Chapter 2772: Peak Acting

The acting skills of women really were too frightening. Bi Linglong had spoken with such strong feelings that Zu An really believed her. How could he have known that she was baiting him? She had immediately fished out his real thoughts.

Bi Linglong was causing trouble when Zu An’s expression suddenly turned strange and he said, “Let’s stop fighting for a bit. They really did come.”

“Who?” Bi Linglong was stunned. She thought Zu An was trying to get out of his predicament.

Zu An said in embarrassment, “The empress dowager, and she brought Sang Qien and Zheng Dan with her.”

He'd wanted to advise them against that with his soul projection, but Liu Ning had insisted on going for a tour through the palace with Zheng Dan and Sang Qien. After all, Zheng Dan and Sang Qien had never entered the Imperial Palace before. They weren’t too familiar with this place.

When Zu An saw Zheng Dan and Sang Qien’s expectant eyes, how could he refuse them? He could only let them do what they wanted.

But after showing them around, Liu Ning had actually taken them straight to the Heart Nurturing Palace! Liu Ning’s reasoning was simple, too. The Heart Nurturing Palace was the most important place in the entire Imperial Palace, so she had to show it to them.

Bi Linglong was speechless. After she stared at him for a few seconds and ascertained that he wasn’t joking around, she screamed and quickly tried to separate herself from him. However, Zu An was holding on tightly to her waist. Her struggles and twisting around seemed to have only made things more interesting for him.

“Hurry and let go of me already!” Bi Linglong exclaimed, sounding shy and embarrassed. Her soul had almost left her body! How could she still be angry?

“Don’t worry, it’ll be a bit longer before they get here.” Zu An looked at her with a big smile. The empress’ embarrassed expression was extremely alluring.

“How far are they?” Bi Linglong released a slight sigh of relief and her waist responded to her lover a bit.

“About three hundred feet away, maybe?” Zu An’s brows eased up a bit. He looked as if he was really indulging himself.

Bi Linglong was dumbfounded. At first, she had thought that they were still farther away, but if it was just a few hundred feet, didn’t that mean they were almost here?

The shock she felt was no small matter! She began to struggle again, crying out, “Hurry and let me go, or else if they see me like this, I won’t want to go on living!”

“Wait a moment!” Zu An took a deep breath. Her struggles had really pushed him to his limit! Tonight, he had been interrupted again and again, so he was feeling really pent up. Only now did he finally satisfy himself.

Bi Linglong’s eyes briefly rolled back. With his release, her entire body shook continuously. She held onto her lover tightly.

...

Meanwhile, Liu Ning brought Sang Qien and Zheng Dan to the Heart Nurturing Palace.

Sang Qien was still a bit hesitant, asking, “Big sister Ning, this isn’t too good, right? Big brother Zu is cultivating, right? Won’t we be disturbing him by visiting him?”

Liu Ning rolled her eyes. “Silly girl, do you really believe he's cultivating? Forget it, you don’t need to worry at all. His cultivation is now extremely profound, and cultivating a bit less won’t affect him that much.”

“Exactly. Qienqien, you don’t need to worry at all. I want to see what the Heart Nurturing Palace is like too.” Zheng Dan already had her guesses too. She wanted to see some chaos.

“Al... Alright then.” Sang Qien’s face was bright red. Still, she was also really curious as she looked at the brightly lit Heart Nurturing Palace in the distance. After all, this had always been the emperor’s private dwelling. A normal person likely wouldn't be able to even come close to this place in their entire life.

“I greet the empress dowager!” Zhang Zitong noticed the three women and quickly bowed with respect. At the same time, she examined the other two out of the corners of her eyes. A bit of surprise appeared in her eyes.

Where did these beauties come from? Their bearing is entirely different from that of the concubines of the palace.

“Hm? You're the one in charge of the palace guard now?” Liu Ning lived in the palace almost year-round, so she immediately recognized Zhang ZItong's current responsibility.

“Yes. The regent has given this lowly one his trust, and I will spare no effort to dedicate myself to this task,” Zhang Zitong replied with a serious expression.

Liu Ning’s eyes moved to her long and slender legs.

That guy is probably just thinking about how he’ll spare no effort on you.

She composed herself and said, “I've brought the regent’s friends to see him. You can let him know.”

Zhang Zitong thought,

These two women had a relationship with sir after all!

Why are all of the women at sir’s side so pretty?

I feel so much pressure!

“Responding to the empress dowager, her highness is currently in the Heart Nurturing Palace.”

She decided to give the empress dowager a warning first. Madam Wu seemed to have been here too. If the empress dowager brought more people inside, she wouldn’t dare to imagine what it would be like.

Sigh, why didn’t sir tell me a bit about all of this? How am I supposed to cover for him?

Liu Ning’s eyebrows rose slightly.

As expected!

“It’s fine. The regent knows we're coming.”

“Then I will inform him,” Zhang Zitong said.

She was about to turn around when Zu An called out from inside, saying, “You can let them in.”

“Yes!” Zhang Zitong replied, although she was a bit curious.

