Chapter 176

MCAB – Chapter 176

This was the first time anyone had spoken in such a way to Xiao Nan’an.

Ever since Xiao Nan’an had become famous in the world of martial artists, he had been revered by men and adored by women. Never had anyone treated him so dismissively like Jun Zishu.

Wasn’t Jun Zishu merely the empress?

What was so amazing about the empress?!

“You…”

“You can take a few jugs of wine before you leave. I’m not so stingy as to skimp on such a parting gift,” Jun Zishu said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Xiao Nan’an’s ugly expression.

“Who do you take me for, Wen Renyu? Do you think you can just summon me and get rid of me whenever you want?”

“Impudence! Who gave you the qualifications to call Her Majesty by name?!” Yue Mingsheng said, her expression as cold as ice as she glared at Xiao Nan’an.

“I am not discussing this matter with you. I am only informing you about it. The next time you enter the Imperial Palace without permission, what awaits you will be the blades of my imperial guards,” Jun Zishu nonchalantly said to Xiao Nan’an. Then, she gently patted the back of Yue Mingsheng’s hand, signaling the girl to calm down.

“You! Must you be so heartless?!”

“Heartless? You should’ve received the death penalty for barging into the Imperial Palace back then. Now that you are leaving this place alive with gifts in hand, don’t you think it is a good outcome?”

“Does that mean I have to thank Your Majesty for your grace?” Xiao Nan’an asked sarcastically with a sneer on his face.

“If you want to say thank you, I don’t mind accepting it,” Jun Zishu said as she caressed her chin.

After glaring at Jun Zishu one more time, Xiao Nan’an threw his wine jug and cup to the ground and flew away using his qinggong. Naturally, he didn’t bother redeeming Jun Zishu’s parting gift, either.

“Have someone clean up this mess,” Jun Zishu instructed one of the palace maids following her. Then, she looked toward Yue Mingsheng, who still wore an angry look, and smiled, saying, “Don’t be mad, Little Sister.”

“That person is too rude.”

“It’s fine. We won’t see him again, anyway.”

“Do you really plan to dismiss all of the men in your harem, Big Sister?”

“What? Don’t believe me?”

“No, what I mean is, haven’t you been…”

“Hm? Are you talking about Meng Lanxi?”

Many people working in the Imperial Palace knew about Meng Lanxi since he was the only one to stubbornly resist the empress even after getting forced into the empress’s harem. The fact that the empress became even more infatuated with him after getting her advances rejected made Meng Lanxi stand out even more.

“Mhm.”

“In matters of love, there is a trick called playing hard to get. While it is certainly an effective trick to catch a person’s attention, overusing it could easily result in the other party growing tired. Since he dislikes me touching him so much, I will grant his wish.”

Of course, Meng Lanxi wasn’t actually playing hard to get. He simply behaved that way because he hated the original owner.

However, since there was an opportunity to smear Meng Lanxi’s image in Yue Mingsheng’s mind, Jun Zishu would be a fool not to make use of it.

Meanwhile, Yue Mingsheng nodded in approval. Since Jun Zishu’s goal in life had changed to rule the world, she naturally couldn’t be bogged down by matters of men.

“I’ll have Defu take care of this matter later,” Jun Zishu said.

“I’ll handle it, Big Sister.”

“The harem is filled with men. Will it be an inconvenience to you?”

“What’s so inconvenient about it? Just leave it to me, Big Sister.”

“Okay.”

Yue Mingsheng used to detest handling such small errands the most, and she would usually avoid them if possible. Now, though, she had an urge to handle this matter personally. She wanted to make sure that the men, who didn’t belong here, were kicked out of the Imperial Palace.

“Return to your work for now, Little Sister. I will send someone to notify you afterward,” Jun Zishu said as she swept a glance at Yue Mingsheng.

In response, Yue Mingsheng nodded and asked, “What about you, Big Sister?”

