Seeing Zu An’s dazed expression, the empress finally realized what she had just said, and her cheeks flushed red. “What the heck are you thinking of? My injuries are severe, and I can’t sit. I have to lie on the bed!”

Zu An smiled in embarrassment. “You scared me to death! I thought that you…”

The empress snorted, “You thought that I wanted to sleep with you? What kind of dumb thoughts go on inside your head? I really have no idea what Chuyan saw in you.”

Zu An, carrying her to her bed, was stunned. “Your Highness, you know Chuyan?”

“We met once in the past. Both her looks and her character are first-class, and countless noble sons tried to court her.” The empress’s voice carried quite a bit of praise.

Her entire body suddenly went rigid. Her brows were knit together in a tight frown, and she was unable to speak any further.

She could feel something hard pressing against her. She had assumed that it was a dagger or some other weapon at first, so she did not pay it too much attention.

However, she suddenly felt it change, and that was when she realized the truth. This was the imperial palace! How could he have brought a weapon in?

Her face grew red at first, then darkened. “You damned brat, you really are daring! How dare you have such thoughts towards your empress!”

You have successfully trolled Liu Ning for 233 Rage points!

She wasn’t young nor innocent, so she was not shy or embarrassed about it. Instead, she immediately berated him.

Zu An grumbled inwardly. He could only try to explain himself. “You can’t blame me for this! Any normal man would have the same reaction if they were holding an incredible beauty like yourself. It would be weirder if there was no reaction at all.”

Even he felt that his explanation was rather shameless. What sort of situation were they in?

The empress sneered. “Isn’t your reaction too exaggerated?”

Zu An's skin was harder than a city wall. “This only means that Your Highness’ charm is just too formidable.”

The empress was so angry that she laughed instead. “Oh? Do you think I should be happy about it, then?”

Zu An placed her on the bed with a sigh. “Empress, you’re not an ordinary woman. You should know that it wasn’t on purpose. I never even wanted to get involved in all of this from the very start. It was you… Ahem, it was fate that willed it. There’s no need to argue over such a small matter."

The empress obviously understood the reasoning behind this. However, she was already used to her high and mighty stature. Letting him off the hook for this transgression did not sit well with her. “Hmph! How can such a thing be considered a small matter for us women? You’ve dared to disrespect me, which shows how little consideration you have for rules and etiquette to begin with, and proves that you’re just a scoundrel. Well then, should I tell His Majesty about this and have you beaten to death?”

She noticed the hint of viciousness that flashed across Zu An’s eyes the moment she said this, just before heavy force pressed down on her.

“What… What are you doing?” The empress flew into a panic at the weight of a man pressed so closely against her. Her calm expression fled, and she shrank backwards.

Unperturbed, Zu An pressed down on her shoulder and fixed her with a cold stare. “Woman, you’re the one who does not understand the current situation. I just saved your life! It’s one thing if you don’t thank me, but you’re threatening me instead.”

The empress’ eyes went wide. “That isn't a sufficient reason for you to be disrespectful towards me!”

She was already starting to regret her actions. Her threat had been an ordinary political tactic used to scare the other party, giving her room to rope him in afterwards. However, she never expected him to act so differently, and strike back at her.

Could it be that this fellow had no knowledge of court regulations? Notwithstanding that, she was still the empress! How did he dare to treat her like this? He truly is a scoundrel with an utter lack of respect for authority.

She could never have known that, ever since he entered the palace, Zu An had been strung up like a tightrope. He was surrounded by powers too great to comprehend. The empress, King Qi, or the other clans in the capital—he was not strong enough to protect himself if they demanded his life.

Walking this tight line had left him extremely stressed out, and he was already suppressing a great deal of rage. Now, this empress had come along and given him a hot load of garbage. The way she attacked him, the one who had saved her life, caused something to snap within him, and he could no longer keep a lid on his anger.

He was still a transmigrator, and did not have the same level of respect towards the monarchy as the natives of this world did.

Zu An’s gaze was icy-cold. “Empress, please understand clearly that you threw yourself at me. Even so, I did not suspect you of seducing me at all. How can you turn around and claim that I treated you with disrespect?”

“Me, seduce you?” Even the empress, who was normally rather even-tempered, couldn’t help but grow furious. “I am the mother of an empire, the glorious empress! Why would I seduce a shameless scoundrel?”

You have successfully trolled Liu Ning for 444… 444… 444…

Zu An harrumphed. “That’s hard to say. The empress may have a pristine appearance, but it does get lonesome within the palace. You might have missed the feeling of a man.”

