Chapter 577: Meeting the Emperor
Translator: Pika
Zu An gave Bi Linglong a look, and then he looked at this Concubine Bai. It really was a contrast of different types of beauties.
But even though this crown princess was stunning, she was a bit too fierce. It was instead this Concubine Bai who seemed more gentle and dignified. Those who saw her immediately produced good impressions of her.
But these two seemed to hate each other. He could even vaguely sense sparks in the sky.
The crown prince immediately became a happy mess. “Big Sis Bai, you came!”
That young noble lady gave him a graceful bow. Even her greeting was graceful like flowing water. “There is no need for the crown prince to address my humble self in such a way. You can just call me Rouxue.”
So her name was Bai Rouxue.
Wait, humble self?
Zu An suddenly realized that this young married woman was probably the concubine Chu Chuyan told him about. The emperor gave her to the crown prince, and then she gave birth to a son.
No wonder she called the crown princess little sister earlier. Then, even though Bi Linglong was unhappy, she could only hold herself back and feign civility.
This Bai Rouxue looked a bit older than Bi Linglong. At times, the crown princess still looked like a young lady, but this concubine was more like a married woman, a mature one at that.
His eyes unknowingly drifted towards her impressive chest. Chu Chuyan mentioned that she already had a child… was she still breastfeeding?
Bai Rouxue’s face turned a bit red, as if she noticed his eyes. But she didn’t say anything and instead turned towards the crown princess. “I heard Little Sister Linglong’s voice all the way from the other courtyard, so I came to see who made you so angry.”
Bi Linglong was annoyed. Are you mocking me for having a loud voice?
She said indifferently, “I only wanted to teach an ignorant man a lesson. I didn’t expect to startle Concubine Bai.”
The other party called her little sister because she was a bit older than her. Together with her special identity, this type of address was also appropriate.
But she was absolutely not willing to call her big sister. After all, she was the real princess, so why would she call a concubine big sister?
“Oh? Could it be that this is the so-called ignorant man?” Bai Rouxue gave Zu An a curious look.
Zu An had a strange expression on his face. This wasn’t the time for this! He felt as if he was suddenly caught up in a great palace drama.
He gave Zhao Ruizhi a look. This fatty’s luck with girls wasn’t that bad. Both of these girls were extremely beautiful, and their styles were also completely different.
But the current Zhao Ruizhi was smiling like a complete idiot.
Bai Rouxue sized up Zu An. “Judging from your attire, you don’t seem to be a member of the palace. How did you come in?”
Bi Linglong was alarmed. This was indeed the case! She actually forgot this most important issue earlier. It was all because this fella was too daring that she was so pissed off that she wasn’t as sharp as she usually was.
Zu An replied, “Zhuxie Chixin brought me in. Then, Elder Li took me nearby.”
Bai Rouxue’s expression changed. She finally remembered why this name was so familiar. It was that guy with the method of immortality everyone was clamoring about.
Bi Linglong also sized him up in surprise. She also knew who Zu An was now.
Bi Linglong harrumphed and said to Zhao Ruizhi, “Crown prince, let’s go back. Your morning lessons are not finished yet.”
Zhao Ruizhi began to panic. “But I still want to play more with Zu An! There are so many things to play…”
But Bi Linglong shot him a sidelong glance, scaring him so badly that he swallowed all of the other words back down.
Bai Rouxue pursed her lips and said, “Little Sister Linglong, why are you in such a rush to leave?”
Bi Linglong replied coldly, “I must bring the crown prince back to his lessons. I dare not be negligent.”
Hmph! This Zu An is someone the emperor himself wants to meet, yet she ordered for him to be beaten to death! If news of this got to the emperor, then who knew what kind of thoughts he might have towards her and her clan.
She knew that she couldn’t do anything else to Zu An, so why would she continue to stay here and make a fool of herself?
She gave the maid a look. The maid named Rong Mo quickly ordered the eunuchs to bring the crown prince back. Everyone hurriedly left. Only Zhao Ruizhi alone turned his head reluctantly, either to get one last look at that gentle Big Sister Bai, or because he didn’t want to leave Zu An yet.
