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

The bright moon hangs high in the sky, and the night is as beautiful as a painting. A gentle night breeze rustles the treetops, casting dappled moonlight.

Shen Mu sat under the tree, appearing calm on the surface, but in reality, he was feeling a hidden unease and anxiety.

He recalled carefully how the white light had momentarily startled him. No wonder he always felt like he had seen Thirteen somewhere before when he looked at him.

Seeing Shen Mu's furrowed brows and changing expression, Zhou Jinghuai couldn't help but interrupt his thoughts.

"What's wrong with you? Bringing Thirteen back, aren't you afraid she'll discover our secret?"

Since he met Shen Mu, Shen Mu had never shown such a nervous expression. His strange behavior had never been normal since he met Thirteen.

Coming to his senses, Shen Mu lowered his eyes and composed himself.

"Those things are not in this mansion."

"You, you..."

Zhou Jinghuai couldn't help but shake his head. He wasn't talking about their origins in the God Realm at all; he had clearly forgotten about the Demon Lord's side.

"Squeak—"

The two saw the tightly closed door being pushed open.

Hao Jing emerged from the house, covered in sweat. He had been enjoying himself in that idyllic place when Shen Mu barged in at the dead of night, ignoring the beautiful woman beside him, and promptly dragged him to her own residence.

Still half asleep, he entered the room and saw Thirteen lying on the bed, covered in cold sweat.

Hao Jing was well-versed in pharmacology and was a trusted confidant of Shen Mu. He simply hadn't expected that Shen Mu, who never allowed anyone into his bedroom, would bring Thirteen back!

"how's it going?"

Zhou Jinghuai quickly got up and stepped forward, looking at Haojing's deliberately profound expression.

"It's nothing serious, it's just..."

Hao Jing, seeing Shen Mu's fierce expression, swallowed hard and quickly said...

"But from what I observed, it seems that Mr. Thirteen experienced some kind of trauma before, and may have forgotten some things. Did she see something before she fainted?"

"She went to the eighth floor of Zuixianlou."

"That eighth floor... does Your Excellency know of any strange things happening there? Perhaps it was a strong stimulus that caused her to faint."

"We didn't go in." Shen Mu's gaze sharpened slightly. Could it be... that Thirteen had lost his memory?

He suddenly seemed to remember something, and looked up at Haojingdao.

Did you see her wearing anything?

"Objects?" Hao Jing pondered, having carefully examined Thirteen's body earlier.

"I don't think so, I didn't see it."

"What gift? Shen Mu, you gave her something?"

Zhou Jinghuai sat down next to Shen Mu again. He had never heard of Shen Mu giving anything away before. He had begged Shen Mu to give him the South China Sea pearl for ten years without success.

They've only known each other for a few days, and they're already giving each other gifts?

Shen Mu felt a headache coming on when she saw Zhou Jinghuai's pathetic state.

"Shut up!"

Without the object, it might not be that person. But then Shen Mu remembered that she had seen correctly earlier; the light did indeed come from her.

Although the deity's divine power was mostly locked away in the mortal realm, hiding anything was still incredibly easy for him.

"Let's not talk about Thirteen for now. Did you get the letter from her just now?" Zhou Jinghuai interrupted Shen Mu's thoughts.

"it's here."

Shen Mu took out the letter he had just retrieved from Thirteen's bosom; it had been brought out from the eighth floor.

He opened the letter, and it was written on it.

They came from the Western Regions and have already escaped the city.

"Is this related to the Western Regions?" Zhou Jinghuai frowned.

Logically speaking, the Weiwei Temple was in charge of the weapons and cultural relics of Nanyang, so how did it get involved with the Western Regions?

Not to mention sending someone specifically to assassinate a junior official.

Shen Mu felt that something was off about the letter, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He had a vague feeling that the investigation was being conducted too easily.

"Regardless, I'll send someone to the Western Regions first."

Just as Shen Mu was about to close the letter, he suddenly noticed that the paper was different.

He stroked the letter himself; its thickness was unlike that of ordinary paper. He held the letter up to the moonlight, gazing at it intently.

What's wrong with this paper?

Haojing looked at Shen Mu with suspicion as he examined the letter repeatedly in his hand.

"Haojing, send someone to the dungeon to compare the letter on that assassin's body with this letter."

Shen Mu handed the letter to Hao Jing. He had a feeling that someone was deliberately setting up a scheme behind the scenes to divert their attention to the Western Regions.

"Yes, sir." Hao Jing put the letter into his pocket and left the Shen residence.

"Do you think there's something wrong with this paper?" Zhou Jinghuai asked, puzzled. He didn't see anything wrong with the paper; it was just ordinary paper.

"Do you remember the rumors circulating in the capital that the owner of Zuixianlou is connected to the imperial court?" Shen Mu narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing in them.

"It seems like that's true."

"If I'm not mistaken, the texture of this letter is the same as the piece of paper left on the body of the assassin I killed."

After Shen Mu led them away from Fengya Zhai, Hao Jing found a piece of scrap paper on the assassin's body that he hadn't thrown away. It was probably left behind when he tore up the letter in his hand and stuck it to his chest.

He had thought the letters were destroyed and that he would be unable to find the person behind them, but to his surprise, he found the same kind of paper again at Zuixianlou.

"You mean the assassin might be connected to the Nanyang court?" A slight look of surprise flashed in Zhou Jinghuai's eyes.

"Not only that, but if we actually deliver this letter to the Emperor of Nanyang, what do you think will happen?"

"Is the emperor going to blame the Western Regions?"

"Of course it's not just that. Have you forgotten which of the three princes has connections with the Western Regions?" Shen Mu glanced at Zhou Jinghuai.

"The one in the Crown Prince's Palace?"

Zhou Jinghuai was stunned, and an incredulous look suddenly appeared on his handsome face.

If this letter were given directly to the Emperor of Nanyang, the Emperor might not only send troops to attack the Western Regions again, but would also hold a grudge against the Crown Prince.

"The Crown Prince's foster mother is Consort Ning in the palace. Consort Ning was originally the younger sister of Helian Nashi, the Khan of the Western Regions. More than ten years ago, the Western Regions were defeated, and the Khan offered his own younger sister to the Emperor of Nanyang in exchange for the peace of the past ten years."

Before entering Nanyang, Shen Mu had already arranged for people to thoroughly investigate the events that had occurred in Nanyang over the past few decades.

"You mean the owner behind the Drunken Immortal Pavilion is not only the murderer of Lord Qin, but also someone who wants to frame the Crown Prince?"

Zhou Jinghuai felt a chill run down his spine. He had never seen such bizarre and dirty methods in his Western Divine Realm.

"Perhaps, but if the Crown Prince were to suffer a misfortune, the other two princes would benefit the most."

Shen Mu patted off the barely noticeable dust on his body. If he had guessed correctly, the next one to suffer would be the Crown Prince.

The Emperor of Nanyang gave them three days to capture the culprit behind the crime, and the Imperial Guards had to hand over the culprit on time.

If they fail to perform their duties effectively, they will be blamed by the Emperor; if they inform the Emperor of the clues they have uncovered, the Crown Prince will surely hold a grudge against the Embroidered Uniform Guard. With such methods, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will not benefit from either outcome.