Chapter 2269: Are the Heavens Messing With Me?!
Chapter 2269: Are the Heavens Messing With Me?!
Within the Heart Nurturing Palace, Bi Linglong, who was usually very mindful of her etiquette, was snuggling up against Zu An like a kitten. She had just cried her heart out, but now she gradually calmed down as Zu An comforted her. As she felt his warm chest and heard his gentle voice, she suddenly felt that things were no longer that scary. It was just as he'd said: Bad things would always pass, and from now on, he would be by her side. That was enough for her.
“By the way, Ah Zu, the reason I came to see you was to let you know about what the empress dowager and I discussed regarding personnel arrangements.” Bi Linglong finally remembered what she had come here for. She wanted to sit up, but as Zu An held her firmly, she decided to just continue leaning against him. She really liked the feeling of being hugged by her lover; the Imperial Palace really was too large, and the place where she normally sat was too cold.
“It’s fine, you two can decide. I trust you,” Zu An said with a smile.
Bi Linglong rolled her eyes at him playfully. “Where else could I ever find an arm-flinging shopkeeper like you? We still need you to personally decide on some more crucial matters.”
When he saw her playfully angry look, Zu An couldn't help but kiss her.
“Let’s talk about proper matters first, or else I might not have any strength to talk about anything else after.” Bi Linglong put her finger against his lips. Her cheeks were a bit red.
“Tell me then! I didn’t even kiss you on the lips,” Zu An replied with a smile. He continued to kiss her cheek and neck.
“It tickles~” Bi Linglong laughed, trying to avoid him. She knew she always ended up extremely embarrassed because of this guy, and as a result, ended up completely forgetting whatever she really came to do. Thus, she explained quickly, “The Pei clan participated in the coup, so Pei Ming naturally doesn’t need his Director of the Imperial Secretariat position anymore. I plan to give the position to Jiang Boyang. He's always had prestige and competence, and he also has a good relationship with you. He bears a lot of gratitude toward you for what you did, so he’s the best candidate for this position.”
Zu An nodded slightly. Jiang Boyang was indeed suited to this role.
Bi Linglong suddenly asked, “By the way, is that Miss Jiang your woman?”
“What kind of nonsense are you saying? We're only friends. She was the academy principal when I was still in Brightmoon City, and she took care of me a lot back then,” Zu An replied.
“Only friends? Miss Jiang is so beautiful. She was almost chosen as the crown princess, which was why she ran away to avoid this responsibility. Did you really let someone like that go?” Bi Linglong asked in disbelief.
Zu An replied in annoyance, “Am I really just some lust demon who goes after every beautiful woman I see?”
“Are you not?” Bi Linglong retorted while puckering her lips a bit.
Zu An was speechless. He gave her a firm knead out of annoyance.
Bi Linglong moaned and wrapped her arms around Zu An’s neck. She moved closer to his ear and asked, “Aren’t Miss Jiang’s stockings really beautiful?”
“They’re alright.” Zu An couldn't help but grin when he thought of Jiang Luofu’s black silk stockings and high heels.
“If you like them, I can wear them for you next time too.” Bi Linglong’s cheeks turned bright red. She had always been raised to follow the most reserved and traditional etiquette. This kind of thing was way too embarrassing for her.
Zu An was clearly excited, replying, “Sure!”
Stockings were quite rare in this world; they had only been seen in some ancient dungeons, so there weren’t too many of them on the market. Still, Bi Linglong was the glorious empress! It wouldn’t be too hard for her to find some.
Ah Zu really is greedy for Miss Jiang after all.
Bi Linglong’s eyes darted around quickly. After a harrumph, she continued, “Also, Yu Xuanchong is also a person of virtue and prestige. He left his official position because he got caught up in the struggle between the crown prince and King Qi, but considering the relationship between you and Madam Yu, it would be a good choice to restore him to his position.”
