Chapter 892: I Think You Did That on Purpose!
Even though there was no one present, Bi Linglong still subconsciously lowered her voice because they were talking about something so important.
As he felt her breath against his ear, Zu An felt more and more at ease. A young lady’s aura really is gentle and nice. He turned around and gave her lips a peck. Bi Linglong jumped back like a startled rabbit while clutching her mouth with her hand. She stared at him in annoyance.
Zu An exclaimed with a laugh, “Linglong, you really are incredible! Your plan is just way too good.”
Her method was pretty much the same as what he’d had in mind, but it was even more detailed. Many of the finer points were even better thought out than his own plan. If they really acted according to her plan, there would actually be a huge chance of making it through this ordeal.
Bi Linglong forgot about his teasing when she heard Zu An’s praise. She had a big smile on her face. After all, how could she have lasted this long in the Eastern Palace without any skills?
“There is another problem, though.” Zu An paused for a moment. He looked at her charming face and said, “You’ve already lost your virginity. You won’t be able to escape death if Zhao Han finds out. After all, he’s always seen you as his future wife.”
This world still had many ways of testing one’s virginity if they really wanted to know.
Bi Linglong blushed. She bit her lip and said, “You don’t have to worry about that. I have a way of hiding it.”
Zu An was stunned. You can even hide something like that?
After Bi Linglong explained the situation, Zu An learned that she actually had a special artifact that could fake a similar state. The reason why no one had noticed that she had never consummated her marriage in the Eastern Palace even after so long was precisely because of that artifact. She could use it for the opposite effect as well, to hide the fact that she had done the deed.
Afterward, the two of them sorted out some details, then prepared to wake Zhao Ruizhi up to ‘tell’ him what happened. He was a witness, after all. There would definitely be people who would ask him about what had happened once they went back out.
However, Zu An suddenly stepped backward, looking Bi Linglong up and down.
“What?” Bi Linglong was a bit embarrassed. She wasn’t used to being looked at like that.
Zu An moved his hand gently through her smooth and glossy hair. “Your hair is too beautiful right now. Zhao Ruizhi saw that your hair became white, and that you were seriously injured from using that forbidden technique. Zhao Han will be suspicious.”
“But it’s already black; it’s not easy to change it back to white. Do we have any dyes?” Bi Linglong was worried. Furthermore, even if there were a dye to use, it still wouldn’t escape Zhao Han’s eyes.
Zu An looked at her and asked, “Do you trust me?”
Bi Linglong said impatiently, “Don’t you know that I… I already gave you everything! Why are you still asking me something like that?”
“Then you have to relax and not be nervous. Trust me,” Zu An said while holding her hand.
Bi Linglong’s face turned red. Even though the two of them had already had the most intimate physical relationship, everything had happened too quickly. She still wasn’t used to it yet.
She was just about to pull her hands back when she suddenly felt a wave of suction force from Zu An’s hands. She immediately became incredibly weak. She could clearly feel her cultivation and life essence rapidly leaving her.
She stared at Zu An with wide eyes. In that instant, countless possibilities flashed through her mind, but in the end, the only thing that remained was ‘trust me’.
A while later, Zu An let go and asked, “How do you feel?”
“Not great.” Bi Linglong’s voice was a bit hoarse. She felt incredibly weak, as if she would fall over at a moment’s notice.
Zu An said, “I absorbed some of your life essence. It’s normal for you to feel weak.”
Bi Linglong was stunned. She suddenly thought of something and touched her hair. Sure enough, her beautiful black hair was now already slightly gray. She bit her lip. Tears trickled out from her eyes. What woman didn’t want to be beautiful? Furthermore, losing what she had just regained was just too painful.
Zu An quickly consoled her. “Linglong, don’t worry. This is only temporary to convince the emperor. I’ll slowly return this life essence back to you. Once you’re back in the Eastern Palace and receive all kinds of medicines and treatment, it won’t be suspicious even if you recover later.”
Bi Linglong blinked. There were still droplets around her eyelashes as she asked, “How are you going to return it?”
Zu An replied with a smile, “Did you forget how your white hair became black again?”
Bi Linglong was stunned. Then, she became incredibly embarrassed, exclaiming, “Did you do that on purpose?!”
Zu An cried out, aggrieved. “Of course not! It’s all for the sake of deceiving the emperor!”
Bi Linglong gritted her teeth. Her reason told her that only something like this could deceive the emperor. But when she remembered the way he had healed her, her young lady side couldn't accept it.
