She recounted several events that had occurred in the capital during this period, each of which was indeed insignificant compared to what had happened in the secret realm.
Zu An's heart skipped a beat: "Sang Hong is back."
A bright and pretty face suddenly popped into his mind. Could it be that Zheng Dan had also returned to the capital?
"I almost forgot you two had a grudge from the past," the Empress laughed. "Sang Hong did a lot of dirty things for the Emperor in the past, so this is probably retribution for causing him to die without an heir. But this may not be a bad thing. Before, when he was a loyal minister, everyone wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. Now that he has no heir, he is no longer a threat. In addition, he has a beautiful daughter and a stunningly beautiful widowed daughter-in-law, so many people have designs on them."
"Sang Hong is, after all, the emperor's confidant, and recently he seems to be making a comeback. How dare those people act recklessly?" Zu An asked, somewhat puzzled.
The Empress explained, "The Sang family, being from a humble background, already lacks the foundation of other prominent families. Last time, they botched the mission in Mingyue City, and the Sang family suffered a devastating blow. Moreover, for some reason, the warriors that the Sang family had been raising for many years seemed to have disappeared overnight. Without these forces, how could the young nobles in the capital be afraid of the Sang family?"
"Many people in the capital now believe that Sang Hong tacitly approves of this and is eager for his daughter to marry into a powerful family so that the Sang family can regain its former glory."
"Unfortunately, those powerful families aren't stupid. Sang Hong's daughter comes from a poor family, and the Sang family has made too many enemies in the past. No one wants to marry the Sang family's daughter as their principal wife. They just covet her beauty. At most, they'd be lucky to get her as a concubine. The reason many people are so interested is because they're hoping for a buy-one-get-one-free deal. After all, the Sang family's widowed daughter-in-law is an absolute beauty."
Zu An snorted coldly: "You don't need to deliberately say these things to test me. Back then, I was a prisoner of the Sang family and I went to the capital together. We also formed some friendships on the way. Of course, I will help if I can."
"Tch, I'm afraid you're also thinking of indulging in all kinds of things," the Empress sneered. Anyway, men are all the same.
“You’re overthinking it. How could the Sang family let those villains succeed? A gentleman like me would never even have such a thought,” Zu An said solemnly.
"You, a gentleman?" The Empress's expression was strange, and she had an urge to spit water on his face.
"Ahem," Zuan said somewhat guiltily, quickly changing the subject, "Has anything else happened?"
The Empress slowly began to speak: "Yes, a strange thing happened at the Prince Qi's residence..."
After waiting for a long time without any response, Zu'an couldn't help but ask, "What's next?"
The Queen smiled and said, "Let me tell you a story first."
Zuan was a little confused; why was she telling a story at a time like this? But she listened patiently nonetheless.
"Once upon a time, there was a male pigeon and a female pigeon on a tree branch, and a sheep was grazing below. Not long after, a big gray wolf came and ate the sheep. Guess what the female pigeon said to the male pigeon?" The queen's eyes sparkled, her gaze inexplicably alluring.
Zuan vaguely remembered hearing this story somewhere before, and answered uncertainly, "The sheep died down there?"
“Yes, down there… the sheep… died.” The Queen repeated, but with a slight change in tone. She lay on her side on the bed, beckoned to Zu’an with her finger, and her eyes were almost brimming with tears.
Zuan: "..."
He instinctively uttered Hong Shixian's famous line, and then, unable to hold back any longer, he pounced on him.
Hearing the sweet laughter coming from inside, Eunuch Lü at the door twitched his face, then let out a long sigh, as if he had been satisfied with something.
He silently channeled his aura to block out sounds in the room, lest the other guards notice anything amiss.
...
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Palace, Bi Linglong tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Her personal maid, Rong Mo, rubbed her sleepy eyes and rushed in to check on her: "Your Highness, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I just have a little insomnia. You should go and rest," Bi Linglong replied.
Rong Mo gave an "oh" and walked out while yawning.
Bi Linglong suddenly remembered something and hurriedly called out to her, "By the way, no matter what noise you hear later, you are not allowed to come in again."
"Why?" Rong Mo was somewhat bewildered. Wasn't it his duty to serve the Crown Princess?
Bi Linglong blushed slightly, and she pretended to be angry, saying, "I already have some insomnia, and your coming in and going out will only make it harder for me to sleep!"
Seeing her get angry, Rong Mo stuck out his tongue and hurriedly said, "Alright, alright, I won't disturb the Crown Princess anymore."
Seeing her run out and even close the door behind her, Bi Linglong finally breathed a sigh of relief. She lifted the quilt under her, looked at the latch, hesitated for a long time, and then closed it.
However, after lying in bed for a while, she suddenly reached out and reopened the mechanism.
...
She kept turning the door on and off like this, and gradually fell asleep during the long wait.
Meanwhile, the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped. The Empress had fine beads of sweat on her temples and her hair was slightly damp. A joyful and sweet smile remained on her face. She was especially pleased to feel that her damaged meridians had been nourished and recovered somewhat.
"You rascal, you have no sense of chivalry at all. It feels like I've become your tool for venting your anger." Although she scolded her like this, there was not a trace of anger in her tone.
"Don't you like it?" Zu'an also entered a state of tranquility. Just thinking about being chased by the emperor in the secret realm, the suffocating pressure made it hard to breathe, so he tried even harder to vent all the depression that had been bottled up in his heart.
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