She couldn't help but feel a bit dejected when she reached this point. After all, that was the position her father had held.
Father schemed so much, but what did he obtain after all of that?
It would have been better if he hadn’t done a single thing. As long as I supported Ah Zu, the entire court would have been his. The monsters wouldn’t have been able to harm him.
But she knew that wasn’t realistic. With her father’s suspicious nature and the fact that he had participated in the assassinations of the previous dynasty’s princes, he would never have believed that Ah Zu would let him go. And yet, she knew that for her sake, Zu An wouldn’t pursue this matter to its end.
He was a really good person to begin with…
As if sensing her change in emotions, Zu An gently patted her back in consolation.
Bi Linglong calmed herself down and said, “There is also the Secretariat Director position. The empress dowager suggested that Sang Hong take this position. He is a capable subject, and he's worked as the vice minister of finance, so he's familiar with all kinds of governmental affairs. It was only because his family background wasn’t good enough that he couldn't go further. However, because of Miss Sang and Zheng’s relationship to you, I feel that he's also quite suitable.”
Zu An nodded. Even though Sang Hong wasn’t a good person in the traditional sense, he was a capable official. Additionally, Sang Hong was his strongest ally at the moment, so there was no better choice for this position.
“As for the military, we’ll definitely have to change out many positions. The Qin clan’s state dukes have always held a lot of prestige, and they're good for stabilizing the station. However, because they held both the Vanguard and Defense General positions, almost every officer came from the Qin clan. Together with their closeness to the Murong and Chu clans, I fear this situation might end up creating some hidden disturbances. More importantly, the Qin clan doesn’t have a daughter to marry to you, and their relationship with you is too frail. That's why I plan to make one of them the Defense General, but the other a Guard General. What do you think?”
Zu An’s face darkened. “Do you really need them to marry a daughter off to me? I’m not so stingy that I’d appoint people based on nepotism alone.”
Bi Linglong said with a serious expression, “As someone with authority, nepotism isn’t a bad thing. Only in this way can you ensure that your thoughts will be passed down smoothly. Even though there are quite a few people who are capable, if they're not of one mind with you, the more capable they are, the more dangerous it will be for you.
“Even though I don’t like how much mercy you show people, I have to admit that it’s actually a plus in politics. It's just like being joined to other clans in marriage. With that kind of relationship, their interests will be aligned with yours, and I can feel at ease entrusting greater responsibilities to them. Have you not noticed that those important officials we just talked about all have daughters who have close connections to you?”
Now, even Zu An was starting to become a bit embarrassed. “I didn't want my skirt-chasing to suddenly become so high-sounding based on your description.”
Bi Linglong sighed. “What else can I do? It’s my fault for liking you, so I can only do what I can for myself to accept all of you.”
A woman as outstanding and proud as her, no matter how much she loved someone, would still definitely hope for a single-minded and devoted love. Perhaps she would tolerate a few concubines at most to help the clan establish branch families. But Zu An was too outstanding, outstanding to the point that she felt it was a bit unreal. She knew he was definitely not someone she could keep all to herself. Thus, rather than continuing to criticize him for his faults, she figured it could be better to be a bit more generous right from the start. That idea was part of the education she had been raised on ever since she was chosen to become the crown princess. She'd never expected to end up using it here.
“Linglong.” Zu An felt moved and hugged her tightly in his arms.
Bi Linglong’s cheeks pressed against his chest as she said, “By the way, I heard that Qin Wanru wanted you to give your blessing for their marriage with the Murong clan? I remember that Murong Qinghe seems to have a good impression of you. If you put in a bit more effort, that young lady could definitely be easily obtained as well. That way, the Murong clan would become your most loyal ally, and the Qin, Chu, and Murong clan wouldn’t form too close of a triangle alliance.”
Zu An couldn't help but say with a chuckle, “Qinghe and Youzhao are childhood sweethearts. Don’t worry, I know all of their clans and they’re all upstanding people. I don’t think the situation you're thinking of will occur.”
