The last time, the assassins had thrown the place into chaos, and no one had been paying attention to them. Now, though, the crown prince and princess weren’t far away, and the same could be said for the rest of the people from the eastern palace. Eunuch Lu and the other eunuchs were guarding the entrance as well.

How dare he!

For some reason, though, this feeling of oppression was a completely new experience for her. Even though her mind told her to reject him, and that she should hate him for doing this, every cell in her body was crying out in pleasure. Her body and her heart had lain dormant for far too long. This fellow was kindling in her the same feelings that she experienced when she first met the emperor.

She took a deep breath and dispelled those thoughts from her mind. She did her best to keep her voice from shaking. “Do you know what you are doing right now?”

Zu An calmly said, “I only want the empress to understand our current relationship. I won’t be so polite if you call me a filthy servant again.”

The empress’ breathing became hurried, and her ample chest heaved. Her usually-dignified eyes were on the verge of tearing. “What sort of impoliteness do you have in mind?”

Zu An almost choked. He really hadn’t expected this… He was only planning to scare her a little and gain some respect. Wasn’t her reaction a little over the top?

The empress’ smile was extremely dangerous. “Brat, don’t pretend as though you’d really do anything to me. Even if I just lie here and let you do what you wish, would you really dare?”

For some reason, she felt a twinge of anticipation.

Frightened by it, she quickly tried to suppress it.

Zu An was left speechless.

He had to admit that he really didn’t dare cross that line.

The empress was way too powerful. She could have him killed with a single thought. Even though the emperor rarely left the palace, secrets rarely remained secrets forever. With his divine senses, it would be hard for anything to slip past him.

Even though the empress was a mature and juicy peach, ripe for picking, he didn’t dare take such a huge risk. He still had a lot of things he wanted to do, after all.

Seeing his momentary hesitation, the empress chuckled and pushed his hand away. “It's useless to try to bluff this empress. In the future, we’ll both just mind our own business and pretend that nothing ever happened. Please do not vainly try to use that matter against me.”

This was actually all Zu An was hoping for as well. It would have been a little shameful to admit it, though.

Mature women weren’t the same as young maidens after all. Sigh, why do I feel like I was played? This is so embarrassing.

Just then, someone suddenly walked in through the doorway.

Zu An and the empress immediately straightened and put some distance between each other.

The empress was clearly unhappy. “Why did you come inside?”

The one who had entered was Eunuch Lu. He peered at Zu An with his hawk-like eyes. “Empress, do you want this old servant to kill him?”

Zu An was alarmed. This man facing him was at the ninth rank, and he’d been standing at the doorway, which was close by. If he had wanted to, he could have easily eavesdropped on them.

I was too careless!

He wasn’t utterly terrified, though. Although his current cultivation was not enough to defeat this old eunuch, he could protect himself well enough. Furthermore, there was no way the empress would want this matter to leak out, which meant that she would not call anyone else to help.

The empress looked at him in surprise. She didn’t expect him to still be calm in this situation. She shook her head. “There’s no need. I know what I’m doing.”

She gave the eunuch a look of displeasure. “Didn’t I tell you to wait outside? Who told you to come in?”

Eunuch Lu’s sinister expression immediately morphed into an apologetic smile. “Your Highness, I just received some important information that you need to know about.”

Zu An was completely speechless. This guy’s expression had changed way too quickly. Simps really are a different breed… Keep on licking her boots, I guess. No matter how hard you try, you won’t get a single crumb.

“Speak.” The empress lay back down on her recliner, assuming her usual indifference.

Eunuch Lu’s eyes burned with passion as he took in her wonderful curves. Unfortunately, the fire quickly dimmed. Something occurred to him, and he turned around to look at Zu An, his expression slightly uncertain.

“It’s fine. Lord Zu will be one of us in the future.” The empress chuckled. She didn’t mind using these insignificant matters to reel Zu An in.