“I’m going to go meet a few people,” Jun Zishu said as she released Yue Mingsheng’s hand and looked up at the azure sky.

While most men in the harem were useless freeloaders, some were still useful.

…

The first person Jun Zishu decided to meet lived in a remote part of the Imperial Palace. When Jun Zishu arrived, the person in question was sunbathing in his courtyard.

The man wore an apricot-colored robe, and he had a sickly pale face. He also had his eyes closed right now. If not for the slight movements of his chest, Jun Zishu would’ve thought she was looking at a corpse.

Before Jun Zishu arrived here, Jun Zishu had already relayed his information to her. Meanwhile, with his details in hand, there was nothing she needed to be afraid of.

The man was very surprised when he opened his eyes and saw Jun Zishu standing before him. Then, he quickly got off his sunbathing chair and bowed, “I greet Your Majesty.”

The man’s surprise wasn’t unfounded. After all, during his two years in the Imperial Palace, the times he had met the empress numbered only a handful.

The man’s name was Zeng Qing, and he was someone the original owner saved on her travels.

When the original owner came across Zeng Qing, he was dying on the side of the road. The original owner had not planned to save Zeng Qing initially. However, while she might be lustful, she wasn’t dumb. For the sake of maintaining her image as the country’s ruler, she commanded her subordinates to save Zeng Qing. Afterward, she had forgotten about this person’s existence completely.

However, the original owner’s subordinates had misunderstood their master’s intentions, thinking that the original owner had taken a liking to Zeng Qing. As a result, they had brought him back to the Imperial Palace.

Zeng Qing wasn’t a particularly good-looking man. At the very least, he couldn’t be considered outstanding compared to the other men in the original owner’s harem. The original owner was quite picky with her men, so after taking a closer look at Zeng Qing’s face, she left without ever turning back. Meanwhile, Zeng Qing had ended up living in this remote palace, and rarely anybody paid attention to him.

When Jun Zishu first inherited the original owner’s memories, she didn’t know about Zeng Qing, either. However, when she was reading about the details of the original owner’s harem, Little Fairy had informed her of Zeng Qing’s existence.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Zeng Qing was actually the Medicine Valley’s heir framed by his fellow disciples.

The reason Jun Zishu had come to find Zeng Qing this time was to get him to make some useful medicine for her.

“It’s been such a long time. I didn’t think you would still remember me,” Jun Zishu said.

“I will never forget the kindness you have shown me, Your Majesty,” Zeng Qing said, bending his head. It was true he hadn’t seen the empress for a long time. However, there was no way he would forget about his savior.

Back then, he thought he had been a dead man. He never thought he would have a chance at life again.

Unfortunately, while he wanted to repay his savior, the empress didn’t seem to have any need for him.

Moreover, based on the rumors he heard, the empress’s reputation was worsening by the day. While he wanted to repay his savior, he didn’t want to do so at the cost of his life since he still had things he needed to do. Thus, he kept to himself inside his palace and only hoped to sneak out of the Imperial Palace one day when nobody was paying attention.

However, he never thought that he would meet the empress again. Moreover, it would seem that this empress was different from the rumors make her out to be. Rather than being a debauched ruler, she gave off the feeling of a noble ruler.

“I have only found out about your identity just recently. Well, how about it? Do you want to take revenge?” Jun Zishu asked, getting straight to the point.

Zeng Qing jerked his head up when he heard Jun Zishu’s words. Then, gritting his teeth, he nodded and said, “Of course. Why wouldn’t I want to? Even in my dreams, I dream of making those people pay for what they’ve done.”

“Go ahead, then. I will have my shadow guards protect you.”

“Your Majesty?”

Zeng Qing hesitated to accept Jun Zishu’s offer. There was no way the empress would help him with his revenge for nothing.

“You will become one of my men after the deed is done. How about it?” Jun Zishu stated her condition when she saw Zeng Qing’s hesitant look.

