Chapter 2268: Fell for the Trap

Sang Qien and Zhang Dan both returned the greeting. “The empress dowager speaks too highly of us. Anyone would have helped in that kind of situation.”

Even though that was what they said, in reality, if not for her relationship with Zu An, perhaps they wouldn't have taken such a huge risk.

“What empress dowager? You two are acting like strangers.” Liu Ning held their hands as she sat down. “I'm only a bit older than you. If the two of you don’t find it too excessive, you can just call me big sister in the future.”

“We absolutely cannot! With the empress dowager’s respected status, what if some high officials or other palace people heard us? It would really be disrespectful.” Sang Qien immediately refused.

Zheng Dan forced a smile.

Is the empress dowager telling us to call her big sister because we saved her, or because of Zu An?

Hmph, if we're really talking about the pecking order, she should be calling the two of us big sisters.

Hm? Wait. I actually don’t know when she and Zu An got together. But it’s definitely after me. As for Qienqien, I don’t know.

“What do you mean, disrespectful? How could those convoluted and overly elaborate rules compare to the two of you saving my life?” Liu Ning put on a frown and said, “Could it be that the two of you are still upset that I left without informing the two of you?”

“We wouldn’t dare,” Sang Qien said, feeling a bit troubled. “Since the empress dowager has expressed such sincerity, we'll just call each other sisters.”

Zheng Dan secretly gave her a big thumbs up.

Qienqien really is smart after all, and only said that we’ll call each other sisters. She didn’t say who the big sister was.

“By the way, how did you meet Ah Zu?” Zheng Dan asked curiously. They hadn't really gotten to ask when they were back in the Sang manor, because the Liu clan had just experienced such a huge tragedy.

“In the past, my cultivation wasn’t low, but I ended up suffering from a condition that wasn’t easy to cure. From then on, I became just like an ordinary person. Fortunately, Zu An entered the palace. With his help, my injuries gradually showed signs of improving. Then, gradually, little by little... familiarity bred fondness.” When she talked about the past, Liu Ning felt sweetness, but also bashfulness. After all, they'd been engaging in an illicit relationship back then.

Sang Qien sighed in amazement. The wife of the world’s former strongest cultivator, someone whom almost all women admired, was now sitting in front of them and chatting with them in a friendly manner. In the end, all of this was because of Ah Zu!

Zheng Dan’s expression was a bit strange. Zu An only seemed to have a single treatment method. Zhao Han had still been alive back then... That guy really was daring!

Liu Ning had spent a long time in the palace, and was more than familiar with the methods members of the harem used to strive for favor. How could she not have known that these two deliberately avoided calling her 'big sister'? As such, she said sincerely, “My status is special, and so there's no way I can publicly announce my relationship with Ah Zu. Still, I am extremely grateful to him and will be satisfied with just being able to help him a bit behind the scenes. I won’t ask for anything more.”

When she heard what Liu Ning said, Zheng Dan’s expression couldn't help but dim. The empress dowager’s status was special, but wasn’t she the same? Even though Ah Zu knew that she had still been untouched back then, in everyone else’s eyes, she was nothing more than the Sang clan’s daughter-in-law. Even if she were to change families, she would be lowered in status. As for the hierarchy, there was no way she could be a big sister.

I just regret that I didn’t choose Ah Zu back then during the arranged marriage.

But she knew that no matter how one looked at Zu An back then, he wouldn’t have been someone the Zheng clan would ever have considered choosing as their young master. The Zheng clan wasn’t like the Chu clan, which had been completely unwilling to participate in the climb for the imperial position and needed a good-for-nothing drafted son-in-law to end the Shi clan’s greed.

Sigh, I really don’t know just what that brat Chuyan did in her last life. How did some random shield she found end up becoming Ah Zu?

But she had already gotten over that. Even if she could change families and marry Ah Zu, there was no need to. Rather than entering his harem only to become a nobody, she would rather just continue to be the Sang clan’s young lady.

That guy seems to like the feeling of stealing another’s wife.

When she thought of that, her little face couldn't help but become rosy.

Sang Qien also had similar worries. Even though she had birthed big brother Zu’s daughter, that was the child of her sister-in-law and her older brother in name. There was no way to announce the truth to the entire world. Even though her relationship with big brother Zu had improved a lot, she had never experienced all sorts of thrilling things with him the way the other women had. Their feelings for each other were still lacking a bit in comparison.

The two women both sighed when they realized that. “What big sister says is right. Aren’t we the same?”

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

They now really felt sympathy for each other. Either way, neither of them could become the big sister anyway. With the empress dowager’s status, calling her big sister wasn’t really losing out either. Besides, fellow sufferers empathized with each other. Thus, the three women commiserated a great deal.

Then, the three began to chat even more intimately. They were no longer as formal as they had been at first. They had already grown quite close to each other from staying together before; now that the final barriers had been removed, they acted more like close friends.

Liu Ning led the two women up to several large chests and said, “There was nothing I could do before, but I made sure to prepare some gifts for you two. Little sisters, tell me if you like what you see.”

“Then we’ll be thanking big sister.” Sang Qien and Zheng Dan didn’t continue to refuse her kindness. When they opened the chests, they saw that apart from beautiful and precious jewelry, there were also a lot of heaven-grade ki stones, protection treasures, cultivation pills, and other things inside.

“These are too precious!” Even though the two of them had already prepared themselves to receive her gift, they were still frightened. These things were enough for a clan in Brightmoon City to survive for a whole year!

Liu Ning said with a smile, “The two of you saved my life, so what's so special about this amount of stuff? Could it be that little sisters think that big sister’s life isn’t worth this much?”

The two women looked at each other and replied with a smile, “Since it's big sister’s kindness, we won’t continue to act unreasonable.”

Liu Ning had a big smile on her face when she saw the two accept her gift. “Then I’ll have my people send these things to the Sang manor tomorrow.”

There was no way storage pouches could hold so many things, and there was no way she could have them carry it themselves either.

“Thank you, big sister.” Sang Qien and Zheng Dan were both happy. With these resources, their cultivation would become a bit faster. Furthermore, their relationship with the empress dowager would improve further. She was also a grandmaster, so in the future, they could consult her about cultivation problems.

But after everything that had happened today, their conversation naturally changed to Zu An again. Liu Ning was really curious about how these two had met Zu An. The more they chatted, the more they felt like kindred spirits.

Suddenly, Liu Ning got up and suggested, “Since we’re already all inside the palace, how about we go and visit Ah Zu?”

Zheng Dan and Sang Qien’s eyes lit up. “We really can?”

Even though they were really close to Zu An, they had never met him in a place as dignified and sacred as the Imperial Palace.

“Why not? He now has the final say in the Imperial Palace. Also, with me in the lead, who would dare to say anything about the two of you?” Liu Ning was getting more and more excited. “Let’s go. I’ll also take you on a small tour of the palace along the way.”

There was something else that she didn’t say.

That cunning fox Linglong will probably look for him too. If I didn’t do anything, wouldn’t I just be letting her do whatever she wants?

If she searched for Zu An alone, she felt that her intention of ruining their happy time would be too apparent. But with Sang Qien and Zheng Dan accompanying her, no one could really say anything.

The three women got up and were about to put on their coats when they suddenly felt their minds go blank. They sat back down at the same time.

“Big sister, what is going on? Why do I feel a bit dizzy?” Sang Qien and Zheng Dan felt completely powerless. They were startled.

“We’ve been poisoned!” Liu Ning’s expression turned ice-cold.