âWhat do you mean âlike thisâ?â Zu An was stunned. What was going on with her bashful expression? Why did he feel that her âlike thisâ wasnât all that honest?
âJust like this, of course.â Tang Tianâer blushed a little. âHelp me treat my injuries like this.â
Zu An was speechless. He said, âIâm only healing you like this because youâre injured. Do you want me to treat you like this even if youâre fine?â
âYou can just beat me up first then,â Tang Tianâer said matter-of-factly.
Zu An was stunned. This girl looks pretty smart normally. Was she actually an M in the making?
Tang Tianâer knew he had misunderstood when she saw his expression. She quickly said, âItâs not what youâre thinking! Itâs just that⦠This feels really good⦠I mean really comforting.â
âComforting?â Zu An almost burst out laughing. âDid you suddenly get sick or something? You were beaten up just now, yet you feel comforted?â
âOh my gosh, itâs not about getting hurt, but about healing! When you heal meâ¦â Tang Tianâer jerked her body around. âMy entire body feels warm⦠Iâve never felt like this before.â
Zu An was stunned. He wasnât a stiff guy who couldnât figure such a thing out; it was just that he had never thought about that before. When he saw the other partyâs reddened face and how she looked as if she had more to say, wasnât that just like what Chu Chuyan looked like back then? The fourth layer of the Primordial Origin Sutra has this kind of effect too?
Wasnât there that blue pill, Viagra, from his previous world that had been created to help with heart disease or something? But instead, it actually made guys have that kind of reaction⦠Later on, they decided not to use it for heart disease and just put it on the market to rescue a large amount of the male population.
Zu An was stupefied. Why didnât I realize that primordial ki had this kind of effect before?
Then what if I have to treat guys in the future? He immediately shivered when he imagined those men enjoying themselves.
Tang Tianâer grabbed his hands and placed them on her body. She said resentfully, âYou stopped again.â
Zu An was speechless. Why do I suddenly feel like Iâm the one losing out here?
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. A voice called out, âSir Zu, Sir Sang has returned. He has invited you over to talk about some matters.â
With Sang Hong and Zu Anâs relationship, he could just come over and look for Zu An. However, officialdom had its rules, and so many people were watching. Sang Hongâs official rank was higher, so it wasnât too appropriate for him to come to a subordinateâs room. That would easily cause rumors to spread.
âAlright, Iâll head over soon,â Zu An replied. He then said to Tang Tianâer, âYour injuries are pretty much cured.â
âYou donât have to chase me out; Iâll just leave on my own, okay? I donât really want to meet an imperial envoy or whatever either.â Tang Tianâer licked her lips meaningfully. âDonât forget our promise~â
Zu An was speechless. Tang Tianâer showed him a sweet smile, then leapt through the window, quickly disappearing into the dark night.
âWhat an elegant movement skill!â Zu An couldnât help but say in praise. No wonder she had been able to seize Pei Youâs jade pendant so easily, and even approach him without him noticing anything.
â¦
After seeing Tang Tianâer out, Zu An headed over to Sang Hongâs room. He had thought that there would be other officials there, but Sang Hong was actually there alone.
âHelp yourself to some tea.â Sang Hong didnât act overly polite with Zu An. He was busy hanging his heavy overcoat on a rack and changing into some inside clothing. It seemed he had called Zu An over immediately after returning.
Zu An sat down in front of the table and said, âI heard respected uncle paid the Governor Manor a visit.â
âYes. The Governor Manor is in chaos right now.â Sang Hong walked over and said, âThe fleet escorting the Devil Sectâs Saintess was attacked. Do you know anything about that?â
âI know a bit,â Zu An replied humbly.
âWhen Yi Commanderyâs Martial Supervisor Yang Sheng came back, he mentioned that two experts and a large group of black-clad men came. There was one at the ninth rank whose cultivation was even higher than his, and the other person was even more mysterious. He couldnât figure out his exact cultivation, but two fingers were enough to stop the full-force sword thrust of Yi Commandery City Lord Liao Ling.â Sang Hong gave Zu An a look. âIâve met that Liao Ling before. He has already broken through into the eighth rank, and he uses a sword nurtured by grand ki. His sword ki is powerful, making him much stronger than other experts at the same level.â
Zu An pretended to be shocked. âThereâs actually someone in the world who can stop his sword with just two fingers? Donât tell me the Devil Sectâs sect master arrived?â
Sang Hong rolled his eyes. He clearly looked down on Zu Anâs act. He said, âNo, it was a man, and he seemed to be young. Judging from their descriptionâ¦â Sang Hong paused for a moment and gave Zu An a look, âHe seemed to be around your age.â
Zu An laughed and replied, âBeing able to stop a sword with two fingers is also my dream too, you know?â
Sang Hong sighed. âSigh, the youngsters today are really on an entirely different level. Itâs really hard to believe. When I was your age, my cultivation was only at the fifth or sixth rank.â
âItâs all thanks to the guidance of seniors like respected uncle,â Zu An said humbly.
