Your Highness, please stop chasing me.

Mu Xue held the black-finned snake in one hand and took the cloth bag handed to her by Leng Quan with the other, saying in a flat voice, "I went to the Cangmang Mountains before and brought back two small ones to raise. I was thinking they might come in handy in the future, and here they are."

Undeterred, Lin Jiu tried to get closer to Yao Lao, but Yao Lao simply walked over to Mu Xue and looked at Lin Jiu. Lin Jiu had no choice but to stubbornly say, "I don't care, it's wrong of you to scare me with that snake!"

Mu Xue looked at Lin Jiu speechlessly and asked, "Excuse me, did I ask you to open it?"

"But you didn't stop me!" Lin Jiu said indignantly.

Seeing that Ye Shangyuan's expression had visibly turned ugly, Leng Quan, out of a sense of duty as a friend, stepped forward and tugged at Lin Jiu's sleeve, gesturing for him to look at Ye Shangyuan.

The old master couldn't bear to see his disciple so embarrassed, so he patted his sleeves and said, "If I'm not mistaken, has this blackfin snake cub already been tamed?"

Mu Xue nodded, and without keeping her in suspense, she said, "I tamed it the moment I brought it back, to prevent it from hurting anyone."

Tame? A question mark appeared in everyone's mind.

Yoruichi suddenly remembered the legends of the ancient doctors and said, "It is said that the ancient doctors had a unique taming technique, which was specifically used to tame those rare and precious beasts."

Mu Xue nodded again and said, "That's right, but calling it taming is more like drug control. In reality, you can't really tame animals in this world; it's just about giving them something more tempting."

Mu Sheng then asked, "Why did you ask me to bring this over?"

"This blackfin snake has always been raised by Susu, so it's familiar with Susu's scent. Plus, I've given it some medicine, so even if we don't find Susu in the Prince Jing's mansion, the blackfin snake can still lead you there," Mu Xue explained.

Upon hearing this, the old physician exclaimed, "I never imagined that the ancient medical techniques of taming animals were so miraculous, that they could even tame animals to find people?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Xue chuckled and said, "Of course not. It's just that this blackfin snake has been with Su Su for a while now, and with my deliberate training, it's only particularly sensitive to Su Su's scent."

Everyone suddenly realized, "So that's how it is."

Leng Quan said, "So that means this blackfin snake can actually lead us to Su Su right now? Is that right?"

Clover nodded and said, "In principle, but if we search aimlessly over too large an area, I'm afraid the Blackfin Serpent's abilities are limited. So it's best to narrow down the search area before we start looking; that would be more reliable."

After Mu Xue's explanation, everyone understood.

Mu Sheng pulled Leng Quan aside and asked, "Now that we have such an ally, have you discussed your plan to sneak into Prince Jing's residence tonight?"

Leng Quan whispered in Mu Sheng's ear, "Our princess is amazing. The old apothecary wanted to become her disciple as soon as they met, and he highly praised the pills in the princess's possession."

Mu Sheng was also very surprised. He couldn't help but think of the situation of his father and older brother at home, and smiled bitterly to himself.

With everyone present, the arrangements for the nighttime infiltration of Prince Jing's residence were made perfectly clear in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

After that, Ye Shangyuan did not mention again that he wanted to take Mu Xue back to the capital the next morning.

Mu Xue handed over the instructions on how to use the pills and the tamed blackfin snake to Leng Quan, and then went to the alchemy room with Yao Lao.

Ye Shangyuan watched Mu Xue's departing figure, chuckled, and then said to Leng Quan and the others, "Remember the precautions Mu Mu gave us. Leng Quan, hurry up and finish this quickly, so as not to delay our departure back to the capital tomorrow."

Mu Sheng looked at Ye Shangyuan incredulously and asked, "You're really going to take Xiao Wu back to the capital? No, did you even ask for my opinion, your second brother?"

Ye Shangyuan glanced at Mu Sheng, then lowered his head to drink his tea, saying indifferently, "What's the use of asking you? Do you think Mu Mu will listen to you?"

Mu Sheng choked, there was nothing wrong with what he said.

He sat angrily by the Nightfall Abyss and stopped talking.

Yoruichi and Reizen were already used to it; they had never seen Mu Sheng win an argument against their prince before.

Lin Jiu had already chased after Mu Xue and Yao Lao, leaving only the four of them in the hall.

Not long after, Mu Sheng asked again, "Are you really going to take Xiao Wu back to the capital? Don't you know how much danger surrounds you?"

Ye Shangyuan was silent for a moment, then his expression became indifferent again. He said calmly, "Rather than leaving her alone in this Yu Nan City, which is full of malice towards her, I would rather she stay by my side, so that at least I can protect her when I can see her."

Upon hearing Ye Shangyuan's words, Mu Sheng turned his head and looked at Ye Shangyuan with great surprise. He truly did not expect that Ye Shangyuan would protect Mu Xue in this way.

He couldn't help but say, deeply moved, "I never imagined that a dignified regent would go to such lengths for a woman!"

Leng Quan couldn't help but think to himself that his lord had done quite a few things like this since he met Miss Mu Wu. This was nothing compared to what he had done before!

"Alright, you all should make arrangements for tonight! I'm going to rest for a while." After saying this, Ye Shangyuan got up and walked out of the hall without waiting for their reply.

Mu Sheng, Leng Quan, and Ye were left looking at each other in bewilderment.

Leng Quan glanced at the sky and said, "It's still early, let's rest and conserve our energy. This," he held up the bag containing the black-finned snake that Mu Xue had handed him before she left, and pushed it forward with some curiosity, asking, "Who wants to take this?"

Upon hearing Leng Quan's question, Mu Sheng quickly waved his hand, joking. He hadn't known what was inside that dangerous bag when he went to retrieve it earlier, yet he held it carelessly. Now, this small bag contained the king of venomous blackfin snakes—how could he possibly touch it again!

Seeing that the two of them looked somewhat unreliable, Yoruichi had no choice but to reach out and take the bag, saying, "You two don't seem very dependable either, so I'll keep it."

After saying that, Yoruichi reached out and took the bag from Reizen's hand, carefully carrying it in her own hands.

Yoruichi was also feeling uneasy; perhaps only Mu Xue wasn't afraid of the Blackfin Serpent!

Reizei Yoruichi also carried the bag carefully, and he reminded her, "You'd better not carry it with you. Take it with you when we're about to start the operation."

Ye nodded, indicating that she understood.

After finishing the business, Mu Sheng curiously approached Leng Quan and asked, "Did something happen while I was away?"

Leng Quan asked, puzzled, "What happened? What is it?"

Yoruichi saw that the two were about to start gossiping, but he wasn't interested. He said something and turned to leave.

Now only Leng Quan and Mu Sheng remained. Seeing that only Leng Quan was left, Mu Sheng smiled and asked, "I noticed that Elder Yao's attitude towards Xiao Wu is quite different!"

Leng Quan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Mu Sheng.