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

Given her current situation, if Su Mu hadn't come to her rescue, she definitely wouldn't have survived the night! Even an ant has the instinct to survive, let alone a martial arts expert like her!

Besides, her younger sister Xu Qian'er said that Eunuch Su was timid and afraid of trouble. Even if he knew the truth, he wouldn't dare to spread it around. That's why she chose to seek help from the library when she had nowhere else to turn.

"You go first." Su Mu neither agreed nor refused, but simply looked at her quietly.

"Your Highness, what is your purpose? Who sent you?" Su Mu asked first, as this was the most crucial question.

"Someone asked me to make this happen!" Xu Shan'er said in a low voice.

"Who sent you?" Su Mu pressed.

"We sisters are all loyal to the General's Mansion!" Xu Shan'er hesitated for a moment, but still said the truth.

"The General's Mansion? The Empress's family?" Su Mu was startled, but then he understood.

He had a premonition that this matter was not so simple. The Empress and Consort De had always been at odds, so the General's Mansion would naturally help the Empress get rid of Consort De, her rival.

In contrast, Consort De was deeply favored by the Emperor and had the Tianwu Sect as her backing, posing a significant threat to the Empress's position. Moreover, there had always been conflicts between Consort De's son, the Sixth Prince Xiao Jingye, and the Empress's son, the Fifth Prince Xiao Jinghuan. Therefore, it was understandable that the General's Mansion wanted to kill Consort De!

"My sister and I were raised by the General from a young age and were trained as assassins by the General's Mansion," Xu Shan'er continued. "My sister was sent to the palace because she was not good at martial arts and became the General's Mansion's spy in the palace; while I was secretly trained in the General's Mansion, which is why I have the martial arts strength I have now and am responsible for carrying out some assassination missions."

"Your sister sent you to assassinate Consort De, and then she sent you to me for help. What are your true intentions?" Su Mu said expressionlessly. "You're being hunted by Consort De's men, yet you've come to me for refuge. Aren't you afraid of implicating me?"

"You were punished by Consort De with a hundred nails, and even then, Consort De didn't speak up for you. I think you must harbor resentment towards her and wouldn't be truly loyal to her!" Xu Shan'er looked up at Su Mu and said, "Am I right?"

"Even though I'm no longer loyal to Consort De, I can't say I like her; on the contrary, I hate her!" Su Mu said noncommittally. "But that doesn't mean I'll help you, the assassin!"

"No matter what, Her Majesty the Empress wants to kill Consort De. If you help me, you're helping Her Majesty the Empress. When Her Majesty comes to power, you'll benefit too!" Xu Shan'er persuaded. "Look at it this way: Consort De and Her Majesty the Empress are the same! They're both just using you as a pawn!"

"If you still have feelings for my sister, then I can stay here to recover. I'll leave as soon as I'm healed and definitely won't cause you any trouble!" Xu Shan'er concluded. "My sister is still in Shude Palace. If you don't help me, it will be difficult for her to survive alone in the palace!"

"You guys are really cunning! You even managed to trick an honest eunuch like me!" Su Mu was furious after hearing this.

He finally understood that Xu Qian'er's approach to him and request to be transferred to Shude Palace was all a conspiracy! She was not only an informant for the General's Mansion, but also a pawn in Xu Shan'er's assassination attempt on Consort De! And he himself had been a pawn in their plan from the very beginning!

Now, Su Mu completely understands that the relationship between Xu Qian'er and the original owner was not based on so-called love at all, but was a complete conspiracy!

The mastermind behind this is either the General's Mansion or the Empress!

Xu Qian'er didn't actually care about the original owner; she just wanted to use the original owner's identity to place herself next to Consort De and become a pawn in the General's Mansion.

Before this, the original owner was the most trusted personal eunuch of Consort De. Because of this relationship, Xu Qian'er could easily learn about Consort De's whereabouts and preferences, which was exactly the information that the General's Mansion needed most.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated! If the General's Mansion wanted to assassinate Consort De, it would naturally need sufficiently accurate intelligence support.

Xu Qian'er must have guessed that Consort De would eventually discover the unusual relationship between her and the original owner of the body, and might even have already noticed her strangeness. This is why she took the initiative to request a transfer to Shude Palace—rather than being passively exposed, she would rather actively get close to Consort De, obtain more core intelligence, and at the same time facilitate her sister Xu Shan'er's assassination operation.

Even if Consort De was unaware of the situation at first, Xu Qian'er was confident that she could gain Consort De's trust through her own methods.

Her transfer to Shude Palace was ostensibly to take care of Su Mu, but in reality, it was to help her sister Xu Shan'er complete this assassination mission!

If the assassination succeeds, she can continue to remain in Shude Palace and lie low; if the assassination fails and she cannot escape, she can take refuge in the library. Everyone knows that the original owner was a person close to Consort De, and would certainly not take in an assassin who wanted to harm Consort De. This would reduce other people's suspicions.

Moreover, the library is secluded and quiet, and few people come here, making it a good place to hide!

"You've certainly thought things through thoroughly, haven't you?" Su Mu looked at Xu Shan'er, a strange smile playing on his lips.

"Don't blame us for dragging you into this. We were just following orders; we had no power to resist!" Xu Shan'er sighed, a hint of helplessness on her face. "The General's Mansion has raised us sisters; we cannot betray them!"

"I'm not blaming you, nor am I blaming your sister!" Su Mu laughed, but there was a hint of coldness in his laughter.

But his smile sent a chill down Xu Shan'er's spine; she felt something was amiss.

"Is it your fault? Why should I?" Xu Shan'er looked bewildered, not understanding Su Mu's meaning.

"This is my fault!" Su Mu's smile vanished, his eyes turning icy. "You were wrong to try and take advantage of me!"

"What do you mean?" Xu Shan'er was even more puzzled.

"That's it!"

As Su Mu spoke, he moved and stomped hard on the wooden plank covering the cellar entrance, pressing it down firmly.

"I've said everything I wanted to say, so why are you doing this?" Xu Shan'er finally realized something was wrong, her expression changed drastically, and she questioned her sharply.

"I'm not trying to help you!" Su Mu said coldly. "As an assassin, trained to be one, you must be prepared to sacrifice your life when carrying out assassination missions!"

As he spoke, he picked up the firewood beside him and covered the entrance to the cellar again—he wanted to trap Xu Shan'er inside!

"Whether you assassinated Consort De or not is none of my business!" Su Mu's voice came from above, cold and ruthless. "But don't drag me into it! I don't want to lose my life because of you, an assassin!"

Su Mu was not the docile and cowardly eunuch of the original owner; there was absolutely no affection between him and Xu Qian'er. Moreover, even the original owner, if he knew that Xu Qian'er was using him, would probably hate her to the core.