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

Soon, the second day arrived.

The dungeons of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were dark and damp, as oppressive as hell, so much so that even rats refused to pass by.

It is widely believed that prisoners who enter the Jinyiwei dungeon are essentially sentenced to death in this world.

As for whether his death will be long or short, that depends on the commander's mood.

The Imperial Guards removed the mangled corpse from the torture instruments, placed it in a specially made bag, and carried it away. Only Shen Mu remained, sitting calmly before the instruments, his eyes cold, his fingers lightly tapping the confession on the table.

This is the confession he left behind after "interrogating" the prisoner.

Haojing hurried past the two prison cells and walked towards Shen Mu.

Each prisoner in the dungeon had their own cell. Anyone who dared to protest their innocence would be taken out and locked in a solitary confinement room for three days without food. Therefore, even when they saw Hao Jing passing by, the prisoners dared not speak out against him.

"My lord, everything has been arranged."

Haojing handed the jade pendant from his arms to Shen Mu.

Shen Mu stroked the jade pendant in his hand. The pendant wasn't very translucent, and even had some mottled cracks. However, it was clearly engraved with a conspicuous pattern, probably the emblem of some aristocratic family.

Seeing that Shen Mu remained silent, Hao Jing took a letter from his pocket and placed it in front of Shen Mu, saying...

"My lord, a letter has arrived from the young master's side."

"Ah."

Shen Mu unfolded the letter, which contained only a few words of greeting, and he immediately understood his godfather's meaning.

"The spies hiding in the Western Regions have been killed."

"What? Our people?"

Hao Jing looked surprised. Although they didn't have much divine power in the mortal realm, they wouldn't lose their lives if they encountered ordinary mortals, unless it was someone from outside the mortal realm.

Shen Mu closed his eyes and remained silent for a long while before slowly opening them again.

"It's Chongming. His magical power has improved again. It's highly likely that a new 'Tong' has appeared, and he has even killed the five spies sent by my adoptive father."

"We haven't even seen a Taoist priest here, yet Chongming has created another clone?"

"It's not certain yet. It's highly likely that the Taoist priest we've been searching for has gone to the Western Regions."

Shen Mu stood up and casually tossed the letter into the brazier beside him. The letter was instantly engulfed by the flames and gradually burned to ashes.

"He ran off to the Western Regions? Wasn't he trying to persuade the Emperor of Nanyang to build the Bright Moon Palace?"

Hao Jing was even more confused. According to what he had learned at the beginning, Chongming had come to the side of the Nanyang Emperor in order to build an altar and destroy the mortal world.

"This is the mortal realm. How long do you think it will take to build an altar?" Shen Mu met Hao Jing's gaze indifferently, a dark and unfathomable meaning surging in his deep eyes.

"A few months? A year? Or two or three years?"

"An altar that can hold the essence of most of humanity, I guess Chongming didn't have the patience to wait for it to be built."

"What do you mean?"

"The only way to quickly consume mortal lives is through war."

Shen Mu curled his lips. He dared not judge at the moment whether the one who appeared in the Western Regions and killed the Divine Lord was Chongming's newly transformed "Tang" or the Taoist who had never appeared before.

I fear this is a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain...

At this moment, another Imperial Guard hurriedly entered the dungeon. He jogged up to Shen Mu, bowed, and said, "Sir, the third young master of the Zhou family is outside requesting an audience."

"Zhou Jinghuai?" Hao Jing was full of questions. Wasn't he supposed to get the keys at night? At this hour, the sun probably hadn't even set yet.

Shen Mu glanced at him and said, "Take him to the Imperial Guard's study."

At this moment, Thirteen, who had just finished tidying up the courtyard, was sitting in the courtyard taking a short rest, drenched in sweat.

The Emperor of Nanyang not only bestowed a courtyard upon her, but also thoughtfully provided her with a dozen or so servants with indentures.

Clearly, this is used to monitor oneself.

Thirteen sent all the servants and maids to the outer courtyard to do cleaning and cooking. He stayed alone in the inner courtyard.

Seeing that it was still early, she rested her head on the bamboo chair and took a short nap.

My eyelids were drooping, and I was drifting off to sleep when suddenly a familiar voice rang out in the courtyard.

"Going to bed so early?"

"Who?"

Startled, Thirteen opened his eyes and looked up to see the Third Prince, who had entered the courtyard at some unknown time.

Perhaps fearing that his travels would disturb the people, he changed into casual clothes today, wearing a blue robe and a hair ornament, standing next to the small tree planted by the Thirteen, facing the sunlight, looking very lazy and carefree.

Thirteen quickly stood up, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Third Prince."

"No need for formalities. I'm just passing by today and wanted to see you."

Duan Yuchuan slowly walked over to Thirteen and sat down. He noticed that this small courtyard was less than half the size of his own.

In the very center of the courtyard stood a small tree that wasn't very lush, with two bamboo chairs placed next to it, and no other decorations.

"Look at me?"

Thirteen looked puzzled. She saw that Duan Yuchuan's attire clearly indicated that he didn't want outsiders to know that he had secretly left the mansion.

She lowered her head and pondered for a moment, wondering if it was because of the Fourth Princess. Knowing she was in the wrong, she quickly went back into her room, poured a cup of hot tea, and handed it to Duan Yuchuan.

In her heart, however, she was calculating how to extricate herself if the Third Prince blamed her later.

Duan Yuchuan glanced at her, as if he could see right through her thoughts, took the hot tea, but held it in his hand without drinking it.

“I know Yan’er came looking for you again, but I didn’t come here specifically to cause you trouble.”

He always felt that his younger sister was spoiled rotten by their mother. Ever since Duan Yuyan was born, his mother had doted on her, treating her like a precious gem. In addition, auspicious omens swirled around the palace when she was born, which made his father, the emperor, even more happy and led him to grant a general amnesty.

However, this younger sister, who was showered with love, was ultimately spoiled and ruined.

Ever since she was old enough to understand, whenever she came to visit him at the manor, some of the servants would get injured or go missing. He could only pretend not to see it, since his sister had rarely visited him since he fell ill.

So he wasn't unaware of Thirteen's instigation of Duan Yuyan; he simply chose not to get involved. After all, the best outcome for a princess of questionable character was to be sent to another country for a political marriage.

Duan Yuyan has already passed the age of marriage and will soon be sent to marry a foreign ruler.

"Then why did you come to find me..." Thirteen asked, half believing and half doubting.

"After the spring banquet a few days ago, my mother kept you behind alone. Was it because she wanted to have another child?"

Although Duan Yuchuan had a lazy smile on his face, the smile sent a chill down Thirteen's spine.

"what?"

"You don't need to hide it. The fact that I'm asking you this means I definitely know." Duan Yuchuan winked at her, his smiling face making it impossible to tell whether he was angry or not.

"Yes."

Seeing that he could no longer hide it from the Third Prince, Thirteen could only nod.

His tone clearly indicated that he had spies in Yong'an Palace and already knew the purpose behind Consort An's decision to keep her there.

"What if I said I didn't want my mother to have another chance to have children?" Duan Yuchuan's tone was cold. He held the teacup in his hand, playing with it, but didn't drink from it.

Thirteen frowned involuntarily. She had already guessed that the Third Prince would definitely not want to see Consort An pregnant again.

But she didn't expect that the Third Prince would dare to come directly to her door and make a request.