Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

After a long while, Wen Yuening spoke softly, "Your Highness is absolutely right. It is Yuening who is somewhat ignorant of the rules."

She slightly raised her neck, adopting a different, pitiful expression.

"The Empress is such a talented opera singer; it's a real waste that she doesn't join an opera troupe."

I don't know what's wrong with him; he's been behaving terribly lately.

"Once the secret passage is repaired, you may come to the Princess's residence anytime you wish."

Shen Sangwan didn't know if she was influenced by Wen Yuening, but after thinking for a long time, she blurted out such a comforting sentence.

After saying that, he felt like slapping himself twice.

"Since Your Highness says so, then Yue Ning would be impolite to refuse."

Goodness, now you're making it sound like I desperately want you to come.

"Ha, what a cunning woman."

"It's getting late, Your Majesty. You should return to the palace soon. I also have some matters to attend to."

After giving Shuyi a few more instructions, Shen Sangwan left the main courtyard first.

She was afraid that if she was too late, Wen Yuening would use some other words to trap her.

Still caught up in her excitement, Wen Yuening hadn't even had a chance to ask about Zijue's assassination attempt on Shen Sangwan before she realized what had happened, and the man had already vanished.

With a sigh, he had no choice but to give up.

Since the assassination attempt yesterday, Shuyun has entrusted the repair of the secret passage to the Ruoli sisters, while she herself has stayed by Shen Sangwan's side.

Where are those assassins being held?

"They tied him up and locked him in a dark room, and fed him the full dose of drugs. He probably won't have any strength now that he's awake."

Led by Shuyun, Shen Sangwan walked along several small paths for about fifteen minutes. The courtyard was somewhat deserted, and compared to the furnishings in front, it was rather shabby.

I never imagined that the Princess's residence had such a place.

There were no guards here. Shuyun took the lead, pushed open the door, walked to the wall and pressed the mechanism, and a hidden door next to it was opened.

"Your Highness, please."

The roads inside were not as dark as those leading to the Phoenix Palace; they were brightly lit by many oil lamps.

Shen Sangwan was a little curious. The air in this dark passage was not very ventilated, yet the oil lamp was burning very brightly, which was quite a strange thing.

After walking for a while, there was a wooden door that was open, and humming and murmuring sounds came from inside.

The innermost room even had a skylight, which amazed Shen Sangwan once again. She decided to take a closer look at the construction plan of the princess's mansion whenever she had free time.

The design and layout are quite unique.

Hearing the noise, the assassins tried to move but were too weak to do so; they could only barely lift their heads to see who was coming.

"I know you are just executioners who take money to do things for others. I don't know who the buyer is, and I will not force you to answer."

"I came here today only to know who the master of your Soul-Hooking Pavilion is, daring to repeatedly accept assassination attempts against members of the royal family. I am quite interested in him."

The assassins lowered their heads and remained silent, pretending not to have heard Shen Sangwan's words.

Seeing the reactions of the people on the ground, Shen Sangwan was not in a hurry. While pacing back and forth, she opened the prop panel and looked through the list of torturous drugs.

Shuyun stood at the doorway, constantly watching the situation of the person on the ground.

"Hey, hey, haha ​​powder? What a casual name. Hmm, the effect seems pretty good. Let's give it a try."

She flipped through most of the pages, and all she found were poisons or useless medicines. Only this hip-hop powder barely met her requirements.

With his back to the assassin, he took out the antidote and handed it to Shuyun, saying, "Take it."

Shuyun was used to Shen Sangwan taking things out of thin air and trusted her completely. She took the pill and quickly put it into her mouth.

She ate one herself, then threw the hip-hop powder she had taken out onto the ground.

The assassins didn't know what it was, and their attempts to resist were futile, so they could only hold their breath for the time being.

But they didn't know that this stuff would work immediately upon contact with the skin.

Before long, laughter mixed with panting could be heard throughout the dark room.

The assassin, who had already taken muscle-relaxing powder, was now laughing incessantly, causing his internal organs to ache.

"Although this thing won't kill anyone immediately, it could be fatal if it's not stopped in time. I've never seen anyone die from laughing. I never expected that you all would give me such an opportunity today."

Shen Sangwan smiled and looked down at the people on the ground, then slowly began to speak with great interest.

"I suspect that you are thinking right now that you're going to die anyway, and since you're principled people, you shouldn't betray your master, right?"

"Loyalty is good, but unfortunately, you've chosen the wrong path."

"There is only one dose of the antidote. Whoever speaks first will live. I will give him half an hour to leave the Princess's residence. As for whether he will live or die, that depends on fate."

The laughter gradually faded, and the people lying on the ground began to twitch slightly.

With nothing to do today, Shen Sangwan could afford to wait, so she strolled slowly around the walls of the dark room.

After the convulsions lasted for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, the body began to experience localized numbness. One of them couldn't take it anymore and used his last bit of strength to raise his hand to signal.

"Your Highness."

Since Shen Sangwan, who had her back to her, didn't see it, it was Shuyun who spoke up to remind her.

He took another dose of the antidote, had Shuyun give it to him, and then carried the man outside.

The others stared at the wooden door with regret in their eyes, enduring physical pain and waiting for death in despair.

After leaving the secret room, the three did not return to the main courtyard, but instead randomly chose a house outside to inquire.

"The affairs of the pavilion are now all overseen by the deputy pavilion master, and I haven't seen the pavilion master for a long time."

"So, the job of assassinating me was also done by your Vice Pavilion Master?"

The man nodded.

"Who is your sect leader?"

The man hesitated for a moment, "I...I really don't know. I'm only a second-class assassin in the pavilion. I saw the pavilion master once when I joined, and only occasionally twice after that, and each time it was just a fleeting glimpse."

Shen Sangwan looked at the other person's trembling body, caused by the lingering effects of the drug, and guessed that he was probably not lying.

“Say what you know.”

"The Pavilion Master always wears a silver mask. I guess apart from Qingzhi and Wenque, no one else has ever seen the Pavilion Master's true face. However, when he entered the Pavilion that day, I heard his voice, which sounded somewhat like that of a gentle young master from a noble family."

Sitting in the chair, Shen Sangwan's eyes became serious, her brows furrowed slightly, and her lips moved slightly, as if she was silently pondering something.

"Do you know the person who tried to assassinate me before?"

"The first group to go were all top-tier assassins and secret agents from the pavilion, including Zijue."

Upon hearing this, Shen Sangwan felt a sense of relief.

No wonder she was forced to retreat step by step the first time. That somewhat effeminate man in purple had fierce killing moves. If it weren't for the system, she would probably have been beheaded long ago.

Since they were willing to use top-tier assassins the first time, and this envoy must be a rather formidable character, why did they only send some second-rate ones this time, and even in the imperial city?

Shen Sangwan would sometimes gently pinch her chin, sometimes rub her temples, feeling a bit overwhelmed.