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

Seeing her mother's departing figure, Duan Yuyan finally resigned herself to her fate and prostrated herself on the ground.

She suddenly raised her small face, a sinister smile that hinted at something strange. Her gaze towards An Ruyi gradually became fierce, even tinged with a hint of hostility.

Since no one is helping her, she'll help herself!

This head

Standing on the city wall, Zhou Jinghuai looked at the dark clouds looming over the city and felt a sense of unease.

He glanced at the refugees lined up below the city gate, ready to receive food, and thought that after this last batch of relief was distributed, he would have to go find Thirteen.

After all, Shen Mu had diverted their attention and left yesterday, and Qingfeng wasn't in the manor when they returned.

"Young Master Zhou!"

Suddenly he felt someone calling him from behind, and when he turned around, he saw Xie Qiao.

Xie Qiao, his face ashen and weary, said, "Young Master Zhou, Chongming is back!"

He didn't have time to go to Shen Mu. As soon as he entered the city, he bumped into Zhou Jinghuai, who was giving alms on the city wall. He quickly went upstairs to find him.

"Chongming?"

Zhou Jinghuai paused slightly, stunned on the spot.

Seeing this, Xie Qiao quickly nodded, looked around, and pulled him to a secluded corner to repeat himself.

“Chongming is back. I went into the city with him. I think he’s probably going to the palace to meet the emperor.”

Shen Mu had previously sent him to the western border to search for Chongming, but it took a long time to find him.

Without any apparent reason, Chongming suddenly appeared on the western border. He didn't even notice him along the way, and hurried back to the capital.

Xie Qiao thought that Zhou Jinghuai must have angered him by burning down Mingyue Palace with her. That's why he rushed back without stopping.

"I didn't expect him to come back. Did you tell Shen Mu?"

Zhou Jinghuai's expression turned serious. Finding an opportunity to kill Chongming was the most crucial thing right now. Other matters could be put aside for later.

"I haven't seen him yet. Have you seen Haojing?" Xie Qiao asked hesitantly. Although his martial arts skills were superior to Haojing's, Haojing was still slightly better at lightness skills.

After all, running away when you can't win is a tactic Haojing often uses.

“I saw him today, but he left the city in a hurry. Shen Mu must have assigned him some task.”

Zhou Jinghuai recalled bumping into Haojing at the city gate that morning, where Haojing had unusually appeared flustered as he left the city. He hadn't even had a chance to speak to Haojing.

"Is it about the Second Prince?"

Xie Qiao couldn't help but wonder, because on his way back to the city with Chongming earlier that day, he had seen the Second Prince's carriage in front of a temple in the suburbs.

The bicycle frame must have been parked overnight, because there were no obvious tire tracks on the ground.

They must have left the city earlier.

"Second Prince? I do recall hearing Haojing mention this yesterday. But right now, the most important thing is to find Shen Mu and tell him about Chongming's return to the capital."

Zhou Jinghuai's tone was serious; he couldn't care less where Haojing had gone at the moment.

Finding Shen Mu and killing Chongming are the most important things.

“Yes, then I will go to the Shen residence and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to look for them first. I will trouble you to go to the palace to take a look.” Xie Qiao nodded to him and then went down the city wall.

His identity in the mortal realm was already ambiguous, unlike Hao Jing's status as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. To facilitate his actions, his master had given him an identity that essentially prevented him from freely entering the palace.

Therefore, it would be most convenient for Zhou Jinghuai to go to the palace first to find Shen Mu.

Zhou Jinghuai had the same idea as Xie Qiao, and hurriedly went down the city wall, where he bumped into Qingfeng, who looked like he was in a hurry.

He exclaimed instinctively.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you for days!"

Seeing that Qingfeng was so tired that he was about to sit on the ground, Zhou Jinghuai quickly reached out and supported his somewhat frail body.

Seeing this, Qingfeng forgot about bowing and could only say, panting heavily.

"I saw the First Prince!"

"The eldest prince?"

A fierce glint seemed to flash in Zhou Jinghuai's eyes. He quickly pulled Qingfeng onto the carriage and ordered it to head towards the palace.

"Are you talking about the crown prince in the palace?"

Zhou Jinghuai didn't think much of it, assuming that Qingfeng was referring to the Crown Prince Duan Yuqing, who had been confined to the palace.

Qingfeng, panting heavily, leaned against the soft cushions of the carriage and quickly shook his head.

"I'm talking about our eldest prince!"

His once delicate face became wrinkled, and looking at Zhou Jinghuai with a doubtful expression, he quickly added...

"It's the eldest prince of Xichen! He's come to the mortal realm too!"

"Zhou Minghao?"

Zhou Jinghuai could not hide the surprise in his eyes. Even though it was a special day, with Chongming returning to the capital and the First Prince of Xichen descending to earth, he was surprised.

"It was him! He almost found out!" Qingfeng nodded quickly, still feeling a bit scared about what had just happened.

These days, because his master Zhou Jinghuai was assassinated by Xichen's people, he wanted to go back and find out who Xichen's people were.

Unexpectedly, this investigation revealed a problem.

The one who ambushed Zhou Jinghuai in the palace last time was actually one of the eldest prince's men!

"What is he doing in the mortal realm?" Zhou Jinghuai had a vague sense of unease. This Crown Prince of Xichen was a strange person who acted furtively.

He often did not act like a respectable prince.

"I don't know either. He almost found me, so I rushed here to find you." Qingfeng shook his head, his thin body looking as if he might faint at any moment.

Where did you find him?

"In the suburbs."

"Also in the suburbs?" Zhou Jinghuai frowned upon hearing this, feeling that the coincidence was too much of a coincidence.

Xie Qiao just mentioned that he saw the Second Prince's carriage in the suburbs.

Could these two be involved in some shady dealings?

Thinking of this, his face turned even more ashen. Qingfeng looked at him like this, and hesitated, unsure of how to speak.

Zhou Jinghuai caught a glimpse of Qingfeng's appearance out of the corner of his eye and quickly asked...

"Say what you have to say at once. I have some business to attend to at the palace later."

He can't concern himself with the Crown Prince of Xichen right now. As long as he kills Chongming first, everything else can be postponed.

"Aunt Qin has come looking for you."

As Qingfeng watched him finish speaking, a look of panic flashed across Zhou Jinghuai's face.

He knew that Zhou Jinghuai was most afraid of Aunt Qin.

"You mean Xichen?" Zhou Jinghuai was still trying to escape reality, and his voice became somewhat strange.

"It's her, who else could it be but this Aunt Qin!" Qingfeng's face turned pale; even he was afraid of this Aunt Qin.

Perhaps because Zhou Jinghuai had been in the mortal realm for a long time and had not returned to the Western Divine Realm, this Aunt Qin personally descended to the mortal realm to find him.

Aunt Qin raised Zhou Jinghuai from childhood, and she even guaranteed and promised that Zhou Jinghuai would not make any mistakes in his appointment as the young general of Xichen.

"You...you keep her calm for now. I'll come find you as soon as I leave the palace. Have Aunt Qin stay at my residence and don't let her come out."

When Zhou Jinghuai thought about the rumors about him in the mortal world, he thought that if Aunt Qin found out, she would tear him apart!