Chapter 1059: Her Smell Is Still There?

Zu An sighed in amazement. This woman was really the perfect definition of what a truly gorgeous woman was. He had always been curious why in his previous world’s history, King You of Zhou would do something so stupid as lighning warning beacons for no reason other than to make his wife Bao Si smile[1], but now, he had a good idea. If it were a beauty as incredible as Yu Yanluo, for the sake of making her smile, men would easily make impulsive decisions.

He collected his thoughts and asked curiously, “What is that?”

Yu Yanluo gave him a look. Her expression became a bit strange. She replied, “Didn’t you just impersonate my husband? Just continue to pretend to be him. Even though I can see through it, that doesn’t mean others can.”

Zu An realized something. He asked, “You’re saying to just try something and test the waters?”

Yu Yanluo nodded and replied, “Correct. You can return to the Duke Manor as Yanyou and seize back all of the military authority. That way, even if Jian Taiding wants to rebel, he will have no troops to do so.”

Zu An’s eyes lit up. Right now, their greatest threat was Jian Taiding’s military authority, since he could flip the table at any time. Sang Hong had no choice but to call for reinforcements from Yi Commandery.

Those troops would take time to arrive, and Cloudcenter Commandery was Jian Taiding’s domain. When the time came, it would be hard to hide those troops from him. Who knew what he would do if backed against a wall?

But if Zu An went disguised as Jian Yanyou, he could control the troops and even use this identity to investigate the entire sequence of events. After all, Jian Yanyou had been led to his death by Jian Taiding. If Jian Taiding saw his older brother who should have been dead appear again, his soul might just leave his very body.

As the saying went, as soon as there was a little bit of chaos, mistakes would easily follow. Zu An just had to wait for openings to take advantage of and exploit.

“But many people are familiar with Jian Yanyou. I also don’t know anything about his habits and other things. Even if I look the same, I’ll probably be exposed quickly.” Zu An was a bit worried.

“That is indeed a problem.” Yu Yanluo remained quiet for a moment before continuing, “How about this? You should just pretend to have been seriously hurt and lost your memory. That way, you can explain most of the discrepancies.”

“Amnesia?” Zu An had a strange expression. This stupid TV drama cliche really is pretty useful… He hadn’t expected her to have even thought of that on her own.

“Indeed. As for Yanyou’s normal lifestyle habits, I am here. I can teach you.” Yu Yanluo’s eyes began to sparkle. She was no longer as calm as before and instead seemed to have found something interesting.

“You’re familiar with his normal routines?” Zu An couldn't help but ask. He had previously heard that the two of them usually didn’t live together.

As if seeing through his thoughts, Yu Yanluo smiled and said, “He is my husband after all. Even if we were just putting on an act, we had to do it such that it was convincing for everyone else. I naturally needed to know about some of the details.”

She suddenly felt stunned. Why did she have to explain their real relationship to him?

Zu An was incredibly shocked and exclaimed, “You and the duke were just husband and wife in name?” Even though that was what he had suspected, it was the first time he had heard such a conclusive statement.

Seeing as she had already spoken of it, Yu Yanluo didn’t continue to hide it either. She sighed and said, “Indeed. In the past, I drew way too much attention with this appearance of mine… There were many crazy pursuers coming after me. In order to avoid trouble, I decided to find someone to marry. That person had to have enough status, and only then would it stop those… rivals in love. At the same time, he could not be too far from the Yu clan. The most important part was that he had to be of good moral character, or else he might treat the fake marriage seriously. That would put me in a tough situation.

“These conditions would not be too difficult individually, but when put together, there were extremely few candidates. In the end, I chose Yanyou. He perfectly fulfilled his promises to me over the years.

“To be honest, he is one of my few good friends. It was one thing when I did not know what happened before, but now that I know he was plotted against, I naturally need to help avenge him.”

“Could it be that after all these years, Cloudcenter Duke, he… never asked you for anything more?” Zu An felt a bit of disbelief.

Yu Yanluo shot him an annoyed look and replied, “He is a true gentleman. Do you think he is the same as you?”

Zu An instead sneered inwardly. This Cloudcenter Duke really was something. He had such a devastatingly beautiful woman as his wife, and yet he really hadn’t even taken half a step over the boundaries. Just how had he done it?

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“How about you come over and practice these next few days? I will tell you some details about the Duke Manor so you can successfully deceive those who serve Yanyou,” Yu Yanluo continued.

Zu An replied, “But it isn’t too convenient during the day… The temporary residence has been surrounded by the Military Affairs Manor’s troops. I actually snuck out today. Everyone outside thinks I’m seriously injured and resting. If someone knew what my current condition was like, it might just cause a huge uproar.”

Yu Yanluo also realized that. “I almost would have forgotten if you had not told me. Judging from how tough and lively you were when you fought against me earlier, you did not seem injured at all! Jian Taiding was wounded so badly that he could not even leave his home, and he is a master rank cultivator!” She felt more and more alarmed as she spoke. Her enticing red lips were agape for a long time.

“I was actually injured too. I just forcefully endured it when I fought against you earlier…” Zu An said humbly.

Yu Yanluo was speechless. She asked, “You were able to defeat me even while you were injured? Are you trying to shame my cultivation or my intelligence?”

Zu An laughed awkwardly and replied, “That’s not what I meant. I still have some injuries, but my regenerative ability is pretty strong. My body is rather sturdy too.”

“Your body is indeed pretty hard.” That was something Yu Yanluo had to admit. In her painting world, she was like a deity. The monster she made had actually been smashed apart by his fist, and he had even managed to survive the terrifying ocean wave. The toughness of his body already surpassed that of any human.