“Cough, cough, cough… Your Majesty…”

Zeng Qing choked on his saliva and coughed a few times.

“Reign in your thoughts. What I mean is for you to serve me, not to sleep with me,” Jun Zishu said, rolling her eyes.

“Understood.” Zeng Qing sighed in relief. However, he couldn’t be blamed for having such thoughts. With the empress’s reputation, it was only natural that he thought in that direction. “My life has long since belonged to you, Your Majesty. What do you need me to do?”

“I will tell you when the time comes. Once you exact your revenge and come back, I will assign you to the Imperial Hospital as the head doctor.”

“Understood.”

“I will have someone send you out of the Imperial Palace afterward. I look forward to your return.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

At this moment, Zeng Qing couldn’t care less whether the person before him was a philandering empress. All he knew was that this person had not only saved his life but was even helping him with his revenge.

It was also at this time that Zeng Qing realized that this woman was truly beautiful.

Unlike any of the women he had met before, when Jun Zishu looked at him and asked him to serve her, he actually grew excited for some inexplicable reason.

After achieving her goal here, Jun Zishu turned around and left.

Meanwhile, Zeng Qing narrowed his eyes and looked at Jun Zishu’s departing figure, feeling like he could see light radiating from her body.

…

Afterward, Jun Zishu rode the palanquin to her second destination. However, before she even reached her destination, she heard laughter coming from the distance.

When the palanquin eventually stopped in front of a palace, Jun Zishu got off the palanquin, her expression darkening slightly.

“Your Majesty, should I go and inform—”

“No need.”

Jun Zishu walked past Defu and entered the palace. Then, she saw that the atmosphere inside was indeed very lively, with one blindfolded man chasing after several giggling palace maids.

“Come here! I’m going to catch you!”

The palace maids were laughing and having fun originally. However, they immediately fell silent when they saw the person standing at the palace’s entrance.

Jun Zishu’s eyes swept across the palace maids, and they promptly knelt in fear.

Meanwhile, the blindfolded man removed his blindfold and looked at Jun Zishu coldly.

“Well, what do you know? It’s Your Majesty.”

This person was even more insolant than Xiao Nan’an. However, he indeed possessed the qualifications to behave so brazenly.

Chu Ying, the general’s youngest son. He had the highest status out of all the men in the imperial harem.

Naturally, Chu Ying did not enter the imperial harem willingly. Instead, he was forced to by the original owner.

However, the reason the original owner forced Chu Ying into her harem wasn’t just because he looked good. She was also keeping him hostage against General Chu, who controlled a portion of the empire’s military.

Chu Ying naturally hated the original owner for this, and he retaliated by deliberately fooling around in the Imperial Palace.

The original owner never got upset by Chu Ying’s actions. After all, Chu Ying’s identity was a tricky problem, so she couldn’t trouble him too much. Moreover, she had hoped to indulge in Chu Ying’s beauty one day.

Because of this situation, Chu Ying became one of the few men in the Imperial Harem who dared to go against the original owner.

“All of you leave.”

“Yes.”

The palace maids answered in a chorus before quickly retreating from the palace.

“What business does Your Majesty have with me? Why did you have to drive my fun away?” Chu Ying complained with an unhappy face.

Jun Zishu narrowed her eyes when she heard Chu Ying’s manner of speaking. She felt that it wouldn’t be easy to deal with this person. Even if she let him go, he would probably try to plot her death as soon as he regained his freedom.

Although Jun Zishu felt that the original owner wasn’t a good person, that didn’t mean she would allow others to kill her.

“Oh? You want to have fun?”

Jun Zishu smiled at Chu Ying as she sat on the palace’s main seat.

“It is my mistake. Defu, call those palace maids back. Invite some musicians and dancers and bring some fine wine as well.”

“What are you trying to do, Your Majesty?” Chu Ying asked with a frown.

“Since you want to have fun, I will let you have your fill. If a hundred women aren’t enough for you, I can add a hundred more.”