“What can I say? They’re no match for my charm,” Zu An replied nonchalantly. When he sensed the three women’s anger, he immediately changed his tone. “She saved my life before, so of course I need to save her!”

“She saved your life?” Yun Jianyue asked, puzzled. She really couldn't imagine how the Elf race’s princess was related to Zu An.

“Actually, big sis Yan should know about Princess Snow,” Zu An said.

“I know her?” Yan Xuehen asked, stunned. She was completely puzzled.

“She used to be a servant in Brightmoon City’s Chu clan. She was the spy sent by the capital’s Shi clan…” Zu An gave a rough account of what had happened back then.

“So it was her,” Yan Xuehen said with a nod. She had heard her disciple mention that before.

Yun Jianyue exclaimed in admiration when she heard the story. “This little girl really is smart and brave! She went to the human side and suffered alone in silence, then saved her clansmen in the end. If I had met her earlier, I might have just taken her as my own disciple.”

“Were you two hiding in the palace the entire night? How did you avoid being discovered despite the Fiend Emperor overseeing the palace?” Yu Yanluo asked. That was what she was more concerned with.

“It was honestly all thanks to the Second Empress. My deduction about her wasn’t wrong. She wasn’t in agreement with the crown prince after all…” Zu An told them a bit about how the Second Empress had saved them.

“You two stayed the night in the Second Empress’ chambers?” The three women’s expressions were strange. This guy really was constantly surrounded by love affairs from start to finish!

“Ahem, it was only because she’s going against the crown prince,” Zu An said, trying to explain the situation.

When the three women thought of the Second Empress’ identity, they didn’t think too much about it. They quickly began to discuss what had just happened.

Yu Yanluo said, “It was thanks to your friends’ help that we managed to get through that situation. Otherwise, I would have been captured for interrogation.”

“I told you my affinity with people was good, but you just don’t believe me,” Zu An said with a laugh. He continued, “Now that the different clans have all gathered at the Fiend King Court, and after something happened to the Golden Peng King, Elf King, and Peacock Wise King, the clans are all worried about their own situation. The mood is pretty tense, so the crown prince wouldn’t dare to act without thinking.”

“This Fiend King Court seems peaceful from the outside, but that actually isn’t the case at all,” Yu Yanluo said with a grave expression. She added, “By the way, before you returned, the clans were talking about the All Races General Assembly.”

“All Races General Assembly?” Zu An was surprised.

Yu Yanluo explained, “The fiend races consist of many races, and this is the first time all of the races have been invited over, so there has to be a meeting held with everyone present. Apart from dealing with certain superficial affairs, the most important part pertains to the representative seats of the different clans.”

“Representative seats?” Yan Xuehen asked.

Yun Jianyue was more familiar with the process and said, “Even though the Fiend Emperor has unrivaled authority in the fiend races, he won’t bother with everything regardless of importance. Ordinary political, economic, and other such affairs and policies are often decided through representative proposals and cast ballots. The powerful races have more seats, while the weaker races often only have a single seat. That’s why roping in representatives from the different clans is extremely important. Just now, when Yu Yanluo invited the mid and small-sized races over for a discussion, that was part of such a process.”

Yu Yanluo nodded and said, “Indeed. Each race’s leader represents one seat. Others need to fight for seats themselves. At most, one race can obtain three more seats. The Snake race had three seats at its peak, but after what happened to my mother, our people have continued to deteriorate. Now, we only have a single seat to our name. That’s why we have practically no say in matters related to the fiend races’ internal affairs.”

“Fight for the seats themselves? How do you fight for them?” Zu An asked curiously.

Yu Yanluo explained, “Among the fiend races, the strong reign. Whenever the Fiend Emperor is replaced, there’s a new contest over representative seats. Those who are confident they can seize a seat can sign up. Many smaller races know they have no chance, so they don’t participate, although sometimes they might have one or two geniuses. In most situations, though, the tussle over these quotas is just a game for the powerful races.”

Zu An had a strange expression as he said, “In that case, sign me up too. I’ll help you get a seat.”

Yu Yanluo replied somewhat hesitantly, “The situation is too dangerous right now, and the Golden Crow Guards are looking all over for you. I think it’s best if you don’t participate.”

“It’s precisely because the entire world is trying to arrest me that I should do the exact opposite of what they expect. No one thinks I would be brazen enough to show myself again. Then, this Yan Zu identity will become much more convincing too,” Zu An replied.

“An excellent idea,” Yun Jianyue said. She rubbed her palms together and smiled. “Then sign me up too, I’ll help you seize a seat. Right, sign up this stone cold woman too.”

Yan Xuehen was a bit stunned. She asked, “Are you not scared that you will be lowering your own status by joining this kind of competition?”

“Our Holy Sect only cares about benefits; we don’t have so many unnecessary trivialities.” Yun Jianyue harrumphed. “I’ve been indebted to little sis Yu’s care all this time, and I’ve always been someone who properly repays both gratitudes and grudges. I’ve never owed people anything. I’ll just pay her back in this way.”

Off to the side, Zu An mumbled, “Big sis seems to owe me quite a bit though…”

“Go away…” Yun Jianyue muttered, pushing him away. Although such contact was completely ordinary, she suddenly remembered that her most private parts had been seen. Her cheeks began to burn up.