Zu An cupped his hands towards this graceful noble lady when they left. “Thank you Concubine Bai for speaking out for justice earlier. You’ve saved me quite a bit of trouble.”
Bai Rouxue nodded her head slightly, a faint smile on her face. She didn’t reply and turned around to quietly leave.
Zu An was gloomy. Were all palace women this arrogant?
That beautiful crown princess didn’t feel like talking to him either and had her maid speak in her place. Only later on was she finally unable to hold herself back and said some things.
Now, this seemingly gentle and graceful Concubine Bai was also insufferably arrogant, unwilling to even speak a single word to him.
It made him seem like a freaking sex offender. Who the hell are you even on guard against?
Of course, he knew that let alone these imperial concubines, even the women of ordinary families wouldn’t talk to male strangers for no reason. They called men outside of the family outsider men, and a single moment of carelessness and there might be rumors of them meeting up with an outsider man. Something like this was catastrophic for the reputation of most girls.
Brightmoon City was more open-minded due to being a trade city. The other cities were much more strict on the matter.
But normally speaking, a place like the capital shouldn’t be as conservative.
He suddenly realized something. The crown prince was stupid, so as the concubines of this type of prince, they naturally had to pay more attention to these things to avoid suspicion.
He sighed when he thought of this. Even though this crown prince was dumb, he was quite blessed.
A small eunuch quickly ran over. “My goodness, how did you end up all the way here? All of us were looking for you! Hurry and follow me. His majesty has finished his court session and will now meet you.”
Zu An frowned. He was on guard. “Where is Elder Li?”
The small eunuch subconsciously replied, “Elder Li seemed to have made a mistake and the emperor…”
He immediately stopped talking midway. “Stop asking so many questions! Move faster!”
Zu An was amused. He followed this small eunuch to a quiet and elegant room. When he saw the words ‘Imperial Study’ hanging above the entrance, he sighed in relief. Even though he had his guesses, he was still worried that this small eunuch would lead him to a trap. It now seemed like he was worried for nothing.
This was the inner palace after all, the place where the emperor’s personal staff operated. If there was always trouble happening in this type of place, then the emperor really was too incompetent.
The small eunuch said respectfully by the entrance. “Your majesty, I have brought him.”
A dignified voice sounded from within. “Let him in.”
The small eunuch pushed open the door and gestured for Zu An to go in.
Even though he already thought through his plan, now that it was game time, Zu An discovered that he was still a bit nervous. His heart was thumping, and even his body was shivering uncontrollably.
It wasn’t that he was cowardly, but rather an instinctive feeling of danger. After all, he was going to face this world’s most powerful cultivator. If his plan failed, then the only thing awaiting him might really be death.
But he was still someone who spent several decades as an emperor in Yinxu Dungeon. He took a deep breath and quickly calmed down. Then, he walked in.
The small eunuch closed the door behind him after he entered.
The noise of the door closing added to the heavy atmosphere.
Zu An felt a type of suffocating feeling when he entered the room, as if even breathing became much more difficult than usual.
His expression changed slightly. He knew that this was the pressure of a powerful cultivator. But even though he already absorbed Mosquito Daoist’s cultivation and grew much stronger, he still felt extremely uncomfortable.
This was a pressure he had never faced before. Regardless of whether it was Old Mi, Eunuch Wei, the giant dragon, Mosquito Daoist, or others he faced on his way to the capital, none of their auras could compare to what he was experiencing right now. The only one who was a bit similar was Mi Li when he first met her. But back then, he had the Heiress Ball of Delights, so he wasn’t too worried.
He still had the courage to fight back then, but now, he felt a trembling from his very soul. Every single cell in his body seemed to be screaming that it was useless, to not even struggle and accept his fate.
But he remembered the remnant soul of the first emperor of China he faced in the Ursae Dungeon, as well as the Shang King Wu Geng. He even made it through those encounters, so how could he give in so easily now?
Furthermore, as a transmigrator, he had seen everything imaginable on the internet before. He couldn’t let his isekai predecessors down!
His perspective changed when he thought of these things. The pressure instantly lessened.
A voice of surprise sounded from not far away. “Oh? You’re quite the interesting fella.”