The two of them play-wrestled for a bit, then Zu An grabbed her hands and said, “I want to make a trip out of the palace. Do you have any ideas?”

He had his identity as an Embroidered Envoy too, so it wasn’t impossible for him to leave. However, the emperor knew about all of his identities, so that wouldn’t work.

“Nope,” the empress said without hesitation.

Zu An became upset. “Come on, you’re a freaking empress! You can’t even send a single person out of the palace?”

“Even if I do have a way, I can’t send you out.” The empress harrumphed. “The emperor already made it clear that all of you were to be kept here to prevent information from getting out. It’ll definitely draw too much attention if I try to send you out. Visiting you during the day is already the limit of what I can do as the empress. If I try to help you further, the emperor will definitely suspect our relationship.”

Zu An figured that made sense as well. The emperor was someone who was always suspicious of others. It would be very bad if he ended up drawing suspicion because of something like this. But he wouldn’t admit to that on the surface and shot back, “Hmph, then what use does an empress like you even have?”

The empress giggled and looked at him provocatively. “What do you think?” She was like a honey peach ripe for the picking, sweet and juicy. Not many men could resist her temptation. Zu An was naturally no exception.

Eunuch Lu was filled with envy as he stood outside. The stamina of youth really was great…

…

When Zu An woke up again, the beauty he had slept with was already gone. With her status, there was no way she would stay here for a longer time. She had left in the middle of the night. He didn’t feel lonely or anything. He thought that an exchange of benefits between a mature man and woman like this was fine.

Knock knock knock!

Someone suddenly knocked on his door. Zu An was stunned. This room of his seemed quite lively. “Come in,” he said as he lay back down on the bed and continued with his weak and feeble act.

The door quickly opened. The first thing Zu An saw was a pair of straight and perfect legs. If it were any other time, Zu An would definitely have voiced his praise. But right now, he was the ‘hero’ of this dungeon trip, so he didn’t really feel like doing any of that.

“Oh, it was big sis principal.” Zu An was surprised, because the one who had arrived was Jiang Luofu. Why had she appeared in the palace?

“What? It seems like you aren’t that happy to see me,” Jiang Luofu said with a smile.

Zu An replied, “No way. I just didn’t expect you to be able to come inside the palace.”

“My status is special. To a certain extent, I’m representing the Royal Academy, or even the libationer himself. That’s why no one stopped me from entering,” Jiang Luofu explained. “I met the crown princess earlier, then decided to drop by afterward to pay you a visit.”

She turned around while speaking and said in a strange tone, “Crown princess, why aren’t you coming in?”

Zu An was stunned. He subconsciously looked toward the entrance. Bi Linglong had come too? He saw a beautiful young lady standing quietly by the entrance. However, the usual ‘fake smile’ she showed others was nowhere to be seen. Instead, her expression was a bit cold.

You have successfully trolled Bi Linglong for +22 +22 +22…

Zu An jumped in fright. When did I offend her? Why are you mad at me so early in the morning?

“It might be inappropriate for me to come in, so I’ll just stay here,” Bi Linglong said indifferently. She didn’t even give Zu An a single look. Jiang Luofu wasn’t too concerned. Their status was special, and coming into the room of a subordinate so early in the morning was a bit strange.

Zu An felt that it was a bit inconvenient to talk while lying down, so he crawled up from the covers. He wanted to get up and lean against the bed. Jiang Luofu quickly supported him when she saw him move, thinking he was seriously injured.

As he breathed in her fragrance, Zu An thought to himself that Jiang Luofu was also a mature, high-class woman. But she was very different from the empress. The empress’ smell was rich and extravagant, while comparatively speaking, Jiang Luofu’s smell was a bit more reserved.

Jiang Luofu wrinkled her nose. “Huh? What is that smell?” she asked. Bi Linglong instinctively turned to look at Zu An when she heard those words.

Zu An began to sweat buckets. He and the empress had tossed and turned all night. He hadn’t had any time to clean this place up yet. He absolutely couldn’t let them find out!

Even though he was momentarily alarmed, he pretended nothing had happened. “Ah, it’s probably the smell of the medicine from the imperial hospital.”

