Chapter 2135: Crazy Scandal Pt. 2

Bi Linglong almost fainted from anger. She was ashamed and furious. However, she reacted quickly and immediately said with a snort, “His majesty was too startled last night, so his state of mind isn’t too clear and he's ended up speaking nonsense. Men, bring his majesty back to his chambers to get some rest.”

“Understood!”

Soon after, some eunuchs and maids went to support Zhao Ruizhi. The empress’ prestige was normally extremely high, so outside of some special situation like the previous day, they still reflexively obeyed her orders.

Zhao Ruizhi protested unhappily, “My mind is not unclear! I don’t want to go back to rest. That Zu guy bullied you, yet you only did it to protect me...”

King Yi coughed lightly to interrupt him. “His majesty is indeed a bit muddle-headed. It’s best if you return to the palace for some rest.” The one who gave off the greatest pressure was him. After all, in order to fool this idiot emperor, his two sons had used Zu An as an excuse. But if they really chased the issue, they wouldn't necessarily be able to handle the consequences.

Normally, a subject interrupting the emperor was already completely disgraceful, but not a single person present found it unsuitable. Instead, many people spoke up in agreement, urging the emperor to rest earlier.

Are you joking? If this idiot emperor continues to create trouble, how are we supposed to clean up this situation?

There are so many people here. Who can say for certain that nothing will get out?

This was the genuine emperor, after all, so there was no way they could just ignore what he said. Besides, if what he said was true and an official had an affair with the empress, that would be a huge scandal even if one looked throughout history! Every single one ilvolved would be disgraced in the history books.

More importantly, how were they supposed to handle the aftermath right now? Were they really going to accuse the regent of a crime? Forget about how many connections the regent had in the court, and how he was even the libationer of the Royal Academy; even if he didn’t have these things, just his strength alone made him completely untouchable.

King Jin, the Meng clan’s old ancestor, King Dai Manor’s countless experts, and the massive terrifying Giant Golden Dragon’s skeletons still hadn’t gone completely cold yet. Who would dare to throw their lives away? Apart from that, if they really pushed him to the Fiend races' side, if he led the army south even the existence of the Great Zhou Dynasty itself would be a problem.

If what the stupid emperor said was false, however, that would be a huge blow to the emperor’s dignity and exalted status if news of it gets out. The entire royal family and the court’s dukes would become a laughingstock. That was why...

Your majesty, can your respected self shut up?!

That was what almost everyone in the court was thinking.

Zhao Ruizhi was about to say something else, but Bi Linglong shot him a terrifying look with her phoenix-colored eyes. He immediately shut his mouth out of fear. Ever since he became the crown prince, he had been under her management. She was sometimes just like his mother, exuding a kind of natural pressure similar to that between a cat and a mouse.

After Zhao Ruizhi was ‘invited’ back to his chambers by the eunuchs and maids, Bi Linglong looked at the civil and military officials. She wanted to say something, but her cheeks heated up. It had already been so many years since she had been so embarrassed. No matter how smart she was, no matter how much prestige she had as the mother of this empire, she was still just a young lady under twenty. How could she calm herself down over this sort of affair?

She had thought about countless scenarios in which her relationship with Zu An was exposed, and yet this was the only one she hadn’t predicted. Everything had happened just too suddenly...

If she didn’t speak up, none of the subjects here would dare to speak. All of them were behaving carefully for fear of becoming the unfortunate soul who was picked out. But this only made things difficult for the people who had spoken up to help Zu An. They couldn't continue to speak, but they couldn't just back down either.

Sang Hong had a weird expression. After all, he had always felt a bit resentful that both his daughter and daughter-in-law were served to Zu An in the same pot. He could only continuously console himself that his daughter-in-law was also half a daughter, so they couldn't let the good waters flow into another field. Only now, when he realized that Zu An had even done the empress, did he suddenly feel a sense of pride. His own daughter and daughter-in-law were sisters with the current empress!

Jiang Boyang’s face also became full of expression. Even though he knew that brat’s frivolous nature, he'd never expected Zu An to actually be so brazen and even touch the empress!

No, I have to make sure my daughter stays a bit further away from him.

After all, Jiang Luofu had already known Zu An back in Brightmoon City, and she was now working under him at the Royal Academy. It really was too dangerous.

