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

"Help her? I don't have time for that." Shen Mu felt his spirits recover somewhat, but his expression turned cold again, and his gaze towards Hao Jing carried a hint of warning.

Seeing the cold look on Shen Mu's face, Hao Jing realized he had misspoke. He quickly changed the subject and stopped asking questions.

"So what are your next steps?"

"Of course, it's to rid the Nanyang Emperor of the arsonist." Shen Mu raised an eyebrow slightly; he was the Nanyang Emperor's confidant. Although he received fifty strokes of the cane, he was able to handle every single task assigned to him by the Nanyang Emperor without fail.

He had already sent people to hide all the evidence of the arson at Mingyue Palace in the 'murderer's' house.

Haojing, however, didn't grasp the true meaning behind Shen Mu's words and cautiously asked...

"You mean..."

"Has Xu Zhizhou admitted it?"

Shen Mu didn't answer Hao Jing's question; instead, he interrupted and asked a question. This matter was very important to him.

Hao Jing hurriedly replied, "He admitted to everything. As you instructed, Xie Qiao presented the evidence of corruption that he had uncovered in Jiangnan to Xu Zhizhou, and he took all the blame."

He paused, then, seeing the clear look in Shen Mu's eyes, added another sentence.

"He took the blame for everything, including the arson at Mingyue Palace."

It was quite a coincidence. Internally, Shen Mu did care about Thirteen to some extent, fearing that Thirteen would be tricked by Yi Sisi. So he arrested Xu Zhizhou beforehand, who was preparing to go to Zuixianlou for drinks.

Externally, they used the Jiangnan corruption case to force Xu Zhizhou to take the blame for all the crimes.

Xu Zhizhou was once a retainer of the Duke of Anguo. Anyone who could amass wealth for the Duke of Anguo must have had their entire family threatened by him.

Shen Mu ordered Hao Jing to interrogate Xu Zhizhou overnight, intending for him to take the blame for all the crimes. In return, Shen Mu would send people to rescue Xu Zhizhou and his family and send them to a neighboring country.

"Tomorrow you shall hand over the signed and sealed confession to the Emperor of Nanyang."

"Yes, sir." Hao Jing nodded solemnly, then looked at Shen Mu with some hesitation.

"However, sir, there is something I don't quite understand."

What do you want to ask?

"I want to ask why you think that Xu Zhizhou would take the blame for the Mingyue Palace matter on our behalf?"

Logically speaking, everyone in Nanyang knows that the Nanyang emperor has long desired immortality, to the point of madness.

The Mingyue Palace was described by the Taoist Chongming as an altar that could trade with the Heavenly Dao for immortality.

In order to build an altar and achieve immortality, the emperor of Nanyang practically exhausted most of the national treasury.

If it were merely embezzlement, he could simply return the silver he had previously embezzled to the emperor and perhaps save his life. However, admitting to burning down the altar that supposedly granted the Emperor of Nanyang immortality would likely result in the extermination of his entire clan.

Shen Mu lay half-reclined on the soft couch, his expression calm yet subtly exuding an air of authority.

“The Duke of Anguo is cunning. Those who can get an official position through his connections must have placed their most valued assets in his hands.” Shen Mu couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. He had only recently come to this realization.

The only person who could open the Drunken Immortal Pavilion in the most prosperous area of ​​Nanyang was the Duke of Anguo.

The reason he can get all the information you want is because he has many retainers, and he has leverage over people in his faction. How could he not know what's going on in the world?

Thinking of this, Shen Mu suddenly spoke up.

"So do you still remember why I later overturned the claim that the three assassins from Fengyazhai were from the Western Regions?"

Hao Jing's expression was somewhat complicated, and he thought for a while before speaking.

"You already guessed that it was Duke Anguo who sent false information to Thirteen, claiming that the three men in black were from the Western Regions?" Even Hao Jing couldn't help but sigh, this game had already been played months ago.

They were just waiting for the Duke of Anguo to crawl in himself.

Shen Mu chuckled and winked at Hao Jing, signaling him to come and reapply the medicine. Only after Hao Jing brought the medicine box did he explain.

"I originally thought it was really made by people from the Western Regions, until the Duke of Anguo sent his youngest son into the palace and placed the blueprints and keys of Mingyue Palace in Consort An's Yong'an Palace."

"What does this mean?" Hao Jing asked hurriedly. He then deftly cut open Shen Mu's clothes, revealing horrific wounds covering his strong waist, with blood seeping out faintly.

“Mingyue Palace is the part that Duke Anguo coveted the most.” Shen Mu chuckled. The 100,000 taels of disaster relief silver from Jiangnan was nothing to Duke Anguo.

Building the Bright Moon Palace was the best way for Duke Anguo to amass wealth.

"No wonder I said that the Duke of Anguo supported the Emperor of Nanyang in building this altar. It turns out that he wanted to make a personal profit from it."

Shen Mu hastily wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, then straightened himself and said...

"Zhou Jinghuai later told me that when he went to see the bottom of Mingyue Palace, it was all supported by some crudely made wooden stakes. He was afraid that Mingyue Palace could not be built at all, so it would be better to burn it down and destroy the evidence."

It's no wonder that, although the Duke of Anguo outwardly showed fear of the Emperor of Nanyang, his expression did not betray the panic he displayed at the banquet.

He is probably the biggest beneficiary of this fire.

"So that's why you said that if Xu Zhizhou confesses to this crime, the Duke of Anguo won't interfere at all?" Hao Jing evenly sprinkled the ground medicine powder on Shen Mu's back. He had also specially mixed some sedative drugs into the powder.

"Not only will he not interfere, he should even thank me." Shen Mu chuckled. This old fox is probably overjoyed at home.

For Duke Anguo, losing a pawn who held leverage over him was nothing more than the complete destruction of evidence that he had embezzled funds intended for the construction of the Bright Moon Palace.

How could he not do a deal that so pleased Duke Anguo?

However, Xu Zhizhou was unaware of this meaning. Shen Mu deliberately used Hao Jing to blackmail him by threatening his entire family, forcing him to sign the document. It was Xu Zhizhou's bad luck.

However, according to the laws of Nanyang, embezzling 50,000 taels of silver would result in exile to the border, and 100,000 taels would be enough to buy his life.

"It seems that the biggest winner in this struggle is Duke Anguo." Haojing couldn't help but sigh and shake his head to himself.

He recalled Xie Qiao mentioning how Duke Anguo knelt and begged for mercy when putting out the fire at Mingyue Palace. He probably already knew the stakes involved and was just waiting for someone to sabotage him.

"That's not necessarily true."

Hao Jing paused upon hearing this, and asked with some doubt, "Does Your Excellency mean that others have also benefited?"

The Duke of Anguo embezzled funds, leaving the Emperor of Nanyang without money and the altar, and Xu Zhizhou was about to lose his life.

After all the calculations, I don't see anyone who can benefit from it.

"Of course there's one more." Shen Mu winked at Hao Jing, who quickly poured a glass of water and handed it to him. After watching Shen Mu take the medicine he had prepared, Hao Jing immediately asked...

"Who else could it be?"

"Prime Minister Pei, Lord Pei Zhiheng."