Marry my elder sister? Fine! I'll give you the letter of annulment and marry someone else.

Mu Nanqi pursed his lips and said, "We haven't yet tracked down the specific mastermind behind this, but we have discovered that the force came from the palace."

"The Imperial Palace..."

Song Zhi thought about it and realized that apart from the emperor, the only person in the palace who might be dissatisfied with them and have a grudge against them was Mu Yunhe.

Seeing what Song Zhi was thinking, Mu Nanqi said, "It's very likely to be him."

Song Zhi was very angry, and the consequence was naturally that he told Mu Yuanzhi some of the deployments that Mu Yunhe had secretly made.

Mu Yuanzhi is also very powerful and can accurately hit Mu Yunhe every time.

After these incidents, Mu Yunhe was already severely injured and no longer as steady as before.

According to people in the palace, Mu Yunhe's complexion is becoming more and more gloomy. He has a sullen face every day that scares people when they see him. For this, he was scolded by the dog emperor again.

After being scolded, Mu Yunhe simply hid in the palace and refused to go out.

The situation in the court changed rapidly, and many people felt that he had no chance of taking the throne and turned to Mu Yuanzhi.

So it didn't take long for Mu Yuanzhi to build up his own power and gain a firm foothold in the previous dynasty.

When Mu Yunhe learned about this, he was furious but helpless because every time he planned, Mu Yuanzhi would inexplicably discover it. He was so unlucky that even drinking cold water would make his teeth ache.

The best thing for him now is to lie low and recuperate, maybe there will be a turning point later.

As a result, Mu Yuanzhi's family became the dominant force in the court.

The old emperor was very satisfied with this and felt that he finally had a successor.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Song Zhi had already quietly rushed to South City with his secret guards.

Mu Nanqi originally insisted on accompanying her, but he was a prince feared by the dog emperor. If such a big living person suddenly disappeared in the capital, it would definitely attract an investigation. If the investigation affected her business, it would be more trouble than gain.

So after her repeated refusals, Mu Nanqi reluctantly agreed not to go, but asked her to take countless secret guards with her.

At the same time, in order not to alert the enemy, she also asked Song Yang to announce to the public that he had caught a cold on Mid-Autumn Night and refused to see guests.

Anyway, Mu Yuanzhi suspected that he had caught a cold that night, so this excuse wouldn't seem out of place.

In order to arrive quickly, she chose to ride a horse as usual.

During the boring journey, the only sound that accompanies me every day is the sound of horse hooves.

Finally, on the eighth day, she arrived in South City.

She had informed Qingdai before coming, so someone was there to pick her up as soon as she arrived at the city gate.

After successfully entering the city, she came to a pavilion with extremely elegant decoration.

Qing Dai greeted him at the door with a smile, "How's my boss Song? I've made this place look pretty good, right?"

Song Zhi nodded, "Of course, how can I not trust you to do things?"

Qingdai smiled even more happily, and it could be seen that her joy came from the heart. It was no longer like when she was in the capital, where every smile was just superficial.

As she invited Song Zhi inside, she introduced the place, "This is the most impressive brothel in South City. As soon as we opened, other brothels became overwhelmed. Customers flocked to us every day."

Song Zhi nodded in satisfaction, "It seems that I have found a treasure by keeping you."

"That's not."

Qingdai raised her chin proudly, and then her eyes reddened. "If only Hong Xing were still alive, she would definitely like a life like this."

Song Zhi didn't know how to comfort her, so he reached out and patted her shoulder.

Qingdai's emotions faded as quickly as they came. She wiped away her tears and returned to a capable state. "The boss said in the letter that she was here for that crazy old woman. So I brought her to the building three days ago and took good care of her. Would you like to meet her now?"

Hearing this, Song Zhi's eyes were full of joy, "Okay, let's meet directly."

As expected of someone trained in the palace, he is tactful and thorough in his work.

Following Qingdai's footsteps, the two came to a clean and simple house.

Before I even entered, I heard the sound of a wooden fish coming from inside.

Qing Dai shrugged and whispered in her ear, "She's been quiet and well-behaved since she came here, and you wouldn't see any signs of madness. Instead, she asked for this wooden fish and kept beating it while chanting sutras, saying she was praying for our kindness."

Song Zhi nodded to show that he had received it, then waved Qingdai away and let her go about her business.

After taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door.

The house is not big, and you can see the whole house as soon as you enter.

In the room, apart from a bed, a table and chairs, there was only a woman kneeling on a mat with a hunched back.

Because I was facing away from her, I couldn't see the woman's appearance clearly, but from her gray hair I could tell that she had been through a lot.

Hearing the door open, the woman did not turn around, but only asked hesitantly, "Is the noble from the capital here?"

The sound was rough, like old bark rubbing against the ground.

Song Zhi responded, suddenly curious, "You don't look like a crazy person at all."

A wry laugh came from the other side. "Isn't madness just a matter of judgment by the world? Since you've come here, you must have noticed something unusual about the virtuous king."

Song Zhi didn't expect things to go so smoothly, and nodded hurriedly, "I wonder if Madam has any advice for you."

The wooden fish stopped playing, and the old woman's voice suddenly became filled with hatred. "I can't really offer any advice, but I can tell you a story."

The old woman turned her head and when Song Zhi saw her face clearly, he was so scared that he almost screamed.

As if she was used to such reactions from outsiders, the old woman showed no displeasure. She simply pointed to the table and chairs beside her and said, "The story is very long. Please take a seat, sir."

Song Zhi calmed down and sat over. It was no wonder that she reacted so strongly. The expression on her face was really too terrifying.

The old woman's face was covered with scars of all sizes. One of her eyes was blind, revealing a gray pupil. There were also many red polyps hanging from her eye sockets.

It’s hard to imagine what kind of pain this person went through to survive.

Song Zhi was still terrified when she heard the old woman slowly speak, "You should have heard that I always tell everyone here that I'm the virtuous princess, right?"

Song Zhi did not hide it, "Yes."

The other party was very satisfied with her honesty.

"I am indeed the virtuous princess."

The old woman paused for a moment, and when she saw that Song Zhi didn't show any doubt, she continued, "It was the 'deceased' Xian Wangfei Ning Qingcheng."

The old woman sighed, her face reminiscing. "The Ning family was of ordinary means. My father was only a ninth-rank county magistrate. When the virtuous king took a fancy to him, the Ning family felt that their ancestors had given them great honor."

"He acted like the most affectionate man in the world, and made me give myself to him. Everyone said I had married a good husband, and I was intoxicated by it myself."

"I think if I hadn't discovered his affair with the concubine, he would still be happy to have a woman like me, who doesn't have a mother's family background that's easy to manipulate, as a shield."

"But I found it."

"I discovered those obscene letters in his study from his concubines. I even discovered their plan to replace the original with the original."

"He said I saw something I shouldn't have seen, so he gouged out one of my eyes. He also said the price of my disobedience was to watch myself burn to death, so he spared the other eye."