Chapter 933: Entrenched Longing, Do You Know or Not

Qi Wang always found Zuan's smile peculiar, though he couldn't pinpoint why. Just then, he saw other ministers arriving one after another. Not wanting too many people to know that their relationship had eased, he took the opportunity to leave.

Zuan went directly to wait outside the Imperial Study. Unexpectedly, after learning of his presence, the Emperor came over before the morning court session.

"I heard you made quite a splash at the brothel last night. Why are you here so early? Do you have something urgent to report?" the Emperor asked after sitting down.

Zuan's heart skipped a beat. The palace gates hadn't even opened last night, yet the Emperor knew everything that had happened outside.

"I had to sacrifice my good name to complete the mission," he said with a "grieved and indignant" expression.

The Emperor was speechless.

This fellow was truly shameless. No official in the entire court dared to speak to him like that.

"Judging by your tone, it seems the mission is complete?" Although he asked, he knew it was highly unlikely. How could something be completed so quickly in just one day? He was ready to seize the opportunity to reprimand Zuan after his answer, telling him not to be so frivolous.

"It is indeed complete," Zuan replied.

The Emperor instinctively nodded. "As expected, you need to work harder in the future..." He paused mid-sentence, suddenly stunned. "What? Complete?"

Seeing the Emperor's expression, as if he'd just been constipated, Zuan felt a secret delight, though he dared not show it. He then recounted everything that had happened last night, naturally omitting any details concerning the demon race or Nanxun.

After finishing, he handed over the prepared audio-visual mirror. This mirror had been requested from the embroidery mansion's storeroom earlier; it could only record a single video segment and was far less advanced than the Chu family's mirror, which allowed real-time communication.

Upon seeing Yu Nan sitting in Bi Ziang's arms, whimpering and acting coquettishly in the video, the Emperor's face twitched uncontrollably. His stomach churned. He then looked at Zuan with a complex expression, thinking, *This fellow... how did he come up with such a mess?*

Yet, he had to admit, despite how disgusting it looked, it was quite useful.

"Alright, with this, Yu Nan is finished," the Emperor said, putting down the audio-visual mirror to avoid throwing up his overnight tea if he watched any more.

Zuan tentatively asked, "May I ask how Your Majesty plans to use the content of this mirror?"

The Emperor frowned slightly, instinctively disliking a subject probing his thoughts. However, Zuan had just brilliantly completed a task, so it wasn't appropriate to reprimand him. He could only patiently explain, "The content in this mirror is too... too indecent. It certainly cannot be released directly."

"So, it was all for nothing?" Zuan felt a pang of disappointment, realizing he wouldn't get to see them socially disgraced.

"Of course not," the Emperor said. "Actually, Yu Nan's jealousy and competition with you yesterday were already enough. However, although many people know about it now, it's still confined to a small circle. So, we need someone to stir up this matter and make it even hotter."

Zuan's expression turned wary, thinking, *He's not going to give it to me again, is he?*

As if reading his mind, the Emperor continued, "Bi Ziang's 'Eighteen Friends of the Green Garden' have extensive connections. They spend their days discussing romantic affairs and seem to be highly popular among the common people. So, when the time comes, summon Bi Ziang, show him the content of this audio-visual mirror, and he will naturally know what to do."

If Bi Ziang doesn't want to be socially disgraced, he will undoubtedly try his best to prevent this video from being exposed. He is a clever man and naturally knows that as long as Yu Nan is socially disgraced first, this video will lose its meaning. Therefore, he will certainly make every effort to do this.

Zuan listened dumbfounded, thinking, *When it comes to cunning schemes, no one can compare to the Emperor.*

The crucial point was that the Bi family still supported the Crown Prince. To be sold out by the Emperor like this, it was predictable that the two families would clash fiercely over it later.

Indeed, for the Emperor, loyalty mattered little; the top priority was always to maintain balance. As long as his subjects were busy fighting among themselves, the Emperor could rest easy.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Zuan said. This was good too; he had been somewhat worried about retaliation from the Yu family, especially since Yu Yanluo had shown him kindness. A real conflict would not be ideal.

The Emperor was about to attend court, so Zuan tactfully took his leave.

Watching Zuan's departing back, the Emperor frowned. Logically, this fellow was indeed a very satisfactory subordinate. These recent tasks had been so tricky, yet he had handled them beautifully. The Emperor should have liked him very much.

But for some reason, whenever he saw Zuan, there was an unconscious dislike within him.

After leaving the Imperial Study, Zuan went directly to the Eastern Palace.

With his current official position, he wasn't required to attend morning court, so he was happy to enjoy the leisure.

As he was nearing the Eastern Palace, something suddenly occurred to him. He found a passing maid and asked for some green tangerines. He then peeled them and squeezed the juice from the rinds onto himself.

Sniffing himself and detecting only the strong scent of green tangerine, he finally relaxed. He had been caught by the scent of other women's perfumes on him several times before. This time, he had finally learned his lesson. How clever!