“Forget it, you don’t have to return it. I’ll rest and slowly recover back in the palace.” Bi Linglong was still too embarrassed to agree to something so embarrassing in the end.
Zu An chuckled. He didn’t feel a need to keep bickering over this matter. “Then I’ll go and wake up Zhao Ruizhi now, okay?”
“Okay…” Bi Linglong saw Zu An begin to mess up his clothes. Then, he found some blood and smeared it on his body, making himself look even more miserable.
Zu An’s body had actually been covered in wounds before, but he had already recovered from those injuries. That was why he had to use such a disguise.
Bi Linglong naturally knew why he was doing those things. She sighed in admiration. This man always seemed so frivolous normally, but he was actually so meticulous.
Zu An brought the now conscious Zhao Ruizhi in. Bi Linglong’s expression couldn't help but look a bit unnatural when she saw him again, so she let Zu An ‘recount’ everything that had happened so far. She only added a few things here and there.
The group decided to look for the way out after giving Zhao Ruizhi the whole story. Zu An actually wanted to loot the place once more, however, since it was the ancestral court of the Qin Dynasty. There were definitely many treasures present.
But no one expected the world to start shaking before he even began. Everything began to break apart. After both Xu Fu and Ying Zheng had perished, some important core substance had disappeared from the dungeon. It could no longer remain together and began to break apart. The fact that it hadn’t done so the moment those two died was already a testament to the place’s excellent engineering.
Helpless to do anything about it, Zu An could only carry Bi Linglong in one hand and Zhao Ruizhi in the other. He jumped from side to side across floating chunks of land to avoid repeating the tragedy of the world’s inversion.
Fortunately, he already had prior, so it wasn’t too difficult this time. Furthermore, the world didn’t invert itself for too long this time. After half a day or so, Westhound Tomb completely vanished. It was replaced with the previous, familiar dungeon again.
Bi Linglong sighed in amazement when she saw the lush and beautiful scenery around her. “This really is a marvel… I thought it would be doomsday for this world.”
Zu An really couldn't understand the principles behind it either. Even if this world wasn’t destroyed, shouldn’t it at least be in tatters? Why does it seem as if nothing has happened at all?!
“I want to go home! I want to go back to the palace!” Zhao Ruizhi threw a tantrum. This trip wasn’t fun at all! He could eat good things, and he could sleep and play whenever he wanted back home.
Zu An and Bi Linglong didn’t want to stay any longer either. The group retraced their steps to the entrance they remembered. Soon afterward, they suddenly saw a group of men rush in their direction. The men clearly saw them as well, and they all cheered.
A streak of red light flashed through the air, and one man instantly appeared in front of Zu An’s group, exclaiming, “Crown prince, crown princess!” He was naturally the Embroidered Envoy Chief Commander, Zhuxie Chixin. Now that the dungeon had recovered, he had rushed in with his men at once.
This matter was far too important, so he hadn’t let anyone from King Qi Manor come in. Even the academy’s people were still outside. All of them had low expectations for the survival of the crown prince’s party. That was why they wouldn’t look for trouble by acting out here. That was also why Zhuxie Chixin was so happy to see the crown prince and princess.
Just then, Zu An said hoarsely, “Chief Commander, I’m fortunate to not have failed my mission. I was able to bring back the crown prince and princess safely.” After saying that, he ‘fainted’ from weakness. A group of people immediately rushed over to examine him.
Bi Linglong was amazed deep down. This guy really had a talent for acting! Hmph, how many times was I tricked by this dummy before?
But jokes were jokes. She still knew what she had to do. She cleared her throat and said promptly, “For the sake of protecting us, Sir Zu slaughtered his way through endless enemies and has suffered grave injuries. Provide him with treatment at once!”
If the others viewed Zu An in that light, the following events would become much easier.
Zhuxie Chixin quickly ordered his subordinates to take care of the matter. However, he suddenly realized something. He looked at Bi Linglong in shock. “Crown princess, why is your hair…”
“It’s a long story. I need to meet with his majesty,” Bi Linglong said. Proactively asking to meet with the emperor was completely different from being summoned by the emperor. That way, others would subconsciously believe that her loyalty was with the emperor, that they were on the same side.
Zhuxie Chixin nodded. “His majesty is already waiting in the palace. He ordered us to return immediately if we made any discoveries.”
Bi Linglong took a deep breath. Whether or not they could make it past this trial would depend on the following event.
The ‘unconscious’ Zu An’s expression was also grave. Even though the two of them had already predicted all sorts of situations, neither of them knew what would really happen.