Chapter 346

"What's this about family background?" As soon as the topic of family background came up, Mu Xianqi's fingertip jerked to a halt.

Ruo Ya said nothing, only stared at him.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Mu Xianqi sighed.

This matter was a secret he had buried in his heart for over twenty years.

When he found Mu Xianyan years ago, inside the ornately carved little basket, besides her in swaddling clothes, there was also half a jade pendant engraved with the family crest.

That wasn't something an ordinary family would have.

He only thought the jade pendant was valuable, so he quietly kept it to himself, telling no one, not even his father.

"I quietly looked into it, but found nothing." Mu Xianqi's voice was low, "She doesn't need that kind of ruthless family… In this life, she is simply Mu Xianyan, then my sister, and Youbao's older sister—that's enough."

Ruo Ya gazed at his tense profile and said softly, "Lately, while organizing old royal records, I inadvertently came across a cross-border document from over ten years ago, involving Y Guo and the Duke's Mansion of Paveika, which also mentioned a baby girl whose birth date differed by ten days from when Xianyan was found."

Ten days apart?

Mu Xianqi snapped his eyes up, his pupils shifting sharply, "You're serious?"

Mu Xianyan's background is something the Mu Family has never been able to uncover.

Back then, all they knew was that she had been deliberately abandoned in a scenic area, leaving no trace.

"Do you think I could lie to you?" Ruo Ya restrained her smile and said seriously, "The clues point to a reclusive clan, but it's not certain."

"Later I secretly sent people to investigate; they found an unlicensed vehicle near the scenic area from back then, and following the lead, they were deliberately cut off… So I stopped investigating and came to ask what you think."

Mu Xianqi's fingertip gradually tensed.

He had protected his sister for over a decade; she had been cruelly abandoned in a remote scenic area, and if he hadn't softened and taken her in, she likely would have lost her life.

To him, whether to investigate or not made no difference.

If it could be investigated, investigate it; if not, forget it.

If it could be found out… he could also know just who had abandoned her.

That clan, having been able to cruelly abandon her back then, if they now learned she was still alive—his sister, that Princess Xianyan—might well harbor other intentions.

He would not let her be taken back.

"Keep investigating." Mu Xianqi's expression turned solemn, "No matter who it is, I need to know."

"Are you still treating me like your servant?" Ruo Ya chuckled lightly, then turned serious, "Don't worry—I'll tell you the moment I have any news."

"Thanks."

Ruo Ya waved her hand and rose, "Still being formal with me?"

She paused a few seconds, then asked, "But what do you want to do? If Xianyan's relatives really are that clan, their power is unfathomable and they are ruthless—able to discard their own biological daughter—so rashly confronting them might not be wise."

"I don't want to do anything." Mu Xianqi's eyes turned sharp, "I just want to know who abandoned her."

"As for recognizing kin—" he curled his thin lips into a mocking cold arc, "Do they deserve it?"

"You're right," Ruo Ya laughed, "I'll go now, not to disturb your work."

The door was gently closed, and the room fell silent once again.

Mu Xianqi sat in his chair, motionless for a long time.

After a long while, he took out his phone, dialed a number, and said in a cold tone, "Send people to Y Guo to cooperate with Princess Ruo Ya and investigate every clue about Xianyan's abandonment back then—nothing can be missed."

The other end immediately responded respectfully.

After hanging up, Mu Xianqi paused a moment, then dialed Gu Xingnan's number.

M Guo's imperial palace.

Mu Youyu and her group had already gone upstairs to see the glutinous rice.

Qing An lay sprawled on the sofa, one leg draped over the armrest, the other hanging loosely, playing with his phone in his hand.

The attendant beside him kept his head down, not daring to breathe loudly.

Since Princess Mingxi arrived at the palace, this little devil's mood has improved beyond belief.

Even his speech became much more polite than usual, but once he had free time, these servants grew fearful of him.

Qing An stared at his phone screen for a long time, then directly pulled up that number which had been pinned to his contacts for years.