Why does sir’s voice suddenly sound a bit weak and tired?

But she quickly dismissed that thought.

Are you kidding me? He's so powerful and unrivaled! Who could make him weak?

When Liu Ning’s group of three entered the Heart Nurturing Palace, they saw Zu An sitting upright and still in the middle. They didn’t see Bi Linglong at all.

Liu Ning said with a smile, “While waiting outside, I heard that Linglong was also here. Why don’t I see her?”

“I’m over here.” Bi Linglong walked out from behind a screen. “I accidentally spilled some tea and cleaned myself up. I didn’t expect the empress dowager to have arrived too.”

“Tea?” Liu Ning looked at Bi Linglong's face that was pure like jade. It was completely red.

It’s probably a different kind of liquid, right?

Sang Qien and Zheng Dan looked at Bi Linglong. They had seen her from a distance before. Now that they were looking at her up close, they once again sighed in amazement at her beauty. There was also the proud and noble temperament that she naturally gave off. This was something the two of them couldn't learn at all, having come from ordinary clans. Bi Linglong's face was rosy pink, making the entire room seem to light up.

“I brought Qienqien and Zheng Dan here to look for Ah Zu. I didn’t disturb the two of you, did I?” Liu Ning asked with an ambiguous smile.

Bi Linglong only felt as if she had been completely seen through. She quickly said, “The regent and I were talking about the assignments of personnel. We were almost finished with our conversation.”

Sang Qien and Zheng Dan did their best to hold back their smiles.

Who would have thought that the empress would also believe her own lies! Who inside the capital doesn’t know about her relationship with Ah Zu now? And yet she's still calling him regent, as if she's emphasizing to us that they don’t have anything going on.

When she saw their strange expressions, Bi Linglong didn’t dare to meet their gazes. She quickly said to Zu An, “As for the Central Defense Army position, how about we have Brightmoon Duke take on that role? He used to have a lot of prestige in the army, and if he comes here, he can keep the Qin clan in check to a certain degree so they will not grow too large on their own.

“There is also old man Murong; he can have the Security Officer position back to ensure the safety of the capital.

“Pei Zheng can keep his Chief Attendant position. His faction didn’t participate much in this matter, and he is lady Pei’s grandfather.

“Xie Xiu is brimming with talent, so we can have him serve as the Secretariat Assistant Minister.

“The Armed Escort Division was of vital use this time. The Palace Imperial Guard needs to be changed out. Wang Bolin can take on the role of Left Guard General, while Zhang Zijiang can become the Right Guard General. The other Armed Escort Army’s officers will be placed in other branches of the Imperial Guard.

“Gao Ying will become the Bright Tiger Army General. Pei You will become the Great Rider Army General.

“Jiao Sigun will become the commander of the Armed Escort Division, while Piao Duandiao will be the commander of the Special Force Army.

She had planned for Pu Duandiao and Jiao Sigun to become generals in the palace and take control over the Bright Tiger Army, but since Zu An had already appointed Zhang Zitong, she could just take the chance to appoint those two as commanders of the imperial armies. That would be a proper reward for the bravery they had shown during the conflict.

“If the regent has no objections, I will issue the decree tomorrow to formally appoint them.”

When they heard Bi Linglong talk about all of these things in a regular and thorough manner, Sang Qien and Zheng Dan both felt incredible admiration. She had actually arranged all of these people so clearly!

As expected of the one who has acted as the empress for all these years. These are things we couldn't learn even if we wanted to.

Even Liu Ning couldn't help but give her an extra look.

Could it be that the two of them really were chatting about official matters, and I was the one who thought wrongly?

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

“Alright. Since you and the empress dowager have already discussed this properly, I naturally have no objections,” Zu An said; he was also filled with admiration. Just a moment before, this woman had looked as if she was broken, and yet she was able to fool these people now in such a short amount of time.

“Since we’ve already talked about everything, I won’t be disturbing you all and will be leaving first.” Bi Linglong and the others nodded slightly, and then hurriedly left.

Sang Qien and Zheng Dan exchanged a look. They secretly communicated through ki, “The empress didn’t even talk to us. I wonder if she doesn’t like us.”

“It might be because we're standing on the empress dowager’s side. I heard that the two of them don’t get along,” Zheng Dan replied after thinking about it for a bit.

Sang Qien nodded slightly. “That might be it.”

...

While the two were secretly making their guesses, Rong Mo saw Bi Linglong come out. She quickly went over and said, “Your highness.”

“Let’s go back to the palace.” Bi Linglong took a deep breath. Her entire body felt a bit tense.

Rong Mo was a bit confused. “Your highness, did the empress dowager bully you again? Why do I feel as if your voice is a bit strange?” Others likely wouldn't notice, but she served her lady everyday. How could she not sense this?

“It’s nothing.” Bi Linglong frowned and continued walking.

Rong Mo was full of concern.

You’re still saying that nothing is wrong? Even the way you’re walking is a bit off.

Bi Linglong’s face turned bright red. She bit her lip and said, “Why are there so many...”