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

Wang carefully collected the ashes, intending to find an opportunity to have someone examine them.

Gu Shining's face was pale. She never imagined that someone would want to kill her at this time!

"Mother... what should we do now? Should we break off the engagement?"

"How can you annul the engagement!" Wang was agitated and slammed her hand on the table.

The table wobbled a few times, as if it might fall apart at any moment.

"Then let's..."

Gu Shining looked at the tabletop, which seemed to have been cracked open by the impact, and secretly swallowed, afraid that her mother might slap her if she was unhappy.

"For now, we can only remain still to avoid alerting the person hiding in the shadows."

"What Mother means is..." Gu Shining was somewhat taken aback, and when she looked up, she met Wang's sharp eyes.

"This matter was originally aimed at our Gu family."

Her slender fingers tapped on the table, making a casual, intermittent sound.

Darkroom

Under Haojing's treatment, Thirteen recovered quickly. Apart from temporarily losing his divine power, he was already able to sit up and lean against the edge of the bed from time to time.

Just as she reached for the tea on the edge of the table, the door to the dark room was slowly pushed open.

"Squeak-"

Thirteen looked up and his eyes met Pei Suisui's.

"I finally found you!"

Pei Suisui didn't dare to call her by her name directly, so she rushed forward and grabbed Thirteen's arm.

Thirteen was naturally surprised that Pei Suisui would come here. Just as she was about to ask her if she had left safely that day, she caught a glimpse of Haojing following her in.

Instantly, her expression changed, and she lowered her voice.

"How did you get here?" She looked at Pei Suisui, her face full of surprise.

Although she was recuperating here and didn't know what was happening outside, based on her previous guesses, Shen Mu would definitely not let Pei Suisui in to see her easily.

Especially in this dark room.

Although Thirteen has been kept in the inner room these past few days, she can still hear the sounds of people discussing matters outside.

Clearly, Shen Mu and his group had already made the dark room one of their bases.

But precisely because of this, Thirteen is even less likely to believe that Shen Mu would let Pei Suisui in here.

"I came to see you, your injury..."

Pei Suisui hesitated, then realized she was still holding her arm and quickly and carefully let go.

Thirteen's external injuries were not serious; he only had a few abrasions simply bandaged.

Even so, when Pei Suisui saw the wounds all over her body, her little face crumpled and she immediately started sobbing.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault! Ten... does it hurt a lot?"

Pei Suisui squatted down next to Thirteen while sobbing. Although her little face was wrinkled from crying, she still remembered Haojing who was guarding the door.

Before anyone else discovers Thirteen's identity, she naturally has to keep it a secret.

"I...I'm fine, don't cry." Thirteen rarely saw girls cry, especially Pei Suisui.

Even though she was the one who was injured, Pei Suisui cried sadly.

Her hand, suspended in mid-air, seemed unsure whether to wipe away her tears first or help her up.

Haojing, standing at the door, was no fool; he had already figured out that the two had something to say.

He coughed lightly.

"Please continue your conversation, ladies. I'll go out and wait. Miss Pei, please come find me when you're finished." As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Pei Suisui's reply, he dashed out of the dark room.

Although he had already guessed Thirteen's identity, since the two sisters had something to talk about, he saw no need to eavesdrop.

Haojing had just stepped out of the dark room when he bumped into Xie Qiao, who was rushing over.

"Eh? What brings you here? Aren't you supposed to be guarding the palace?" Hao Jing asked in surprise.

It seems that Thirteen's injuries haven't fully healed yet, so he can't return to the palace to relieve Xie Qiao for the time being. According to Shen Mu's arrangement, Xie Qiao should be in the palace at this time.

Xie Qiao quickly shook her head.

"I'm looking for my master. Where is he?"

"Isn't he in the side room?" Hao Jing frowned slightly, remembering that he had just seen Shen Mu in the side room.

"I went there, but he wasn't there." Xie Qiao looked somewhat flustered, which Hao Jing could sense was that something must have happened in the palace.

He quickly asked

"Has something happened in the palace? Now that you're back, I'll go with you to find him."

As Haojing spoke, he glanced at the stone gate.

Pei Suisui and Shisan would probably chat for a long time, so his departure now shouldn't affect them.

"Then you go to the study, I'll go to the Shen residence." Xie Qiao said, turning to leave, but Hao Jing quickly stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

"You still haven't told me what's the matter that made you rush back?"

Xie Qiao was slightly taken aback and stood there stunned.

He was also wondering if he had rushed back too quickly, since the news he had just received had not yet been confirmed.

But then he thought again that this matter was of great importance, and he could not easily let go of this news.

"Sun Youzhi has escaped," he said in a low voice.

"He ran away?"

Haojing was completely taken aback, naturally not expecting such important news.

"I only heard about it, so I came back to see you as soon as I got the news, didn't I?" Xie Qiao nodded, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

He only gets this excited when he's facing the Demon Lord Chongming.

Seeing Xie Qiao's somewhat excited expression, Hao Jing couldn't help but shake his head.

"Where did you get this information? Could it be that Sun Youzhi has shown up?"

Even Hao Jing couldn't figure out why Xie Qiao always managed to run into him when he was looking for Sun Youzhi.

But every time he stayed in the palace or followed Sun Youzhi's trail, he went to Baiyun Mountain.

He was always the one who gained nothing.

Xie Qiao, naturally oblivious to the change in Hao Jing's expression, quickly explained to him...

"I intercepted an eunuch from the Empress Dowager's palace. He seemed to be in a hurry to leave the palace to deliver a message, but I knocked him unconscious." Xie Qiao innocently took out the letter from his pocket and waved it in front of Hao Jing.

Haojing felt a headache coming on upon hearing this.

"Don't tell me you hit an eunuch from the Cining Palace?"

As he listened to Xie Qiao's words, he vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

The Cining Palace, where the Empress Dowager resides, is frequented by eunuchs who rarely leave the palace. How could they be out of the palace to do errands for the Empress Dowager late at night?

Isn't that a bit too absurd?

Thinking of this, Haojing quickly took the letter from Xie Qiao's hand.

He took the letter and looked at it carefully. It did indeed specify how to arrange for Sun Youzhi to leave the capital.

Haojing just felt that something was not quite right.

"Do you think that an eunuch going out of the palace to deliver a message won't be discovered by our Embroidered Uniform Guard?" Hao Jing asked, puzzled.

It's not that he doesn't trust Xie Qiao, but given how cunning Sun Youzhi was in the past, making it impossible for them to find anyone, this matter is probably not that simple.

Sun Youzhi wasn't stupid; why would he easily reveal his whereabouts?