King Liang smiled but said nothing. Liu Yao was the empress’ uncle, so he represented the crown prince’s interests, while King Wu wasn’t the empress’ son. The two of them naturally didn’t get along, so it was expected that he would subconsciously be suspicious of him.

Unlike the Liu clan, King Liang didn’t really care at all which of the sons became the next emperor. It wouldn’t really affect his status either way.

He laughed again and shifted his focus. “Rather than worrying about King Wu, I think there are other parties that we should be more concerned about. That brat Zu An might be annoying, but what he said was reasonable. Many parties will surely come after our convoy after hearing the news.”

Liu Yao’s voice was full of venom. “That kid really is hateful! He told everyone about the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra on purpose! If I’d known that this was going to happen, I would have locked down the entire Brightmoon City so no information could get out.”

King Liang smiled bitterly. “How could we possibly completely keep such information from spreading? Those powers all have their own special information channels. They can communicate even without people coming and going from the city. Even City Lord Xie Yi is part of King Qi’s faction. Do you think he would have allowed you to lock down the city?”

Liu Yao snorted. “These fellows continue to pay us lip service, but they’re all opposing us in private! Once the crown prince takes the throne, we will deal with them one by one!”

King Liang coughed lightly and said, “Brother Liu, please speak cautiously.”

Liu Yao was shocked. He suddenly realized that he had gone too far. When would the crown prince rise to the throne? Obviously only after the current emperor passed away!

Hadn’t he just wished death upon the emperor?

This was what the emperor had obsessed over the most in recent years. There had been a chef who mentioned the word ‘death’ while slaughtering a chicken, which just happened to reach the ear of the emperor as he was passing by. That chef ended up being executed.

“Thank you, respected king, for your reminder.” Liu Yao had a grateful expression on his face.

King Liang said with a smile, “There is no need for that. Our journey will definitely be a rough one, so we need to take care of each other.”

To be honest, if it wasn’t because he still needed Liu Yao and his Imperial Guard, he couldn’t have cared less if this man courted disaster on his own.

Liu Yao disapproved of his statement. “He is someone the emperor himself has deemed a criminal. We are personally escorting him, and we even have the Imperial Guard and Embroidered Envoy with us. Do you really think anyone would be brazen enough to try and seize him from us?”

King Liang sighed deeply. “The allure of eternal life is too fatal for too many people, let alone the fact that there are also many who do not wish to see his majesty gain eternal life.”

Liu Yao fell silent. Leaving others aside for the moment, even… wouldn’t wish to see the emperor gain eternal life.

...

Compared to the tense atmosphere of this carriage, the mood in the carriage behind it was much more cheerful.

Zheng Dan was huddled in the corner, a strong blush burning in her cheeks. “You! Why did you have to drag me into this carriage?”

Zu An smiled. “What’s wrong? Now you won’t have to worry about the wind and sun anymore. You can enjoy yourself in this comfortable carriage.”

His eyes wandered about the interior of the carriage. This Liu Yao was filthy rich! This carriage was decked out like a freaking Rolls-Royce!

Zheng Dan realized that Zu An had noticed her using her hand to shield herself from the sun earlier, which was why he’d stopped everyone to demand a change of carriages. Everyone thought that he was just being annoying, but she knew that he’d done this for her. This thought softened her heart a little.

However, being in a dark and enclosed space with him while so many others looked on made her extremely uncomfortable. How was she going to live this down?

“Come over here and massage my legs for me. Staying in a carriage for so long made my legs go numb.” Zu An propped his legs up on her lap.

Zheng Dan gave a startled jerk, and immediately pointed outside.

Zu An wasn’t worried at all. “There's nothing to fear. The prison carriage is far away from this carriage. They can’t hear anything.”

Zheng was embarrassed and annoyed. She pointed next to the carriage. She wasn’t only worried about Sang Qian! The Embroidered Envoy was nearby as well, watching them.