The empress’ gaze grew frigid. “Absolutely disgraceful! Don’t you know that these words alone could lead to the eradication of your clan a hundred times over?”

You have successfully trolled Liu Ning for 999… 999… 999…

She was on the verge of ordering the execution of all of his relatives!

Zu An was incensed as well. “Your Highness, I’m afraid you don’t understand the situation you’re in. There are many assassins outside right now. Even if I kill you, everyone will believe that it was the assassins who did it. No one would suspect me.”

The empress’ breathing grew ragged, and her large chest rose and fell rapidly. However, she refrained from taunting him any further.

Everything that this man had done up to the present moment proved that he had no reservations. She wasn’t about to throw her life away now because of some fleeting emotion.

Her eyes flickered about. She decided on a plan, and mellowed her tone. “Fine. I was the one in the wrong earlier on. I’ll offer you an apology here. Please get off me so we can speak properly.”

She had already decided that, once everything was said and done, she was going to order Eunuch Lu to secretly get rid of this scoundrel.

Zu An saw a constant stream of notifications—You have successfully trolled Liu Ning for 1024 Rage points!—coming in through his Keyboard system. If I didn’t have this Keyboard system, I might have really been fooled by you.

He sighed. “Your Highness plans to kill me off after pacifying me. Isn’t that right?”

The empress was shocked. Can this fellow read minds? How does he know my thoughts?

Her face immediately paled, because she knew that things were turning sour. Why would this guy ever let her go if he knew what she planned to do? There were so many assassins outside as well, and he could easily put the blame on them.

The only two other witnesses were the two lesser eunuchs outside. However, they were not cultivators, and it was easy enough to dispatch them.

This thought dispelled any lingering hesitation. She had finally accumulated some ki again. Gathering her strength, she sent a palm flying towards her chest.

Zu An was already prepared. He grabbed her wrist and pressed it against the bed. The strength, which she had mustered with great difficulty, instantly vanished.

The empress was on the verge of tears. Her cultivation was sufficient to dominate the entire world. In the past, she could have killed him with a single strike. Yet now, she had fallen so low that she was being bullied by a dog—No, pressed down under a dog! It was a truly tragic fate.

Zu An instinctively whipped out the Poisonous Prick from his Brilliant Glass Bead, the blade flashing towards the empress’ neck. The empress could clearly sense the chill of the blade. This was a weapon that cut straight at the soul. This was imminent death. She cried out and instinctively closed her eyes.

The Poisonous Prick stopped a hair from her snow-white neck. Zu An’s expression flickered. Frankly, he wasn’t an indiscriminate murderer. Killing someone like this wasn’t something he wanted to do if he could afford not to.

Yet if he didn’t, the consequences would be endless.

There was no way he could stop halfway.

The empress sensed his hesitation. She opened her eyes and sneered. “What, you don’t dare lay a hand on me now? If you respectfully kowtow to me three times in apology, I might just consider forgiving you.”

“Kowtow my ass!” Zu An exploded with rage. His palm smacked straight down on her large, juicy and peach-shaped cheeks.

All rational thought disappeared from the empress’ mind. She stared at him in a daze, temporarily unable to form a coherent sentence.

Since he was committed, Zu An couldn’t stop halfway. He smacked her viciously. I’ve gotta admit, this does feel rather nice…

“Ah!! What are you doing?”

“Stop hitting me!”

“I… was wrong! Isn’t that enough?”

“Ah~”

…

The empress let out a high-pitched yet slightly muffled cry, leaving Zu An slightly stunned. Isn’t she giving up a little too easily?

The empress’ eyes were already filled with tears, and her body was shaking uncontrollably. “I will chop up your corpse into ten thousand pieces!” She said through gritted teeth. It sounded like she was sobbing.

She had been born into a great clan. From her earliest memory, her older sister had been the empress, and she later assumed the mantle of empress as well. She had always enjoyed a lofty status and an extravagant life. When had she ever been subjected to something like this?

She was about to curse again, but her mouth was suddenly covered by his. “Mmm...mmm…”

Zu An straightened, wiping off the drool around her mouth. His voice was cold. “You keep saying that I’ve offended you, and even use this accusation to threaten me with death. Fine. Now I've truly offended you. If anything happens to me in the future, I will let the emperor know that you were violated by another man. Let’s see how you continue being the empress when that time comes. I’m sure your choice is clear enough.”

The empress was completely dumbstruck. However, after her initial rage had passed, she realized that she really had no way of getting back at him..

At that moment, cold, mocking laughter drifted over from the doorway. “What a spectacular pair of adulterers!”