"Yes, yes, I’m the one who poisoned the palace’s water!" He patted his chest, not hiding it at all, and even a hint of "honesty" in his tone: "I’m a spy from the Immortal Meeting Mansion. I originally wanted to poison the water to threaten your palace master, but I ended up shooting myself in the foot and being captured alive! Everyone should learn from my mistake—don’t be as reckless as me!"

  "Learn from your mistake? That’s absolutely right!" He nodded repeatedly, echoing a maid’s words, looking just like a good boy who had realized his mistake: "Sister, you’re absolutely right! I wasn’t just confused—I was completely muddled! If you’re angry, you can hit me a few times to vent your anger—but hey! Don’t touch me! My blood is poisonous! You’ll get into trouble if you touch it!"

  He quickly stepped back, but still had a smile on his face, even a hint of admiration in his tone: "This is fighting fire with fire. The palace master’s trick is really brilliant! I admire her!"

  "Are you busy? Then I’ll go detoxify the water first! Please help me spread the word, sisters—don’t touch the palace’s water, so you don’t accidentally get poisoned!" After saying that, he bowed again and continued walking.

  When he passed the patrolling guards, he also waved enthusiastically to greet them: "Brothers! The water is poisonous—don’t touch it! Trust me, you don’t want to lose your life for no reason!"

  A young eunuch curiously approached, reaching out to touch his soul-locking cuffs, and asked: "Did you wear these cuffs because you were caught poisoning?"

  "Be gentle! Don’t hit my face!" He covered his head and dodged, then quickly reminded, his tone full of urgency: "Don’t touch my blood! My blood is also poisonous! You’ll get hurt if you touch it—stay away!"

  Chatting and dawdling like this, after half a day, Qiu Ling finally slowly made it to the water source. Although he chatted endlessly along the way, attracted a lot of teasing from the maids and guards, he also unexpectedly gained some favor—after all, this guy was straightforward, not pretentious, and quite interesting to look at, not like an unforgivable spy.

  Qiu Ling rolled up his sleeves, no longer delaying, and immediately started detoxifying the water. He carefully took out the detoxification herbs he carried with him, prepared them little by little according to the formula, his expression becoming serious for the first time—after all, this matter was related to his life, and he dared not be the least bit careless.

  Detoxifying the water and practicing martial arts with Palace Master Jieyou were manageable. At most, he would suffer a little and be tired, but he would at least survive. If he only judged his current situation by these things, it wouldn’t be too bad.

  Unfortunately, there was one more thing that made him see no hope at all—repairing the side palace.

  This was not a simple repair; it was a complete post-disaster reconstruction project! He had to first clean up the ruins of the side palace, move all the broken bricks, tiles and broken wooden beams away, then demolish the walls again, prepare materials, and rebuild. The key point was—he had to do it all alone! No help at all!

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  Yes, he was the one who demolished the walls and destroyed the palace alone, without even saying a word to the people of Yiyun Palace in advance, arrogant and rude. Now he was reaping what he sowed—who could he expect to help him? He could only carry it all by himself, working slowly bit by bit.

  After a few days, Qiu Ling’s mental state was much better. He no longer spit blood heavily, and the charred stains on his body were cleaned completely, fading away all his embarrassment. After washing off the dirt, he actually revealed a white and neat appearance, with delicate features—he could even be regarded as a handsome young man.

  He had thought about paying the palace’s craftsmen to help him, so he wouldn’t have to work himself to death. But the wages asked by the palace’s craftsmen were ridiculously high, simply extortionate. As a spy sent on a mission, who would carry enough cash to repair a side palace with them? He could only grit his teeth and endure it, working hard on the ruins of the side palace day after day, suffering unspeakably.

  Besides, this was simply a false proposition. With these soul-locking cuffs on, his spirit was tightly confined, and he couldn’t use any cultivation at all—he could barely even lift his hand. How could he possibly practice bone-shrinking technique? It was purely making things difficult for him!

  Qiu Ling bit the bullet and played around with Palace Master Jieyou for a while. Jieyou had always been impulsive and impatient; before long, she got bored, put her hands on her hips, raised her little face, and shouted that she wanted to leave the palace to roam the jianghu, her tone full of eagerness and longing.

  When Qiu Ling heard this, he almost laughed out loud—if the palace master left the palace, the National Teacher would definitely accompany her. Even if she didn’t go all the way, she would at least stop staring at him alone! Wouldn’t that cut his pressure in half? More importantly, he wouldn’t have to be tortured by this little ancestor in all sorts of ways every day—he could finally catch his breath!

  A scholar can be killed but not humiliated?

  Qiu Ling was not a rigid scholar who would rather die than submit. So—he couldn’t be killed, but he could be humiliated. As long as he could survive, what was a little grievance or loss of face? He would always find a way to turn things around someday.

  But speaking of which, he had been in Yiyun Palace for so long, and he had never seen Palace Master Jieyou use any treasure. This little girl usually held that feathered beast that pretended to be harmless but was actually a tough nut to crack (referring to Miss Jiu). That beast looked cute and fluffy, but it was actually a hidden divine beast. It had teased him until he was black and blue in just a few moves—it was simply the greatest humiliation of his life!

  "What are you muttering about?" A delicate yet alert voice suddenly sounded from behind. "Are you secretly mocking me behind my back?"

  Qiu Ling froze all over, and cold sweat instantly soaked through the back of his clothes. He hadn’t noticed at all—somehow, Palace Master Jieyou had quietly stood behind him, her bright eyes staring at him sharply, full of displeasure.

  Without the blessing of his cultivation and with his spirit confined by the soul-locking cuffs, his sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and thoughts had all dropped to the level of an ordinary person—he didn’t even have the most basic perception. Once upon a time, he was a master at the Heavenly Human Realm, so glorious. Now he had fallen to such a state—it was truly a tiger falling into a flat land, at the mercy of dogs.

  "Y-your Highness! It’s so late, why haven’t you slept yet?" Qiu Ling quickly turned around, bowed his body, put on an obsequious smile, and his tone was full of panic. "I was just rambling nonsense—I disturbed you..."

  "If I had slept, how would I have known you were secretly mocking me behind my back?" Jieyou raised her eyebrows, put her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and looked like an aggressive little tyrant—not the least bit dignified for a palace master. "I swear by the six heavens, I didn’t say a single bad word about you! Absolutely not! Your Highness, please believe me!" Qiu Ling waved his hands repeatedly, shaking his head like a rattle, fearing that he would anger this little ancestor with even a single wrong move.