Zu An realized what was going on. “Come on, I took you out of that prison carriage and into this comfortable one, but you won’t even massage my legs? Commander Huang, don’t you think that that’s a little unreasonable?” He directed the latter half of his complaint outside.

Huang Huihong snorted. “You’d better watch yourself. Her husband is still watching from behind us.”

“I understand! Commander Huang is saying that playing around is fine, as long as I don’t go too far.” Zu An chuckled. “As for Sang Qian, he can watch if he wants. Too bad he can’t see anything though.”

Huang Huihong almost choked.

Like hell that’s what I meant!

However, he didn’t feel like correcting Zu An at the moment. This kid really was hard to deal with. His task was to escort him safely to the capital city, and that was it. He couldn’t be bothered about anything else. It wasn’t his wife that was being taken advantage of.

Zu An laughed and said to Zheng Dan, “See? He doesn’t even care.”

Zheng Dan bit down on her red-painted lip. There wasn’t much she could do about it. She glared at him resentfully, then began rubbing his legs gently.

The two of them actually did quite a bit of this in private, but it was hard for her to let go of her public image in front of so many other people.

“Sigh… Miss Zheng’s hands really do feel as comfortable as usual.” Zu An looked at her with a smile. Zheng Dan was stunning to begin with, but she was even more enchanting in her wedding dress.

Zheng Dan’s heart began to pound. Fortunately, there was no response from outside. No one had picked up anything from what he’d said.

Zu An patted his own lap, clearly inviting her to sit.

Zheng Dan was given a fright. She frantically shook her head. Are you kidding me? There were so many people paying attention to what was happening inside! What was she supposed to do if someone else found out?

Zu An mouthed silently, “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything. I just want to hold you in my arms. I don’t think there’ll be many chances for us to be like this anymore.”

Zheng Dan grew sad. Indeed... even if she and the Sang clan still had a sliver of a chance at survival, Zu An was definitely a dead man. He’d offended the emperor, after all.

She put aside her rational thought and slowly melted into his embrace. The two of them snuggled against each other for warmth.

He sensed her trembling slightly, and he knew that she wasn’t as strong as she looked on the outside. Zu An gently patted her shoulders.

He still had things that he could depend on, but how could a young woman like her handle so much?

“Thank you…” Zheng Dan felt a surge of warmth well up within her heart.

“Is there still a need for that between us?” Zu An looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms. She was wearing her wedding dress as well, which made her look even more stunning. Passion erupted within him.

A pair of soft red lips moved to cover his. It was as though heavenly lighting had struck the ground and rent it asunder, leaving boiling magma pouring forth. He immediately tightened his embrace around the beauty in his arms.

Zheng Dan seemed to have poured all of the fear, terror, despair, and all the other negative feelings that had accumulated within her into this moment.

Zu An’s hands wandered across her curvaceous body, but something suddenly left him stumped. This wedding dress was incredibly pretty, but it was way too extravagant! He had no idea how to undo these clothes!

Zheng Dan pressed down on his hand. She shook her head while biting her lip. Her large and intelligent eyes seemed to speak, warning him that there were still many people outside. Sneaking kisses was okay, but she didn’t dare go any further.

“Wouldn’t it be okay if we don’t make any sound?” Zu An wrote on her body.

Zheng Dan’s heart was pounding fiercely. She began to hesitate.

Seeing the chink in her defenses, Zu An continued on his offensive.

Zheng Dan’s own passion was quickly ignited as well. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.

Zheng Dan suddenly smiled in embarrassment. She reached to undo her own collar.

Zu An grabbed her hands and mouthed silently, “Don’t take it off. It’s more interesting if you keep it on.”

Zheng Dan glared at him in annoyance. The two of them were already beyond familiar with each other. How could she not know what he meant?

Zu An slowly wrote on her palm, “It’s such a pity that your wedding lacked a wedding night. I guess I have no choice but to make up for your loss myself!”

Zheng Dan was embarrassed and ashamed. She bit down viciously on him. Was a wedding night with her husband something that another man could compensate for?!