Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

The assassin's name was Gao Yi, fifty-five years old, a high-ranking member of "God's Judgment". In his memory, most of the contents of Su Qingshan's letter were true—Su Qingshan was indeed the biological father of the original owner of the body, "Little Su".

But Su Qingshan had long been indifferent to the life and death of his eldest son. The so-called "guilt" was utterly absurd.

Even the fact that his eldest son had become a eunuch was a disgrace to him, and he never allowed anyone to mention it. Of course, no one would dare to offend him.

Su Qingshan also has a son and a daughter, both around thirty years old, with decent talent, both reaching the peak of the Innate Realm. After joining "God's Judgment," he married the leader's daughter. Through this relationship, the three of them received much training and guidance.

Most importantly—a secret treasure that the experts of the Great Qian Dynasty failed to find after the fall of the Western Chuan royal family was instead obtained by Su Qingshan. This treasure helped him marry the leader's daughter and allowed him to reach the peak of the Grandmaster realm. If all goes well, Su Qingshan will be the next leader of the "Divine Judgment".

Gao Yi and several other high-ranking officials knew that the bandits who attacked the mountain village and killed Su Qingshan's wife were actually sent by the leader's daughter.

Su Qingshan later captured the bandit leader, presumably knowing the truth all along, but never made a statement.

The bandit leader's daughter had no intention of letting the mother and child go. The bandit leader didn't kill the child immediately, intending to extort money, but unexpectedly, the employer had no intention of paying and instead wanted to silence them. The bandit leader escaped by chance, and to vent his anger and recoup his losses, he sold the child to human traffickers—the kind specifically for the palace.

As expected, Su Qingshan's letter was not about securing a future for his "son," but rather about recruiting him to serve the "God's Judgment."

Su Qingshan has never forgotten the feud with the royal family of Xichuan.

For this reason, he even cooperated with the barbarians of the North.

Su Mu also knew that this letter was sent by Gao Yi. Gao Yi had originally intended to "discuss cooperation" tonight, but found Xiao Anran an obstacle and wanted to kill him to gain merit—"Divine Judgment" had spies in the palace who had already discovered Xiao Anran's presence.

Having ascertained the whole story, Su Mu pierced the skull with a bone-piercing nail and casually tossed the corpse over the wall.

After finishing his business, Su Mu strolled back into the courtyard and headed towards the door.

"How is the situation?"

"What about the assassin?" Xiao Anran asked anxiously when she saw Su Mu.

"He's dead."

"You killed him?" Xiao Anran was taken aback.

"I killed him," Su Mu admitted without waiting for her to ask any further questions.

"Where's the body?"

"It's been thrown out." Su Mu was too lazy to explain further. "Someone will find it later, and the palace experts will come to handle it."

Xiao Anran was skeptical but did not press the matter further.

About fifteen minutes later, Huang Yuan arrived with several imperial guards, informing them that the assassin's body had been found nearby and asking if there were any unusual occurrences in the pavilion.

"Do you know the assassin's background?" Xiao Anran asked Huang Yuan.

"I don't know," Huang Yuan shook his head. "Chief Steward Li said... it might have been one of the experts from the Hall of Mental Cultivation who made the move."

"Has Eunuch Li been to the Hall of Mental Cultivation?" Xiao Anran pressed.

"Yes."

"Okay." Xiao Anran waved her hand. "There's nothing to do here. You can go patrol elsewhere."

Huang Yuan led his men away.

"That assassin...you really didn't kill him?" Xiao Anran turned to ask Su Mu.

"If the princess says it's not true, then it's not true." Su Mu knew that Xiao Yuanhou was taking the blame for him again.

Although it wasn't his original intention, since Xiao Yuanhou was willing to take it on, he was happy to have some peace and quiet.

"If it wasn't you, then you're in cahoots with the assassins." Xiao Anran's gaze turned icy. "Last time the assassins came for you, but they didn't expect I'd taken over your house. This time they tried to kill me to silence me, and after failing, they shouted 'We're on the same side'—who were they shouting that for?"

"Who does the princess think he's shouting to?" Su Mu asked rhetorically.

"It wasn't shouted at me, nor was it shouted at Feng Bao." Xiao Anran said without hesitation, "At that time, there were only the three of us in the courtyard: me, Feng Bao, and you."

