Seeing someone had been poisoned, a subordinate from Fengyu Pavilion immediately flew down the cliff and ran toward where Rong Min was. Hua Ying was standing with her arms crossed, and when she saw someone coming down, she asked, “How is it?”

“Someone’s been poisoned,” Lei Yan answered.

“Is that so?” Hua Ying raised an eyebrow, then her gaze fell on the equally poisoned Rong Min. She reached out her hand toward him, “Where’s the antidote?”

Rong Min had not expected the situation to reverse so completely.

He considered himself quite skilled in poison arts. Knowing from childhood that his martial abilities were average, he had devoted his attention to poison techniques. Yet today, before he could fully display his poison skills, he was already thoroughly suppressed by someone else.

He had been trying to figure out what kind of snake venom this snake woman used, but he couldn’t arrive at any conclusion.

“There is no antidote,” Rong Min tried to stall for time with Hua Ying and the others.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this answer, Hua Ying seemed unconcerned, spreading her hands, “Very well, then we’ll die together.”

With Hua Ying saying this, Rong Min began to panic.

…

…

None of his grand plans had been realized yet. If he were to die here in the Southern Court Nation, it would not only be frustrating but would also secure Rong Jiu’s claim to the throne.

No, this wouldn’t do.

As long as he stayed alive, there would be hope.

“I can give you the antidote, but you must cure my poison first,” Rong Min began to negotiate with Hua Ying.

Hua Ying laughed coldly, “Then there’s nothing more to discuss. This lady hates when people try to bargain with me.”

Rong Min silently cursed this snake woman again, but finally decided to take a gamble. “It’s in the porcelain bottle inside my robe.”

Lei Yan heard his words and bent down to retrieve the bottle, but Hua Ying stopped him. “Take it out yourself!”

Those who used poison might have poison all over their bodies—one couldn’t be too careful.

Rong Min finally understood why Mu Yunjin possessed such extraordinary abilities. Just one of her subordinates was difficult enough to deal with.

So under Hua Ying’s cold gaze, he had no choice but to take out the porcelain bottle from his robe and toss it over.

Lei Yan caught the bottle and headed back up the cliff.

……

On the cliff, Huang Yan was tearfully telling Mu Yunjin his last words. He had already told her where he wanted to be buried and was now about to discuss the distribution of his assets.

Ding Xian and Song Chun looked utterly speechless.

“The antidote is here,” Lei Yan flew up to the cliff and handed the porcelain bottle to Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin took the bottle, thanked him, then crouched down, playing with the bottle in her hand while looking teasingly at the weakened Huang Yan. “Continue, where are all your assets?”

Huang Yan closed his mouth and gave Mu Yunjin a brilliantly radiant smile. “Madam, quick, give me the antidote.”

“Weren’t you giving your last words? Keep going, you’ve just reached the part I’m most interested in,” Mu Yunjin said with mockery on her face, but her hands never stopped moving, already taking out a pill from the porcelain bottle.

Huang Yan looked at the black antidote, feeling like he was about to drool to death. He opened his mouth wide, “Give it to me quickly, or I’ll breathe my last any moment!”

Mu Yunjin didn’t dare joke around too much and gave Huang Yan the antidote.

Huang Yan swallowed the antidote, tightly closed his mouth, and was instantly silent. After a moment, his body suddenly convulsed a few times, his head tilted to one side, and he stopped breathing.

Everyone around cried out in shock.

Mu Yunjin, however, just pursed her lips, stood up, and kicked Huang Yan. “Stop pretending, or I’ll kill you!”

Huang Yan opened his eyes and chuckled, “No fun. Can’t fool you.”

Ding Xian and Song Chun walked over and helped Huang Yan up. Though his poison had been neutralized, his body was severely injured, making it difficult for him to walk.

“Where did Chu Li go?” Mu Yunjin, having resolved everything here, thought of Chu Li again.

