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

Shen Mu had high, straight eyebrows, thick brows, and dark, cold eyes. Standing there silently, he exuded an aura of authority without anger.

"Shen Mu, the Khan of the Western Regions says that the assassination of Lord Qin of the Imperial Guard was not their doing. What do you say?"

Duan Yuan's words seemed to place all the blame on Shen Mu, indicating that he would never reveal his attitude in front of the Western Regions again.

"Your Majesty, it was indeed not the Western Regions that assassinated Lord Qin."

As soon as Shen Mu finished speaking, the murmurs among the court officials gradually became uncontrollable, with some even making sarcastic remarks.

"His Majesty previously punished the Crown Prince because of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's investigation, but now that people from the Western Regions have arrived, he says it wasn't done by them?"

"I think the Embroidered Uniform Guard are all despicable opportunists!"

"He's all looks and no substance. I think he should just accept the Fourth Princess's request and become a carefree prince consort!"

"Hahaha--"

Pei Zhiheng had no intention of getting involved in the farce. He merely glanced at the Duke of Anguo before calmly lowering his head to drink his wine.

Duan Yuan seemed to deliberately wait until everyone started questioning before slowly interrupting the discussion and saying...

"Oh? But I remember you didn't say that to me that day."

"Your Majesty, what I said that day was a guess that the assassin might come from the Western Regions, but after these days of investigation, I have new evidence."

Shen Mu calmly took out the confession he had obtained from the dungeon a few days ago from his pocket and handed it to the eunuch beside him.

The questioning suddenly stopped, and Duke Anguo's hand froze. He glanced at the confession with an inscrutable expression.

Duan Yuchuan, leaning back in his armchair, raised an eyebrow with interest; things seemed to have become even more intriguing.

The eunuch presented the blood-stained confession to Duan Yuan. As he read it, his brows furrowed more and more. Every word revealed the treasonous intentions of the person behind it.

"Be bold!"

He slammed his hand on the table, the loud sound seeming to pierce through the entire main hall.

Night was falling

Zhou Jinghuai, his face veiled in black, scaled the wall and landed steadily in the depths of the palace. He glanced around and saw that the guards stationed at Mingyue Palace had all been transferred away under some pretext.

Looking at the Mingyue Palace directly in front of him, which only had half a foundation built, Zhou Jinghuai couldn't help but purse his lips and mutter to himself.

"It took them two years to build such a small place, tsk tsk..."

How much silver must these corrupt officials have embezzled?

To avoid being discovered, he simply walked close to the base of the palace wall.

During the Emperor's birthday celebrations, the Imperial Palace, apart from the main hall, is so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

As he approached, he could see that besides the stones, the foundation was supported by dozens of wooden stakes.

The crisscrossing wooden stakes may seem stable, but their load-bearing capacity is limited. If one is not careful, the newly built Bright Moon Palace will be destroyed by these stakes.

If Mingyue Palace were to collapse, it would effectively cover up the evidence of corruption.

Zhou Jinghuai stroked his chin thoughtfully, unable to see how these wooden stakes had cost the majority of Nanyang's national treasury.

Seeing that it was getting late and that people from the palace banquet could arrive at any moment, he quickly found the kerosene that Shen Mu had hidden in various corners of Mingyue Palace and poured it onto the wooden stakes in the palace.

Instantly, kerosene with a strong odor was spilled all over the foundation.

Just as Zhou Jinghuai was pouring the last of the kerosene into the foundation, a long sword suddenly lunged at him in the darkness.

"You little thief, how dare you break into the palace!"

A familiar voice came along with the longsword.

Zhou Jinghuai caught a glimpse of the long sword rushing towards him out of the corner of his eye, and instinctively dodged it. He frowned and asked, "Who are you?" He felt that the voice was familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

But the swordsman did not stop his men's attack. He twirled his sword in the air and charged towards him, saying, "You little thief, who do you think you are? You're unlucky to have met me."

The other party's tone seemed overly arrogant, but unexpectedly Zhou Jinghuai easily dodged the attack.

At this moment, Zhou Jinghuai noticed that his opponent's moves were somewhat chaotic. In just over ten moves, Zhou Jinghuai disarmed the man and held the sword against his neck.

"I don't know if I'll be unlucky or not, but you probably can't beat this little thief."

Zhou Jinghuai raised an eyebrow, speaking with a provocative tone. But then, in the moonlight, he noticed that the other person appeared to be a girl, and quickly moved his sword slightly to the side.

"Who are you?"

The person he was blocking looked up angrily, their small face pale in the moonlight.

Zhou Jinghuai frowned; he felt he had seen that face somewhere before.

An angry voice came from the other end: "You little thief, I haven't settled the score with you for ruining my plans last time!"

"Hmm? The white-clad youth from Zuixianlou?" Zhou Jinghuai finally pieced together the face and the voice, reconstructing his memory. However, he didn't release the sword from the other's neck, coldly saying, "You dared to trespass into the palace and call me a petty thief? Do you know who I am?"

Zhou Jinghuai glanced down and saw the jade pendant on the other person's waist, then pulled it off to examine it.

When Gu Shining saw the jade pendant being snatched, she instinctively tried to grab it back, but before she knew it, the cold sword was already pressed against her skin. She could only grit her teeth and curse.

"I don't care who you are, give me back my things! You're the thief!"

“Tsk tsk…” Zhou Jinghuai made no attempt to hide the mockery in his eyes. He carefully examined the jade pendant in his hand. The words on it startled him, and he subconsciously tossed it back to Gu Shining.

"Who exactly are you?!" He could hardly believe the words on the jade pendant.

"Mind your own business, you scoundrel!" Gu Shining gritted her teeth, clutching the jade pendant tightly, turning her head away as if resigned to her fate.

"Kill me or torture me, hurry up!"

"Young Master Zhou!"

Xie Qiao, who had rushed over, saw the two locked in a stalemate. Approaching them, he realized the woman with her back to him was probably the girl from the Gu family. He quickly explained to Zhou Jinghuai...

"Young Master Zhou, this is a young lady from the Gu family. Please let go of her immediately."

"Oh? What's the Gu family doing at Zuixianlou?"

Zhou Jinghuai sheathed his longsword and looked at Gu Shining with great interest.

"Young Master Zhou? I was wondering who it was, but it turns out to be that illegitimate son of the Zhou family!"

Gu Shining didn't let him off the hook either, and she carefully put the jade pendant back into her sleeve.

Zhou Jinghuai didn't want to argue with Gu Shining; business was more important. He frowned, removed the black cloth covering his face, and looked at Xie Qiao beside him.

"How did you come?"

“Shen… I was patrolling here when I saw someone and came in.”

Xie Qiao composed himself and glanced at Gu Shining in front of Zhou Jinghuai, signaling with his eyes whether Gu Shining should be knocked unconscious and taken away.

After all, they couldn't let outsiders know about their burning of Mingyue Palace.

At this moment, Gu Shining, who was standing to the side, also recognized that the 'little thief' who stole her jade pendant was actually the playboy who deliberately raised the price at Zuixianlou, causing her to miss out on Asang!

She rubbed her wrist angrily. She had just passed by and climbed over the wall when she saw a group of people moving around. She didn't expect to find someone pouring kerosene here.

She asked, her voice still tinged with anger, "What are you doing here? Setting a fire?"