Chapter 1012: Completely Defenseless

Precious incense was being burned inside. The fragrance was a bit stimulating, and yet not to the point that it would make one go crazy.

A mature and graceful beauty was lying on a soft chair, dressed in leisurely indoor clothes. Perhaps because it was a bit inelegant, she also had a white fox fur coat draped over her shoulders. However, her personal wear could still be seen underneath. A fluffy and soft quilt rested over her waist, outlining her incredible waist and bottom. Her body gave off an indescribably soft and supple feeling, as if even the toughest of men would sink straight in.

She rested her chin on one hand, while her other hand held a delicate heater by her belly. A bit of her fair wrist was exposed, her skin somehow even more tender and fair than that of a young lady’s. Her hair that had previously always been coiled up elegantly above her head was now scattered across her body, adding a much more leisurely feeling to her current appearance.

Zu An felt as if the room had suddenly become much hotter. But what he was feeling even more at the moment was puzzlement. It was because Yu Yanluo’s appearance was way too casual! It was almost as if she had just gotten out of bed and met with her guest in her sleepwear. His eyes moved to the embroidered covers around her waist and he immediately rejected that thought. She hadn’t even gotten out of bed!

Even though he had saved her life before, their relationship wasn’t this good, right? Why would she even let him see such a personal scene? This was something one should only show one’s spouse, right? Some couples that were more reserved might not even see such a side of each other, right? Doesn’t this mean she’s seducing me right now?

But when he raised his head and looked into her deep, beautiful, and starry eyes, the pure expression in them that didn’t carry a shred of ulterior motive, he knew it was he who was thinking the wrong things.

“I’m truly sorry; I was still sleeping before.” Yu Yanluo’s red lips parted slightly. Her voice was pleasant like a yellow oriole’s cry, yet also carried the grace of an upper-class woman. “I’ve been extremely tired recently and really don’t wish to get up. I was worried that you might’ve waited for a long time, so I just called you in. I hope you don’t mind.”

“The madam speaks too seriously. The fact that you were willing to make an exception to meet with me already makes me extremely happy. Why would I mind something like that?” Zu An now knew why Sang Hong and the others couldn't meet with her. Her current state really wasn’t suitable for meeting with them; she hadn’t been finding excuses to avoid them.

Yu Yanluo smiled. There were faintly discernible dimples by the corners of her lips. She said, “I can refuse to meet with others, but you saved my life. How can I refuse you?”

Zu An even became momentarily distracted when he saw the smile on her face. He thought to himself, No wonder she’s regarded as the world’s number one beauty and makes so many men go crazy. He replied, “You saved me once in the capital too, so we’re even.”

“How can life-saving gratitudes be repaid just like that…” Yu Yanluo gave him a look, and a hint of shock appearing in her eyes. “It’s been a while since we last met. Your growth speed seems to be quite shocking! You’ve already grown from that little boy into a real man.”

Zu An’s forehead darkened. He exclaimed, “When have I ever been a little boy?”

“Didn’t someone previously say you wanted to become my man?” Yu Yanluo teased. “Back then, you weren’t scared of anything, but you’re now more mature and restrained.”

Zu An’s face heated up. This was complete social suicide… As he understood Yu Yanluo more and more, he began to realize just how ridiculously overconfident he had been in the past.

Fortunately, Yu Yanluo didn’t brood over the subject and instead said out of concern. “If you feel a bit hot, you can just take off your jacket. My room is fairly warm.”

Only then did Zu An realize that not only were there heaters everywhere in the room, there was heat coming from the floor too. It seemed to be drawing geothermal heat to the room. He once again sighed at the Yu clan's wealth.

“Right, I noticed that madam seemed to be especially scared of the cold, as if you were afflicted with some cold poison. Even though I’m no physician, I have some knowledge on these matters. Should I help the madam take a look?” Zu An asked out of curiosity.

After all, Chu Chuyan had suffered from the Snowflake Sword’s side effects. Her lower abdomen area had always seemed as if it contained a block of ice. Later on, he had used his special blazing hot stick technique to warm her up completely, completely curing that condition.

Of course, with his current relationship with Yu Yanluo, there was no way he could use the same method to cure her. However, he had already reached the fourth layer of the Primordial Origin Sutra. Unless it was some life and death injury, he could just heal her through that technique.

