Chapter 604: Who Threatens Whom

Seeing Zu An in a daze, the Empress finally came to her senses. A blush flashed across her delicate face. "What are you thinking? My injuries are flaring up; I can't sit. I have to lie down on the bed!"

Zu An chuckled awkwardly, "You scared me to death, I thought you were..."

The Empress snorted coldly, "Did you think I was inviting you to bed with me? Your mind is full of filthy thoughts. I don't know what Chu Yan sees in you."

As Zu An carried her to the bed, he was surprised by her words. "Your Majesty also knows Chu Yan?"

"I met her years ago. Her character and appearance are both top-notch. Countless noble youths in the capital were captivated by her at first sight," the Empress said with much admiration in her tone.

Suddenly, her body stiffened, and her brow furrowed. She couldn't speak another word.

She felt something hard pressing against her. At first, she didn't pay much attention, thinking it might be a dagger or some kind of weapon.

However, she soon realized that the object was changing, and then it hit her: this was the palace, how could he possibly bring a weapon inside?

Her face first flushed red, then darkened. "You impudent boy, how dare you harbor such thoughts towards me!"

Rage points from Liu Ning: 233!

She was no naive maiden, and naturally wouldn't be shy or hesitant like one. Instead, she directly rebuked him.

Zu An secretly groaned, only able to try and explain, "You can't blame me for this. Any normal man, holding a beautiful woman like you so closely, would be abnormal if he didn't have some reaction."

He himself felt that this explanation was a bit shameless. What on earth was happening?!

The Empress sneered repeatedly, "But isn't your reaction a bit *too* exaggerated?"

By now, Zu An's face was thicker than a city wall. "That just goes to show how immense Your Majesty's charm is."

The Empress, exasperated, laughed instead. "Oh, so I should be pleased, then?"

Zu An gently laid her down on the bed and sighed. "Your Majesty, you are not an ordinary woman; you should know I didn't do this on purpose. In fact, I never wanted to get involved in this matter from the beginning. It was you... ahem, it was fate. So why dwell on such a small matter?"

The Empress, of course, understood this logic, but she was accustomed to her high position and felt that letting it go like this would be too lenient on him. "Hmph, how can something like this be a small matter for a woman? You've shown disrespect even to me, proving that you have no regard for the Emperor or proper etiquette. You are nothing but a rebellious subject and a villain. Tell me, should I inform the Emperor to have you beaten to death with sticks to prevent future trouble?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than she noticed a glint of fierceness in Zu An's eyes, and a heavy body suddenly pressed down on her.

"You... what do you want to do?" Feeling the oppressive closeness and smelling the familiar masculine scent, the Empress instantly panicked. The composure she had maintained finally vanished, and she hastily recoiled.

Unfortunately, Zu An's hand directly pressed on her shoulder. He lowered his head and coldly stared at the woman beneath him. "Woman, you clearly haven't grasped the situation. I just saved you. Not only do you not thank me, but you dare to threaten me?"

The Empress's eyes widened. "That's still no reason for you to be disrespectful to me!"

She was filled with regret at this moment. In truth, her earlier intimidation was merely a standard political tactic—the carrot and stick approach. She had just brandished the stick and was about to offer the carrot to appease and win him over, but who knew this fellow wouldn't play by the rules and just hit her with another stick?

Did this man not understand any court etiquette? And she was the Empress! How dare he treat her like this? He truly was a rebellious scoundrel, defying both emperor and father in his very bones.

What she didn't know, however, was that ever since entering the palace, Zu An's nerves had been stretched taut. The surrounding powers were simply too formidable. Whether it was the Emperor, Prince Qi, or even the noble families in the capital, if they truly wanted him dead, he had no means of self-preservation.

Constantly walking a tightrope, trying to appease everyone, he was already at his breaking point, suppressing immense frustration. Then this incident with the Empress happened. Seeing her act as if she was repaying kindness with enmity, the anger in his heart could no longer be contained.

After all, he was a transmigrator, and he didn't revere the native Emperor and Empress with the same awe as ordinary people.

Zu An stared at her coldly. "Your Majesty needs to understand, you actively threw yourself into my arms. I haven't even accused you of seducing me, and yet you're turning around and accusing me of disrespect?"

"I seduced you?" Even though the Empress usually had a good temper, she couldn't help but become furious. "I am the mother of the nation, the dignified Empress. Would I seduce a ruffian like you?"

