“Do you think we can just chat in this kind of situation?” Zu An asked with a smile.

Concubine Bai was stunned. Her eyes shifted to his hand. 

How am I supposed to just chat when I’m so rattled from you touching me everywhere?!

Zu An said, “Your Devil Sect’s people really are liars after all. You said you could give me everything the crown princess had given me just a moment ago, yet you’re already going back on your word.”

Concubine Bai’s expression grew sullen as she exclaimed, “Don’t tell me the crown princess let you touch her all over like this?!”

Zu An said, “That’s how it was, at least when we were naked. Your highness, didn’t you see it for yourself?”

Concubine Bai finally couldn’t take it anymore. She struggled free from the swing and distanced herself from Zu An, saying, “Fine, I’m scared of you. If my senior sister learns how you treated me, she’ll definitely smack you straight to death.”

“Senior sister?” Zu An asked, a bit confused.

Concubine Bai harrumphed. “There’s no point in hiding it from you at this point. The sect master is my senior sister, but I was already sent into the palace at a very young age.”

Zu An was quite surprised. “Just how did you guys pull the wool over the emperor’s head? He would actually be so careless as to let such a high ranking Devil Sect member remain at his side?”

Concubine Bai said proudly, “Senior sister is the world's smartest person. Furthermore, the emperor isn’t a deity; how could he possibly know everything?”

Zu An nodded in deep sympathy. 

If that guy were omnipotent, he would’ve already known that the empress has already taken on my shape inside.

He didn’t continue arguing and instead asked, “By the way, was that libationer one of your people too? Or does he have some kind of a secret relationship with your Devil Sect?” That libationer had helped him out before. That was something he had always been confused about. He just couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“Didn’t you say that it was already your last question earlier?” Concubine Bai harrumphed. “Just a man who goes back on his word.”

“I learned it from you.” Zu An’s eyes shifted to her slender waist.

Concubine Bai’s face turned red. She knew that he was referring to how she had seduced him, and yet given up halfway. “Fine, it’ll be alright even if I tell you. The libationer has nothing to do with our Holy Sect. If he were one of us, then he and the sect master together would have already been enough to drag down the emperor. Why would we have to go through so much trouble?”

Zu An was shocked. “The libationer is that powerful?”

Concubine Bai nodded. “Sir Libationer has always been mysterious, and he’s always been known to disregard political affairs. However, no one can disregard his existence. The publicly acknowledged top three experts are his majesty, King Qi, and the libationer.

“Everyone in the world believes that King Qi must at most be a bit weaker than his majesty, that he’s number two. However, judging from my observations these past few years, the libationer might be the true number two. After all, every disciple he’s raised ended up reaching the master rank. There are naturally many more eighth and ninth ranks under him.”

Zu An’s eyes widened. Even his disciples were masters! Just what kind of concept was that? He asked, “How many disciples does he have?” 

Concubine Bai gave Zu An a look, clearly shocked that he didn’t even know such basic information. “Every student in the Royal Academy can be considered his disciple, but most people only acknowledge twelve of them as his direct disciples.”

Zu An had a pensive expression. 

Looks like I’ll have to pay that academy a visit to clear this up. 

Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, “By the way, someone tried to eliminate me when I was in the imperial prison last time. Was it one of your men?”

Concubine Bai was stunned. “Why would we do such a thing? If we really wanted to do that, forget about Honglei, not even the sect master would let me go.”

Zu An smiled. “That’s good. I hope we can help each other more in this palace in the future.”

Concubine Bai harrumphed. “I just hope you won’t come to this Hundred Flower Palace as much anymore.” She really wouldn’t be able to take it if this kid came to provoke her every time.

Zu An laughed heartily. “Then I guess I’ll make sure to stay by the crown princess’ side more in the future.”

Concubine Bai’s expression changed. After all, even though she looked friendly with the crown princess on the surface, everyone knew that they hated each other’s guts. If Zu An really did start leaning toward the crown princess, then she really would get a headache. After all, judging from their previous interactions, she could tell that this fellow’s competence and luck were both top-notch.

She asked, “How are you going to face the sect master and Honglei if you keep doing this? One of them favors you, and the other has deep affection for you.”

Zu An sighed. “It’s your Devil Sect’s fault for having so many lying, beautiful women. I’m really wondering if I’ve been PUA’d by you guys.”

[1]

“PUA?” Concubine Bai was stunned. She didn’t know what that word meant.

