无翼乌工口里番无色无摭挡

“Why bother with this effort, putting your own wife and children in danger?” The Emperor disapproved of his actions, “It’s just a mere Mu Jian, capture and torture him, and I doubt he will still refuse to confess.”

Li Hongyuan shook his head slightly, “This won’t work for Mu Jian. On the contrary, it will alert the others.”

He had grown up with Mu Jian, and he knew Mu Jian’s character better than anyone else.

He was a man with unwavering determination. No amount of physical pain could ever make him yield even the slightest bit.

What’s even more troublesome is that Mu Jian’s parents had passed away early, and he himself had not married and had children. There was simply no one to threaten him with.

Li Hongyuan did feel a bit regretful in his heart.

As the saying goes, a man without desire is a firm man.

Mu Jian didn’t covet wealth, wasn’t lustful, and had no other bad habits.

It’s almost impossible to pry open his mouth with external things.

From a certain perspective, he was a near-perfect person.

But Li Hongyuan would never think that Mu Jian was truly without flaws.

As long as one is a human, one would have flaws.

He just hadn’t discovered Mu Jian’s flaws yet.

Having been together for ten years and not knowing the other’s flaws was also something that annoyed Li Hongyuan.

If such a person was loyal to him, it would naturally be a good thing. But if he were to betray him, it would be a big problem.

So when Jiang Ning took the initiative to ask Mu Jian to escort her back to the Jiang family, Li Hongyuan felt that this might be an opportunity.

…

In the carriage, Wenzan and Lingzi sat together playing, Jiang Ning watched them for a while, and heard Chunlai say that the snow was getting heavier outside, so she lifted the curtain to look outside.

The maids were all in the carriage behind, one after another lifting the curtains, stretching out their hands to catch the snow and play.

They were chirping excitedly.

Like little animals that hadn’t been out for decades.

After spending a long time in the Harem, indeed everything outside seemed fresh to them.

This was also why Jiang Ning insisted on taking them out.

One reason was to have them relax, and the second reason was that they were all born in the Jiang family, and their parents and relatives were all in the Jiang family, so it was a good opportunity for them to reunite with their families.

Watching their laughter, Jiang Ning also smiled.

Her gaze swept over the surrounding Imperial Guards, finally falling on Mu Jian.

Mu Jian was riding a horse, following her carriage, wearing a black robe embroidered with koi fish, a sword hanging from his waist, his expression serious, and his eyes sharp.

“General Mu,” Jiang Ning said.

Mu Jian slightly turned his head, following the rules and not looking directly at Jiang Ning, his voice steady, “I am here.”

“The snow is getting heavier, we are all in the carriage, but General Mu and the soldiers have no shelter. Will it be cold for you all?”

Mu Jian said, “Thank you for your concern, Princess Consort. A little snow is nothing.”

Regardless of wind and snow, even if knives were falling from the sky, they would still have to do their duties.

Jiang Ning, of course, wasn’t genuinely concerned about whether they were cold or not; she was just trying to strike up a conversation with Mu Jian.

“I heard that General Mu and the Crown Prince grew up together since childhood?” Jiang Ning casually asked.

“Yes,” Mu Jian answered concisely.

“So, does that mean that General Mu is about the same age as the Crown Prince?”

“In response to Your Highness, I am two years older than the Crown Prince.”

“Oh, so that means you’re 22 years old.”

“Yes.”

“At this age, you should be married and have children, right?”