Poisonous Goddess: I'm just lazing around in the mortal realm.

Zhou Jinghuai intended to refuse the other party's kindness, but perhaps because his wound was too deep, or perhaps because he was really poisoned as the other party said, he was indeed too weak to resist at this moment, and let Thirteen nimbly tear open his night clothes.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Thirteen had already treated the man's wounds. After putting his clothes back on, the man seemed to have fainted from the pain and leaned against the door without moving.

The poison seemed simple to her. She casually tore off a piece of the man's white inner robe, stained it with his blood, and wrote down a few herbs by the dim moonlight. Then she tied the piece of cloth to the man's wrist.

With this antidote, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Only now did Thirteen dare to take advantage of the faint moonlight filtering through the crack in the door to carefully examine the man.

The man's night clothes were slightly open at the collar, revealing a tall, slender figure. His black hair was tied up with a crown, and his eyes were lowered. The faint moonlight illuminated his gentle and serene face. Soft strands of hair fell beside his face, adding a unique charm.

Thirteen then saw his face clearly, gasped and stood there stunned. Wasn't this the illegitimate son of the Zhou family from earlier that day?

Thinking of this, Thirteen quickly shook her head. This was the imperial palace; she couldn't afford to let herself have time to overthink things here. She dragged Zhou Jinghuai to a more secluded corner of the room and then left.

However, she didn't notice that just after she left the side hall, Zhou Jinghuai, who should have fainted from the pain, slowly opened his eyes in the corner. A dangerous glint flashed in his dark eyes as he thoughtfully looked at the white cloth tied around his wrist.

Outside the courtyard, the guards were still making a fuss about capturing the assassin. Thirteen thought she had to leave quickly, otherwise, if word got back to the Third Prince, he would definitely send someone to look for her. If the Third Prince found out she wasn't in the mansion, it would inevitably attract his attention.

Seeing that the guards had come looking for her again, she quickly jumped onto the roof beam. Her small stature prevented the palace guards from noticing her. Only after the guards left did she jump down from the roof beam.

She was confident that she had evaded the guards' pursuit, but unexpectedly a guard suddenly rushed out from the shadows and slashed at her.

When Thirteen noticed, it was too late to dodge, so he could only roll over to avoid it, which caused him to roll uncontrollably on the ground.

She had barely stood up and hadn't even seen who it was when the other person threw a swift punch, giving her no chance to catch her breath. The punch created afterimages, and the whistling wind made her grit her teeth. Under such a fierce attack, she could only try to find an opportunity to escape as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, her opponent gave her no chance to escape, and her strength gradually became insufficient to dodge, so she took a few punches from him.

The one fighting Thirteen was Hao Jing, a subordinate of Shen Mu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. At this moment, he seemed to realize that his opponent was somewhat exhausted, and that his opponent had no intention of taking his punch head-on.

Having understood the situation, he decided to end the battle as soon as possible.

Haojing threw his carefully prepared poison powder at the other party, but unexpectedly, it was because of this moment that Thirteen seized the opportunity.

She had been practicing poisons on Mount Cangqiong and had developed resistance to most poisons. Clearly, the poison powder thrown by her opponent would have no effect on her. Taking advantage of the moment her opponent threw the powder, she charged directly towards Haojing.

"what?"

Hao Jing was caught off guard as Thirteen rushed towards him without regard for the medicinal powder.

Immediately afterward, Thirteen dodged, grabbed his arm, flipped him over, and slammed him to the ground with a dull thud.

"Ouch!"

Haojing, who was thrown to the ground in an instant, seemed to hear the sound of his bones breaking. The injury from the last mission had not yet healed, and this time he fell in the same spot again.

He cursed inwardly at Shen Mu for not coming to arrest him himself.

Seeing that he had thrown the other person to the ground, Thirteen turned and ran.

Haojing lay on the ground, feeling as if his bones were about to fall apart.

Shen Mu, who emerged from the shadows, was the one who had been secretly following Thirteen.

"Sir, shall we continue the pursuit?" asked the Imperial Guard beside him.

"Follow him and see where he goes. Report back to me when he returns."

