Chunyu explained to Mutian, "Dongxue has important things to do, so she left first. I'll go to the restaurant with you."

Mu Tiantian didn't press the matter; her purpose was to let Chunyu and Dongxue know about the relationship between Xin Liangmu and Jing Huaxiong.

The two of them were Long Fantian's subordinates and were highly skilled in martial arts.

They must have heard the commotion inside when she sneaked off to the kitchen that night, but they didn't catch up. They wouldn't have let her run around the palace without Long Fantian's permission.

When Long Fantian mentioned punishing them, the way the two knelt on the ground trembling was, frankly speaking, an act performed by the three of them in front of her.

Afterwards, the two men were very grateful to her and took good care of her, treating her like a mistress.

They did this simply to lower her guard, so they could build a good relationship with her, better monitor her, and extract information from her.

Mu Tiantian was too lazy to take it seriously.

She could take advantage of this and deliberately let them discover clues and investigate on their own initiative. Long Fantian would definitely trust his subordinates more than she would trust him.

"Please come in, sir. What would you two ladies like to eat?"

Chunyu generously said, "Bring out all the restaurant's signature dishes."

"Okay~" The waiter ran off to take our order with a big smile.

At this moment, Mu Tiantian caught a glimpse of a man with a thin build but a slightly protruding chest, and it was immediately obvious that she was a woman disguised as a man.

After the woman came in, she spoke a few words to the waiter, who then pointed upstairs.

The woman cautiously glanced around, afraid that she might recognize someone.

Just as she was about to go upstairs, she caught a glimpse of the woman next to Chunyu, whose appearance seemed somewhat familiar.

Moreover, Chunyu's attitude towards the woman was full of flattery, which made Xia curious.

Mu Tiantian noticed that the woman dressed as a man was looking her over and glanced at her.

Seven: [She is Shia.]

Mu Tiantian: [What's she doing here?]

Qi Tong: [I don't know, she secretly ran away from the palace.]

According to the information, Xia is a meddlesome person, and the reason why the relationship between Long Fantian and Long Xinghuang deteriorated to this point is inseparable from her.

After the Miao people surrendered, they presented the holy maiden to the emperor. Xia learned that the uncle and nephew had a bad relationship and wanted to ease the tension.

There's nothing wrong with the idea itself; the key issue is how she does it.

They believed everything they heard, and before they could verify any rumors they heard in the palace, they started lecturing the two of them about important matters of the court.

Influenced by her words, Long Xinghuang believed the rumors to be true.

Long Fantian believed that she was sent by the emperor to gather information from him.

As a result, the two became suspicious of each other because of her words, and their doubts deepened.

Shea recalled the palace maids' gossip, saying that a woman had suddenly appeared at the hunting grounds and saved the Regent. She instinctively felt that the woman next to Chunyu was her.

Driven by curiosity, she went to Mu Tiantian's table.

Chunyu recognized Xiya and could tell from her attire that she must have sneaked out of the palace again.

It must be said that the emperor was quite indulgent towards her, a holy woman from Miao territory.

"Saintess?" Chunyu asked in confusion, "How did you come to be here?"

"Shh~" Xia made a shushing gesture, afraid that others would hear.

Shea made up a random excuse, "I... just came out for a stroll."

"You must be the woman who saved the Regent?" Xia greeted Mu Tiantian warmly. "My name is Xia, may I ask your name, young lady?"

"Mu Tiantian".

Hearing her hoarse voice, Xia asked with concern, "What's wrong with your voice, young lady?"

Just as Mu Tiantian was about to speak, Chunyu answered for her, "Miss Mu is still recovering from the poison she was in, so it's not convenient for her to talk much. Does the Holy Maiden have anything else to say?"

Chunyu didn't really like this Xia.

"The poison hasn't healed yet? Let me take a look." Xia kindly took Mu Tiantian's pulse, forgetting to answer Chunyu's question.

Before long, Xia gave Mu Tiantian a prescription, saying confidently, "As long as you take my prescription, your throat will definitely get better in less than ten days."

After listening, Mu Tiantian discovered that one of the ingredients in Xia's prescription was detrimental to arrow wounds.

She decided to continue taking her medicine as prescribed, and she would be fully recovered in two or three days.

"Thank you, Miss Xia." Mu Tiantian thought for a moment and decided to remind her, "I still have an arrow wound that hasn't healed, so Miss Xia's prescription might not be suitable for me."

“Not suitable?” Xia suddenly thought of a medicinal herb and said confidently, “Don’t worry, there is another herb in my prescription that can neutralize its medicinal properties. It seems that Miss Mu has also studied medicine.”

I know a little bit about it.

“Miss Mu probably hasn’t studied this much. These two medicinal herbs…” Xia began to explain to her in detail.

Actually, her explanation wasn't wrong, but she overlooked the usage and dosage of other medicinal materials.

Although the combination of these medicinal herbs won't kill her and will eventually cure her, the effect is very slow, and it will have a slight impact on her arrow wound. Even if it's not life-threatening, it will still take some time for the wound to heal.

If you don't have a thorough understanding of medicinal herbs, it's hard to realize these problems.

Mu Tiantian couldn't help but wonder, if things really went according to the original prediction, could Xi Ya really cure Long Fantian?

Chunyu, who was listening impatiently from the side, couldn't help but ask, "Holy Maiden, is there something very important that you've come out here?"

Xia then remembered the purpose of leaving the palace and quickly stood up. "Oh right, I still have to deliver medicine. I'll come see you again later."

As soon as Xia left, Chunyu silently complained, "Don't come back."

Before Xia could take two steps, she ran back and squatted down between Mu Tiantian and Chunyu, pleading softly, "Please help me."

Just as Mu Tiantian was about to ask her what was going on, several guards suddenly rushed into the restaurant and ran up to the second floor to open all the private rooms.

The shopkeeper immediately went to greet the visitor, kneeling and bowing, "This humble subject greets Your Majesty, I wonder what Your Majesty's..."

"I've only come to find someone to continue your business." Long Xinghuang was radiating anger.

The restaurant was completely silent; not a single customer dared to continue eating.

Mu Tiantian thought to herself, with this kind of situation, who would dare to do business?

She glanced down at Xia and saw that she was clutching her skirt to cover her face.

Upon seeing that it was the emperor, the guests in the restaurant all knelt down to pay their respects.

"Siyue, did you really see the Holy Maiden come here?" Long Xinghuang glanced at the woman in brocade robes beside him.

The woman was beautiful and charming. She bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. I saw that the Holy Maiden had run away from the palace. I was worried that she was in danger, so I specially ordered someone to follow her and protect her. I told her that she went to the Imperial Preceptor's residence first and then came here."

Long Xinghuang's face was gloomy.

Mu Tiantian noticed that the concubine named Siyue had a smug look on her face.

After a while, a guard came downstairs to report, "Your Majesty, the Holy Maiden has not been found, but the Imperial Preceptor and General Jing are having a meal upstairs."

Upon hearing this, Long Xinghuang frowned. "Lu Ke, clear the area."