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

"It's funny, Shen Zhizhi was so angry that she entered the palace and became Duan Yuan's father's concubine because Duan Yuan married the late Empress Bai.

Shen Mu looked at Hao Jing with a calm and deep gaze, as if he were talking about something that was nothing out of the ordinary.

On the contrary, Hao Jing was so surprised that his eyes widened, his face full of gossip.

"You're talking about the Empress Dowager and the Emperor..."

Even though he had lived for hundreds of years, he had never seen such an explosive story as his beloved becoming his adoptive mother.

"More or less, but are you sure you stumbled upon it while stealing the blueprints?"

Shen Mu pondered, a subtle change appearing in his usually calm expression. If it truly was the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration that brought another man to her palace.

Then this matter is not simple.

Haojing nodded vigorously, affirming.

“I saw it clearly. I did wonder if it was the Emperor, but then I thought about it again. When I left Yong'an Palace, I saw flames shooting into the sky in the direction of Mingyue Palace. So the Emperor couldn’t possibly have gone to the Empress Dowager’s palace.”

Having had his hopes of immortality burned away in a fire, how could he possibly be in the mood to seek out the Empress Dowager?

Shen Mu slightly turned his body, the wound on his back pulling painfully, but he immediately lay back down.

"Do you think it might be someone from Baiyun Mountain?"

There seemed to be some obscure emotions churning in his eyes. He hadn't thought of it at first, but Haojing reminded him.

They had been lurking in the Nanyang Imperial Palace for months, but had not seen the Taoist priest from Baiyun Mountain.

Is it possible that it's hidden in the Cining Hall, which they've never patrolled?

"A Taoist priest? With the Empress Dowager?"

Hao Jing felt a chill run down his spine; he had to admire Shen Mu's idea.

That's incredibly bold!

"Send someone to investigate thoroughly, but don't use the Embroidered Uniform Guard; let Qingfeng investigate."

A hint of disdain flashed in Shen Mu's eyes. There must be someone else's spies in their Shen residence now, so they definitely couldn't send their own people to investigate this matter.

Hao Jing nodded blankly upon hearing this, seemingly still savoring Shen Mu's words. He truly hadn't expected the interpersonal relationships within the Nanyang royal family to be so complex.

It's that complicated!

Seeing Hao Jing deep in thought for a long time, Shen Mu slowly reminded him.

"Don't forget, even though your martial arts skills are poor, you're not someone who can be easily captured in the mortal realm."

After all, he was able to hide in the Cining Palace without being discovered, and even keep pressing Haojing step by step.

He is definitely not an ordinary person.

Hao Jing, however, only grasped the key point in Shen Mu's words, and said with displeasure.

"What do you mean by saying that although my martial arts skills are very poor?"

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at Shen Mu. Although his martial arts skills were the worst among Xie Qiao and the others, he was more than capable of dealing with ordinary people!

Shen Mu replied without any politeness, "You can't even beat Thirteen, do I need to remind you?"

"You really can't tell right from wrong! Would she take care of you like I do, and apply medicine for you?" Hao Jing deliberately stepped forward and pressed Shen Mu, who was about to sit up, back down.

"Don't move around recklessly. We're in the mortal realm, so let's just let it rest!" Hao Jing couldn't help but roll his eyes. If he moved around like that, the wound would probably just keep reopening.

Shen Mu's voice faltered, and his face remained somewhat pale.

"But this is just my guess. After all, the final thing is to catch that person in the act."

Haojing agreed with him and nodded.

"Perhaps that's true. I still need to send someone to keep an eye on things as soon as possible. However..." Hao Jing frowned, and swallowed his words halfway through.

Shen Mu said with displeasure, "Speak your mind!"

Upon hearing this, Hao Jing opened his mouth, remained silent for a long time, and then slowly spoke.

"Do you still remember the first time you secretly sneaked into the palace at the age of thirteen?"

He didn't want to mention it, but it was the first time he had been taken down by someone in a single move.

"A stray cat stepped on the roof?" Shen Mu raised an eyebrow. He remembered that the roof of the palace had collapsed, which was exactly when he sent Hao Jing to deal with the Emperor of Nanyang.

"Yes, that time. Wasn't it the emperor who was shouting in the palace to catch the assassin?" Hao Jing quickly changed the subject, afraid that Shen Mu would provoke him about his poor martial arts skills.

He remembered it so clearly because Shen Mu made him find an excuse that a stray cat had trampled the roof while passing by.

As a result, the emperor actually punished him with twenty strokes of the cane and a six-month salary deduction, leaving him without money to visit the girls at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion these days.

"You mean the Empress Dowager was hiding in the Emperor's bedchamber back then?" Shen Mu was somewhat skeptical of Hao Jing's guess, after all, it was in the Emperor's bedchamber, not the Cining Palace.

Anyone could be it.

Haojing, however, thought differently and quickly interrupted him.

"You wouldn't believe it, when I returned to the Emperor to report, I happened to run into a young eunuch who looked flustered as he walked out of the palace. I tried to call out to him, but the more I called, the faster he ran."

Haojing touched his chin, pretending to be deep in thought.

Seeing this, Shen Mu asked with a hint of doubt.

"So you mean that the eunuch is most likely the Empress Dowager?"

"I can't say for sure." Hao Jing smacked his lips. That night, it was the emperor who first summoned the guards, saying that there was a thief in the palace.

But he was in his bedchamber at the time and wouldn't let anyone near him.

"So you went to look at the records of those who served you that night?"

"No."

"Then why are you making wild guesses?" Shen Mu wanted to pick up something handy nearby and throw it at Hao Jing, but because of his physical limitations, there was nothing around to throw.

Hao Jing hurriedly smiled awkwardly at Shen Mu.

"My lord, there's no need for you to do it. I'll investigate later. You should focus on recovering from your injuries."

After saying that, he deliberately walked to a distance just above Shen Mu, gave him an ugly smile, and then turned and walked out of the house.

Seeing that Haojing was about to leave, Shen Mu hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"Haojing, wait a moment."

"Is there anything else you need, sir?"

Hao Jing stopped himself from taking the step he had just taken and looked at Shen Mu with a puzzled expression.

Shen Muhao deliberately shifted his gaze, pretending to be nonchalant.

"Go to my study, on the third shelf on the left, the third vase from the right. Turn it and a hidden compartment will appear."

Haojing tilted his head and asked in confusion.

"Is there anything I can get for you?"

Shen Mu paused for a moment before slowly speaking.

"There is Cang Ling's secret medicine in that hidden compartment. You should personally deliver it to Thirteen."

Haojing's eyes widened upon hearing this, and he said with slight displeasure.

"That secret medicine isn't the one Lord Zeso gave you, is it? You just gave it to her like that?"

He wasn't giving the medicine to Thirteen out of reluctance; it was simply that the medicine had been provided by Ze Suo, the current emperor of Cangling Kingdom, who was also Shen Mu's adoptive father, before they descended to the mortal realm.

There is only one of its kind in the world.

It was all for the purpose of saving Shen Mu's life in the mortal realm at a critical moment. If it's given away so easily, what if Shen Mu encounters danger again?

Before Shen Mu could reply, he spoke in a somewhat aggressive tone, still annoyed by Shen Mu's actions.

"Although Thirteen's leg was broken, thankfully I'm still here. There's really no need to give her that secret medicine."

Seeing this, Shen Mu's tone was somewhat unable to refuse.

"Just go when I tell you to, stop talking nonsense."

"..."