But her cheeks turned red as soon as she said that. She immediately realized her words were a bit ambiguous and provocative. They really were improper. She secretly gave Zu An a look and saw that his eyes remained clear, his expression still normal. He didn’t seem to have heard anything strange. She sighed inwardly in relief.

She cleared her throat and quickly changed the topic, asking, “Then when would it be more convenient for you to come?”

“I don’t think the day would work. Let’s just do it at night,” Zu An replied after thinking about it.

“At night?” Yu Yanluo’s expression turned strange.

Zu An also realized his response was inappropriate. He explained awkwardly, “I didn’t have any other meaning.”

“I know.” Yu Yanluo smiled warmly. “How about this? It would be inconvenient for you to return for the time being. Either way, everyone else thinks you are cultivating in seclusion, so you should just stay here at my place. We should use the time we have to train you well. That way, you can quickly go back and stabilize the situation in the Duke Manor.”

“Live with you here?” Zu An’s face heated up. He asked, “This is a bit too inconvenient, isn’t it?”

“I am not even worried as the woman; what is a man like you scared of?” Yu Yanluo frowned slightly. But she quickly realized something. She looked at him with a strange expression and asked, “You did not think I meant you would live in this room, did you?”

“Uh…” Only then did Zu An realize that it was his thoughts that had gone the wrong way.

Yu Yanluo harrumphed when she saw his expression. “You really know how to daydream. There is a room next door; you will stay over there. The manor’s people normally do not go there, so no one will know you are there.”

Zu An chuckled in embarrassment. However, he realized another problem. If he continued to stay here and something happened back at the temporary residence, what if Big Manman went looking for him?

“What is it? Is there anything else that is worrying you?” Yu Yanluo noticed that he seemed to be deeply troubled by something and asked out of curiosity.

“It’s nothing. I’ll be troubling the madam then.” Zu An decided he was going to explain to Big Manman when he had some time another day. It shouldn’t be too big of an issue.

Yu Yanluo nodded and said, “I will bring you to the room so you can take a look for now.” She got up and walked over to the wall. She rotated a button on it, and a door slowly opened.

Zu An was alarmed, exclaiming, “The two sides are connected?”

Yu Yanluo voiced her confirmation. “The next room is also one of my bedrooms, so I joined them together for the sake of convenience. However, you cannot open this door from your side.”

Zu An said dejectedly, “You make it sound as if I’d sneak my way over in the middle of the night or something.”

Yu Yanluo looked at him calmly and replied, “Is that not what you did today?”

Zu An was speechless. However, he couldn't help but look at her eyes a few times. Yu Yanluo’s eyes were enchanting like gemstones, and mysterious like the starry skies.

However, what left him with an even deeper impression was that during that intense fight earlier, her eyes had released that beautiful and sinister light. He really had felt the threat of death back then.

What the hell was that? A kind of eye technique?

He had watched Naruto before, so he was no stranger to eye techniques. But that thing was clearly her trump card, so he couldn't just ask her about it.

Yu Yanluo pointed at the room and said, “I stay there sometimes as well, so everything you need should be there. See if there is anything missing and let me know. The Yu clan has many people with all sorts of different opinions. In order to prevent others from knowing about this, I will have the things you need delivered to my room, then pass them to you.”

Zu An waved his hand casually and said, “There’s no need; just a bed is enough. I’m not that picky.”

Yu Yanluo replied, “Then you should rest for now. I will draw some portraits of people from the Duke Manor who are rather close to Yanyou. That way, you will be able to recognize them.”

“That would be bothering you; that’s way too much work!” Zu An exclaimed, a bit embarrassed.

Yu Yanluo smiled and said, “It might be a lot of work for ordinary people, but illustration is my field of expertise. It is not that difficult for me at all. It has already gotten dark, so you can get some rest first. I will continue sleeping after I finish the drawings too.”

She closed the door after the two of them said their goodbyes. Zu An lay on the bed, his head full of thoughts. He wondered if she was the one who had killed Yu Xuantao.

Even so, he had gained a lot from his trip thanks to their previous interaction. At the very least, he now knew she wasn’t the final boss he had imagined. Furthermore, together with her help, dealing with Jian Taiding was going to become much easier.

But what was annoying was that the mission the emperor had given him was to take down the Yu clan…

Wait, the emperor is going to be my enemy sooner or later. He wants to deal with the Yu clan, but I secretly want to protect them. Isn’t it fine then? He immediately felt much better when he thought of that.

Suddenly, he smelled a scent that was both reminiscent of orchids, but also of someone’s natural fragrance, coming from the covers. He immediately remembered that Yu Yanluo had told him she would sleep on this side from time to time. The covers carried her smell.

That distinctive smell still remained after so long! It didn’t seem to be the smell of cosmetic products, either. But he had been to Rouge Spice a few days ago, and had smelled many famous products. None of them smelled that good!

Suddenly, the door on the wall opened up. Yu Yanluo’s expression wasn’t as calm as before. She sprinted over and snatched the blanket covering him away. She said before turning around and leaving quickly, “These covers are old. I had a maid bring over a set of new covers. Wait for a bit.”

Even though she tried her best to sound calm, the trace of redness around her neck sold her out.

1. It is said that Bao Si did not laugh easily. After trying many methods and failing, King You tried to amuse his favorite queen by lighting warning beacons and fooling his nobles into thinking that the Quanrong nomads were about to attack. The nobles arrived at the castle only to find themselves laughed at by Bao Si. Even after King You had impressed Bao Si, he continued to abuse his use of warning beacons and lost the trust of the nobles. -Excerpt from Wikipedia ☜