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

Pei Zhiheng's tone couldn't help but be somewhat mocking, thinking to himself that if anyone could marry the most favored fourth princess of Nanyang, their family would probably be in turmoil for the rest of their lives.

Pei Nanyue paused, her tone tinged with sarcasm.

"I've heard that the Fourth Princess is extremely fond of that Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Throughout Nanyang, everyone knew that Duan Yuyan was deeply in love with Shen Mu. She even repeatedly defied the Emperor to arrange their marriage.

"Unfortunately, Shen Mu was not interested in the fourth princess."

Pei Zhiheng frowned, thinking of Shen Mu. He felt that Shen Mu was exceptionally talented and a promising talent. If he had the opportunity to recruit him, he could have a chance to compete with the Duke of Anguo's mansion.

After all, within Nanyang, the only one who would dare to disobey the Fourth Princess is probably Shen Mu.

Pei Zhiheng recalled that last night on the Emperor's birthday, Helian Nash questioned Shen Mu about who had murdered Lord Qin in front of the Emperor.

His calm demeanor clearly indicated that he had already determined that the murderer was a southerner.

He probably already guessed that if he had told the emperor about the mastermind from the beginning, the Duke of Anguo would probably have taken it before the news even reached the palace.

Pei Zhiheng suddenly recalled the Duke of Anguo's unpleasant expression last night and slowly asked...

"Do you remember last night when Shen Mu said in court that the Southern Barbarians were using someone else to do their dirty work, the Duke of Anguo's face looked like he had been humiliated?"

Pei Nanyue naturally remembered, and chuckled.

"I remember, perhaps the Duke of Anguo is also involved in this matter." She composed herself, as if she had found a flaw in her father's words.

The An family's influence in the court is growing stronger, with numerous retainers and spies throughout the court.

Every time they flattered Duke Anguo, countless people would break down the gates of his An family.

Now that Consort An is pregnant with the emperor's child, the Anguo Marquis's mansion is rising in status even further.

Thinking of this, Pei Zhiheng turned his head to look at Pei Nanyue and said...

"Go and take a look at the prescription left by the imperial physician, and find someone to make a copy and send it to the Dali Temple."

"Send it to the Dali Temple?"

Pei Nanyue withdrew her hand and sat back down, as if she understood her father's meaning.

"Is it for the thirteenth prince to see? Father, are you afraid of the Emperor..."

Before she could finish speaking, she noticed her father glancing at her, and quickly interrupted herself.

The Emperor's mind is clearly on the An family now.

Even if it was the Emperor who instructed the Pei family last night to take the lead in opposing the establishment of Consort An as Empress.

But in reality, if the An family were to gain power one day, Consort An would indeed become the Empress of Nanyang, or even the Empress Dowager.

The first family the An family would target was the Pei family.

"Having served the Emperor for so long, I must be careful." Pei Zhiheng lowered his voice, the candlelight reflecting off his increasingly gaunt face, obscuring the depths in his eyes.

In the past, he would have been very grateful to the emperor for inviting the imperial physician to his residence to treat his youngest daughter.

But from outside the imperial study, one could see that Shen Mu, who had always worked diligently for the emperor, was punished with fifty strokes of the cane simply because of a few impartial pleas and a few unverified impeachments.

As expected, royalty is ruthless.

“My daughter understands, but she still wants to bring some hemostatic and blood-stasis-removing herbs to Dali Temple.”

Pei Nanyue's eyes turned cold. The main reason was that Mr. Thirteen was, after all, their savior. Although her younger sister was still unconscious, if she were present, she would definitely have done the same.

"You also believe that the Fourth Princess subjected Mr. Thirteen to vigilante justice?"

Pei Zhiheng couldn't help but shake his head; he understood the emperor's thoughts.

That emperor was so cunning. He didn't mention it earlier or later, but waited until the Fourth Princess brought the Thirteenth Prince back to the Princess's Residence before beating to invite Zhou Jinghuai, who was still outside the palace, into the palace.

The timing was impeccable, allowing both Thirteenth Princess a breather and Fourth Princess some time to vent her anger.

It seems that the rumors about the Fourth Princess and the Thirteenth Princess not getting along at the Spring Banquet were probably not unfounded.

This time, the emperor deliberately indulged the fourth princess.

The emperor never expected that by constantly protecting his fourth princess's evil deeds, he had already alienated his ministers!

"Judging from my sister's injuries, I'm afraid even the Thirteenth Master will not escape death if he falls into the hands of the Fourth Princess." Pei Nanyue said, and then stood up.

She looked out the window; it was already dark.

"It's getting late today, daughter. Get ready, we'll go to Dali Temple first thing tomorrow morning."

Pei Zhiheng watched Pei Nanyue walk towards the study door, then suddenly remembered that Shen Mu had been beaten fifty times, and quickly called out to Pei Nanyue.

"Prepare more medicine and send a portion to the Shen residence. Remember, don't go in person; just send a young servant who doesn't recognize you."

Pei Nanyue was taken aback. Although she didn't quite understand her father's meaning, she nodded and left the study.

After his daughter left, Pei Zhiheng picked up the secret letter that had been hidden under the book.

He had no intention of getting involved in the court's struggles again, but the emperor had developed a grudge against him and wanted his Pei family to be a stepping stone for the An family.

Nowadays, it's understandable that he's leaving himself a way out.

Shen House

Shen Mu, who had been given fifty strokes of the cane by the emperor, lay half-lying on the soft couch.

Although he didn't care about the emperor's punishment, he still couldn't help but feel a little confused about his own impulsiveness that day.

He had planned everything meticulously, pinning the arson on the Duke of Anguo. He had even prepared the evidence.

But when Pei Nanyue came to find him in the morning and told him that the Fourth Princess had captured Thirteen, he immediately lost his mind and rushed into the palace to plead for Thirteen.

As a result, everything he had planned was disrupted.

At this moment, the rustling sounds outside pulled Shen Mu back to reality.

"Shen Mu."

Hao Jing pushed open the door and entered, immediately seeing Shen Mu sprawled on the soft couch. He frowned and rushed to the couch.

"What happened to you? Who could have injured you like this?" Hao Jing lifted Shen Mu's clothes, perhaps because there was no physician in the manor to take care of him.

Ever since Shen Mu was hastily treated with medicine by the imperial physician on duty in the palace and then sent back, no one has cleaned the bloodstains on his clothes, which have even stained the soft couch.

"I'm fine." Shen Mu waved his hand, wanting to ask about Thirteen's whereabouts.

Unexpectedly, seeing how badly he was injured, Haojing ignored Shen Mu's probing gaze and quickly turned around to pour out some bottles and jars from the medicine box.

"Don't say it's nothing. This is the mortal realm, not our divine realm."

Hao Jing's tone was clearly tinged with emotion, as he said that since he had known Shen Mu, he had rarely seen Shen Mu injured.

This is why he is the only one in the mortal realm who knows medicine.

Because ordinary people simply cannot harm Shen Mu.

"I told you I was fine, except that the Emperor of Nanyang punished me with several dozen strokes of the cane." Shen Mu gritted his teeth, the injury on his back still clearly causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

Hao Jing paused upon hearing this, then stared wide-eyed at Shen Mudao.

"You probably don't know that in this mortal world, any random mortal can die after taking a few dozen blows!"

After saying that, he deliberately used more force, causing Shen Mu to wince in pain.

"I think things have changed ever since you met that Mr. Thirteen!"