Si Nanyin chuckled softly and said, "You know what? Before you came, I had already decided that if you were willing to marry me, I would let Luo Xiaoran go."

But now I've changed my mind. Even if you marry me, what difference will it make? Your heart only belongs to Luo Xiaoran, so…

I want Luo Xiaoran dead! If I can't have him, why should anyone else?

Si Nanyin's usual image as an elegant and dignified saintess has been completely shattered.

At this moment, she was kneeling on the ground, disheveled, and completely out of control. The beast that had been suppressed in her heart for many years was released, roaring and howling.

Gu Muchen was also shocked by Si Nanyin's words and knew that it was unlikely to force her to hand over the antidote, so he could only try another way.

Gu Muchen bent down, squatted in front of Si Nanyin, grabbed her drooping face, and pinched it hard. His voice, however, was gentle as he said:

"You'd better hand over the antidote. If my Xiao Jiu suffers even the slightest harm, I will send troops to raze your Southern Kingdom to the ground! You can try me."

After saying that, he pushed Si Nanyin's face away, got up, and strode away.

As Si Nanyin fell, she looked at Gu Muchen's retreating figure and shouted, "Gu Muchen, if you want to send troops, then send troops. Do you think I care?"

After saying that, he burst into laughter, his voice shrill, as if he had lost his mind.

...

Gu Muchen left the post station and immediately went to the palace to visit Luo Jiu.

Unexpectedly, before he even entered Luo Jiu's palace, Gu Muchen was surrounded outside the hall by a group of people led by Prime Minister Ye Si.

Gu Muchen was in a very bad state at this moment. Without the antidote, Luo Jiu remained in danger, to the point that Gu Muchen's expression was frighteningly grim.

But there were a few fools who dared to stop him.

"Gu Muchen, why didn't His Majesty attend court today? Was what that enchanting woman from the South said at yesterday's banquet true? Is His Majesty really..." Ye Si was never afraid of Gu Muchen. As a royalist, he and Gu Muchen were at odds.

But he wasn't afraid; there were always others who were. Gu Muchen's face was frighteningly somber, so only he stepped forward to ask.

Gu Muchen's face darkened when he heard his question, and he stared intently at them.

Does it matter if he's a man or a woman? Is the tutor who usually treats Xiao Jiu like this?

Luo Jiu collapsed openly in the main hall, and not a single person came to inquire or show concern. The first question the person who came to confront her with was, surprisingly, whether Luo Jiu was a woman.

Thinking of all this, Gu Muchen could no longer suppress the violent impulses within him. He let out a cold laugh and said:

"Xiao Jiu is a girl? So... you want to cripple her?"

Gu Muchen spoke very softly, and even smiled at Ye Si after he finished speaking. He seemed harmless.

However, this sent a chill down the spines of Ye Si and the ministers who had come to persuade him. They had never seen Gu Muchen like this before.

Even with the most serious matters, Gu Muchen always maintained a calm expression and methodically arranged his work. This was the first time I had seen him with such a gentle smile, yet it inexplicably intimidated me.

"So, now that you've deposed her, who do you plan to find to be emperor? Let me think."

As Gu Muchen spoke, he shook his head and slowly approached Ye Si, asking, "Is it the incompetent and foolish Prince Huai? Or the cruel and inhuman Prince Jin?"

And...do you think...I would agree?"

Gu Muchen's last words were half threat and half coercion. After speaking, he ignored the replies from Ye Si and the others, and walked inside.