Upon arriving at the Eastern Palace, Pu Duandiao and Jiao Sigun saw him and greeted him with smiles. Their relationship was already good, and with the life-saving kindness from the secret realm, they were almost like sworn brothers.

Zuan tentatively asked, "Is there anything you want to ask?"

Both of them paused, "What would we want to ask?"

"Nothing," Zuan said, sighing in relief. Given these two's personalities, especially Pu Duandiao's, if they knew about last night, they would surely be winking and prying about what happened, perhaps even more thoroughly than that fellow Pei You.

Their expressions clearly indicated they were unaware. This meant the news hadn't reached the palace yet. Good, meeting Bi Linglong later wouldn't be a disaster.

Next, Zuan went to pay his respects to the Crown Prince. However, the Crown Prince had only recently woken up and seemed to be in a bad mood, showing no interest in anything.

After dealing with the Crown Prince, Zuan hurried to see Bi Linglong. Unlike the Crown Prince, she was already dressed in splendid attire, looking noble and beautiful, utterly flawless. "Greetings, Crown Princess!"

In front of others, proper etiquette had to be observed.

"You may dispense with the formalities, Master Zuan," Bi Linglong replied casually, then continued to look down at the memorials on her desk.

To train the Crown Prince, the Emperor would specifically hand over some less urgent state affairs memorials to the Eastern Palace for handling.

The Crown Prince's demeanor clearly indicated he wasn't one to handle affairs; usually, Bi Linglong managed everything.

"Having just emerged from the secret realm, Your Highness's body has not fully recovered. You shouldn't overexert yourself," Zuan said with concern. Her once raven hair had turned white, a constant reminder of the significant loss of her vitality.

Bi Linglong merely uttered an "Oh" and then ignored him.

Zuan was taken aback. Her attitude was unusual.

He quietly transmitted a message using his vital energy, "Linglong, what's wrong?"

Unfortunately, she still didn't respond.

He called out a few more times, seeing her remain unresponsive. Instead, he kept receiving a series of rage points in his system. Zuan felt puzzled, then an idea struck him. "If you keep this up, I'm coming over to hug you!"

"You wouldn't dare!" As expected, hearing him say that, Bi Linglong looked up with a hint of panic and glared at him. Of course, all this was communicated secretly through vital energy transmission.

"Watch me!" Zuan retorted, not backing down.

Bi Linglong knew he was always bold and indeed worried he might cause a huge stir in the Eastern Palace on impulse. So, she snorted, "Why aren't you resting a bit longer with that courtesan? Why are you running over to me so early in the morning?"

Zuan chuckled wryly. So, she was jealous about that.

It seemed that as Crown Princess, she also had her own intelligence channels.

Damn, all that effort with the green tangerines for nothing.

However, he reacted quickly and immediately said, "You misunderstood. I was at the brothel to handle a case."

He then roughly explained how the Emperor had ordered him to find fault with Yu Nan.

But Bi Linglong was not as easily fooled as Chu Youzhao. She sneered, "Just investigating a case? Did you need to stay the night there?"

"If I had left in that situation, wouldn't it have aroused suspicion?" Zuan quickly explained. "I swear, I absolutely did not have the same physical contact with that courtesan last night as I have with you, or may I be struck by five bolts of lightning."

Indeed, Bi Linglong had never helped him in that specific way.

Seeing him make such a severe vow, Bi Linglong was startled. "Are you crazy? Don't make such vows lightly!"

"My conscience is clear, so it's naturally fine," Zuan said earnestly.

Bi Linglong already believed him, but she couldn't quite bring herself to admit it and still said coldly, "Then why did you write poems for that courtesan? 'Spring boudoir,' 'person in a dream'—it sounds sickeningly sappy."

Zuan realized that this was the real issue. He chuckled. "Wasn't that also for the investigation? By the way, I have a secret report to deliver to the Crown Princess."

He then had a nearby maid bring paper and a brush.

Bi Linglong's heart stirred, and she largely guessed his intention, thinking, *He thinks he can just fob me off like this? I'm not that courtesan; I'm not that easily tricked.*

Soon, Zuan finished writing, folded the note, and handed it over. "This is an urgent report. I hope the Crown Princess will review and instruct."

Bi Linglong snorted, then secretly unfolded the note. Her face instantly flushed, and her breathing quickened.

Because on it was a poem:"A lamp lit deep within the well, shining brightly on you,Let us journey far together, my love, let's not play Go.On ingenious dice, red beans are set,My deep, bone-deep longing, do you know it or not?"

Just before bed yesterday, I suddenly learned that Zongheng was acquired by Qimao. Chatting with friends, I worried about the future, causing me insomnia; I only slept 3-4 hours last night and had a headache all day today.

Ah, why do us wage-earners, eating pickled vegetables, worry about such things? We just can't shake the habit of being keyboard politicians.