Yan Xuehen was the only other one who knew about that. She thought to herself, Hah! So even this witch ended up experiencing something like that, huh? Previously, when she had been harmed by Yun Jianyue and had shown everything to Zu An, she had gone several days without proper sleep.

She said, “Witch, what you said is quite interesting. Then, count me in too. I can take the chance to see what these fiend race experts are like for myself.”

Yu Yanluo naturally turned them down at first, but she couldn't stop their enthusiasm and could only agree in the end. She suddenly felt a bit dizzy. Two grandmasters and a master who was bursting with fighting potential were going to help her fight over representative seats! Just the thought alone made her feel sorry for their opponents.

…

Meanwhile, the Elf King Manor was in an uproar. Princess Snow had returned!

The elders immediately held a secret meeting in the official hall. Other than the Elf King Qiao Wei, who had been imprisoned, all of the other elders were present. They strictly prohibited anyone else from joining the meeting.

“Princess Snow, where did you go last night? What exactly happened?” An elder quickly asked.

“I was in the imperial palace and was about to leave, but the crown prince said he wanted to talk about father’s situation. As such, I followed him. And yet, who would have expected that he would be worse than a beast…” Qiao Xueying sobbed while explaining what had happened the previous night.

They could tell everyone else a different version of the story, but she had to tell the core authorities of the Elf race the truth. Otherwise, some errors in intelligence could mislead them into making the wrong decision.

Snow was delicate and lovely, so when she began to cry, it really was heartbreaking. Many elders cursed. loudly “Absolutely preposterous! I never expected the grand fiend races’ crown prince to be so shameful!”

“Imprisoning the Elf King has already crossed the line. I didn’t expect them to have such little respect for us!”

“The royal family is getting worse with each generation. If someone like this rose to the throne, wouldn’t our fiend races be ruined because of him?!”

…

After they voiced their anger for a while, a female elder hugged Qiao Xueying while continuing to console her. She pulled her over and asked, “Snow, how did you leave the palace? How did you get rid of the drug?”

Those present looked at Qiao Xueying when they heard that.

Snow wiped her tears and replied, “In the greatest moment of crisis, a mysterious person tried to assassinate the crown prince. When he was stopped by the crown prince’s powerful guards, he brought me away with him. Later on, I lost consciousness. By the time I woke up, it was already morning, and I was near the Elf King Manor.”

The elders were shocked, asking, “Then doesn’t that mean the assassin took advantage of you?”

Snow blushed and replied, “What are the elders saying? No one took advantage of me. I don’t know how he got rid of the poison in my body.”

They all saw that there wasn’t even the slightest bit of grief on her face. Snow didn’t act like a young lady who had just been ruined, so they didn’t doubt her words. Thus, the elders began to discuss among themselves.

“Just where did that assassin come from? Why would he save Princess Snow?”

“Don’t tell me he’s an old friend of the Elf King?”

“But no friend of the Elf King would have any reason to assassinate the crown prince!”

…

Just then, another elder spoke up with a worried frown. “Rather than that, I’m more worried that once the imperial palace learns that Princess Snow has returned, they’ll associate our Elf Race with the assassin.”

The elders fell silent, quickly becoming worried.

The female elder cursed, “What are all of you so scared for? The one who suffered this time is clearly Snow. Even if there’s anything to settle, we should be the ones asking for compensation from the crown prince’s side. How can you question our own? Just release exactly what Snow said to the palace, and ask the crown prince to give us an explanation. We’re the glorious Elf race; we aren’t a race that others can just walk over!”

Even though there were still people with other opinions, that opinion was still held by the majority. As such, the Elf King Manor quickly acted on the plan.

Snow was a bit surprised. She thought to herself that everything was going as the Second Empress had expected. That woman’s understanding of people’s nature really was frightening.

…

Meanwhile,Elder Wu quickly returned to the imperial palace. As soon as he walked in, he saw the crown prince smash his medicine bowl into the ground. Elder Wu frowned and asked, “Crown prince, what has caused you such anger?”

The Golden Crow Crown Prince’s face was ashen. He replied, “I just received a report that Princess Snow has already returned to the Elf King Manor. Furthermore, the Elf King Manor’s people even sent someone over to castigate us!”

“What?” Elder Wu exclaimed in shock. “Why would they dare? Where is that assassin?”

“Princess Snow said that she was unconscious and did not know anything. When she woke up, it was already daytime…” The Golden Crow Crown Prince repeated what the other side had told him. He spat, “That slut definitely isn’t telling the truth! She definitely slept with him last night, and yet I can’t disclose that. Ahhh! I’m fucking pissed!”

Elder Wu sighed in relief. It seemed the crown prince hadn’t lost his head completely out of anger. Otherwise, if news of what had happened the previous night went out, that would definitely be a huge scandal for the royal family. It could even cause relations between the Golden Crow race and Elf race to fall apart.

“This woman is already impure, so she isn’t worthy to become the crown princess,” the Golden Crow Crown Prince said through gritted teeth. “Find a way to contact the Peacock King Race’s side and bring back Kong Nanwu for me. She will be the crown prince. Also, send some powerful individuals to bring her back from the human race. No man is allowed near her.”

He really had been scared quite badly. He had to make sure that Kong Nanwu was watched carefully, to make sure she remained a virgin.

Elder Wu nodded and replied, “Understood!”

The Golden Crow Crown Prince stood up and asked, “You brought back the Medusa Queen, right? I’m furious right now, so I’m going to properly vent out my anger on her!”