The villain, Xiao Nanliang, caused the female lead excruciating pain.

"Minister Bai has already told me about your matter, so don't worry, I won't implicate you because of Bai Luo."

After a long while, Ying Muxue came to her senses and withdrew her gaze from Su Qi. Concealing the sorrow in her eyes, she resumed her usual demeanor and replied calmly.

Chao Bailing nodded, then turned to look at an official behind her.

"Zhao Qing, you will represent me to extend my greetings to the other students in the Southern Region."

"I accept the decree!"

Ying Muxue nodded and was about to enter the dormitory to discuss future cooperation with Bai Ling when she noticed a murderous gaze falling on her.

She turned her head and scanned the crowd of onlookers, finally meeting a pair of cold eyes.

Ying Muxue narrowed her eyes.

"Ning Hongyu, you rat in the gutter, how dare you show your face before me!"

"Ha, what do I have to be afraid of? Sooner or later, I will rise again and overthrow your tyrannical Ling Dynasty!"

Ning Hongyu sneered without flinching, certain that Ying Muxue wouldn't dare to attack her at the White Tiger Academy.

"You say I'm tyrannical?"

Ying Muxue seemed to have heard a joke.

"When your six kingdoms were in power, the Southern Region was plagued by war year after year, and the people suffered greatly. If my Great Ling were to unify the Southern Region, the people, if not living in peace and prosperity, would at least not starve to death in the streets. Where does this accusation of tyranny come from?"

In fact, Ning Hongyu knew in her heart that unification was the right path for the Southern Region.

She used to want to overthrow the Great Ling Dynasty in order to fulfill her father and brother's last wishes.

But now, she wants to overthrow the Great Ling Dynasty, simply to avenge her baby.

However, this was clearly something she couldn't say; she needed to uphold the greater good in order to get the remnants of the six kingdoms under her command to obey.

"In order to unify the Southern Region, your Great Ling has left rivers of blood wherever your horses have gone, and countless lives have been lost. This is your tyranny!"

"Heh, how naive!" Ying Muxue retorted sarcastically, "If your Chu Kingdom had possessed the military strength of the Great Spirit back then, your Chu Kingdom would have been even more tyrannical than the Great Spirit. At least I managed to keep many nobles from the six kingdoms alive and raise them in the capital."

Watching the two women argue, Mo Ling Su felt extremely bored and sent a telepathic message to Su Qi.

"Your two wives are arguing, aren't you going to stop them?"

Su Qi rolled his eyes: "If you want me dead, just say so."

"Forget it, the victor is king and the loser is villain, there's no point in arguing with you. Keep your henchmen in check and don't let them extend any further into the Southern Region, otherwise... no one in the Eastern Region can stop me!"

With a cold snort, Ying Muxue ignored her and walked into the dormitory.

Su Qi and Bai Ling exchanged a glance and followed him inside.

Seeing that there was no excitement to be had, the others also dispersed.

Ning Hongyu did not return to the dormitory, but instead went to pick up a mission and left the White Tiger Academy.

After wandering around for a while, she finally arrived at a teahouse.

Logically speaking, given the remote location and the fact that hardly anyone walks by, a teahouse located here is bound to lose money and will likely close down within a few days.

It's quite unusual that this teahouse has been open here for so long.

Upon seeing Ning Hongyu enter the teahouse, the shopkeeper, who had been dozing off, immediately perked up and quickly led her into a secret room.

"How's the investigation I asked you to do going?"

The shopkeeper trembled slightly, nervously pulled out a folded piece of paper, and respectfully handed it over.

"Chief, as you instructed, we have searched through all the well-known experts above the Nascent Soul stage in the Eastern Region, but we have not found anyone with a disciple named Feng Baobao."

Seeing Ning Hongyu's face grow increasingly gloomy, he swallowed hard and quickly added.

"Just in case, we also checked all the Golden Core cultivators in the Eastern Region, but we didn't find anyone named Feng Baobao."

"Furthermore... we've investigated thoroughly. Feng Yingying, the most sought-after courtesan at Tianxiang Pavilion in Tianfu Ancient Capital, was originally a noblewoman from the An Kingdom. She was demoted to a lowly status and forced into prostitution because she refused a marriage arranged by the Prince of An and fled. She doesn't have a brother named Feng Baobao at all..."