King Wu’s expression also changed greatly. Zu An had always been a thorn in his heart. That was especially the case when he first heard about the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’s secrets; he had even sent his own wife into Zu An's room. At the time, he'd thought that Zu An was just a nobody he could silence after the fact. But who could have thought that he would grow to this extent?!

After the ambush in the capital, Yuqing even had a huge fight with me in order to save him. Judging from how she was acting, it’s clear that she already fell for that guy.

One time? Just a single time was enough to make my normally loving and devoted wife become hell-bent on speaking up for his sake?

King Wu had been driven mad with regret whenever he thought of that, and yet that Zu bastard was just way too strong, so he couldn't do anything to get revenge. Only the previous night had he finally found a glimmer of hope. But he was now feeling even happier, because even the empress had fallen victim to that brat. Even the glorious emperor had suffered the same way!

I’m not alone!

Just what kind of ability does he have to make women fall for him like this?

The ones who were the most horrified and depressed were none other than the Qin clan. After all, Zu An had been the Chu clan’s drafted son-in-law at first. Even though he and Chu Chuyan previously divorced, everyone knew that was just a perfunctory measure. The relationship between the regent and Chu Chuyan, as well as the Qin clan, was extremely good. However, the Qin clan was the family of Chu Chuyan’s mother, and their son-in-law had had an affair; it was even with the empress...

Sigh, we just came to attend a court session. Why do we suddenly feel as if green light is coming out of our heads?

Just then, Bi Linglong coughed lightly. She finally recovered a bit and said, “There were indeed some groundless rumors stating that this empress and the regent had something between us, but the libationer personally attested to our innocence. The late emperor was supervising the process, but we were innocent. I believe that his majesty heard some slander, so please do not take it as fact. This is something that this empress will definitely investigate strictly.”

King Yi’s expression changed a bit when he heard what she said.

Those two little bastards back at home are already well into middle age, and yet they still can’t figure out what’s important. Now look what’s happened!

The others all spoke up and said, “Yes, your highness!”

But inwardly, they felt a desire for drama bubble up within them. The empress’ explanation was reasonable, and there was no flaw to be picked from it. And yet there were many things that were just like that. The more one explained, the more people would suspect guilt.

Normally, no one would suspect the libationer’s testimony. But now that they thought about it, the late libationer had passed on his position to Zu An! That meant their relationship was special. With the libationer’s way of doing things, he had probably long since decided on his successor. So after the rumors started, in order to protect Zu An, what was the big deal with telling a lie?

Besides, even if nothing had happened between them back then, what about after? After the late emperor passed, the entire palace had fallen under the empress and regent’s rule. Additionally, the regent had entered the palace frequently, which meant that there were too many chances for such a thing.

Thinking back, even in the crown prince’s Eastern Palace, the regent had already spent a lot of time in private with the crown princess. Compared to the idiot fatty Zhao Ruizhi, the regent was handsome and had incredible cultivation. What young lady could resist his charms?

In the past, Bi Linglong’s identity and her mature and rational way of doing things had made people forget that she was actually a young lady. Only now that Zhao Ruizhi reminded them of it did they suddenly realize that fact. The two were a perfect match!

When she saw the strange looks and expressions in the eyes of the subjects below, Bi Linglong already roughly guessed what they were thinking. She almost fainted on the spot.

These old foxes who don’t think normally really are despicable!

Even so, her relationship with Zu An was real, so she would feel guilty even if she tried to argue back. Helpless to do anything else, she could only harrumph and say, “Not a word of today’s events is to be spoken outside. If this empress hears any rumors, I will definitely punish the offenders severely!

“Court adjourned!”

She really couldn't stay here for even a second longer!

When they saw Bi Linglong leave with a completely cold expression, as if she was fleeing, everyone present had a bit of a smile in their eyes.

She’s panicking!

As expected, she is a young lady.

Bi Linglong returned to her palace with a sullen expression. Along the way, none of the maids dared to utter even a single word. Even Rong Mo didn’t dare to try to advise her about anything.

“Have Sir Bi come and meet me!”

After giving the order, she shut herself in her room alone and didn’t allow anyone in. Then, she buried her head into her covers, and she rolled back and forth on her bed. Only her legs were exposed outside, kicking everywhere.

“Ahhhh, this is so humiliating!”