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

Hao Jing, unusually serious, nodded and said...

"The girl's divine power dissipated, which should be related to the palm strike Sun Youzhi gave her."

He didn't dare to speak frankly when Shen Mu was around. Now that he was alone with Xie Qiao, he naturally dared to tell him the truth.

"Then you mustn't, sir..." Xie Qiao hesitated, then stopped abruptly, a look of panic crossing his face.

With his back to the door of the secret room, Hao Jing naturally didn't notice anyone behind him and continued speaking to himself.

"I'm thinking of not telling the adults about this yet, and seeing if I can heal the girl first. After all, this is the first time I've ever seen such a strange technique."

For Haojing, in the past two or three hundred years, he had fought hundreds of battles with the Demon Lord Chongming, but he had never seen the Demon Lord use a technique to dissipate the divine power of the God Lord.

Perhaps it is related to the ancient martial arts that the Demon Lord practiced.

As Haojing pondered this, he looked up and glanced at Xie Qiao.

Right now, he was preoccupied with figuring out how to treat the girl in the room effectively, so he naturally ignored the wink Xie Qiao gave him.

"Let me study it and then I'll think of a way to tell the adults." Hao Jing picked up the medicine box next to him and turned to walk out.

Unexpectedly, a pair of blood-red eyes peeked out from the dark passage, startling Haojing so much that he froze on the spot.

Seeing this, Xie Qiao subtly took a few steps back, afraid of being affected.

Haojing swallowed subconsciously, and large beads of sweat dripped down his cheeks to the ground.

"Big... lord!"

"You're hiding it from me?"

Shen Mu, who had returned, stood in the dark passage, his black and red outfit blending into the gloomy corridor.

Clearly, Haojing hadn't expected Shen Mu to suddenly return.

With his hands behind his back, he exuded a ruthless aura, and his blood-red eyes stared intently at Haojing.

The atmosphere in the dark room gradually became heavy.

Haojing shifted slightly and stood up straight.

"Your subordinate would not dare to deceive you, sir!"

"Then what did you mean just now?" Shen Mu naturally didn't believe Hao Jing's words, thinking that if he hadn't had something to discuss with Xie Qiao, he wouldn't have turned back.

I'm afraid I'll be kept in the dark by Haojing forever.

Haojing glanced furtively at Shen Mu's expression and quickly explained.

"I was worried that you might be concerned, wondering if her injuries were too severe, which caused her divine power to temporarily disappear." He quickly added, noticing Shen Mu's face growing even colder.

"However, I thought that if I could heal her injuries, perhaps her divine power would be restored. Then I would consult the ancient book that Cang Ling brought to see if there were any other methods."

Hao Jing saw Shen Mu walking towards him, so he quickly finished speaking and ran out, afraid that Shen Mu would leave him alone again.

In the rush, he didn't even have time to take his medicine box with him.

Shen Mu lowered his eyes and stared at the medicine box on the table, then sighed deeply.

Right now, although he was angry that Haojing had concealed Thirteen's injuries from him, there was no one else besides Haojing who could heal Thirteen's injuries.

Thinking of this, he looked up and glanced at Xie Qiao.

"Haojing will be staying with the Embroidered Uniform Guard these days, so you will temporarily take his place and keep an eye on the palace."

Seeing Shen Mu's serious expression, Xie Qiao quickly straightened up and said...

"You mean you're keeping an eye on Sun Youzhi?"

“I cut off one of Sun Youzhi’s hands, so I’m afraid he won’t be appearing for the time being.”

Shen Mu's expression turned slightly solemn. He felt that Sun Youzhi would no longer appear in the palace so casually.

Although the Emperor of Nanyang has always valued Sun Youzhi highly, Nanyang's national strength is currently weak and it is temporarily unable to support the Emperor of Nanyang in rebuilding the Mingyue Palace altar.

Just today, taking advantage of the fact that Sun Youzhi had been poisoned by Thirteen, he took the opportunity to cut off Sun Youzhi's left hand. This would give them enough time to prepare their plan to kill Sun Youzhi.

To Shen Mu's surprise, Thirteen's divine power suddenly disappeared after being struck by Sun Youzhi's palm.

Xie Qiao naturally didn't understand Shen Mu's meaning, and frowned slightly.

"Sir, who do you mean I should keep an eye on?"

"Keep an eye on that Duke Anguo. I think the An family is about to lose their temper."

Shen Mu tapped Hao Jing's medicine box with her slender fingers, casually tapping it.

He was also wondering why Sun Youzhi had suddenly returned to Beijing today.

Could all of this be closely related to Duke Anguo, since it was he who instructed the people of Zuixianlou to frame the Western Regions for the assassination of Lord Qin?

If the An family were to rebel one day, even though the Emperor of Nanyang is currently indulging in women and neglecting state affairs...

However, relying on the strength accumulated in their youth, they still couldn't easily turn the An family around.

But what if Duke Anguo joins forces with the Southern Barbarians or the Western Regions?

Shen Mu's eyes gradually deepened, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"The Emperor wants to attack the Southern Barbarians. Guess who came up with the idea?"

"Does Your Excellency mean the Duke of Anguo?"

Xie Qiao thought that Shen Mu had specifically instructed him to personally keep an eye on Duke Anguo, so this matter was probably related to him.

"I don't think the Duke of Anguo will personally come forward. Otherwise, given the temperament of the Emperor of Nanyang, he might have some doubts about him."

"Who is the gentleman referring to?"

Xie Qiao frowned even more. Right now, they not only had to deal with Sun Youzhi, who was hiding in the shadows, but also their political enemies in the open.

Although he had traveled a long and arduous journey in pursuit of Sun Youzhi, he now had to temporarily take Haojing's place and monitor the entire Nanyang Imperial Palace.

This kind of mentally taxing work is really not suitable for him.

"The one who presented beautiful women to our emperor on his birthday."

"You mean the Second Prince?"

Xie Qiao was naturally somewhat surprised. If it came to this Second Prince of Nanyang, he had only seen him once from afar during the Emperor's birthday celebration.

This second prince, whose status was second only to the crown prince, was only a concubine of the rank of Jieyu.

When he was young, he was taken to the border by General Weiyuan for five years of training. After returning, his personality changed drastically.

Just like Zhou Jinghuai, he enjoyed frequenting brothels.

They often ignored politics and worldly affairs.

He can be considered a candidate for the throne who was abandoned by the Emperor of Nanyang.

At this time, as far as he knew, there was no one in the court who supported the Second Prince.

Xie Qiao looked puzzled.

"Why does Your Excellency believe it was the Second Prince who suggested it? Is it because of the Second Prince's offering of a beautiful woman from the Western Regions to the Emperor of Nanyang?"

Xie Qiao naturally didn't know the Second Prince's character and could only make judgments based on what she knew.

"No, I was just guessing. But looking at how things have turned out, he's not the biggest beneficiary."

"The Emperor ordered the Crown Prince to oversee the army and also married the Fourth Princess off to the Western Regions. It seems he didn't gain anything from this." Xie Qiao shook his head to himself.

He truly couldn't understand why, if what Shen Mu said was true, the attack on the Southern Barbarians was the work of the Second Prince.

He should have begged the emperor to let him command the army, and instead gave this rare opportunity to make merit to the Crown Prince.

Could he really do something so thankless and exhausting?