Ding Xian answered, “It wasn’t convenient to say this in front of Rong Min earlier. For this mission, we split into three directions. Huang Yan disguised himself as His Highness to deal with Rong Min, while His Highness went alone to eliminate the secret outpost.”

“He went alone?!” Mu Yunjin’s heart, which had just begun to settle, was instantly suspended again.

“Your plan was discovered by Chu Qing and Rong Min. Just in this wasteland, they arranged so many black-clothed assassins, not to mention at the secret outpost!”

“This is terrible! Where is the secret outpost? Take me there quickly!”

With Ding Xian leading the way, the group rushed toward the direction of the secret outpost.

……

Just as they descended the cliff, Mu Yunjin saw a purple figure flying toward them from far away. She stopped, watching as the person gradually approached. The heavy stone in her heart finally dropped as she flew into Chu Li’s embrace.

Chu Li held her, and upon seeing Mu Yunjin, a strange look flashed across his eyes. But when he saw the severely injured Huang Yan being supported by someone behind her, as well as the slightly injured Ding Xian, his thin lips pressed together slightly, and his brow furrowed.

“Are you alright?” Mu Yunjin originally had a thousand things to ask Chu Li, but when words reached her lips, she could only ask this one question.

Chu Li nodded faintly, his gaze suddenly falling on the few small wounds on Mu Yunjin’s face. He reached out and gently stroked them. “Does it hurt?”

Mu Yunjin did indeed feel some stinging pain. These were caused by small rocks that had hit her when she was climbing the cliff. At that time, she was so anxious to reach the top that she hadn’t noticed the pain.

“This place is not suitable for a long stay. Let’s go back and talk,” Chu Li said.

“Yes!”

……

The courtyard house was now extremely lively.

All the subordinates of Fengyu Pavilion were waiting in the courtyard. Having seen their mysterious master for the first time, they were now waiting to properly meet with her.

Mu Yunjin and Chu Li were in Huang Yan’s room. Qingmeng was helping Huang Yan bandage his wounds. Huang Yan had been stabbed twice with a knife and once with a sword during this incident, losing a significant amount of blood. Although the poison had been neutralized, the excessive blood loss had left him in a state of drowsiness.

Mu Yunjin stood with her arms crossed, turning to look at Chu Li. “I heard you went to the secret outpost alone. Was there no ambush there?”

Mu Yunjin found it hard to believe.

“There was an ambush,” Chu Li replied. “Today, it seems someone had already informed Chu Qing and the others that this king was going to eliminate their secret outpost. They were prepared.”

Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow. “Then how did you escape?”

“Escape?” Chu Li caught onto this word, seeming somewhat displeased. He let out a light snort. “This king finds escaping beneath his dignity.”

“Then…” Mu Yunjin drew out the word, continuing to question Chu Li.

Chu Li raised his eyebrows. “What do you think?”

“You didn’t fight alone against a hundred, kill all those black-clothed men, and then destroy their secret outpost, did you?” Seeing Chu Li’s leisurely demeanor, Mu Yunjin made a guess.

“Mm.” Chu Li nodded in agreement, indicating that her assumption was correct.

Mu Yunjin’s lips twitched slightly, her eyes still clearly displaying the three words: ‘I don’t believe it.’

“Today, I owe much to you,” Chu Li suddenly changed the topic, lowering his gaze as he said this to Mu Yunjin.

Today’s events had made Chu Li taste defeat for the first time. He hadn’t expected that he would also have a moment of miscalculation. If Mu Yunjin hadn’t arrived in time, today might have resulted in significant losses.

Hearing these words, Mu Yunjin felt inexplicably delighted. Finally, there was a moment when she felt needed by Chu Li.

On the bed, the weakened Huang Yan now spoke languidly, “Master, if not for Madam today, you might never see this subordinate again…”

“Mm,” Chu Li nodded, his expression toward Huang Yan also carrying a trace of apology. “You’ve worked hard.”