Note: Xun Li (stingy)

He and Jun Chenling grew up together, but they're the type who've been competing since childhood, comparing everything.

Qing An curled the corner of his mouth and pressed the dial button.

The phone rang twice, then was answered.

The background was very quiet; faintly one could hear the soft rustle of turning pages.

Jun Chenling's voice was faint: "Anything?"

Hearing that all-business tone, Qing An couldn't help but want to provoke him.

He deliberately drew out his words, his voice slack and boastful: "Your Highness Xun Li, have you been busy lately?"

Jun Chenling fell silent for a moment, clearly uninterested in beating around the bush, "If there's nothing, I'm hanging up."

"Don't be so cold." Qing An flipped over, lay on the sofa, swung his ankle, and gave a sly grin, "I'm just asking if you have time lately—come to M Guo when you can."

Jun Chenling's pen tip paused, his dark green eyes lifting slightly.

Who offers flattery without cause is either a spy or a thief.

He spoke lightly: "No time."

"What?!"

Qing An sprang up from the sofa, nearly tumbling off, and raised his voice in disbelief, "No time?! Jun Chenling, you dare say you have no time? Is Y Guo about to collapse or is the treasury empty?"

Even when his family's vault was half-empty, his parents weren't this busy.

On the other end of the phone, Jun Chenling stared expressionlessly at the mountain of documents piled on the desk, "Handling affairs."

"All day long, just going on about affairs!" Qing An muttered unhappily, "Can't Y Guo function without you? You're a prince—you can't just be a hands-off boss? Don't you have subordinates?"

Jun Chenling said calmly, "Swamped with affairs, no time for idle chat."

"Who wants to idle chat with you!" Qing An retorted, flushed, "I formally invite you to come play in M Guo! I've booked the imperial palace—everything tasty and fun is prepared for you, ten thousand times more comfortable than Y Guo's cold council hall."

Once he's tricked that person over, he'll hold an imperial recognition banquet right in front of him, announce to the world that his younger sister is the little princess formally acknowledged by M Guo's imperial family, and entered into the imperial clan genealogy.

By then he can only watch helplessly as he himself arranges a princess-investiture banquet for Youbao.

Compare prestige? Qing An has never lost!

Just imagining Jun Chenling's expression then, Qing An couldn't help chuckling quietly.

But Jun Chenling on the other end of the phone remained in his usual indifferent tone: "Not going."

"……" Qing An's smile completely shattered, "Say that again?!"

"No time." Jun Chenling repeated, his tone utterly flat, "A pile of affairs awaits processing, no time to go to M Guo and mess around with you."

Mess around?

Qing An was so angry he almost threw his phone away.

Is he messing around?

The sound of the phone hanging up rang out, and the attendants thought His Highness was about to switch phones again, but unexpectedly he pulled back the hand he had extended.

Qing An watched the phone, hung up then redialed by him, and gritted his teeth in anger.

Fine, you Jun Chenling.

You refuse a toast, only to drink the penalty, right?

Fine.

You're not coming, right?

The phone connected, Qing An gripped it tightly and first snapped through clenched teeth: "Jun Chenling! Are you doing this on purpose? Last time I went to Y Guo to find you, you cleared the whole imperial palace to keep me company, and now you won't make time to come to my place?"

"The situation is different." Jun Chenling's voice remained unchanged.

Qing An couldn't miss his subtext, flopped back onto the sofa, and instantly formed a plan.

He deliberately drew out his tone, speaking slowly: "Oh~ I see, that's a shame—I was actually going to tell you……"

He paused, deliberately keeping them in suspense.

On Jun Chenling's end, the sound of flipping paper indeed stopped.

"What." The other's voice finally gained a hint of fluctuation.

Qing An let out a light hum, then slowly tossed out his killer move, tone light yet precisely hitting the weak point: "Nothing much—just, Azhe is also in M Guo, at my place."

"……"