Sheng Lengshuang smiled faintly, "Tao Li, you still haven't understood what I mean. I'm asking what you can do for me, not what you say you can do anything for me."
Tao Li, thinking quickly, said, "I can help you find out my master's identity."
Sheng Lengshuang was somewhat satisfied with her words, "Are you sure you can help me find out the identity of the Black Hand?"
Tao Li nodded like a pecking chicken, patting her chest to guarantee, "I can definitely find out. Sheng Lengshuang, please save me."
Sheng Lengshuang, seemingly from her sleeve but actually from her spatial dimension, took out a bottle of pills and handed it to her. "One a day will ensure you don't turn into a puppet. If you want a true antidote, once you've helped me find out the Black Hand's identity, I will detoxify you and let you be a normal person again."
Tao Li snatched the medicine bottle and clutched it tightly, "I will, I will."
To live as a proper person, she had to find out her master's identity.
Sheng Lengshuang waved her away.
Tao Li expressed her gratitude repeatedly and left quickly, clutching the medicine bottle.
Sheng Lengshuang understood Tao Li well. Tao Li was grateful to her now only because she was the one who could provide the antidote. Once Tao Li was truly detoxified, she would scheme against her again.
However, Tao Li would not have that chance.
"Miss." At this moment, a dark guard landed in front of her.
Sheng Lengshuang picked up her teacup and took a sip, "What is it?"
The dark guard lowered his head slightly and saluted, "We've just apprehended several masked assassins. The rest of the masked men were either killed or escaped. Their target seemed to be you, Miss."
Sheng Lengshuang pondered for a moment and understood what was happening. No wonder Tao Li could run out to seek treatment; it turned out the Black Hand wanted to kill multiple birds with one stone.
"Interrogate those masked men. If you can't get anything out of them, there's no need to keep them."
The dark guard responded with a "Yes" and retreated to carry out the order.
Sheng Lengshuang tapped the armrest of her chair a few times with her fingers, contemplating Tao Li's situation. Someone as calculating as the Black Hand would surely know Tao Li's every move, yet they didn't stop her.
Perhaps it wasn't just to scheme against her.
She curled her lips into a cold smile. The Black Hand was truly ruthless.
She just didn't know the purpose behind all these actions.
Sheng Lengshuang didn't dwell on the matter. She knew that obsessing over it was useless and could lead her down a rabbit hole. It was better to wait for the Black Hand to continue their machinations.
Habitually, she felt her pulse, confirming that the toxins in her body were gradually decreasing. She nodded. From now on, as long as she followed the prescription to detoxify, it wouldn't be long before the poison she had ingested was completely cleared.
"Wife." Mo Lingxi arrived.
Sheng Lengshuang shot him a cold glance.
Mo Lingxi immediately changed his address, "Sheng Lengshuang."
Sheng Lengshuang warned, "Prince Mingrui, I don't want a repeat of this."
Mo Lingxi promised there would be no next time.
Sheng Lengshuang didn't believe him and was too lazy to pursue the issue, "Prince Mingrui, why have you come to see me?"
Mo Lingxi mentioned Zhou Wenxing's matter, "It's estimated that Zhou Wenxing will confess this time. Do you want to go and see?"
Sheng Lengshuang wanted to go and see, "Let's go. We'll go to your royal residence to see Zhou Wenxing and check if he'll be honest this time."
Mo Lingxi made a gesture for her to proceed and walked alongside her, "I heard Tao Li came to find you again?"
Sheng Lengshuang briefly explained the situation, "For the Black Hand, Tao Li is a much more useful pawn than Zhou Wenxing. Zhou Wenxing has a brain and won't be easily deceived by the Black Hand. But Tao Li is different; she's brainless and easily controlled."
"Crucially, Tao Li can easily be refined into a puppet. The utility of a puppet is far greater than that of a person."
Mo Lingxi thought of a question, "In that case, does the Black Hand have many puppets?"
Sheng Lengshuang was unsure about this, "Judging by the current situation, the Black Hand likely has quite a few puppets. You should take precautions against this, in case anything goes wrong."
Mo Lingxi immediately had an idea, "There's no need to worry too much. Puppets are not omnipotent. If there are too many puppets, we can use fire to deal with them."
Sheng Lengshuang smiled at his resourcefulness and didn't continue the topic, "If I'm not mistaken, the next time I see Tao Li, she will be a puppet."
"Are you that certain?"
"Don't you think so too?"
Mo Lingxi smiled, "You understand me so well."
Sheng Lengshuang rolled her eyes at him, "Stop being shameless. The Black Hand won't keep Tao Li to investigate him. To be safe, he will refine Tao Li into a puppet to deal with me."
Mo Lingxi instructed, "You should bring more people with you recently and be more vigilant."
Sheng Lengshuang would definitely bring more people. While talking with Mo Lingxi, she got into a carriage and headed towards Prince Mingrui's residence.
Along the way, she inadvertently heard vendors calling out. She asked the coachman to stop.
Getting out of the carriage, she saw a timid middle-aged uncle standing by the roadside, wearing coarse linen clothes and selling some vegetables and seeds.
She was quite interested in the seeds, which were for several types of vegetables.
"Uncle, how much are these seeds?" she asked politely.
The middle-aged uncle was flustered and uneasy, constantly rubbing his hands on his clothes, "Whatever the noble person wishes to give. It's worthless stuff I found on the mountain."
Sheng Lengshuang took out two hundred copper coins from her purse and handed them to him, "I'll take all these seeds and vegetables."
At her word, the coachman immediately loaded the vegetables and seeds into the carriage.
The middle-aged uncle was surprised by his good luck, having sold a considerable amount of money. His face crinkled into a smile, and he bowed repeatedly to Sheng Lengshuang.
Sheng Lengshuang smiled and returned to the carriage with Mo Lingxi.
Sitting in the carriage, she slowly sorted the seeds. Tomorrow, she would plant them on the mountain.
"You're very happy?" Mo Lingxi asked.
Sheng Lengshuang hummed in affirmation, "Why wouldn't I be happy to get so many good seeds? The seeds from the mountains are much better than these."
Mo Lingxi chuckled, "If I had known you were so easily pleased, I would have found more seeds for you."
Sheng Lengshuang ignored him, focusing on sorting the seeds. She wasn't someone who could be easily appeased with a pile of seeds.
As they were about to reach Prince Mingrui's residence, they were stopped by a woman in a black cloak.
"This servant has seen His Highness Prince Mingrui and Miss Sheng." She curtsied charmingly.
Sheng Lengshuang sized up the woman, whom she couldn't see anything of but could sense her allure, "What does your master want?"
Mo Lingxi didn't even glance at her.
The cloaked woman covered her mouth and chuckled, her laugh quite seductive, "Miss Sheng is truly a clever person."
Sheng Lengshuang's expression was blank, and she said, "What you're saying makes it sound like someone is a fool. There are no real fools in this world. If that's all you have to say, you can leave now."