Rage points from Liu Ning: 444444444...

Zu An snorted, "You never know. Your Majesty might seem glamorous on the surface, but a lonely palace could very well make a woman yearn for a man."

The Empress's face instantly turned cold. "Insolent wretch! Do you know that this one sentence alone is enough for either I or the Emperor to execute your entire clan multiple times over?"

Rage points from Liu Ning: 999999999...

Always threatening to execute the whole clan!

Zu An's own temper flared. "Your Majesty seems to have misunderstood the situation. There are still so many assassins outside right now. Even if I killed you, others would only think the assassins did it. No one would suspect me at all."

The Empress's breathing suddenly quickened, and her chest rose and fell rapidly, but she ultimately dared not utter the words, "How dare you?"

Everything about this man's behavior since he arrived proved that he was truly capable of anything. She didn't want to die here just for a moment of defiance.

Her eyes darted around, and she made a decision. Her tone softened. "Alright, I was wrong just now. I apologize to you. Please, step away, and let's talk properly."

She had already made up her mind: once everything settled down, she would simply have Eunuch Lu secretly dispose of this scoundrel.

Zu An watched the "Rage points from Liu Ning: 1024!" continuously refresh in his mind's background. He thought, "If it weren't for this, I might have actually been fooled by you."

He sighed. "Your Majesty intends to pacify me first, and then have me killed afterwards, correct?"

The Empress was startled. Could this man read minds? How did he know what she was thinking?

However, her face immediately paled as she realized she was in trouble. Since this man understood her intentions, how could he possibly let her go? There were so many assassins outside right now, so he could easily pin the blame on them.

The only witnesses would be the two young eunuchs outside, but they knew nothing of cultivation and could easily be silenced.

At this thought, she no longer dared to hesitate. Mustering what little vital energy she had managed to gather, she pressed a palm towards his chest.

Zu An was prepared. He instantly seized her wrist and pinned it to the bed, and the force she had gathered immediately dissipated.

The Empress was almost in tears. She recalled how, back in the day, her cultivation, though not unmatched, was enough to dispatch a man like him with a single palm strike. Now, a tiger fallen into a plain was being bullied by a dog – no, pinned down by a dog. It was truly pathetic.

Zu An instinctively summoned the Fatal Dagger from his Glazed Orb and brought it towards her neck. The Empress clearly felt the blade's chill, piercing straight to her soul—it was the taste of death. She sighed and instinctively closed her eyes.

The Fatal Dagger hovered over her pale neck. Zu An's expression was conflicted. To be honest, he wasn't a bloodthirsty killer, and ending her life like this felt genuinely difficult.

However, if he didn't kill her, it would be difficult to resolve the situation later, leading to endless trouble.

He found himself in a predicament.

The Empress sensed his hesitation, opened her eyes, and sneered, "What, you don't dare touch me now? If you respectfully kowtow three times and apologize, I might consider forgiving you."

"Kowtow to your sister!" Zu An roared in anger, and smacked her plump, peach-like bottom directly.

The Empress was instantly dumbfounded, staring at him blankly, momentarily losing her ability to speak.

Once he started, Zu An found he couldn't stop, spanking her repeatedly. And surprisingly, the feel was really good.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Stop hitting me!"

"I was wrong... isn't that enough?"

"Ah!"

A high-pitched, yet suppressed, cry escaped her. Zu An was instantly dumbfounded. Was this woman really so fragile?

The Empress's eyes were brimming with tears, and her body trembled uncontrollably. "I will tear you into ten thousand pieces!" she gnashed, her voice laced with a sob.

She came from a prominent family. Since she could remember, her elder sister had been the Empress, and later she herself became the Empress. She had always enjoyed a respected and privileged status; she had never encountered anything like this before.

She tried to curse again, but her mouth was covered. "Mmmph... mmmph..."

Zu An lifted his head, wiped his moist lips, and said coldly, "You kept saying I offended you, and you used that to threaten to kill me. Alright, now I've *truly* offended you. If anything happens to me from now on, the Emperor will find out you've been touched by another man. Then let's see how you'll remain Empress. You should know very well what choice to make."

The Empress was completely stunned. However, after a brief surge of anger, she immediately realized that she genuinely had no way to retaliate against him afterward.

Just then, a cold snort suddenly echoed from the doorway nearby. "What a pair of adulterers!"