Chapter 2138: Saving an Old Friend Pt. 1

“What do you mean you’ll do your best? You must succeed,” Ka Qier said with a serious expression. “The crown in Shang Liuyu’s possession is related to whether or not we can open up the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons; not only that, we'll also need her help for many of the trials to come. That’s why you must succeed!”

Zu An was really surprised. So that was why they were so focused on fooling Shang Liuyu! More importantly, they actually knew what was inside the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons. Just what kind of situation was it that needed Shang Liuyu’s ability?

Unfortunately, he could only bury those thoughts for now. He said with a worried look, “Alright, but if we're going to do this, we need to make a perfect plan.”

“Don’t worry, we'll all coordinate in this performance. As for how you'll impersonate the real Dragon King, I’ve already thought of a way,” Ka Qier said while thinking. “We’ll use the human who caught the queen for the reward as our opportunity. We’ll say that the real Dragon King was actually hiding in the cave at the time, and then when the fake Dragon King went to look for the queen, he was attacked and replaced.”

Zu An was horrified. If he hadn't already heard about the other parts of this plan, he would have wondered if he was already exposed. He frowned and asked, “You’re not suspecting me, are you?”

Ka Qier chuckled. “What are you talking about? I was a bit suspicious at first, but that misunderstanding was quickly cleared up. Besides, it was because of this small hiccup that I was able to make such an excellent plan. This is our only chance of making Shang Liuyu believe that you're the real Dragon King.”

“It’s nowhere near as excellent as you’re making it out to be. The time spent in that cave was so short that even if the real Dragon King had prepared an ambush, it would be hard for him to defeat me so quickly. How could Shang Liuyu not notice such an obvious hole in our explanation?” Zu An said with a harrumph.

Inwardly, though, he was actually somewhat dumbfounded. Just what in the world was going on? He was a fake to begin with, and yet this guy’s plan just happened to be identical to what had really happened.

“That is something to worry about, but we can explain it as the Mermaid Queen and the real Dragon King working together to ambush you. There just happened to be some formations in the cave, so you two somehow managed to barely succeed.” Ka Qier chuckled. “Now, even I’m starting to become a bit convinced that you’re the real Dragon King.”

When he heard the ridicule in Ka Qier's voice, Zu An actually started to admire himself a bit. The best lies weren’t the ones you told to fool others, but rather the ones others helped you complete.

“It’s still a bit far-fetched,” Zu An said with a contemplative expression. “We also need the queen’s full cooperation.”

“That's why it’ll all depend on you. You need to completely win over the queen in the meantime,” Ka Qier said with a smile. “Should I fetch a few more bottles of Desires Unleashed Dew for you? Tsk tsk tsk, to be honest, this drug was something the real Dragon King used up a lot of effort to gather so he could use it on other people’s wives. Who would’ve thought that it would ultimately be used by someone else on his own wife? You really are getting all the benefits.”

Zu An was speechless. When he heard the ridicule in Ka Qier’s voice, he even started to feel some sympathy for the real Dragon King.

Sigh, the only thing I can do is help him take good care of his wife.

“Hurry and keep that beautiful queen company. Remember to put in more effort. Once you feel you’ve fully subdued her, that’s when we’ll start our plan,” Ka Qier said with a snicker.

Zu An thought to himself for a bit before saying, “Make sure to send someone to take good care of Shang Liuyu and don’t use torture on her. That way, she’ll think that the real Dragon King is secretly helping her.”

Ka Qier’s eyes lit up. He reflexively nodded and said, “That’s not a bad suggestion. Let’s do that. It’s time for us to start preparing things after all.”

Zu An sighed in relief when he heard him agree. Then, under Ka Qier’s urging, he had no choice but to return to the bedroom chambers.

Shang Hongyu was sitting at the head of the bed in a somewhat lazy manner and doing her makeup while facing the mirror. She was relaxed and stunning, but she was in a bit of a daze as she propped up her chin, as if she was thinking about something. From time to time, a complicated expression appeared on her face, containing resentment but also sweetness.

When she saw Zu An enter, she said with a cold snort, “Get out. I don’t want to see you.” However, those words were spoken for the maids to hear.

The covers were removed, exposing her satin-like skin. Only, her usually fair skin now had quite a few red marks on it, the result of their rough activity throughout the night.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Zu An waved his hand, gesturing for the maids to withdraw for now. Then, he sat down at her side and said, "Your acting is quite good.”

When she felt him approach, a bit of fear flashed through Shang Hongyu’s eyes. She instinctively moved aside, as if she was worried that he would do something to her again. However, her brows furrowed as soon as she moved. Her body couldn't help but become rigid.

Zu An quickly tried to support her when he saw her unnatural movement and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?”

“You still have the nerve to ask that?!” Shang Hongyu rolled her eyes. “How did you treat me yesterday? You really are a crude man; you don’t cherish the fairer sex at all!”

She was even starting to wonder if he really was a human. For better or for worse, she did have the body of a grandmaster, and she was a fully mature woman too, and yet she'd still been left in such a tragic state at the end of it.

Zu An gently caressed her slender chin. “Even though you won’t admit to it, your body told me that you liked what happened last night.”

Shang Hongyu was really embarrassed. She continued to lightly hit him. “You...! That gentlemanly behavior before was completely an act! I really was dragged along by your evil plans.”

Zu An replied impatiently, “It was me who was forced to follow your plans, okay? You were the one who kept teasing me in all kinds of different ways.”

This woman just kept teasing me for her own pleasure.

Even though he had still been able to hold it in, he couldn't help but have pent-up desire build up inside him. And last night, it had all been completely released. Part of it was, of course, payback for all of the teasing Shang Hongyu had done. He'd wanted to see if she would still continue to feel so proud of herself while doing that stuff.

Sure enough, there hadn’t been much substance backing her provocations. The attacker and defender roles had quickly swapped.

“You’re just too good at that stuff. I really was fooled by your harmless exterior!” Shang Hongyu’s cheeks turned red. She wouldn’t have even dared to think about teasing him if she knew how much of a ferocious carnivore he was. She said with a huff, “No wonder you have so many lovers around you. You must’ve made them completely drop their guard with your innocent and harmless behavior, and then completely swallowed them up! Hmph, I have to tell my little sis so she'll remain vigilant around you and doesn't fall for your tricks."

When he heard her mention Shang Liuyu, Zu An’s expression turned serious. He said, “Shang Liuyu was caught by those guys.”

“What?!” Shang Hongyu’s eyes that had been full of charm immediately became clear. She asked nervously, “How is she doing right now? Did she receive any unjust treatment? We have to hurry and save her!”

When he saw how nervous she was, Zu An could feel the true sisterly love between them. He replied, “Don’t worry. She’s still alright for now. They most likely only caught Shang Liuyu the day I entered the Dragon Palace. They haven’t had time to do anything to her.”

“But now that she's been captured by those guys, she’ll be in constant danger.” Just then, Shang Hongyu was stunned and asked, “Wait, how do you know so much about that?”

“Ka Qier told me, of course.” Zu An chuckled. “The reason why I was able to obtain his complete trust was all thanks to your passionate performance last night.”

Shang Hongyu exclaimed, “I’m going to die from embarrassment!”