Chapter 1494: Call Him Father

This scene before Zu An was enough to make any man among the Fiend races go crazy. The Second Empress was the most famous beauty among the Fiend races. Her special status made countless people feel an innate desire to dominate her.

However, the Fiend Emperor’s existence had always prevented anyone from acting on those thoughts. They could only fantasize about her in their dreams. Some people with the means to do so had commanded female servants to wear makeup and clothes similar to the Second Empress; even so, they got bored fairly quickly, and their longing for the Second Empress only grew stronger as a result.

And yet, such a woman who could make any Fiend race man go crazy was now taking off her clothes right in front of Zu An. No one would be able to resist something like that, right?

However, Zu An’s expression remained extremely calm. He replied, “Do you think I’ve never seen a woman or something? Would I lose my head over a woman when it came to something this important?”

The Second Empress’ cheeks heated up. For many years, she had been extremely confident about her own body. Any random look would make her subordinates go crazy, while a smile would make them lose their souls. She hadn’t expected there to actually be a man who would refuse her.

Ahh… This is so embarrassing… I really want to run away and hide…

That thought appeared in her mind, but she was a competent individual and quickly recovered. She said, “Whether it is the Medusa Queen, the Elf Princess, or the two grandmasters, they are all incredibly beautiful. Of course it would not be so easy to charm you with beauty…”

She felt a bit of regret when she thought of that. How did I forget about that? Now, I’m in this kind of situation…

She quickly sorted out her thoughts and continued, “I was not trying to tempt you with beauty. Rather, I am trying to express my sincerity. This is nothing more than a down payment.”

“Down payment?” Zu An repeated with a strange expression. Her wording had been rather unusual just then.

The Second Empress endured the embarrassment she felt as she calmly put on her clothes again. Even Zu An was surprised by just how alluring the scene of her getting dressed was. It really expanded his horizons. Who said women were only beautiful when they took off their clothes?

Soon, the Second Empress finished putting on her clothes again, her face heating up. She turned around and walked back outside toward her crying son. With her back to Zu An, she was able to gradually calm down.

Shortly afterward, the young prince walked back in with her, seemingly confused. He didn’t know why his mother would spend so much time in the room with this handsome uncle.

The Second Empress brought the young prince up to Zu An, saying, “Hurry and kowtow toward him. In the future, he will be your adoptive father.”

Zu An was a bit surprised. The Second Empress really was a talented woman; she quickly grasped what was important in this situation. She had shown him everything just then, and now, she was making her son establish such a relationship with him. Her actions were full of sincerity. From today onward, they would all share benefits and interests together.

The young prince was unwilling, protesting, “No, I have father emperor!”

“Father emperor is already…” the Second Empress began, but after some hesitation, she didn’t say it. He was still too young, and the news would be a bit too cruel. She kneeled down on the ground, held his shoulders, and said seriously, “Your eldest brother wanted to kill you just now. Do you remember how humiliated you felt?”

“I do!” the young prince exclaimed. Her eyes were filled with anger, but he also felt a deep sense of powerlessness. He was still too young and didn’t know how to fight against his powerful eldest brother.

The Second Empress said, “Your father emperor cannot protect you anymore in the future. From today on, your adoptive father will protect you and help you defeat your eldest brother. Do you understand?”

The youngest prince had really been frightened badly by what happened today. Furthermore, he was still young and listened to his mother closely. He quickly gave up his objections and respectfully kowtowed toward Zu An, following his mother’s instructions. He said reluctantly, “I greet adoptive father.”

Zu An picked him up and hugged him, remarking, “Who’s a good child?” He thought, As expected of the Second Empress’ son, this kid is pretty cute.

When she saw Zu An treat her son in such an intimate way, the Second Empress sighed in relief. At the same time, her impression of him also slowly improved.

Zu An carried the young prince while saying to the Second Empress, “In that case, let’s join forces in the future. Tell me what you have at your disposal first, and then we can decide what to do.”

Seeing her hesitation, he asked with a frown, “Don’t tell me you don’t have a single trusted aide after all these years?”