The shopkeeper's voice grew softer and softer as he spoke.

Ning Hongyu's hands trembled uncontrollably as she looked at the contents of the paper.

"No...it's impossible, how could he lie to me?"

……

Nighttime, the highest floating island in the ancient Li clan's territory.

"Speaking of which, we've talked so much today, but I haven't heard you call me 'Mom' yet. Are you shy?"

Lying on the bed, Mu Xinglan turned to her side, staring intently at the person beside her.

Because their cultivation levels have been sealed, they have nothing to do at night except sleep.

Actually, Mu Xinglan was still able to cultivate before this.

After all, she was a manifestation of a celestial medicine, and the medicinal power of the celestial medicine was related to her cultivation level. Naturally, the Li Clan would not restrict her cultivation; on the contrary, they would help her improve her cultivation.

But ever since she transferred the power of the elixir to Ye Feng, she has lost that little bit of freedom.

"No...no!"

Su Qi shrank further under the covers, covering her flushed face, leaving only her big, blinking eyes showing.

"Then why didn't you call out?"

"I...I'm just not ready yet."

As Su Qi spoke, he secretly grabbed Mu Xinglan's hand under the covers, gently patted it to signal her not to move, and then began to write words on her palm.

Su Qi can't use any of his cultivation right now. He doesn't know if the Li family patriarch next door is monitoring this place with his divine sense.

Being cautious, he dared not reveal his rescue plan directly and could only resort to this method.

Mu Xinglan's eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't show any emotion as she continued chatting with Su Qi, her attention completely focused on her palm.

I have a way to escape, cooperate with me!

When Mu Xinglan connected the words written by Su Qi into a sentence, she almost couldn't contain her excitement.

Having been imprisoned for so many years, she thought about escaping almost every moment, but faced with the strict defenses of the Li clan, she was completely helpless.

Suppressing her excitement, she gently patted Su Qi's hand to indicate that she would cooperate.

"Oh dear, still won't admit it? Our Ning'er is really shy, isn't she?"

"No, I'm going to sleep!"

Su Qi seemed unwilling to answer the question and abruptly pulled the lid off the cup.

"Hey? Are you angry?"

"no!"

Despite this, Su Qi's tone was still sullen.

Mu Xinglan chuckled: "Alright, if you don't want to call me that, then don't. We'll call you that when Ning'er is ready."

After saying that, seeing that Su Qi was still hiding under the covers, she shook her head with a helpless expression and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

But in her heart, she wondered what methods Su Qi would use to escape from here.

Before she could figure it out, she suddenly felt Su Qi's body tremble beside her, as if he was trying his best to suppress something.

This made Mu Xinglan somewhat worried, but she dared not show it.

After an unknown amount of time, Su Qi's trembling stopped. After a few seconds, Mu Xinglan felt Su Qi's hand grab her wrist.

Just as he was wondering what Su Qi was going to do, he felt a sharp pain the next second.

Soon, she understood.

Many cultivators need to have a mark inscribed on them before they can unleash their spells; Su Qi is branding himself with one.

She just didn't understand, where did Su Qi get the carving knife?

Neither of them could use their cultivation. If they wanted to inscribe a mark, they could only use those carving knives that had been stored in spiritual energy. These carving knives were for talisman masters and could also be considered a kind of spiritual weapon. How did Su Qi bring them in?

Although she was puzzled, Mu Xinglan silently endured it and continued to pretend to be asleep.

Su Qi's branding technique was clearly not very good, and the whole process lasted a full hour before it ended.

Feeling Su Qi's body relax, Mu Xinglan also breathed a sigh of relief.

The next second, the blanket was suddenly pulled off by Su Qi, and when Mu Xinglan saw Su Qi's current appearance, her pupils suddenly shrank.

She knew where Su Qi's carving knife came from. What kind of carving knife was this? It was clearly Su Qi who had refined his own finger bone into a carving knife.

The trembling earlier was because he was enduring the pain and tearing open the flesh of his own fingers!