"Don't you think it's contradictory?" Su Mu asked again.

"What do you mean?" Xiao Anran frowned.

Su Mu said no more and turned to walk towards the library.

"Feng Bao, you speak." Xiao Anran turned her gaze to Feng Bao.

"Princess..." Feng Bao hesitated.

"explain!"

"That assassin... was clearly shouting for the people who attacked him to hear," Feng Bao said in a low voice.

That's all I have to say; there's no need to elaborate further.

Xiao Anran suddenly realized—if Su Mu hadn't intervened, why would the assassin have called out "one of us"? The assassin could never be an accomplice of the experts from the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

If she only heard the assassin's shout, she might have suspected Su Mu. But if she thought carefully about who the assassin was addressing, she would understand that the assassin was begging for mercy from the attacker.

Still shaken from the earlier ordeal, I hadn't given it much thought.

It was nearly dawn, and Feng Bao returned to his room to rest. Xiao Anran stood alone in the courtyard, her mind churning with emotions.

"Li Lianqing said the assassin was killed by a master from the Yangxin Hall, but it's clear he didn't get anything out of the Yangxin Hall."

"If the Hall of Mental Cultivation didn't intervene, why would they conceal it?"

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that Su Mu's words were true—Su Mu not only took action, but also killed the assassin.

Then, thinking about her brother's sudden visit and the promotion of Su Mu by three ranks, she became more and more convinced that her great-grandfather and brother were both hiding something from her.

Xiao Anran looked towards the library and muttered to himself, "You...you're really something else."

The snow stopped at dawn.

Xiao Anran was practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard when he saw Su Mu walk out of the pavilion. He immediately sheathed his sword and went forward.

"I understand—you were the one who killed the assassin last night." Her expression was serious. "I will remember your kindness in saving me twice."

"You're welcome." Su Mu waved his hand, completely unconcerned.

"But," Xiao Anran changed the subject, "why did that assassin refer to you as 'one of their own'?"

"You're asking me? Who should I ask?" Su Mu said calmly. "Either you've mistaken me for someone else, or you're trying to frame me. Since you're convinced that I killed him, you should know that I'm not his accomplice."

"Perhaps... it's all an act?" Xiao Anran guessed wildly, then suddenly thrust her sword at Su Mu.

She didn't truly intend to harm Su Mu—Su Mu's strength far surpassed hers, given his ability to kill a Grandmaster assassin. She merely wanted to test him.

Unexpectedly, Su Mu neither dodged nor avoided the attack, and continued forward.

Xiao Anran quickly turned her sword, afraid of hurting him. As the sword tip swept past, she suddenly felt the figure in front of her blur—it was just an afterimage!

The afterimage vanished.

Xiao Anran turned her head in surprise and saw Su Mu already three zhang away, walking slowly towards the kitchen.

"This..." She stood there, sword in hand, her face filled with disbelief.

If Su Mu had actually made a move just now, I would probably have been killed on the spot!

The difference... is so vast?

An expert can see the intricacies. Although Xiao Anran was not as skilled as Su Mu, she was still a mid-stage Innate Realm martial artist and had considerable expertise in swordsmanship. She could tell that the movement technique Su Mu had just used was profound and unpredictable, of extremely high quality—far beyond what an ordinary grandmaster could possess.

One can only imagine how terrifying such agility would be in actual combat.

Xiao Anran knew very well that many profound martial arts techniques could not be performed without corresponding strength. Since Su Mu could use such movement techniques, his true cultivation level must be unfathomable.

"An ordinary grandmaster... he might actually be able to kill him."

After a series of setbacks, Xiao Anran's confidence is being crushed little by little.

Before entering the library, she thought that even if she was no match for a grandmaster, she could at least hold her own for a few moves. Only after arriving did she realize that a true grandmaster could take her life with ease. Her previous "sparring" with several grandmasters in the Hall of Mental Cultivation was only because of her special status, and they hadn't gone all out.

"But if he has such strength, why is he willing to remain trapped here?"

Xiao Anran was filled with unresolved doubts. With Su Mu's demonstrated abilities, he could easily have secured a high position in the palace, and it wouldn't have been impossible for him to replace Wei Zhongxian. Yet, he was content in this library, without any prestigious official rank or the adoration of the masses.