A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Mu Nanzhao's gaze shifted as he looked at the two people tied up under the tree.

His gaze swept past the female kidnapper and settled on Fan Dongping.

"A big haul?"

Gu Xixi looked in the direction of the gaze, "It's him, Your Highness is so wise!"

Mu Nanzhao said, "Why force yourself to praise something you don't mean?"

Gu Xixi pursed her lips, feeling a pang of jealousy. Why was this person so hard to please?

At this moment, Mu Nanzhao looked at her and said, "You don't actually think that praising me is all it takes to get this over with?"

Gu Xixi instantly composed herself, adopting a serious and sincere demeanor. "No, no, Your Highness is wise and capable, and makes your own decisions in all matters. How could you be swayed by a mere compliment?"

Mu Nanzhao's expression remained unreadable. "Your Highness?"

Gu Xixi gritted his teeth, thinking that Lu Jing's case still needed his cooperation, and the bodies also needed to be dealt with.

She smiled and said, "...Mu Nanzhao."

The frost on someone's face finally showed some signs of melting.

"You've really gained a lot."

Gu Xixi gave a wink, and the two walked a few steps away before she said, "That bastard is Fan Dongping."

Mu Nanzhao's eyes suddenly sharpened. "Because you rescued that woman?"

Gu Xixi nodded, and this time she finally refrained from praising the prince's intelligence.

Mu Nanzhao said, "We chased them all the way to the capital, but couldn't find the Lü family, so we set our sights on you first."

"The purpose of hiring someone to kidnap someone was twofold: first, to force them to reveal the whereabouts of the Lü family, and second, to seek revenge."

Gu Xixi chimed in, "That's right, exactly!"

However, Mu Nanzhao didn't listen to what she said at all.

"It's really life-and-death."

Mu Nanzhao turned and left, his killing intent surging forth.

His expression was terrifyingly gloomy, and no one dared to approach him except Gu Xixi, who kept talking to him:

"On the way here after I was kidnapped, I guessed it might be him, and I was lucky enough to win the gamble."

"Now that we've caught him, as long as we get his confession, Lü Jing's case can be brought to trial very soon."

"At the same time, we will have a legitimate reason to go to Nanyi County and Fan Dongping's home to collect evidence, which will surely make the case airtight and completely eliminate the scourge for the people."

"And his relationship with the Fan family. I've thought about it these past two days. If I hand him over to you, he might be able to uncover the Fan family's flaws and give you a helping hand."

"In this light, it truly is a win-win situation..."

Mu Nanzhao suddenly stopped, and Gu Xixi, who was happily making plans, accidentally bumped into him.

"Hey!" She covered her nose and backed away.

Before she could fully open her eyes, she saw Mu Nanzhao turn around and stand facing her.

"So, you risked your life to help the Lü family clear their name and to help me bring down Grand Secretary Fan."

"Gu Xixi, it's rare to see someone so genuinely selfless. Shouldn't I be moved to tears?"

Gu Xixi was secretly alarmed when he called her by her full name.

Her eyes darted around nervously as she muttered under her breath, "I dare not move, I really dare not move."

Mu Nanzhao frowned. "What did you say?"

Gu Xixi hurriedly said, "I mean, I have no intention of entrusting my life to others. I haven't lived enough yet."

She looked at Mu Nanzhao again, trying to explain herself with sincerity.

"Don't you know me? If I weren't fully prepared, why would I risk my life to become bait?"

Mu Nanzhao was displeased. "How dare you? At first, you were just guessing."

"Luckily, you only encountered a bunch of rabble-up robbers and a local thug like Fan."

"What if it's a highly skilled fighter sent by someone else? Are you confident you can escape unscathed?"

Gu Xixi glanced at him cautiously, "I might actually have it."

She opened her palm, revealing a small bamboo tube.

Mu Nanzhao picked it up and looked at it. "Poison again?"

Gu Xixi suddenly exclaimed nervously, "Don't move! Whatever you do, don't unscrew the lid!"

She breathed a sigh of relief after taking the bamboo tube back. "The antidote is used up. We can't afford any more mishaps."

According to Gu Xixi's detailed explanation.

This time, she not only upgraded the poison formula, making the victim stiffen and become numb more quickly.

They also completed the transformation of the usage method ahead of schedule.

The lower part of the bamboo tube contained poison, while the upper part, sealed with wax, contained a special powder.

The "catalyst" is formulated based on the properties of the poison.

By simply twisting the cap slightly, the wax seal breaks, the catalyst mixes with the poison, and the active ingredient in the poison is vaporized.

Compared to the previous methods of spraying pesticides, this method is more covert, faster, and has a wider kill radius.

Mu Nanzhao watched as Gu Xixi tucked the bamboo tube back into her sleeve, hiding it from view.

For the first time, I felt a lingering sense of unease.

He almost got poisoned again just now?

After a moment of silence, Mu Nanzhao said, "With poison techniques reaching this level, it's impossible to defend against them. Even top experts could fall victim to it."

Gu Xixi was happy that he finally understood. "Right?"

Before attending the Agricultural University, she always got top marks in chemistry.

When Mu Nanzhao learned that Gu Xixi was missing, he was filled with worry and anxiety, but when he saw her, his heart was filled with concern.

Only after confirming that she was unharmed did I feel a deep sense of lingering fear and anger.

I'm afraid something bad might really happen to her.

He was angry that she didn't cherish herself, and angry that she didn't consider his worries when she decided to risk her life.

However, those last emotions melted away into helplessness when he saw her confident and bright smile.

Mu Nanzhao sighed heavily, "It's better to be safe than sorry."

Gu Xixi blurted out, "It's okay! I still have you!"

She regretted it as soon as she said it.

These words make it sound as if she depends on him so much, and takes it all for granted!

Mu Nanzhao's eyes were deep and profound.

Gu Xixi tried to salvage the situation, "What I meant was, you're so smart and capable, you'll definitely find me soon."

Mu Nanzhao took a step forward. "Let's go."

Gu Xixi paused for a moment, then continued to follow.

In the central open space, He Jinghui and his men had already finished counting the bodies and moved them all to one place.

Seeing that Mu Nanzhao had recovered, He Jinghui stepped forward and counted the number of people.

Including the third son who ran away and died far away.

Mu Nanzhao looked at Gu Xixi, and Gu Xixi nodded, "That's all the people. No one escaped."

"But..." her eyes darted around, "what should we do with these?"

Mu Nanzhao spoke in a calm tone, but his eyes unconsciously revealed a hint of doting affection.

"Now you realize it's difficult to clean up the mess? Why didn't you consider this when you poisoned him?"

Gu Xixi needed someone's help, so she had no choice but to smile and pretend to be innocent.

Mu Nanzhao said she was "purely selfless," but that's certainly not true.

She only found one mouse hole and conducted a miniature experiment on how to vaporize poison.

Today was my first real-world test, and I certainly gained some valuable data.

So, they did manage to gain some benefits.

As for how to dispose of the corpse, she never did.

This place is right under the emperor's nose; if many corpses with unusual deaths were to appear here, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause.

In fact, while Gu Xixi was waiting, she had thought about how she could handle the situation herself.

Feed the wild animals?

Poisoning animals is unacceptable.

Pushed off the cliff?

It will likely be discovered sooner or later, and scaring innocent people would be a terrible thing.

Burial? We can't dig a pit that big.

Cremation? Setting the mountain on fire...

However, Gu Xixi was unaware that the problem troubling her was nothing more than a trivial matter for Mu Nanzhao and He Jinghui.