As soon as Shen Mu finished speaking, the Imperial Guards beside him chased after the direction Thirteen had gone.

His black and red outfit accentuated his tall and straight figure, highlighting his sharp facial features and imposing presence. Like a gentle breeze and a bright moon, his aura was cold and piercing, exuding a powerful and intimidating presence. His dark eyes were fixed on the direction where Thirteen had left, lost in thought.

At this moment, Hao Jing, who had just fought with Thirteen, struggled to his feet and walked to his side to ask...

"Sir, why aren't you helping? Any one of the Imperial Guards here is just as skilled as me! It really hurts!"

Haojing rubbed his back, unable to reach it, and it really hurt. He had thought he could poison that person, but he didn't expect that person to be completely unafraid of his poison.

"What about the Zhou family?"

Shen Mu didn't answer but asked a question in return, seemingly completely unconcerned about Hao Jing complaining to him.

“The people over there ran away. I found that the Zhou family member was injured, but his wounds had already been treated.”

"It's been dealt with?" Shen Mu was slightly taken aback. Could it be him?

"Yes, judging from the way the bandage was applied, it shouldn't have been done by the young master of the Zhou family himself. He had already fainted from the pain."

"Did he faint from the pain? I'm here waiting for the Taoist priest, while he's found a place to sleep."

"Should I wake him up?"

"No need. Think of a reason later so you can answer him if the Emperor asks why the roof collapsed."

Shen Mu narrowed his eyes, his dark eyes gleaming with a terrifying red light under the moonlight. He pursed his lips slightly, his tone somewhat nonchalant.

"What reason?"

"Stray cat, I guess."

Shen Mu turned and left, leaving Hao Jing standing there in a daze.

"My lord, a stray cat can collapse a roof? The Emperor can't believe that."

Haojing hurriedly followed, not daring to say that the stray cat had disturbed the imperial procession.

Upon hearing this, Shen Mu turned around and bumped into Hao Jing, who was following closely behind him. Shen Mu looked displeased and said...

"Then what did you say? That the Embroidered Uniform Guard was incompetent, allowing a thief to enter the Empress Dowager's bedchamber and escape?"

"Then how should my work injury be calculated, sir?"

"You let the assassin escape, and you still claim it's a workplace injury? Go to the dungeon and get twenty strokes of the cane."

"No! My lord! I won't say anymore!"

Hao Jing watched his master walk further and further away with a look of fear on his face. If he were to reply like this, he would please neither side.

Work injury is one thing, but using a stray cat as an excuse is just not convincing. He's too ashamed to even mention it.

Unlike the bustling imperial palace, the Third Prince's residence was quiet and undisturbed.

Thirteen, who had just returned to the room, assumed that no one had come to summon him and that the message had not reached the Third Prince, so he extinguished the candles in the room.

Unexpectedly, from the moment she stepped into the mansion, someone had already delivered the message to the Third Prince.

Duan Yuchuan also took a break. He was sitting quietly at the table peeling fruit for himself when the scouts at the table finished reporting the news and left the room.

"Are you planning to have another one?" he muttered to himself.

It's no wonder he was naturally suspicious. From a young age, he was the pride of heaven, growing up with his father's love and hopes. Apart from the crown prince who had lost the support of his maternal family, he should have been the most promising person to inherit the throne.

But in these eight years of being bedridden, he has lost too much. Just now, his subordinates reported that today, the Empress Dowager in Yong'an Palace kept Thirteen because she wanted another son.

He has clearly recovered and could compete for the position of crown prince in the future, so why is his mother insisting on having another son? Is it to consolidate her position as a noble consort? Or has she already given up on him?

Unbeknownst to him, Duan Yuchuan's hand, which was tightly gripping the knife, was slashed open by the sharp blade, and blood dripped onto the painting, spreading into red flowers.

He only came to his senses when he felt the pain, and upon closer inspection, he saw that the painting was stained.

He picked up the scroll, lit it over the candlelight, and a flash of malice crossed his eyes. Once suspicion took hold, his nature wouldn't allow such a person to reappear!