"Ah, heart's blood?" Mu Zhi was shocked and held up the bracelet to examine it closely under the candlelight, but she couldn't see any trace of blood.

She slowly brought the bracelet to her nose and smelled it carefully. It didn't seem to have the bloody smell she had imagined; instead, it had a faint, refreshing fragrance.

It feels a bit like medicine.

Mu Zhi was shocked by her own thoughts; this was impossible.

"Oh right, I only dripped a drop of blood from my fingertip, not from my heart," Mu Zhi corrected.

“Your Majesty, the blood from my heart is something I will willingly give up at a certain time, after you have truly accepted Xuanfeng. It is not the right time yet. But as long as the blood of the queens of past dynasties is accepted, it is fine. There are no special requirements,” Xuanfeng Twelve patiently explained.

"What a lack of manners," Mu Zhi thought to herself again.

She then explained to Mu Zhi why only the blood of queens throughout history could be used to bind the bracelet to its owner, and why others could not bind the bracelet even if they soaked it in blood.

It also provided information about the Mysterious Palace and the Mysterious Guards, especially the Mysterious Phoenix, which was explained in more detail.

After hearing this, Mu Zhi took a deep breath and then exhaled.

"The royal family has so many secrets," Mu Zhi remarked casually.

Suddenly, light footsteps came from outside the door, seemingly from a distance.

Mu Zhi realized what was happening and slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Oh dear, how could I forget something important? I'm here to ask you for a favor..."

Before Mu Zhi could finish speaking, the two men who had just been helped up immediately knelt down again, saying, "Your subordinates would gladly die for you."

Mu Zhi thought to herself that she must have said something wrong, but she couldn't care less about that now.

“You choose fifty people to protect one, or rather, two people for me: the King and Queen of the Sumeru Continent. They are on their way to the Minchuan disaster area. Remember, they cannot die in the disaster area, nor can they die on the land of our Xuancang Continent. Act according to the circumstances, and do not rigidly adhere to the rules.”

As soon as Mu Zhi finished speaking, the footsteps became clearer.

"Shh, hurry up and get on with your business. No need to say more." Seeing that the two were about to speak, Mu Zhi immediately pulled them up and gestured for them to leave quickly.

We mustn't let the magpies find out.

This girl is a fence-sitter; if she tells her father later, she'll get another lecture.

"By the way, you all must return unharmed. That's an order," Mu Zhi said earnestly, tugging at one of their sleeves.

The late empress went to great lengths to leave only one hundred people behind, which shows how precious these one hundred people were. Although each of them could fight against a hundred, losing even one person would be a huge loss.

Xuanfeng Twelve and Xuanfeng Twenty-One were deeply shocked.

They were ordered to live.

The two lowered their heads, tears welling in their eyes. How familiar those words were; someone had given them such an order before.

"Your subordinate obeys." The two men submitted.

"Miss, I just heard voices." Just as Magpie entered carrying the ginseng soup, Xuanfeng Twelve and Xuanfeng Twenty-One had just left through the window.

Mu Zhi turned her back to the magpie and breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing the magpie's question, Mu Zhi, facing the open window, replied naturally, "Ah, magpie, how come your ears are so sharp? I was just lamenting that the rain keeps falling and I wonder how many people will be displaced."

Upon hearing her mistress's words, the magpie followed her gaze and glanced at the rain outside the window. The pitch-black night, like a monster, opened its blood-red maw, waiting for food to be delivered to its door.

The magpie shrank its head, recalling what it had heard.

Miss, you're overthinking it. Being displaced is already a good thing. I'm afraid that when the time comes, the people will have no harvest and the fields will be filled with starving corpses.

However, these are things beyond their control. They only need to do their job well.

The magpie placed the ginger soup on the table, went over to close the window, and said, "Miss, it's late, you should rest early."

Mu Zhi nodded.

"Miss, don't worry. Our Xuancang Dynasty has the most powerful Prince Xuancang. I believe he can definitely handle this matter well." Magpie helped her young lady over and sat down.

"I don't know why, but everyone seems to trust His Highness a lot, even to the point of blindly worshipping him." Mu Zhi sipped her ginger soup, lost in thought, and inadvertently voiced her inner thoughts.

“Miss, it’s not blind worship. Everyone believes in His Highness because the laws His Highness has enacted have truly helped people solve their livelihood problems. In addition, His Highness has improved the harsh tax requirements, which has given people real hope. The people love His Highness very much.”

Moreover, recently, when the people outside heard about the young lady and prince's wedding, the nearby temples were practically trampled to death, all praying for the young lady and prince to recover completely. Some even prayed that the young lady and prince would give birth to a little prince as good as the prince.

Unfortunately, the wedding was postponed.

The magpie thought to itself, "But it's even better. His Highness is inviting the royal families of all ten continents to the wedding banquet. It's easy to imagine that this wedding banquet will be an unprecedented event."

Mu Zhi rarely paid attention to rumors and gossip, but when she heard what Magpie said, she immediately became interested.

I held her hand and talked for half the night.

Inside the Xuan Hall, everyone was shocked to hear this news.

"What? She wants us to protect the king and queen of the Sumeru Dynasty?" Xuanfeng Jiushi exclaimed in surprise, his face showing disbelief.

"Does she even know that we only have a hundred people left, and we have to send fifty of them to protect innocent bystanders? How could she humiliate us like this?" another person said angrily.

They were very unhappy with the decision, considering it an insult to them.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!