Zu An scowled. He had discovered that the women at his side all seemed to be good at making associative connections. More importantly, their guesses were often not too far from the truth. He replied, “Your highness speaks too severely. She is the crown princess, so how can that be?”1

"And I am the empress. I never saw you shrink back during the deed," Liu Ning said, clicking her tongue. Perhaps because she thought of their past experiences, a faint red blush appeared on her fair cheeks. She continued, “There isn’t anything impossible about that. If you come to my side, I’ll help you get that lass.”3

“Huh?” Zu An asked; he was now completely stunned. He had never expected her to say that.2

“Is it that shocking?” Liu Ning replied with a smile. “Eventually, the entire Imperial Palace, inside and out, will be in my grasp. I can just come up with some random pretext to call her over; will she be able to refuse if I tell her to do it then? Either way, the crown prince is an idiot and won’t know what happened, let alone stand up for her. Of course, if another prince rose to the throne, it would become even easier. She'd be a ruined...3