Sang Qian and Zheng Dan returned the greeting: "Your Majesty, you flatter us. Anyone would have stepped in to save us in that situation."

Of course, that's what they say. In reality, if it weren't for her relationship with Zuan, the two women probably wouldn't have taken such a big risk.

“What do you mean by Empress Dowager? That’s so formal,” Liu Ning said, pulling them down to sit on either side of her. “I’m a bit older than you. If you don’t mind, you can call me ‘elder sister’ from now on.”

"Absolutely not! The Empress Dowager is of noble status. It would be extremely impolite if other ministers or palace servants heard this," Sang Qian hurriedly declined.

Zheng Dan smiled enigmatically, wondering if the Empress Dowager's insistence on calling us "sister" was truly out of gratitude for our rescue, or was it due to our connection with Zu'an?

Hmph, if we're talking about who joined first, she should probably call us two older sisters.

Wait a minute, I don't think I knew she got together with Zuan.

She'll definitely be later than me, but it's uncertain with Qianqian.

"What's with all this talk of rudeness? All those formalities are nothing compared to the life-saving grace you owe me," Liu Ning said deliberately with a stern face. "Are you still angry that I left without saying goodbye?"

"I wouldn't dare," Sang Qian said somewhat awkwardly. "Since the Empress Dowager is so kind, let's address each other as sisters from now on."

Zheng Dan secretly gave a thumbs up, thinking that Qianqian was indeed clever, only saying that they were sisters, without saying who was the older sister and who was the younger sister.

"By the way, how did you meet Azu?" Zheng Dan asked curiously. Back when she was at the Sang family, the Liu family had suffered a great calamity, so there were many things she couldn't ask.

“In my early years, my cultivation level was actually quite high. Later, an accident caused me to suffer an incurable injury, and I became an ordinary person. Fortunately, Zu An later entered the palace, and with his help, my injury gradually showed signs of recovery. Over time, we... fell in love.” Liu Ning spoke of these past events with both sweetness and a touch of shyness, after all, their identities at the time gave the feeling of a forbidden love.

Sang Qian was filled with emotion. The wife of the strongest man in the world, the high and mighty empress, was someone that almost every woman looked up to and envied. Now, they were talking so intimately. In the end, it was all because of Azu.

Zheng Dan's expression was somewhat strange. Zu An seemed to only have one method for healing injuries, and that was when Zhao Hao was still alive. That guy was really bold.

Having spent many years in the palace, Liu Ning was accustomed to the ways in which the concubines vied for the emperor's favor. She had no idea that the two women were deliberately not calling her "elder sister." So she said sincerely, "My identity is special, and I am destined not to be openly with Azu. But I am very grateful to him. I am already content to stand silently behind him and occasionally help him. I ask for nothing more."

Upon hearing her words, Zheng Dan's expression darkened. The Empress Dowager's status was special, but wasn't hers as special as hers?

Although Azu knew her innocence, in the eyes of the public, she was just a daughter-in-law of the Sang family. Even if she remarried, she would still be inferior to others. Why bother arguing about being a sister or a younger sister? She could never be the older sister anyway.

I only regret that I didn't choose Zu'an for our family's arranged marriage...

However, she also knew that no matter how you looked at it, Zu'an would never be considered by the Zheng family as a potential son-in-law.

Unlike the Chu family, the Zheng family was unwilling to participate in the struggle for the throne and needed a useless son-in-law to extinguish the Shi family's covetousness.

Sigh, I don't know what good deeds Chu Yan did in her past life to be able to pick someone like Azu as a scapegoat.

She's come to terms with it now. Even if she could remarry Ah Zu, there's no point. Rather than blending into the crowd in his harem, she'd rather be the young mistress of the Sang family. That guy seems to really enjoy the feeling of cheating on someone else's wife.

Thinking of this, her little face couldn't help but blush.

Sang Qian was also very depressed. Although she had given birth to a daughter for her brother Zu, the child was nominally the offspring of her sister-in-law and brother, and the public could not know about it.

Although I've gotten to know Brother Zu quite well recently, unlike the other women who have gone through all sorts of thrilling experiences with him, our emotional foundation is still somewhat lacking.

Thinking of this, both women sighed softly: "Sister is right, aren't we the same?"

Their calls were truly heartfelt; since they couldn't be the elder sister anyway, it wouldn't be a loss for them to call the Empress Dowager "elder sister," given her status and position.

In addition, the three women shared a similar plight, making them particularly empathetic when they communicated.

The three women then chatted more intimately, no longer as polite and formal as before. They had already become quite familiar with each other in the past few days, and now that they had resolved their last misunderstandings, they became like best friends.

Liu Ning led the two girls to several large boxes: "I couldn't do anything before, but I specially prepared some gifts for you after I came back this time. Please take a look and see if you like them."

"Thank you very much, sister." Sang Qian and Zheng Dan did not refuse the other party's kindness. When they opened the box, they found that in addition to various beautiful and precious jewelry, there were also a lot of Heaven-Rank Yuan Stones, protective magic treasures, cultivation pills and so on.

"This is too precious." Even though the two women were prepared to accept her gift, they were still taken aback. These things were enough for a family in Brightmoon City to live on for a year.

Liu Ning laughed and said, "You saved my life, so what is this little bit of money? Do you two sisters think my life isn't worth this much?"

"Since you're so kind, we won't stand on ceremony," the two women said with a smile after exchanging a glance.

Seeing that the two had accepted the gifts, Liu Ning smiled and said, "Then I'll have my men deliver these things to the Sang residence tomorrow."

There's no way the storage bags can hold all this stuff, and it's impossible for the two women to carry it themselves.

"Thank you, sister." Sang Qian and Zheng Dan were overjoyed. With these resources, their cultivation speed would increase even further. More importantly, their relationship with the Empress Dowager would be strengthened. She was a Grandmaster, and they could ask her for advice on cultivation issues in the future.

However, in this kind of setting, they naturally steered the conversation towards Zuan.

Liu Ning was also curious about how they met Zu An, and the more they talked, the more they felt they got along well.

Suddenly, Liu Ning stood up and said, "Since we're already in the palace, why don't we go find Azu?"

Zheng Dan and Sang Qian's eyes lit up: "Really? Is that possible?"

Although they were very familiar with Zuan, they had never met in such a majestic and sacred place as the palace.

“Why not? He’s the one who calls the shots in the palace now. Besides, I’m leading the way, so who would dare to interfere with you?” Liu Ning became more and more excited as she spoke. “Let’s go, I’ll show you around the palace.”

There's one more thing I haven't said: most likely Linglong, that vixen, will also go to Azu. If I do nothing, wouldn't I be doing her a favor?

Going to see Zu'an alone would feel like an obvious disruption to their good time, but with Sang Qian and Zheng Dan together, no one can say anything.

The three women got up and were about to put on their coats when they suddenly felt dizzy and sat back down without thinking.

"Sister, what's going on? I feel a little dizzy." Sang Qian and Zheng Dan felt weak all over and were stunned for a moment.

"Poisoned!" Liu Ning's face was as cold as frost.