Even though it wasn’t happening to him, Nanmeng Zhuo felt a chill of fear just from watching.

Jian Yi and Feng Jiu’er both knew that Qiao Mu had mastered the soul-binding technique, and showed no surprise at all.

It was just that, in order to make Nanmeng Zhuo more thoroughly convinced, this woman hadn’t hesitated to sacrifice some of her own internal energy — that alone was admirable.

Feng Jiu’er was certain they could get some useful information out of this man, and this was good enough for now.

With the bound man fully entranced, Qiao Mu’s low voice rose. “What exactly is your purpose in coming to Crow Wood City?”

“To help our master retake Crow Wood City,” the man said flatly.

In that moment, he looked like a puppet with no soul of its own.

“Why target our army?” Qiao Mu went on.

“To stir up conflict between you and the soldiers of Crow Wood City, to keep the fighting going, so that when our master marches in, he can reap the benefits while others suffer.”

The man’s words shocked Nanmeng Zhuo — if Miss Jiu’er had fallen for the scheme, his own people would have suffered heavy losses.

So no matter who it was planning to attack the city, there was no way Nanmeng Zhuo could ever feel any goodwill toward him.

Qiao Mu turned her head to glance at Feng Jiu’er, then let her gaze fall back on the man.

“Who is your master?”

“I don’t know my master’s identity either,” the man said, shaking his head.

Qiao Mu still had some confidence in her own soul-binding technique — if the man said he didn’t know, then he truly didn’t know.

“What characteristics does he have?” Qiao Mu frowned and pressed on.

“I’ve heard it’s someone from the palace — a consort. Exactly who, I don’t know,” the man’s voice rose again.

Qiao Mu knitted her brows and looked toward Feng Jiu’er once more.

Feng Jiu’er’s moth brows furrowed slightly, and she shook her head. “That’s enough for now.”

Looking at Qiao Mu’s increasingly pale face, she didn’t feel good about it either.

Qiao Mu nodded, turned back to meet the man’s eyes, and swept her palm through the air between them.

Her brow creasing, she left without another word, turning and walking out.

Nanmeng Zhuo watched her retreating figure in astonishment.

Not until Qiao Mu vanished from sight did he turn back to look at the man hanging unconscious on the iron frame.

“Miss Jiu’er, which consort in the palace do you think wants to retake Crow Wood City?”

Seeing how capable even one of her subordinates was, Nanmeng Zhuo’s admiration for Feng Jiu’er only grew.

Feng Jiu’er steadied herself and met his gaze.

“Their letter has already been sent out. Whether or not someone is planning to attack the city, the gates need tighter defenses these next few days regardless.”

“Since you have the ability to rally the soldiers of Crow Wood City, I won’t hide it from you any longer — I serve the Ninth Prince.”

“This campaign to retake Crow Wood City is meant to use its strategic terrain to protect the Ninth Prince’s Desert City.”

The last time they had passed through Crow Wood City, the one who had brought men to cause trouble for everyone was the City Lord of Nanmeng.

Whether Nanmeng Yan had recognized her, Feng Jiu’er couldn’t be sure — but she was certain that this Young Master Nanmeng hadn’t been among those present back then.

“You serve the Ninth Prince?” Nanmeng Zhuo’s eyes went wide, taking a moment to register the words.

“Miss Jiu’er, do you know? I’ve always admired the Ninth Prince.”

“I never imagined that one day, Crow Wood City would fall under the Ninth Prince’s rule.”

“Miss Jiu’er, rest assured — once the brothers learn that you’ve come on the Ninth Prince’s orders, they’ll follow you wholeheartedly.”

Feng Jiu’er raised an eyebrow at Nanmeng Zhuo and stood up.

Her man really was different from the rest.

Whether or not Nanmeng Zhuo’s words were genuine, Feng Jiu’er had always taken pride in her man.

Perhaps that was something that would never change for the rest of her life.

“Is the list I asked you to prepare ready?”

“Mostly ready. There’s a small portion still being put together.” Facing Feng Jiu’er’s gaze, Nanmeng Zhuo’s expression turned serious at once.

“Miss Jiu’er, I’ll hand over the entire list today, without exception — does that work for you?”

“Good.” Feng Jiu’er nodded. “Have the list in my hands before nightfall, without fail. There isn’t much time left.”

“Understood.” Nanmeng Zhuo nodded. “Miss Jiu’er, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”

There was much he wanted to ask, but Nanmeng Zhuo decided not to press further — whatever Miss Jiu’er was willing to say, she would say; whatever she wasn’t, pressing wouldn’t get him anywhere.

“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er waved a hand.

The moment Nanmeng Zhuo stepped out of the tent, Feng Jiu’er walked out as well.

She and Jian Yi went together into the tent next door.

Qiao Mu sat cross-legged inside, resting with her eyes closed; hearing someone enter, she opened her eyes for a glance.

In barely a quarter of an hour, Qiao Mu’s face had grown considerably paler.

Her internal injuries had never fully healed, and using the soul-binding technique had now strained her heart meridian further.

To keep Nanmeng Zhuo from noticing, she had withdrawn the technique and left right away.

“Jiu’er.”

Before Qiao Mu could get the words out, Feng Jiu’er had already come up behind her, pressing both palms against her back.

“I’m just adjusting your internal energy — it won’t cost me much true energy, so don’t bother refusing.”

The words barely spoken, a stream of true energy flowed from Feng Jiu’er’s palms into Qiao Mu’s body.

Qiao Mu frowned and closed her eyes.

With Feng Jiu’er’s true energy replenishing her, Qiao Mu’s disordered breathing settled quickly.

Just as Qiao Mu was about to open her mouth to decline, Feng Jiu’er withdrew her palms.

“How is it? Feeling better?”

Qiao Mu slowly opened her eyes, looking at the person in front of her, a faint smile forming.

“Jiu’er, I didn’t expect your skill to have improved so much.”

Seeing that Feng Jiu’er was all right, Qiao Mu finally felt at ease.

She extended a hand to Feng Jiu’er, who took it, and the two of them stood up together.

“These past few days, I’ve noticed that whether I’m fighting in battle or helping heal someone, every time I draw on my true energy, my internal skill seems to make some progress.”

“With Aunt Xue and Father not around, I can’t really explain it myself — but it’s not a bad sign, so that’s good news at least.”

Looking at the proud expression on Feng Jiu’er’s face, Qiao Mu felt happy for her too.

“That’s wonderful! One day, Jiu’er will surely be the greatest under heaven.”

Feng Jiu’er shot Qiao Mu a sidelong glance, the corner of her mouth curling slightly.

“Being the greatest under heaven isn’t that easy. Right now there’s still some consort waiting for us to deal with — let’s get through this hurdle first.”

“By the way, Jiu’er, who do you think this consort the black-clad man mentioned really is?” Qiao Mu casually pulled over a chair and sat down.

Feng Jiu’er steadied her thoughts and walked over toward Qiao Mu.

“Nanmeng Rong is already dead. The only consort in the palace I can think of is Feng Qingyin.”

When she mentioned Feng Qingyin’s name, Feng Jiu’er, who had just sat down beside Qiao Mu, couldn’t help glancing over at Jian Yi.

“This time, the one leading the army to attack Desert City is the Crown Prince. Feng Qingyin has liked the Crown Prince since they were children — it’s not hard to explain why she’d be willing to do this for him.”

“It’s just that the distance from the imperial capital to Crow Wood City, let alone Desert City, is extremely far.”

“If Feng Qingyin is in the capital, does she really have the means to interfere with matters all the way out in Crow Wood City?”