Sang Hong chuckled. There were many things that the two of them already knew about, so there was no need to point it out bluntly. He said, âCompared to those two mysterious experts, thereâs something else the Governor Manor is paying more attention to. They suspect that thereâs a traitor among them.â
âTraitor?â Zu An had guessed that was probably the case before too.
âCorrect. The Governor Manor made that plan in the middle of the night, and in order to deceive everyone, they even rushed to move the next afternoon. However, the Devil Sect had already prepared an ambush ahead of time. What else could it be but a traitorâs doing?â Sang Hong sneered. âThey even asked me if I leaked the plan to anyone else.â
He gave Zu An a deep look after saying that. âI denied it, of course. Our envoyâs people were all right here, so how could we have created such a disturbance? At the very least, that ninth ranked cultivator couldnât possibly have come from us.â
Zu An laughed awkwardly. âRespected uncle has penetrating insight, as expected.â Sang Hong obviously knew that he had participated in this matter, but he knew Zu An wasnât the main force. The matter of leaking out the Governor Manorâs plans was unrelated to him too.
âThen what did the Governor Manor find out so far?â Zu An asked curiously.
Sang Hong shook his head. âThey actually found a vice official, but by the time they located him, he had already committed suicide.â
Zu An frowned and said, âHe was probably silenced.â
âThat is indeed a possibility.â Sang Hongâs expression was grave. âThe situation here in Yi Commandery is more complicated than we thought.â
Zu An remembered what Qiu Honglei had told him. He tested the waters and asked, âI heard that ki stones that are supposed to go from Cloudcenter Commandery to the court often go missing in Yi Commandery. Does the court have any ideas about that?â
Sang Hong shook his head. âThe court has indeed paid attention to that matter, but his majesty canât be bothered with that small problem right now. He wonât do anything about it for some time too.â
Zu An thought, As expected. The emperor was currently focused on his battle against King Qi. He might not even have sent anyone to investigate the disappearance of Cloudcenter Duke if it werenât because he wanted to take down King Qiâs supporters, the Yu clan.
Zu An remembered that Cloudcenter Duke had already gone missing when he first transmigrated into this world. So much time had already passed, yet only now was the case being investigated.
He then remembered Golden Token Sevenâs reminder. He couldnât help but ask, âCould it be that⦠Thereâs something wrong with King Yan?â
âShhh!â Sang Hongâs expression changed. He gave the door a look, then said quietly, âCriticizing the king without reason is a crime punishable by death! If someone accuses us of that, things will get extremely troublesome.â
When he saw Zu Anâs expression, he then continued, âI have a rough idea of what youâre thinking, but these things have nothing to do with our mission. Yi Commanderyâs matters are too muddled and complex; thereâs no reason for us to get involved.â
âRespected uncle is correct.â Zu An bowed. Whether King Yan was guilty or innocent indeed had nothing to do with him. The only thing he needed to worry about was Qiu Hongleiâs side.
But Qiu Honglei had her master to take care of her. Her capture was something unexpected; if she were captured again⦠That master and disciple pair werenât that stupid.
Sang Hong nodded in satisfaction, saying, âIâm going to restrict anyone from leaving the ship for the next few days. Iâll try to deal with Yi Commanderyâs court again tomorrow. Weâll depart the morning after.â
âUnderstood!â Zu An now knew why Sang Hong didnât want to have any dealings with Yi Commanderyâs court. As expected, it was easy to get caught up when one got involved even a little bit.
When Zu An left the room, Sang Hong suddenly stopped him, saying, âI heard you have a girl in your room? The young should pay attention to their bodies.â
Zu An began sweating buckets. He felt as if he had been caught by his father-in-law in a nightclub or something. He said, âRespected uncle has misunderstood. She just had some matters to discuss and has already left.â
Sang Hong gestured that he could leave with a smile. He didnât say anything, but his expression showed that he didnât believe Zu An.
Zu An felt a huge headache. After all, Sang Hongâs daughter was going to have a kid with him! Even though they didnât have much of a relationship, seeking out other women in front of her father was a bitâ¦
But I clearly didnât do anything!
The worst part was that he couldnât even properly explain the matter.
â¦
Zu An returned to his room gloomily. He had been running around for several days and had barely gotten any sleep. He had used up quite a bit of energy treating Tang Tianâer, so he decided to use his leisure time to get some rest.
But when he got in bed, it was still warm. It smelled strongly of a young lady, so he couldnât even fall asleepâ¦