“You even know something like that? You’re really leaving me more and more surprised.” Yu Yanluo chuckled and continued, “But thank you for your good intentions. I don’t have too many issues; it’s just a matter of my constitution. I’ve always been a bit scared of the cold, and it’s always like this during winter.

“In the past, I could avoid the cold by going south, but things have become a bit different this year. I had no choice but to remain here.”

Zu An had a strange expression. Can you still call this being a bit scared of the cold? But there was nothing else he could say if it was about her constitution.

Yu Yanluo didn’t wish to continue chatting about the previous topic and casually asked Zu An, “Right, I heard you were a member of the imperial envoy this time?”

“That’s right,” Zu An replied. “The main reason I came here was to appoint a new Cloudcenter Duke. At the same time, we were going to investigate the case of the Cloudcenter Duke’s disappearance.”

“Then this trip is most likely mainly to investigate the disappearance of the duke.” Yu Yanluo sighed.

“I won’t hide it from the madam. Both of these matters are indeed very important.” Zu An carefully examined the other party’s exceptional face. He didn’t sense too much grief in her expression when he mentioned the Cloudcenter Duke’s disappearance. Since they were already on the topic, he took the chance to ask, “By the way, there are some things about Cloudcenter Duke that I wish to consult the madam about.”

“I don’t know too much about his affairs either,” Yu Yanluo replied.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Zu An was confused. He asked, “Isn’t he your husband?”

Yu Yanluo shook her head and said, “We normally don’t live together, so I don’t know a lot about many of his affairs.”

Zu An frowned and said, “How long ago did you two start to live apart from each other? Don’t tell me it was from the very start?”

Yu Yanluo’s expression turned strange. A while later, she said, “That question’s too personal, so I don’t wish to answer it.”

Zu An was speechless. There’s definitely something strange with this couple!

As if realizing her reply was a bit rigid, Yu Yanluo said after thinking for a bit, “You can just ask Gong Pan. He’s Yanyou’s captain of the bodyguards and extremely devoted. He knows many things about Cloudcenter Duke better than me. I’ll have him come to you in a bit.”

Zu An was shocked. He asked, “Someone like that is also in this manor?”

Yu Yanluo nodded, replying, “He decided to follow me after something happened to Yanyou.”

Zu An’s expression turned strange. Why does this feel like the assets have already been divided or something? As Cloudcenter Duke’s guard leader, had Gong Pan decided to follow the madam after his master passed, or had he been bribed by the madam from the start?

Seeing that the other party wasn’t all that interested in the various questions he asked about Cloudcenter Duke, Zu An changed the topic. He asked, “Has the madam found out who the evildoer was behind your ambush in Brightmoon City?”

“Ah, that matter…” Yu Yanluo seemed to be thinking about the past. A while later, she said with a chuckle, “We found out who it was and already dealt with it.”

When he noticed that she had answered without elaborating on the details, as if she didn’t plan to tell him anything more, Zu An didn’t push the issue. Seeing how the other party wasn’t in the best of spirits and appeared to be pushing herself to speak to him, he then got up and said, “The madam’s condition isn’t the best, so I won’t disturb your rest anymore.”

Yu Yanluo was a bit shocked. Then, she smiled and said, “You’re the first man to ever take the initiative to ask to leave. I won’t act overly courteous then; I indeed feel a bit tired and will continue to rest. Once you leave, someone will bring you to see Gong Pan.” She removed the fox fur coat and lay back down again, closing her eyes. Her sleeping position was sweet and unrestrained, as if she had already entered dreamland again.

Zu An was stunned. I didn’t see her telling anyone anything about this… How will the people outside know I’m looking for Gong Pan?

Also, is she really daring enough that she won’t even put up the slightest resistance in front of me? She’s going to fall asleep right in front of me like this?

Does she not know just how fatal her beauty is for men?!

Is she not scared that I’ll just pounce on her?

He had known she wasn’t a cultivator from when he first met her. Wasn’t she completely lowering her defenses in front of a cultivator? As long as the cultivator wasn’t too weak, if he wanted to do something, none of the guards outside would be able to hear her screams or shouts at all.

“Only a real gentleman like me would walk away.” After shaking his head, he threw away such random thoughts and left. He closed the door behind him.

When he left, Yu Yanluo’s lips curled up slightly, as if she were currently experiencing a beautiful dream.