“I do, but I don’t know if they’ll be of any use,” the Second Empress said. As she had maintained a position of power for so long, it was natural for her to have some hesitation about sharing all of her secrets. After thinking for a bit, she eventually said, “I have a trusted aide in the Imperial Palace, Central Regular Attendant Bi Cui. He was the one who informed me, and that’s why I knew someone wanted to act against the youngest prince. That was why I quickly left the palace to protect him.”

Zu An nodded. A Central Regular Attendant was a eunuch in the palace who was in charge of passing on the Fiend Emperor’s imperial orders and official documents, and thus had a large amount of authority. The Fiend races’ Imperial Palace had several Central Regular Attendants; if the Second Empress had one who was loyal to her, that would provide them with support in the Imperial Palace.

The Second Empress continued, “There’s also the young prince’s teacher, Imperial Secretariat Right Confidential Assistant Bo Jin. He’s a famous scholar who’s known for being kind.”

Zu An thought that having someone with a voice in the court would indeed be very useful in the future. However, Bo Jin wouldn’t be of much use in tonight’s chaos.

“Apart from that, there’s also my mother’s Xiao clan. They have a portion of the Fiend King Court’s City Defense Army under them, but those soldiers are far from as capable as the Golden Crow Guards. Additionally, though, they’ve been able to maintain a private army of several hundred men around their manor. That private army is much stronger,” the Second Empress said.

“Your surname is Xiao?” Zu An asked, a little surprised. The Fiend races’ special way of handling titles meant many names were ultimately forgotten.

The Second Empress replied in the alternative. Then, she told Zu An about the Xiao clan, as well as how to contact them amid the chaos.

Afterward, Zu An saw that she had fallen silent for a while. He was stunned, asking, “That’s it?”

The Second Empress’ face turned red. She was the empress, and yet she only had those people on her side. It was honestly a bit shameful. Eventually, she said, “This can’t be blamed on me. The Fiend Emperor became guarded against me a few years ago and prevented me from interfering with the court. Furthermore, even though I got close to some people, they might not still be reliable after what happened today.” She paused for a moment, then continued, “Besides, don’t I have you now? You’re my greatest strength!”

𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔲𝔭𝔩𝔬𝔞𝔡 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩-𝔟𝔦𝔫.𝔠𝔬𝔪

Zu An was speechless. What you say makes so much sense that I have nothing to refute it with.

Still, he quickly sorted out his thoughts, saying, “These people aren’t enough. We need to first release the Great Elf King and get the help of the Elf King race. Then, we can head over to the Peacock Wise King and Little Golden Peng King. If we can convince them to side with us, we’ll have a much greater chance of success.”

His relationship with the Peacock race wasn’t bad, whether it was through Kong Nanwu or Kong Qing. However, while he’d had a chance to meet the Little Golden Peng King in the garden previously, they were only acquaintances.

The Second Empress was a bit hesitant, saying, “I think it would be better if we didn’t go to the Peacock Wise King.”

“Why is that?” Zu An asked, stunned.

The Second Empress replied with a conflicted expression, “When you seized back the Elf Princess, the crown prince changed his crown princess candidate to Kong Nanwu. Even though they haven’t officially been wed, with that level of relationship, they would definitely help the crown prince.”

Zu An was speechless. He had almost forgotten about that! Even though Kong Nanwu didn’t like the crown prince and had escaped to the south, now that things had already been decided, once the crown prince became the emperor, she would be the new empress! The Peacock King race would naturally take that chance to rise to power. No matter how good their personal relationship was, there was no way the Peacock Wise King would stand by his side.

But during my bet with the crown prince, he lost the crown princess to me. That means Kong Nanwu should be mine…

Zu An dismissed that thought as soon as it appeared. That gamble had just been used to piss off the Golden Crow Crown Prince; the Peacock Wise King’s side definitely wouldn’t admit to it. If the king hadn’t gone mad, he would definitely help the Golden Crow Crown Prince sit on the imperial throne.

Sigh, what a pity about Kong Nanwu though. A flower like her has no choice but to marry a pile of manure.

He sorted out his thoughts, then walked out with the Second Empress. The women, who had been closely paying attention to the situation, sighed in relief when they saw that.

However, Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen frowned. With their grandmaster cultivation, their memories were exceptional. The Second Empress’ waistband wasn’t tied the same way as before!

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