Zu An was speechless when he saw Eunuch Lu’s hate-filled eyes. Bro, you don’t even have a pipi. Why are you treating everyone as your rival in love?

Eunuch Lu made his report. “Reporting to the empress. The Left Guard General Cheng Xiong is currently investigating the Embroidered Envoy within the palace.”

“Investigating the Embroidered Envoy? Has he gone mad?” The empress was stunned. The Embroidered Envoy were the emperor’s trusted aides. How could Cheng Xiong be that bold?

Zu An secretly panicked. This was probably a scheme directed against him.

Eunuch Lu continued, “ received information that an assassin was dressed in the uniform of the Embroidered Envoy. That is why the number of Embroidered Envoy uniforms is being checked. Those within the Embroidered Envoy are unhappy with this, and are currently opposing him.”

Zu An felt as if a bucket of cold water was dumped on him. It was clear as day. Cheng Xiong was coming after him!

Cheng Xiong must have been disheartened by his failure the night before, but he had surely planned to retaliate in an even stronger fashion. This time, his investigation had been extremely thorough. He had even managed to find out that he had used his Embroidered Envoy uniform to sneak Snow out!

He seemed to be making an enemy of the whole Embroidered Envoy, but in reality, this was a lethal strike aimed at him.

Yun Jianyue was still hiding in his residence. She had been fortunate enough to escape detection yesterday, but if the search continued, it would grow more difficult for her to hide.

What should I do? What am I supposed to do now?

His mind moved at lightning speed. At the same time, he felt a twinge of regret. He’d underestimated the intelligence of the people of this world. These weren’t NPCs from the novels he’d read or the games he’d played. They were all sharp-witted individuals, worthy of their current positions of power.

He tried to think of countermeasures. His first thought was to ask the empress for help, but what was he supposed to say? How could he secure the empress’ help to aid the Embroidered Envoy, unless he revealed his own identity as one of them?

If he revealed his identity, though, was he then supposed to explain to her that he had helped an assassin escape?

She might assume that he knew the assassins, which would make the situation even more problematic.

Furthermore, she had the Liu clan backing her. If she found out about his status as an Embroidered Envoy, it would be impossible to ensure that she didn’t reveal it to her clan. That would make things even more dangerous for him, as both the emperor and King Qi would want him gone.

Should he contact Zhuxie Chixin? He couldn’t just let these people climb all over him. Besides, they had gotten along quite well the day before… 

No way, no way. Things will become even more complicated if that old fox Zhuxie Chixin found out that I let an assassin go.

As his mind worked, the empress, reclining on her seat, flashed a slow smile. “Cheng Xiong is someone in King Qi’s faction. He’s worried that His Majesty might use this as an excuse to transfer him away from his important position, so he is already trying everything he can to prevent it. It’s fine. Let him and the Embroidered Envoy have their little dogfight.”

Zu An was surprised. Cheng Xiong is in King Qi’s faction?

No wonder he cared so much about this investigation! Wait, there’s something I can do.

“Empress, if there is nothing else, I’ll take my leave.” Zu An bowed to the empress again. He had to show her proper etiquette in front of others.

“Eunuch Lu, escort him out for me.” The empress waved her hand. She didn’t seem to be in the mood to entertain Eunuch Lu privately.

“Understood.” Eunuch Lu led Zu An out, his expression rather awful.

I touched the goddess he dreams about every night, so it’s normal for him to hate me. I suppose there’s no getting along with him.

They left the room, and Eunuch Lu closed the door. He was about to speak, but hesitated slightly, before finally saying it anyway. “You’re a thief without the guts to match. Are you really that scared of His Majesty finding out?”

Zu An was taken aback by his tone. This wasn’t what he was expecting! Why did he feel like this eunuch was secretly encouraging his actions?

Hadn’t he always fancied the empress? Why would he allow another man to get close to her? He even seemed pretty excited about it.

Eunuch Lu… or should I say, Eunuch Green?[1]