“It wasn’t hard. As long as Master gives me a larger share of this month’s profits from Zhangzhou City…”

Seeing Huang Yan so focused on money, it was clear he wasn’t in serious condition. Mu Yunjin smiled gently, then leaned closer to Huang Yan, “Where exactly are those assets you mentioned earlier?”

Huang Yan tilted his head and closed his eyes, pretending to be dead.

When Mu Yunjin and Chu Li left Huang Yan’s room, they saw the courtyard full of Fengyu Pavilion subordinates. Mu Yunjin scratched her head and looked at Chu Li, “They are all from Fengyu Pavilion…”

Chu Li nodded.

“You talk with them first. This king will go take a bath,” Chu Li patted Mu Yunjin’s shoulder, then walked toward the room.

Mu Yunjin stood in place and smiled at the Fengyu Pavilion subordinates. “Thank you all so much today. If you hadn’t arrived in time, today would certainly not have ended well.”

“Master, what are you saying? Although this is our first meeting, you don’t need to be so formal with us,” Hua Ying spoke up.

Lei Yan and the others expressed their agreement.

Seeing they were all so easy to get along with, Mu Yunjin raised the corners of her lips, her eyes filled with a smile. “What would you like to eat? I’ll prepare it for you.”

“Raw pork…”

“Frogs…”

“Sparrows…”

Mu Yunjin scratched her head, looking somewhat confused.

Qiqi stepped forward, linking her arm with Mu Yunjin’s, and couldn’t help but complain, “Can’t you all eat something less disgusting? Fish is much better, like what I eat.”

Everyone gave Qiqi a look of disdain.

……

That night, after finishing her bath, Mu Yunjin had been sticking to Chu Li like glue. Thinking about the day’s events still left her heart pounding.

“Now that the secret outpost has been eliminated, can we return tomorrow?” Mu Yunjin asked, considering that she was still technically under house arrest in Western Yuan Nation.

Chu Li nodded, gently holding Mu Yunjin. “We can go back.”

“That’s good,” Mu Yunjin snuggled into Chu Li’s embrace, then raised her head again. “By the way, with Huang Yan here, what’s the situation at Water Cloud Temple now?”

“Master Huaiyuan is managing it. There’s no need to worry,” Chu Li smiled faintly.

Mu Yunjin felt reassured.

Chu Li glanced at her, then smiled again, turning over to press her beneath him, his eyes containing a smile. “Such a beautiful night, shall we do something?”

Mu Yunjin pursed her lips, a smile blooming between them.

Chu Li’s lips tinged with a light smile as he lowered his head to place a gentle kiss on her lips. Originally just a light kiss, but when their lips met, it seemed to ignite some spark, turning the light kiss into a deep one. After kissing for a while, his lips slowly slid down to Mu Yunjin’s collarbone.

Mu Yunjin’s body trembled, her heart beating rapidly, as if she could predict what would happen next. With a reddened face, she surprisingly couldn’t think of any reason to refuse.

Seeing she didn’t reject him, Chu Li’s heart skipped a beat as he reached out to unfasten the buttons of Mu Yunjin’s outer garment one by one…

“Knock, knock, knock—” Urgent knocking on the door interrupted the intimate scene inside.

“Who is it?” Chu Li asked, displeased, his deep voice somewhat hoarse and angry, a cold chill emanating from his entire being.

“Y-Your Highness…” Ding Xian’s trembling voice sounded from outside the door. “The King of North Ming Nation and Miss Qing have arrived…”

Hearing it was these two, Mu Yunjin pushed Chu Li gently. “Let’s go see them.”

Chu Li sighed, helping Mu Yunjin back into her half-removed outer garment, fastening the buttons for her, then reluctantly kissing her once more before getting up to dress himself.

Mu Yunjin sat on the bed, covering her burning face with her hands. Her mind was now somewhat clearer. Just now, it was almost…