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

"The royal concubine!"

The palace maid's exclamation interrupted Duan Yuan's thoughts.

He subconsciously looked to the side and saw An Ruyi's body gradually collapsing to the ground. He quickly reached out and wrapped his arms around her as she swayed.

"As one wishes!"

After being startled by her, Duan Yuan suddenly came to his senses.

He disregarded his headache and gently shook An Ruyi in his arms, but she did not respond.

His urgent voice reached An Ruyi's ears, but An Ruyi, nestled in the emperor's arms, dared not open her eyes. At this moment, only by distracting the emperor could she give her father time to investigate the matter.

Having already caught a chill on the way here, her face turned even paler.

"Mother concubine!"

Duan Yuyan, who had been silently standing behind An Ruyi, naturally did not see her mother giving An Guogong a meaningful look.

She hurriedly scolded Man'er beside her, "Quickly, call the imperial physician!"

"Yes!"

Man'er nodded hurriedly and ran outside.

Amidst the chaos, Duan Yuan scooped An Ruyi up in his arms, his expression still somewhat angry.

"Duke Anguo, I expect you and Shen Mu to work together to find the murderer. Otherwise, I will punish both of you!"

The Duke of Anguo, prostrate on the ground, hurriedly replied, "Yes, sir!"

"Return to Yong'an Palace!"

After saying this, Duan Yuan embraced Consort An and strode towards Yong'an Palace.

Duan Yuyan, who was following closely behind him, glanced at Shen Mu thoughtfully. She noticed that the Duke of Anguo was still there, so she didn't say anything and quickly left with the emperor.

After a short while, only Shen Mu and Duke Anguo remained in front of the vast Mingyue Palace.

As the crowd walked away, Duke Anguo slowly stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.

"I wonder if Lord Shen is aware that Mingyue Palace will be burned down today?"

When he looked up again, his shrewd expression showed no trace of his earlier panic.

Shen Mu sneered inwardly. As expected of a cunning fox, her acting was truly superb.

"If I had known, I certainly wouldn't have included myself like the Duke of Anguo."

He chuckled softly, his cool voice carrying a chilling undertone.

There was no need for him to be overly polite to someone like Duke Anguo. After all, the low-level, underhanded methods he had uncovered all originated from Duke Anguo.

However, he disdained to expose those who had no use to him.

"Does Lord Shen conclude that I did this?"

Duke Anguo raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that he had never paid attention to him before. He had thought that his granddaughter had only taken a fancy to him, but it turned out that he was a hedgehog who liked to bite.

On his way to Mingyue Palace, he had wondered if Shen Mu was behind it. But upon closer reflection, if it really was Shen Mu, he might not have needed to set the fire at this time.

After all, the secret of Mingyue Palace was known only to him and that person.

There was no third person besides them.

When the Mingyue Palace was being built, Shen Mu had not yet entered the capital, so he was naturally not involved in any factional disputes.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard (Jinyiwei) operated independently of the imperial court, reporting only to the emperor. In this tripartite power struggle, if the guard were to become involved with any of the three factions, the emperor's purpose in establishing the Embroidered Uniform Guard would be completely rendered meaningless.

“Lord Anguo is joking. I never said that you did it.”

There seemed to be a hint of mockery in Shen Mu's eyes. He tapped his sword lightly with one hand, as if he didn't care who the arsonist was.

Duke Anguo looked around and saw that the fire had been extinguished and there were few people around. He slowly walked up to Shen Mu and lowered his voice.

"Why don't you consider cooperating with me, Lord Shen?"

Upon careful consideration, if he could control two of these three forces, he wouldn't be tempted by such petty gains.

After all, the throne was the most tempting thing for him.

Shen Mu seemed to have heard a joke; a smile crept onto his usually cold face, though it was hard to see clearly.

He looked Duke Anguo up and down, then glanced mysteriously to one side and said...

What benefit would it bring me?

Duke Anguo was slightly taken aback. He had originally thought Shen Mu was a very aloof person. Initially, several forces had tried to recruit him, but he had refused them all. He never expected that Shen Mu would reveal his true colors now.

He couldn't hide the surprise in his eyes.

"The benefits are far greater than Lord Shen can even imagine. As long as we work together, we will surely succeed."

"I'm tired of hearing nice things from people's mouths."

Shen Mu's feigned nonchalance subtly eased the Duke of Anguo's expression. He couldn't say he completely trusted Shen Mu, but he had also considered that Shen Mu might have some leverage over him.

Having more friends is always better than having more enemies.

Duke Anguo let out a soft breath and said gently, "I promise you the position of future prime minister, is that alright?"

Shen Mu's dark eyes, as if filled with hope, suddenly met the gaze of the Duke of Anguo. The greed in his eyes was self-evident.

Duke Anguo understood immediately; it seemed he had taken the bait.

"And what about Prime Minister Pei?"

"Go back to where you came from." Duke Anguo's shrewd and calculating manner suggested that he didn't care about human lives at all.

He had been fighting with Prime Minister Pei for half his life, and now that he had the power to control Pei's life, he naturally wouldn't let him go.

Shen Mu took in the arrogant demeanor of the Duke of Anguo, but then pretended not to understand.

"Then how can I cooperate with you? I am independent of the court."

"Lord Shen, why not marry my daughter?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Mu seemed unable to hold back any longer, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Is the Duke of Anguo mocking me? According to the rules of Nanyang, the son-in-law cannot participate in court affairs."

He was both the prime minister and the son-in-law of the emperor.

Shen Mu felt that he might have overestimated the Duke of Anguo's abilities.

But could Duke Anguo really have come up with those despicable methods?

"Now that we've become allies, how can we be bound by these rules?" Duke Anguo left his words unfinished, fearing that Shen Mu was deliberately trying to lure him in.

After all, only the two of them knew what had just been said. Even if Shen Mu complained to the emperor, as long as he denied it, there was nothing they could do to him.

Shen Mu slightly lowered his expression to meet the Duke of Anguo's probing gaze, a smile playing on his lips that was difficult to decipher.

For a moment, the atmosphere between the two froze.

"grown ups."

Xie Qiao returned to Shen Mu's side and quietly interrupted their conversation.

Shen Mu glanced at Xie Qiao, then looked at Duke Anguo.

"I'm just waiting for news from the Duke of Anguo."

He deliberately smiled at Duke Anguo, as if imitating the cunning people in the storybooks plotting something, which immediately confused Duke Anguo.

As Duke Anguo watched Shen Mu's departing figure, he was unsure whether Shen Mu agreed to form an alliance with him.

After all, he wasn't just backed by the Emperor of Nanyang.

Perhaps we should wait and see.

The Duke of Anguo's undisguised greed was fully revealed under the cover of night.

What he wanted was certainly not a marquisate, wealth, or an alliance.

What he wanted was to become the emperor of Nanyang.