"Father, someone has harmed me. You must help me find the mastermind behind this. You know your daughter, am I that foolish a person?" Mu Fei's greatest worry in this life was not becoming empress. The seriousness of the matter made her want to cry without tears.
"I am willing to believe you, but others must also believe. You, a young lady from a respectable household whose marriage is not yet settled, why would you meet with him alone?" Although Lord Mu felt his daughter wouldn't do something so foolish, he was somewhat disappointed, knowing they had fallen into someone's trap.
"I wanted him to stop bothering me, to avoid further gossip. I didn't expect... Someone definitely doesn't want me to enter the Crown Prince's mansion." Mu Fei regretted it deeply, but it was too late for regrets.
"What do we do now? Everyone knows you met with Young Master Xu alone, and you even went to prison. Except for Young Master Xu, no one else will want you. Accept your fate." The last sentence was said to his daughter, and also to himself.
"Father must have a way. Please help me, help me, okay?" Although the situation had reached a dead end, she didn't want to give up. The thought of the Crown Prince misunderstanding made her heart ache.
"What do you want to do?" Lord Mu looked at her meaningfully, testing if she could come up with a good plan. If she gave up or accepted her fate at the slightest difficulty, he wouldn't have put all his effort into supporting her.
"Very few people know the truth of this matter. Since Mu Yan and I look somewhat alike, why don't we proactively spread rumors that it was Mu Yan? Then, Young Master Xu would catch me with the Crown Prince and be forced to accept me out of necessity." This was the best method Mu Fei could think of at the moment.
Lord Mu looked at his daughter with admiration, nodded slowly, and said earnestly, "Alright, I will help you one last time. But you must remember to guard against others. This must not happen again."
Seeing her father agree, Mu Fei breathed a sigh of relief and nodded firmly. She had been too careless.
Wu Caiwei, who had been hiding in her room, deeply felt that she had too few capable people around her. Even simple tasks couldn't be accomplished.
Fortunately, her courtyard was the most secluded, with the outside of the mansion just beyond one wall. She could always hear coded signals for important matters.
She bribed a group of young beggars to gather information for her, while she provided for their food, clothing, and shelter.
Of course, she didn't take in all beggars. Many were too lazy and unwilling to endure hardship, which led to their current state. But the young beggars were different. Most of them had been orphaned and neglected since birth, lacking survival skills and thus wandering the streets. They had a desire to change their circumstances. Wu Caiwei helped them, each getting what they needed.
As soon as nightfall arrived, she heard a familiar cat's meow. Wu Caiwei immediately climbed out of the window. Outside the wall, He Ran stood a plain-dressed boy. Upon seeing her, he quickly relayed the information he wanted to report in a few words.
Back in her room, Wu Caiwei was shocked by what the boy had said. She hadn't expected them to be so calculated. The Mu family still wanted to protect Mu Fei and throw all the blame onto her.
It seemed she needed to take stronger action. At the same time, Mu Fei was not idle. She secretly arranged a meeting with the Crown Prince and also sent a letter to Xu Minghui.
Xu Minghui had been in a bad mood for the past few days. The memory of what happened that day, knowing he had fallen into someone's trap, filled him with resentment. Even more infuriating was that after so much investigation, there were no clues. All they knew was that a woman wearing a veil had left their private room that day, but who was that woman? No one knew.
The thought of someone plotting in the shadows made him uneasy, especially that person, whose whereabouts he still couldn't find.
The rumors about him and Mu Fei spreading throughout the city were as he expected, especially with Li Chenyang around; nothing could be kept secret. But as the rumors spread, they started to feel off, gradually turning into rumors about him and the eldest daughter of the Mu family. He had even sent people to investigate who was deliberately trying to harm him, but all the evidence pointed to the Mu family.
This reminded him of past rumors, that Mu Fei and Lord Mu didn't think highly of him. But if that were the case, why had she asked to meet him last time? Suddenly, he recalled what had happened in the private room during their last meeting.
He had been excited when they met. He hadn't expected Mu Fei's words to plunge him into an abyss. She had asked him to stop pestering her and affecting her reputation. She didn't like him at all, and she had been unwilling to marry him from the beginning.
As they were arguing, a woman wearing a veil, supporting the already unconscious Xi Zhu, burst in. They were stunned, not understanding what was happening, when the other party sprinkled a powder on them, and they both fainted. When they woke up again, it was that unbearable scene.
Even after all this, the Mu family still didn't want her to marry him. What was he lacking? This made him feel very uncomfortable. Just then, a letter arrived. He decided to ask clearly about what he hadn't understood last time.
He regretted not asking for her opinion back then. He had his pride, and there was no need to cling to her. If he had understood her feelings before the imperial marriage decree, would things have been different?
Thinking about these things now was useless. An imperial decree was not a child's play; their marriage was decided. But not asking clearly left him feeling unwilling.
The Crown Prince frowned involuntarily upon receiving her letter, feeling somewhat impatient. He was well aware of what had happened that day. Although he knew there was nothing between her and Xu Minghui, and her heart was with him, seeing them together in disheveled clothes, witnessed by many, made him feel uncomfortable. If it weren't for her family's background, the Mu family, and the Liu family behind them, he wouldn't have given her any special attention.
With things having reached this point, he couldn't let their efforts be in vain. He had to endure his discomfort and see what she wanted.
The Crown Prince arrived as scheduled. The moment she saw him, Mu Fei breathed a sigh of relief. Regardless, he was willing to listen to her explanation, and there was still room for reconciliation.
"Your Highness, please believe me. I sought him out that day to clarify things, to tell him not to pester me and affect our relationship. I don't know who stabbed me in the back and drugged us. I truly don't know what happened afterward. Please, Your Highness, do not despise me because of this, or else you will be playing into someone else's hands."
Mu Fei's tears flowed, attempting to move him. What she said was not an exaggeration. Someone had indeed harmed her that day. As for who it was, she had no idea. There were many people who wanted to bring down the Crown Prince; she had too many enemies and no certainty.