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

Silent all night.

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight fell on the courtyard of the library, Su Mu finished his cultivation, walked down the stairs, stretched, and headed straight for the kitchen—not because he enjoyed cooking, but because Feng Bao's skills were really mediocre.

In the past, he didn't care much about the simple ingredients; now that the Imperial Kitchen had sent a large number of delicacies, he naturally didn't want to waste them, so he simply cooked them himself.

During breakfast, Xiao Anran brought up the events of the previous night, her tone puzzled: "Elder Su, an assassin passed through the library last night, leaving behind an iron box, which was taken away by Eunuch Li. The assassin was able to escape from Eunuch Li, so he must have been quite skilled. Why did he leave the iron box near my residence?"

"Eunuch Li was worried that the iron box might be dangerous and didn't want you to take the risk, so he took it away for inspection," Su Mu replied casually while eating.

"I wonder what's inside the tin box," Xiao Anran said, her face full of curiosity.

Su Mu raised his eyes and said calmly, "Most likely it's a letter."

Su Mu had seen a similar metal box in the hands of Gao Yi, the God of Judgment—Gao Yi had sneaked into the library to deliver a message and ultimately lost his life.

Now that Gao Yi is dead, Su Qingshan and the Divine Judgment will certainly not let this go easily. The iron box last night was their new move.

Last night, the man placed the iron box near Xiao Anran's residence. At first, he didn't think much of it, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized something was wrong.

When Gao Yi sent the message, he knew to avoid him. Su Qingshan, being meticulous, must also be aware of his strength and would never allow the messenger to be easily exposed to him.

Therefore, the person deliberately placed the iron box at Xiao Anran's residence to avoid him and prevent him from getting the iron box first—the contents of the box must be a conspiracy that they did not want him to see.

Clearly, having failed to sow discord with his letter of divine judgment, he has resorted to new tricks.

"A letter?" Xiao Anran was stunned, her eyes full of doubt, not understanding why Su Mu was so certain.

"Just a guess," Su Mu replied casually, without offering any further explanation.

He wasn't worried about Su Qingshan and the Divine Judgment's conspiracy—after being transformed by the Dragon Blood Fruit, his strength had skyrocketed, and even without the help of the Silver Puppet, the Four Symbols Sword Formation, and the Golden Vine Mystic Talisman, ordinary Grandmasters would be no match for him.

Faced with absolute power, all schemes and tricks are nothing but paper tigers, utterly vulnerable.

After breakfast, Su Mu returned to the second floor of the library to continue studying the "Drifting Sword Technique." With the foundation of "Complete Explanation of Swordsmanship Basics," his understanding of the "Drifting Sword Technique" became increasingly profound, and his swordsmanship steadily improved.

The power of the Four Directions Sword Prison Formation under his control will become increasingly formidable as his swordsmanship improves.

Meanwhile, Xiao Anran left the library and went straight to find Li Lianqing—she was still curious about what the letter in the iron box contained.

After finding Li Lianqing, Xiao Anran went straight to the point: "Eunuch Li, was there a letter inside the iron box you took from the library last night?"

Li Lianqing's expression changed slightly, and he asked in surprise, "Princess, how did you know?"

Last night, Xiao Changshan and Wei Zhongxian specifically instructed that this matter must be kept strictly confidential and must not be leaked. Although he trusted Xiao Anran, he dared not disobey their instructions.

"As expected, it's a letter!" Xiao Anran was taken aback, not expecting Su Mu's guess to be correct. "It was Elder Su who guessed; I was just asking casually."

She paused, her expression turning serious: "Eunuch Li, what exactly was written in that letter? Why was it kept so secret?"

Li Lianqing looked troubled, hesitated for a moment, and finally relented—Xiao Anran was the eldest princess of the royal family and a junior whom Xiao Yuanhou valued, so it was not inappropriate to tell her about this.

Subsequently, Li Lianqing told Xiao Anran the contents of the two letters in detail, including everyone's suspicions about Su Mu.

"The two boxes of letters contain the exact same content, both accusing Elder Su of being a relative of the head of the Divine Judgment and saying that he secretly works for the Divine Judgment." After Li Lianqing finished speaking, he added, "This old servant thinks that this must be a conspiracy by the Divine Judgment, but Steward Wei and Elder Xiao both think that this matter is suspicious and needs to be investigated in secret."

Xiao Anran frowned, her heart filled with doubt and unease: "If Elder Su is truly a member of the Divine Judgment, then could the mysterious expert who stopped Situ Jing on the day of the Sacrifice of Gods also be a member of the Divine Judgment?"

Upon hearing this, Li Lianqing's expression stiffened—he knew that Xiao Yuanhou valued Xiao Anran highly, and Xiao Anran's current guess was that the mysterious expert was not Xiao Yuanhou, but someone from the Divine Judgment.

If it were anyone else, they would never question Xiao Yuanhou like this, but Xiao Anran has always been rational, and now that there is a letter as "evidence," she can't help but have doubts.

"Princess, this matter is still uncertain and requires further investigation," Li Lianqing hurriedly advised. "Elder Su once quelled the Situ family rebellion and protected the royal family; he may not be the one who makes the divine judgment."

Xiao Anran fell silent and did not speak.

She knew in her heart that Su Mu's help to the royal family was obvious to all; but the contents of those two letters were too realistic, and coupled with Su Mu's strange speed of cultivation improvement, she couldn't help but have doubts.

She suddenly recalled Su Mu's composure yesterday, and her doubts grew even stronger—if Su Mu was truly innocent, why was he so calm in the face of such accusations? If he really had a conspiracy, why did he repeatedly help the royal family?

For a moment, Xiao Anran was filled with conflicting emotions.

She didn't know that all of this was Su Qingshan's scheme.

Trust is never easily built; it requires years of interaction and effort. But it can be destroyed with just a few rumors or a few forged letters—it's frighteningly simple.

Su Qingshan grasped this point and deliberately set up this scheme. He didn't need to bring down Su Mu immediately. He only needed to plant the seeds of suspicion in the hearts of the Xiao royal family. As time went by, he would add a few pieces of "evidence" and the seeds would take root and sprout, eventually causing Su Mu and the Xiao royal family to become enemies.

Meanwhile, in the library, Su Mu had stopped studying the sword technique and looked out the window, a cold glint in his eyes.

He could vaguely sense that several malicious gazes were secretly fixed on the library within the palace—presumably Wei Zhongxian and his group had begun to investigate him in secret.

"Su Qingshan, Divine Judgment..." Su Mu murmured, his tone full of disdain, "Since you insist on provoking me, then don't blame me for being impolite."

He originally intended to bide his time and focus on improving his strength, but since Su Qingshan and the Divine Judgment were pressing him step by step, he would not sit idly by and wait for his death.

Once his cultivation is fully stabilized, it will be time to settle the score with the Divine Judgment and put an end to his grudges with Su Qingshan!

He didn't take the Xiao royal family's suspicions to heart—his strength was enough to support him in dealing with everything. Besides, his relationship with the Xiao royal family was one of mutual exploitation and mutual benefit, so the so-called trust was inherently fragile.