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

Xiao Anran was unaware that her words had betrayed her true intentions—the mysterious expert she spoke of was definitely not Xiao Yuanhou. After all, Xiao Yuanhou had not made a move on the day of the sacrificial ceremony, and combined with previous clues, it was not difficult to deduce that Xiao Yuanhou had already perished.

She frowned, looked at Li Lianqing, and asked in a deep voice, "How does the palace intend to handle this matter?"

"Naturally, we must thoroughly investigate the contents of the letter and find out whether Elder Su is truly connected with the Divine Judgment," Li Lianqing replied solemnly.

Xiao Anran snorted coldly, her tone full of dissatisfaction and disdain: "What's there to investigate? If Elder Su really had a conspiracy, he wouldn't have needed to quell the rebellion at the festival and ruin his own grand plan!"

"Elder Xiao believes that Elder Su's ability to break through from a mortal to the Grandmaster realm in just four months must have required an enormous amount of cultivation resources, and there must be something fishy about it," Li Lianqing patiently explained. "Elder Xiao also said that Elder Su's intervention to stop the Situ family's rebellion may have been merely out of fear that the rebellion would disrupt his plans with the Divine Judgment, rather than out of genuine concern for the royal family."

"Plan my ass!" Xiao Anran shouted angrily, her emotions growing increasingly agitated. "Wei Zhongxian is an idiot! If the Divine Judgment really colluded with Elder Su, how could they have so easily sent out the letter, and even made two copies, one deliberately placed near my residence?"

"This blatant frame-up is obvious even to a fool. How could Wei Zhongxian not see it? He's clearly targeting Elder Su on purpose!"

Li Lianqing sighed softly, his face showing helplessness: "Princess, how could I not know that this might be a frame-up? But since the Divine Judgment dared to do this, it must have calculated the royal family's intentions—the royal family is not an ordinary family, it concerns the safety of the world, even if there is only the slightest doubt, it must be investigated thoroughly, we must not take it lightly. It may not be difficult to destroy a person, but to investigate a matter thoroughly and dispel all doubts is not so easy."

"Do you know that emperors have always been the most suspicious people?" Xiao Anran said in a deep voice. "This matter has not yet been investigated. If we rashly inform the emperor, he will surely become suspicious of Elder Su, and then it will be even more difficult to handle. It's better not to tell the emperor for now. Let's investigate secretly first. I don't believe they can find anything out!"

After saying that, Xiao Anran turned around and walked towards the library.

Calming herself down, she couldn't help but recall the grandmaster-level assassin she had encountered earlier, and her earlier doubts about Su Mu. Her heart was filled with guilt and certainty: "That night, Elder Su clearly came to help me. That assassin even yelled at Elder Su, saying we were in cahoots—if Elder Su really was a member of the Divine Judgment, why would he have killed that grandmaster-level assassin?"

"Old Master Su has a clear conscience and has nothing to fear. Even if Wei Zhongxian and the others investigate thoroughly, they will surely be able to clear Old Master Su's name."

Thinking of this, Xiao Anran's doubts dissipated considerably. She had never intended to tell Su Mu about the letter, fearing it would displease Old Master Su and that her questioning might damage the trust between them.

On this day, a shocking incident occurred in Fenghe Palace—the maid Xu Qian'er attempted to assassinate Empress Lin Wen and almost succeeded.

Xu Qian'er found a short dagger from somewhere and hid it in her sleeve. Taking advantage of Lin Wen's meal, she suddenly attacked, thrusting the dagger straight at Lin Wen's throat. Lin Wen reacted extremely quickly and barely dodged it. He was only an inch away from dying on the spot.

After the incident, Xu Qian'er was quickly captured by the guards, but was not executed on the spot—Lin Wen intended to spare her life, hoping to extract more clues from her.

The news spread incredibly fast, reaching the entire capital city within an hour, even reaching the tranquil library. Even Xu Qian'er's everyday interactions with palace eunuchs and their meals together were embellished and spread, becoming the focus of discussion among the palace residents.

During dinner, Xiao Anran brought up Xu Qian'er's assassination attempt on Lin Wen, looked at Su Mu, and asked curiously, "Elder Su, do you know why Xu Qian'er suddenly attempted to assassinate the Empress?"

"I don't know." Su Mu shook his head calmly, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

But he already knew in his heart—Xu Qian'er's target had always been Lin Wen; she was originally a pawn planted in the palace by the Situ family. Now that the Situ family had been mostly destroyed, it was only natural for Xu Qian'er, as a remnant of the Situ family, to be single-mindedly seeking revenge and assassinate Lin Wen.

Moreover, Xu Qian'er's older sister, Xu Shan'er, had previously attempted to assassinate Lin Wen, but disappeared after failing and was reportedly severely injured by Lin Wen with a punch. Driven by both her sister's hatred and her family's resentment, Xu Qian'er took the risk of attempting the assassination again.

Su Mu was not surprised that Xu Qian'er would attempt to assassinate Lin Wen. What puzzled him was how Xu Qian'er, who had no martial arts skills, could so easily approach Lin Wen and almost succeed.

He pondered to himself: Lin Wen had already suspected that Xu Qian'er might be from the Situ family. Even without concrete evidence, she should have been wary and wouldn't have trusted her easily. If she didn't have enough trust, how could Xu Qian'er have had the opportunity to get close to her and launch a surprise attack?

Lin Wen had been assassinated and seriously injured in the process, so she always valued her safety highly and was always on high alert; she was by no means a careless person. Moreover, Lin Wen was a powerful expert at the Innate Realm. Even without divine sense and unable to resonate with heaven and earth, she could still sense unusual auras around her. Xu Qian'er was hiding a dagger, and her body would inevitably exude murderous intent. How could Lin Wen have been completely unaware of this?

After a moment's thought, Su Mu had his answer—this was all a trap deliberately set by Lin Wen to lure Xu Qian'er into making a move. Perhaps, even that short dagger was something Lin Wen had intentionally left for Xu Qian'er.

From beginning to end, Xu Qian'er was just a pawn in Lin Wen's hands, a pawn used to achieve a certain goal.

As night deepened, Wei Zhongxian hurried to Fenghe Palace, looking anxious. He bowed to Lin Wen and said, "Your Majesty, I have important matters to report."

"You found out? Who else is behind Xu Qian'er?" Lin Wen raised her eyes, her tone icy, her eyes still lingering with the shock and anger of the day.

"Your Majesty, it has been confirmed that Xu Qian'er is indeed a person planted in the palace by the Situ family." Wei Zhongxian quickly replied, "I specifically asked Situ Wan, and she admitted that Xu Qian'er was a member of the Situ family, but she refused to talk about Xu Qian'er's assassination attempt and denied any involvement in the matter."

He paused, then added, "I deliberately delayed myself to verify this matter before reporting back to Your Majesty."

"Hmph, it must be related to Situ Wan, but she's in trouble herself right now and doesn't dare admit it." Lin Wen snorted coldly, then asked, "I've heard that Xu Qian'er is very close to Su Mu of the Library Pavilion. Eunuch Wei, have you verified this?"

"Your Majesty, I have already found out the truth." Wei Zhongxian said, taking out a confession from his bosom and handing it to Lin Wen with both hands. "This is Xu Qian'er's handwritten confession. She admitted that she had seen Su Mu in private on several occasions. Although Su Mu did not say it explicitly, he subtly hinted to her to assassinate Your Majesty."