Sang Jiang's eyes brightened slightly. She put down her cup, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Consort Shen, asking, "What do you mean?"

Consort Shen hesitated for a moment. She glanced at Long Jingchen secretly, and only dared to speak when she saw that he didn't seem to care about them: "I heard that Her Majesty the Empress tried several times to bring that shopkeeper into the palace but was refused. Her Majesty the Empress then decided to compromise and make her a royal merchant, but that was also refused."

"Oh." Sang Jiang nodded.

This is also similar to Liu Ruyu's personality.

Long Jingchen slightly raised his eyes and looked at the two women chatting happily. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He had never had such a pleasant conversation with Sang Jiang before.

The two chatted for a while longer before Sang Jiang slowly sat up and said, "Alright, I'm tired too, so I'll head back now."

After saying that, she stood up and gave Long Jingchen a slight curtsy: "Your Majesty, I take my leave."

Although she rarely bowed to Long Jingchen on ordinary days, she would still observe some etiquette when others were present.

Consort Shen followed suit and curtsied to her, saying, "This concubine respectfully sees off the Imperial Noble Consort."

Sang Jiang waved her hand but didn't say anything.

She was genuinely tired and wanted to go back to sleep.

Long Jingchen watched her retreating figure and cursed inwardly: "You heartless little thing, leaving him with another woman like this?"

Once Sang Jiang's figure had completely disappeared, Consort Shen turned around and looked at Long Jingchen at the head of the table: "Your Majesty..."

Just as she opened her mouth to say something, Long Jingchen waved his hand to interrupt her: "I'm sleepy too, you can go back now."

Consort Shen pursed her lips and curtsied to Long Jingchen: "This concubine takes her leave."

Only after she finished speaking did she suddenly remember the purpose of her visit today.

She clenched her hands, silently cursing under her breath.

...

The Prime Minister's Residence.

Looking at the sachet in her hand, Sang Yun recalled the events of the past few days and couldn't help but chuckle.

A week ago, he was ordered to suppress bandits in Black Wind Mountain. Black Wind Mountain is a steep mountain, easy to defend and difficult to attack. In particular, the bandit leader is extremely powerful and ruthless. He heard that the bandit leader went to the Northern Underworld Kingdom to participate in the once-in-a-decade Mountain King Competition, so he wanted to sneak into Black Wind Mountain first and then coordinate an attack from the inside. As a result, Yang Mu'an secretly followed him.

He only found her when they reached the foot of the mountain. Just as he was about to send her back, Hei Lao Er stopped him.

The second brother looked at the two of them and said in a roguish tone, "This mountain is mine, this tree is mine. If you want to pass, leave your toll."

Sang Yun: ...

He was speechless for a moment after hearing the opening remarks.

I'd always heard people say that this second-in-command was a complete idiot, and I never imagined it was actually true.

It is said that the second-in-command of Black Wind Mountain was able to become the second-in-command because he was the younger brother of the eldest brother.

Sang Yun glanced at Yang Mu'an and quickly pulled her a few steps forward to Hei Lao Er's side, bowing and scraping as she asked, "You must be the second-in-command of Black Wind Mountain?"

The second-in-command gave him a wary look: "What do you want to do?"

Sang Yun immediately raised his hands: "No, no, Second Master, please listen to me. I've heard that you are wise and powerful. Everyone in this area knows you. I just want to join you and my wife."

Yang Mu'an was speechless at his sycophantic behavior.

She rolled her eyes at Sang Yun and said unhappily, "What's wrong with you?"

The second-in-command had just started to feel smug when Yang Mu'an caught his attention. He glanced at Yang Mu'an and his face turned cold...