"Come with me!" Zuan immediately grabbed her hand and led her into a small path to the side.

Holding his hand, Qiao Xueying's chaotic heart gradually calmed down. With him by her side, she didn't care about any danger.

She had made up her mind that if she really couldn't escape, she would find a way to sever ties with him so as not to implicate him.

As she was thinking this, she had already been led around in a series of complicated roads for quite some time, and she couldn't help but be a little surprised: "Auntie, how do you know these roads so well?"

"Have you forgotten that I am also an official in the palace?" Zu An smiled, and in that short time, he had already pulled him to a courtyard.

Seeing him casually open the door, Qiao Xueying's eyes almost sparkled; her lover was getting more and more impressive.

Zuan casually closed the door, then quickly took out a set of clothes: "Put this on, and also the mask."

Looking at the unique pattern on it, Qiao Xueying was somewhat surprised: "The attire of an embroidered envoy!"

Zuan laughed and said, "I told you before, have you forgotten so quickly?"

He clearly had more than one uniform. Although the clothes were a bit too big for Qiao Xueying, she could easily fix them. Now that the entire palace's defenses were mobilized, leaving the palace would be extremely difficult. However, if she disguised herself as an embroidered messenger, it would be much easier.

Qiao Xueying stuck out her tongue: "There are too many things to do, I really forgot for a moment."

She picked up the clothes, then suddenly blushed slightly: "Turn around."

Zuan chuckled: "We're an old married couple, what's there to be shy about?"

"Who said we're an old married couple?" Qiao Xueying snorted, still feeling young at heart. She grabbed her clothes and ran behind the screen to change.

Zu'an asked through the screen, "Why would you come to the palace to assassinate the Empress? Don't you know how dangerous that is?"

In his view, this was simply a suicide mission. They might have caught the palace off guard at first, but once the palace defenses reacted, these assassins would surely die.

"This is a big mission that Youying Tower took on. The reward is very generous, and Youying Tower's motto is that with enough money, they'll even dare to kill the Heavenly King himself," Qiao Xueying explained. "The last thing I mentioned to you before about doing for Youying Tower was this. Actually, I didn't know what the mission was at first. I only realized it after someone led us into the palace. Unfortunately, it was too late to regret it then. I could only bite the bullet and go for it, hoping there was still a sliver of hope. Who would have thought I'd see you and that Empress messing around like that, hmph!"

Anger level from Qiao Xueying +23 +23 +23...

"It's not what you think," Zuan finally had a chance to explain. "It's mainly to ensure future safety, so we had to do this..."

He then gave a brief explanation of the whole story.

Qiao Xueying was stunned. She peeked out from behind the screen in surprise, her fair and delicate collarbone faintly visible: "You mean you spanked the Empress's butt and kissed her, and not only did nothing happen to you, she even had to protect you?"

“It seems so,” Zuan said with a strange expression. “Speaking of which, I have to thank you. If you hadn’t suddenly appeared and startled her, she might not have been able to process what’s happening.”

Qiao Xueying stared at him quietly, a thousand words swirling in her heart, but she didn't know where to begin. After a long while, she finally uttered a sentence: "As expected of you."

Zuan chuckled awkwardly and quickly changed the subject: "Didn't I remind you last time to tell me before doing that last mission? Luckily, I happened to be in the palace this time, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Qiao Xueying retreated back behind the screen: "I couldn't find you at your house. Time was of the essence, so I had no choice but to set off with the people from Youying Tower. Hehe, you saved me in the palace, which proves that we are indeed destined to be together."

“You might not be so lucky next time,” Zu An thought, sensing the smile in her voice. Women seemed to really care about this sense of fate. “By the way, do you know who the employer is this time?”

Qiao Xueying shook her head: "I don't know. Youyinglou has always protected the privacy of its guests, let alone something as big as this."

Zu An hadn't held out much hope: "After this battle, the imperial court will definitely crack down hard on Youying Tower. You shouldn't go back after this."

"Yes, I've fulfilled my promise and done the last thing for them. After that, I'm completely free." Qiao Xueying said as she straightened her clothes and walked out.

Zu An's eyes lit up. Qiao Xueying was already pretty and charming with her red lips and white teeth, but now that she had changed into this outfit, she looked even more dashing. Four words suddenly popped into his mind: "uniform temptation".

Seeing him staring intently at her, Qiao Xueying quickly looked down at herself and asked, "What's wrong? Did I wear something wrong?"

His response was a tight hug and a long, passionate kiss.

After a long while, Zu'an reluctantly parted ways, looking at the girl in his arms: "Xue'er, you are so beautiful."

Hearing his praise, the girl felt a surge of joy, her eyes glistening as she looked at him: "Ah Zu~"

Zuan was immediately captivated. He grabbed her under the armpits, lifted her onto the table, and then swept everything off the table.

Qiao Xueying's heart was pounding: "She just finished getting dressed."

“That’s perfect.” Zuan kissed her directly.

"Mmm..."

Not long after, a commotion of footsteps could be heard outside, and a guard was shouting, "The assassin seems to have fled to this area. Everyone, search carefully."

"Oh dear!" Qiao Xueying exclaimed, blushing as she pushed her lover away and hurriedly straightened her disheveled clothes.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!