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

It's not fair to blame Pei Zhiheng for his cold attitude. The Pei family already held a very important position in the court. Now that the emperor was in his prime, the Pei family should not be involved with any prince. This is why he didn't reveal in the imperial study that Pei Suisui went to see the Third Prince today.

"I dare not accept such praise. It is only because the second young lady of the Pei family has been kind to me that I have done this today. It is simply my duty."

"No need to say more, but I advise you to stay away from that Third Prince to protect yourself."

Pei Zhiheng gave her a cold glance, then turned and left. He thought to himself that if this thirteenth prince wasn't one of the Third Prince's people, then he would have fulfilled Pei Suisui's wish to have her associate with him.

Unfortunately, given the current situation, he has no choice but to adjust his stance.

Thirteen was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but quickly regained his composure.

She thought that if she wasn't mistaken, Pei Xiang should have some prejudice against the Third Prince. However, she had neither strength nor influence in the mortal realm, so she had no choice but to choose whom.

For these divine beings, the original intention of being ordered to descend to the mortal realm and having their divine power locked was that the divine and demon realms should not arbitrarily interfere in mortal affairs, as everything is subject to the cycle of fate, and therefore, taking the initiative to intervene would result in backlash from the ancient times.

She always remembered that her mission was only to eliminate the demon lord who was causing chaos in the world, and she remained an observer in all other matters!

"Mr. Thirteen."

She turned her head at the sound of the voice and saw that it was Shen Mu. She had met him three times and exchanged less than five sentences with him. She was slightly taken aback. Could it be that he had come for the Fourth Princess?

"I would like to ask you, sir, whether you went out last night?"

His tone was icy, and Thirteen looked at Shen Mu with a deep gaze, as if he could see right through her.

But she can't admit it now.

"I haven't gone out."

"Is that so? A thief broke into the palace yesterday. I noticed that the assassin's figure looked a bit like yours, sir."

"My mediocre skills are not enough to infiltrate the palace. Lord Shen is too kind to me."

Although Thirteen remained calm on the surface, she still turned her gaze away from him, thinking that she had indeed fought with someone in the palace yesterday, but judging from the person's skill, it should not be Shen Mu. If she had fought with Shen Mu, she would have been defeated in less than ten moves.

"Is that so? It seems I was mistaken. But lately, some scoundrels have been barging into the palace. It would be best if you didn't go out at night, sir."

Shen Mu's cold voice was like a sharp blade, piercing straight into Thirteen's heart.

"Well... you've really gone to a lot of trouble." Thirteen felt a little guilty and just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Duan Yuchuan had just entered the palace when he saw the two people at the entrance of the Imperial Study and hurriedly called out, "Thirteenth Master!"

"Lord Shen, the Third Prince is here to see me, so I'll be going now."

Seeing that reinforcements had arrived, Thirteen turned around, gave Shen Mu a perfunctory reply, and walked down the steps. Under Shen Mu's gaze, she felt as if he were seeing right through her.

"Third Prince, what brings you here?"

"I heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had arrested you at Fengyazhai, so I rushed to the palace to see my father."

Duan Yuchuan glanced at Thirteen without showing any emotion; thankfully, he wasn't injured.

Just now, a summons came from the manor. The second young lady of the Pei family sent her maid to request an audience, saying that Thirteen had been arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He made a special detour to the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison to look for her, only to be told that she had been taken directly to the palace.

"I'm fine. It was Pei Suisui who asked her father to testify on my behalf and Zhou Jinghuai's behalf. At least His Majesty didn't blame me."

"That's good. I thought you'd been arrested and thrown into the Jinyiwei prison."

"Thanks to you, you've been thinking about getting me to visit every day, haven't you?"

Thirteen remembered that he had deliberately scared her last time, wanting Shen Mu to drag her into the jail for a visit, and thought to herself that he was indeed a vengeful man.

The two walked out of the palace as they talked.

Hao Jing, who had just finished carrying out Shen Mu's orders, noticed Shen Mu standing blankly at the entrance of the Imperial Study. Rarely seeing his boss so absorbed in thought, he quietly approached and said...

"Lord Shen, what are you looking at?"

Hao Jing wasn't unaware that Thirteen had just left, but considering the scene at Fengya Zhai earlier that day, it was clear that the assassin couldn't harm Thirteen's vitals, yet Shen Mu still made a move.

Although they had been in the mortal realm for several months, the number of times Shen Mu had to personally take action could probably be counted on one hand.

Shen Mu's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained as calm as before. However, when he turned his head and saw Hao Jing looking at him with a shifty gaze, he composed himself and said...

"Have you caught up with those two assassins?"

"We caught up with them. They hid at Zuixianlou. Should we shut it down?"

"No need, I'll go myself later."

Shen Mu pondered. Zuixianlou was a famous brothel in Nanyang. Could it be that those two assassins had infiltrated the city to find a way out of the capital? He looked up, his expression casual and languid, his eyes seemingly unfocused, but they landed precisely on the young man walking out of the palace.

Hao Jing was taken aback upon hearing this; their goal wasn't to help the Emperor of Nanyang capture the assassin.

He was about to ask a question when he seemed to notice that Shen Mu was looking at something. He quietly stood behind Shen Mu, trying to follow Shen Mu's gaze to find out what he was looking at.

"Is there any movement from the Taoist priest's side?"

Seeing the young man finally disappear at the palace gate, Shen Mu suddenly withdrew his gaze, turned around and just happened to see Hao Jing making small movements behind him, and glared at him.

"Ahem... Although His Majesty took the elixir after court today, no trace of the Taoist priest has been found."

Haojing awkwardly looked away, wondering if his master had been looking at Thirteen just now.

"Then keep finding people to stake out; they'll eventually slip up."

"We've been in Nanyang for months, but this Taoist priest is hiding too well; we haven't found him anywhere. Could he not be in the Nanyang Imperial Palace?"

Haojing scratched his head, thinking that their purpose in coming to the mortal world was to see this stinky Taoist priest, but they had been squatting there for months and still hadn't gotten a clear look at what he looked like.

"He must be in Nanyang. My godfather sent word to his men to be extra careful. Although he has transformed into human form, his skill should be quite high. Several groups of my godfather's men have suffered losses at his hands."

"Yes, my lord."

"Also, the Emperor has been obsessed with elixirs for so long, he must be eager to have the Taoist priest appear so he can prepare more medicine for him. Don't keep too close an eye on him so he doesn't notice. Also, pay close attention to the movements at the Third Prince's residence. Remember to clean up the mess we had before when we poisoned someone."

After Shen Mu finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of Zhou Jinghuai, dressed flamboyantly, emerging from the Imperial Study. The Emperor must have lost his temper again, as Zhou Jinghuai looked utterly defeated. He glanced at Hao Jing, who then walked towards Zhou Jinghuai.

"Young Master Zhou, please wait!"

Hearing the sound, Zhou Jinghuai looked up and saw Hao Jing walking towards him. Remembering the humiliation he had suffered in the Imperial Study, he was looking for a place to vent his anger. He put his hands inside his wide robe and lazily walked towards him.

"It's Lord Hao from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to ask you to cooperate with the Embroidered Uniform Guard in making a record, so that I won't bother you at your residence again later."

Hao Jing gave him a look, which made Zhou Jinghuai, who was about to vent his anger, pause. Following his direction, he saw Shen Mu not far away and suddenly seemed to realize something.

However, he still maintained a disdainful attitude on his face.

"You'd better hurry, I have other things to do."