“It means that you guys were using some superficial methods to control me, but you also never invested anything from the very start. Instead, I was completely scammed.” Zu An said darkly, “And you’re the worst of them all.”

“But you should at least be able to sense that Honglei’s feelings for you are real, right?” Concubine Bai clenched her teeth. This fellow really was hard to deal with.

Zu An replied indifferently, “Who knows? After all, she hasn’t really been given to me. Who knows whether your stupid technique even has those rules about virginity or whatever? Maybe they’re all in on this together.” He could obviously sense Qiu Honglei’s sincere feelings, but he wouldn’t be so stupid as to say that to Concubine Bai.

“Of course you can’t lose your chastity if you cultivate Heavenly Devil Temptation; even I…” Concubine Bai suddenly stopped midway and harrumphed. She had almost fallen for this fellow’s bait. She quickly changed the topic. “Whatever, as long as you’re not scared of that crown princess being jealous in the future, then you can come here as often as you like. We’ll always welcome you here.”

“Thanks a bunch, your highness. This subject will bid his goodbye for now then.” Zu An had achieved his objective. Whether he completely leaned toward the Devil Sect or the crown princess’ side, neither choice was wise. Only in his current situation would he receive the most benefits.

Concubine Bai clenched her teeth. She thought to herself, 

Which subject dares to touch me however they want, like you?

 However, when she saw the maids walk over, she couldn’t really say anything. She scattered the surrounding flower petals and said, “Sir Zu, please leave well; we won’t be seeing you out.”

…

As Zu An left the Hundred Flower Palace, he exited through the gate and returned home. Either way, the crown princess had given him some time off, and the Embroidered Envoy’s case had been handed to Zhuxie Chixin. He was happy to have some free time.

His harvest from the Hundred Flower Palace had been quite great. Many of the questions he’d had were now fully answered. Furthermore, he had even established a friendly alliance with Concubine Bai.

Concubine Bai’s body really smells good… 

He continued to think about various things along the way, and managed to reach his home without realizing it. Several figures welcomed him when they heard activity by the entrance.

“Ah Zu!”

“Brother-in-law!”

“Big brother Zu!”

Zu An’s mood brightened. 

So it was Chu Chuyan, Chu Youzhao, and her stalker Murong Qinghe.

“We just received news that you were attacked! Were you injured at all?” Even though they could see Zu An standing there all fine and dandy, Chu Chuyan still continued to examine his body.

“I’m fine. Don’t I look perfectly well?” Zu An felt warm inside. As expected, it was still his own wife who doted on him the most. Those other women were all more fierce than the next.

Murong Qinghe said, “I heard news from the prison that all of the barracks in the outskirts are being examined. I heard that a siege crossbow was used in the attack, and there were even signs of someone being hit by one…”

“A siege crossbow?!” Chu Chuyan’s face paled. How could she not know how powerful a siege crossbow was? “Where were you injured? Hurry and tell me!”

Zu An felt more and more warm when he saw Chu Chuyan on the verge of tears. He said, “Don’t worry, I managed to evade in time, so it only brushed me. I just had some light injuries. It’s already gotten much better.”

He didn’t want to tell them what had happened back then because he didn’t want to worry Chuyan. Furthermore, the Murong clan’s brat was still here, so if news got out, everyone would know just how quickly he had recovered after being hit by a siege crossbow. That would draw suspicion, and subsequently, people might rush over to research his body.

Chu Chuyan still wasn't convinced. She quickly took off his clothes and said, “Let me take a look.”

Murong Qinghe’s face reddened. She turned away in embarrassment. Who would have thought that even though Zu An looked pretty skinny from the outside, he was actually so robust!

Chu Youzhao was the opposite; she bashfully stared at Zu An’s body. Her cheeks blushed, yet she didn’t really want to look away.

When she finally confirmed that there weren’t any serious injuries, Chu Chuyan sighed in relief and said, “Thank goodness…”

Chu Youzhao suddenly asked, “Brother-in-law, why do you smell so good?”

Murong Qinghe also sniffed the air. “It does smell pretty good. I’ve never smelled this type of fragrance before.”

Chu Chuyan’s gaze became dangerous. She looked at Zu An with an ambiguous smile. “If I’m not mistaken, this seems to be the smell of another woman…”

1. ’PUA’ is slang for ‘pickup artist’ even in Chinese.