Cheng Xiong smiled and suddenly asked, "By the way, I just heard from the Imperial Hospital that the Eleventh Lord was injured, but I didn't sense that he was injured when I was in the Imperial Study. Could it be that he encountered assassins again after leaving the Imperial Study?"

Zuan thought to himself, "Did this guy read the script?"

Of course, he would not reveal his true intentions on the surface: "Actually, I was injured by the female assassin's flying sword when I was in the Eastern Palace. However, I had to maintain my composure when I met the Emperor, so I forcibly suppressed it first. Later, when I had some free time, I went to the Imperial Hospital to find medicine."

“But I heard that the Imperial Hospital didn’t give you the medicine, but instead gave it to the Crown Princess,” Cheng Xiong moved closer to him. “Lord Eleven, do you need my help? Although I am only an eighth-rank official, I should still have the ability to heal people.”

"No need for the general to trouble himself. The Crown Princess just gave me the medicine, and I'm feeling much better now. I just need to rest for a few days." Zu An deliberately brought up the Crown Princess's relationship, hoping that he would back down.

As expected, Cheng Xiong's expression changed when he heard the name of the Crown Princess; he hadn't expected the two to have such a relationship.

However, he was also a ruthless person. Since he had already offended him, rather than letting him take revenge later by relying on the power of the Embroidered Robe Envoy and the Crown Princess, he thought it would be better to kill him in one fell swoop.

"I still feel lingering fear when I think about that female assassin. A grandmaster like her actually disregarded her status and attempted assassination. She was really shameless," Cheng Xiong said.

Upon hearing this, Zu'an immediately felt Yun Jianyue's body tense up, clearly indicating that she was furious.

Worried that she might lose her composure, he quickly reached out and gently patted her body, signaling her to calm down.

Cloud Moon: "..."

Once I'm healed, should I chop off this guy's paws?

Zuan then echoed Cheng Xiong's words, saying, "That female assassin was quite beautiful, but unfortunately she was too ruthless. I almost died from her sword."

Cheng Xiong praised, "It is truly admirable that Eleventh Master was able to dodge a Grandmaster's flying sword strike. I wonder which school of martial arts Eleventh Master practices? When I approached Eleventh Master, I could feel a heat. Could it be that you practice the fire school?"

Zu An's heart skipped a beat, and he finally realized that this guy wanted to test whether the Flaming Blade that saved Qiu Honglei had anything to do with him.

As for the feeling of heat, with such a beautiful and charming woman hidden in the bed, and almost pressed tightly against him to avoid revealing anything, he could feel the softness and elasticity of her body. How could he not feel hot?

He said coldly, "Every Embroidered-Robe Envoy works for the Emperor, and their cultivation techniques and abilities are secrets. It is probably not appropriate for Lord Cheng to inquire about these things."

Cheng Xiong's expression changed: "I admire Eleventh Lord's skills too much, and I accidentally misspoke. Please forgive me."

As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily fell on the blanket covering Zu An.

---

I've realized that since I started writing, my weekends are almost always spent with my mother-in-law, wife, and kids going out, leaving me alone at home writing. I hardly have any time to spend with my family. Today I decided to spend some time with them, but the price was high—I ran out of drafts. Hopefully, I can write some new drafts tonight.

The biggest problem in this line of work is that there's no way to rest. You can never finish writing. A draft that takes half a month to accumulate can be used up in a day or two. Ugh, it's so frustrating. I envy those big shots who have hundreds of thousands of drafts in reserve.