“Oh, this medicine smells so weird.” Jiang Luofu was puzzled, but she didn’t have much knowledge in that field and couldn't distinguish the smell. She gave Zu An a look, then said, “You were injured quite badly after all. Your complexion looks awful.”

Bi Linglong looked at Zu An carefully when she heard those words. She saw thick black circles under his eyes, and noticed that his complexion was pale. He looked a bit weak.

“I’m alright; it’s not too much of a problem. I should be able to recover after resting for a bit.” Zu An thought to himself, My battle with the empress last night left me pretty exhausted. The empress was at the very peak of maturity. She was absolutely deadly in bed and had taken him for a ride.

Jiang Luofu didn’t doubt him, but Bi Linglong was confused. She asked through ki, “What’s wrong with you? You seemed alright yesterday; why do you look like that today?”

Zu An secretly replied, “Didn’t I have to pretend to be unconscious, after which the emperor even asked me all those questions? Zhuxie Chixin made me eat that vicious medicine to force me awake. These are probably the aftereffects.” Even he was left admiring his own wit. He had managed to find such good excuses so quickly.

Bi Linglong felt a bit aggrieved, and also a bit upset. “Are you stupid? How can you eat something like that?”

“Zhuxie Chixin was watching right next to me. I had no choice!” Zu An explained. “Don’t worry, it’s not too bad. I’ll be fine if I rest for a few days.”

Bi Linglong felt conflicted. So that’s why he looks like that… He probably suffered a lot last night, yet I was actually… mad at him. She blushed when she thought of that and looked apologetically at Zu An.

Zu An was a bit confused. Why had her attitude changed so quickly? The thoughts of young ladies really were as fickle as the weather in June. She got angry so suddenly and cooled off just as suddenly.

Jiang Luofu said, “Even though your complexion looks pretty bad, it’s better than we imagined. At least there’s no danger to your life. Do you know just how worried that Chu clan brat was?”

“Youzhao?” Zu An was stunned. “How did he get mixed up with you?” he asked. After all, the two of them didn’t get along all that well.

Jiang Luofu smiled. “He was worried about your safety but couldn't come and visit you, so he could only use me to see how you were doing. Ah, right. These are the gifts he wanted me to bring you.”

She took out a Peace Talisman and gave it to him. “This is a longevity talisman he went to the temple to ask for, to ensure your peace. That Chu clan kid is quite meticulous in thought, almost like a girl.”

Zu An panicked. He took a mental note to remind that little sister-of-law of his later. Even though she had an artifact to hide her appearance, there were still gaps in her behavior!

He put away the Peace Talisman, feeling warm inside. But he instead asked, “Why didn’t he send me something tasty to eat? What’s the point in giving me this kind of thing?”

Jiang Luofu rolled her eyes. “Giving you something like this really is a waste of others’ good intentions. Chu’s young master didn’t only bring you this talisman, he also prepared a bunch of medicines; but I couldn't bring them into the palace. I only brought in this Thousand Year Ginseng. It should be of some help to your recovery.”

Then, she took out a pill. “This is a Lesser Return Pill Murong Qinghe wanted me to bring you. It’s an excellent pill for treating injuries.”

Bi Linglong also spoke up. “When did Sir Zu suddenly become so close to the Murong clan’s young miss? She’s willing to give you such a precious pill?” Even though she was smiling on the surface, there was a bit of chilliness in her voice.

Zu An’s survival instincts were powerful. He immediately said, “That brat’s entire heart is devoted to Chu Youzhao; this is just a gift by association! She’s just doing this to get on her big brother Chu’s good side.”

Bi Linglong’s expression immediately eased up when she heard that. “Hmph, she gave you such a precious gift, and yet look at you, talking badly about her.”

Zu An was speechless. You were mad at me, and now you’re going to scold me about this? Sigh, being a man is so tough. Wait, why do I feel so guilty in front of her then?

Jiang Luofu gave the two of them a strange look. She just felt that their relationship was a bit strange. But no matter how powerful her imagination was, there was no way she could know what the two of them had gone through together.

She took out a sachet and said, “Right, this is what Daoyun wanted me to bring you.”

When she saw the sachet that was clearly from a girl, Bi Linglong’s expression became chilly once more.

You have successfully trolled Bi Linglong for +33 +33 +33…