“It might not appear in this generation, but what about the next generation? Or perhaps a few more after that? An alliance between subjects like this is a threat to the court,” Bi Linglong grumbled.
Zu An knew that her worries weren’t unfounded. After she'd managed the court for so many years, he was amazed at how her way of thinking was already completely that of a ruler. He remarked, “Linglong, you really are suited to being the empress.”
Bi Linglong’s face turned a bit red. “I don’t want to be an empress at all. I'd rather just live like a normal person and calmly spend the rest of my life with you.”
The education she had been raised under made her pursue power and influence over all. But now, the Bi clan had already fallen so much, and she was practically cut off from everywhere else. What meaning was there left in pursuing any of that stuff anymore?
Still, she knew that with Zu An’s current ability and status, how could he ever live an ordinary life? Even if she was willing, the vixens around him wouldn’t be willing!
“Linglong, let me share something with you. I have no interest in the throne, and I'm only staying here to help the overall situation stabilize a little. In the future, I'll do my best to assist you in becoming the empress. You're better suited to manage this country than me.” Zu An knew his own personality well. Just thinking about managing such complex governmental affairs gave him a headache, let alone the fact that his goals were now set much further away. A trifling human emperor position wasn’t very interesting to him.
“Hm? You seem to have made the Mermaid Queen an empress, and now you want me to become the human empress…” Bi Linglong’s expression suddenly turned red. “Look at you! Are you tired of just playing around with a normal empress, so now you’re more interested in female rulers?”
Zu An was surprised. He held her close and replied, “Is that not okay?”
“You bad person~” Bi Linglong gently hit his chest. “And what's going on between you and that Mermaid Empress? If I remember correctly, the two of you had never met before, right? Why did you two suddenly become a couple?”
“What do you mean, a couple? We just dealt with some important affairs together,” Zu An said with an embarrassed laugh.
“And then familiarity bred fondness?” Bi Linglong replied with an ambiguous smile.
Zu An was a bit surprised. “I didn’t expect you to be able to make these kinds of jokes either.”
Bi Linglong’s face reddened. “I was influenced by you, obviously! You lead me astray.”
Zu An hugged her close and said, “Haha, since you’re so interested, I’ll tell you about what happened in the Ocean races' territory…”
“Ah! Just keep talking if you’re going to talk about the Ocean races! Why are you tugging at my clothes?” Bi Linglong suddenly noticed that something wasn’t quite right.
“Just talking is boring, so we can do some other things as well to save time.” Zu An felt as if he was about to explode after having been interrupted just now.
When she saw the changes happening to him, Bi Linglong’s face turned completely red and she said, “Then I won’t listen.”
She was about to get up and leave, but suddenly, she was pulled back and cried out in alarm. When she felt Zu An's blazing hot lips and slightly rough hands, her body softened up. Her resistance became weaker and weaker.
The two of them had been apart for too long, and she had missed him every day. Now, her emotions overtook her and she couldn't help but respond to her lover. Still, she wondered if this was how he had been taking advantage of Yun Yuqing just now. She couldn't help but give his body a sniff, but she didn’t smell anything strange.
But Ah Zu seems to be able to use the water element, so covering it up wouldn't be too difficult.
Ah, just what am I thinking about right now…
Her body suddenly trembled. She tightly hugged the man beside her, and she bit down fiercely on his shoulder, as if she was blaming him for being too rough.
Zu An looked a lot more comfortable. Then, he slowly told her about his experiences as of late. But his expression changed again before he could even say too much.
Are the heavens screwing with me right now?!
There are more coming right now?
“Ah Zu, what’s wrong?” Bi Linglong’s hair was a mess, and she looked as if she was drunk. In contrast to her disheveled face, the flower mark between her brows looked even more beautiful.
“Hmph, someone is courting death!” Zu An said with a cold snort.