Master Wuyi said he would definitely make Mu Jiaojiao marry into the royal family as she wished.

The moon rose above the branches, and a gentle breeze brought a touch of coolness.

Inside the main hall of Prince Jing's mansion, this slight coolness was clearly a drop in the ocean for Mo Shijie, who was pacing back and forth anxiously.

Previously, he was steady and reliable in his work in Yu Nan City, and with his father Mo Cheng'an backing him up with advice and strategies, everything went very smoothly.

But ever since his attempt to kill Mu Xue failed, and she returned and recovered from her mental breakdown, everything changed.

Many things he did went wrong, as if someone was targeting him at every turn.

His pretense was about to crumble.

Especially after Regent Ye Shangyuan also came to Yu Nan City, everything seemed to be out of his control.

Aunt An of the Mu family had always worked well with her father, but in the past month, she had not received any useful information from the capital.

All of this made Mo Shijie uneasy.

Mo Shijie had been intentionally trying to get in touch with the young masters of the Mu family. Apart from the second young master, Mu Sheng, who was away from Yu Nan City for most of the year, he had the best relationship with the eldest young master.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the eldest son, Mu Feng, will be Mu Qinghe's successor, which is also the successor of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Mo Shijie's desire to befriend Mu Qinghe was obvious.

Clearly, even though he was engaged to Mu Xue and had good relations with several young masters of the Mu family, Mu Qinghe did not respect him and his attitude towards him was always lukewarm, even cold and distant.

Despite Mu Qinghe's prowess in warfare, he remains stubborn and inflexible when it comes to interpersonal relationships and managing the household. It is precisely because of this dull-witted nature that even though he failed to see through Mo Shijie's true colors, he also failed to befriend or get close to him.

However, Mu Qinghe did not see through Mo Shijie's scheme, and therefore did not stop his sons from associating with him.

Mu Qinghe never took Mo Shijie's flattery to heart, which is why Mo Shijie shifted his focus to Mu Feng.

Although the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is said to be composed of military officers, nowadays, only Mu Qinghe is truly capable of leading troops into battle.

This means that all the military power in the hands of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is in Mu Qinghe's hands.

Originally, he was prepared to marry a fool in order to gain military power in Mu Qinghe's hands. Unexpectedly, another young lady in the Mu family, Mu Jiaojiao, was in love with him. While he was getting along very well with Mu Jiaojiao, he did not propose to break off the engagement.

Both were young ladies from the Mu family, so he could have just married them. But unexpectedly, Mu Qinghe returned to the capital in triumph and didn't even give Mu Jiaojiao a second glance. Mu Xue was even kicked out of the Mu family.

This was all unexpected.

Mu Xue is all better now; she used to be constantly going against him.

He had a premonition that if Mu Xue were kept, she would become a major problem sooner or later.

Just as I was thinking this, I heard a voice from the courtyard: "Your Highness."

Mo Shijie looked out and saw Liu Yi rushing over.

"But has news come?" Mo Shijie asked hurriedly.

"No, I waited for a long time in the back alley of the Mu residence but the Sixth Miss did not come out, so I asked the servant at the gate to inquire," Liu Yi said.

"What have you found out?" Mo Shijie asked.

"In the morning, Changsheng, who was by the young master's side, went to the Treasure Pavilion. In the afternoon, the general also went to the Treasure Pavilion in person and just returned to the mansion. I rushed back to report as soon as I saw the general enter the door," Liu Yi said.

Mo Shijie pondered for a moment, then asked, "Do you know anything about Mu Feng's situation?"

Liu Yi shook his head and said, "The Mu family has blocked all information. We can't get any useful information."

Mo Shijie turned to leave the mansion, but was interrupted by the mansion's steward: "Young Master, the Prince requests your presence."

"What did you say?" Mo Shijie asked.

"No. I just wanted you to come over now," the butler said respectfully.

Mo Shijie waved his hand, turned to Liu Yi and said, "Go and keep watch at the entrance of the Mu residence. Let me know as soon as you have any news."

“Yes, Your Highness,” Liu Yi replied.

Mo Shijie then followed the steward to Prince Jing's study.

In the study, Prince Jing stood quietly in front of his desk, his back to the door.

Mo Shijie respectfully greeted, "Grandfather."

Prince Jing turned around, stepped forward, and said kindly, "Please sit down."

Mo Shijie sat down in the chair before asking, "Grandfather, did you summon me here because it's important?"

"Were you going to the Treasure Pavilion just now?" Prince Jing asked.

Mo Shijie paused for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Prince Jing sighed, went to the desk, picked up a piece of paper, and handed it to Mo Shijie: "Take a look before making a decision."

Mo Shijie took the letter with both hands, unfolded it, and began to read it carefully.

"What???" He looked up at Prince Jing in disbelief, his eyes wide, and exclaimed, "How is this possible?!"

At this moment, Prince Jing spoke up: "This is news that just came back from the capital. I have confirmed it, and it is true."

"So, the Regent has been in Yu Nan City the whole time. He wasn't in the capital?" Mo Shijie could hardly believe the news.

"Has he noticed something?" Mo Shijie asked in astonishment.

“Ah, Shijie, your mother passed away early. I didn’t want to ask too much about what you and your father did, but now, you need to tell me the truth so I can help you!” Prince Jing said, looking at the child he had raised himself.

Mo Shijie said excitedly, "Grandfather, are you really going to help me?"

Prince Jing shook his head and said, "Now that your father and you have both come to this point, I can no longer stand idly by."

“Grandfather, if you had agreed sooner, our great undertaking would have been accomplished long ago!” Mo Shijie said excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

In fact, Prince Jing was not as optimistic as Mo Shijie.

He was the uncle of the late emperor and the regent, and he had watched them grow up. He knew the regent Ye Shangyuan's character well.

Prince Jing thought that by getting involved, he could gradually distance Mo Shijie from the center of this conspiracy.

He only hoped that, out of consideration for their past relationship, Ye Shangyuan would show leniency and preserve the only bloodline of the Jingwang Mansion.

However, he overlooked the allure of power.

Mo Shijie is destined to sink deeper and deeper into trouble.