Chapter 1952: Mooching Is the Best
Bi Ziang was still smiling without a care in the world when he suddenly heard those words, making him jump. He replied, “Father, surely things aren’t that serious? No other prince dares to covet the crown anymore. That Zu fellow might be formidable, but he’s my little sister’s aide. This is good news!”
“You don't know shit!” Bi Qi exclaimed, flustered. He had been escorting prisoners from Violet Mountain to the capital when he learned about everything that had transpired in his absence. He was initially astounded, as he hadn’t expected Zu An to be that powerful. Nevertheless, he'd believed that was good news… or at least that was what he thought, until he caught wind of another piece of news.
“Go there and wait. Bring Linglong back as soon as you can,” Bi Qi said with utmost annoyance.
“Linglong is the crown princess now. It’d be wrong for us, as her subjects, to demand her to come here and meet us. We should be the ones entering the palace to pay respects to her,” Bi Ziang carefully reminded his father.
“We can’t enter the palace. There are too many ears. It’s safer at home. Cut the crap and do what I tell you to do,” Bi Qi snapped. He was so infuriated that he kicked Bi Ziang’s bottom, prompting his son to run out in a fluster.
Bi Qi walked to the window and looked in the direction of the Royal Academy. His hands clearly trembled as he tightly gripped the sides of the window, showing how perturbed he was.
…
Meanwhile, Zu An was counting his money in his little mountaintop courtyard.
In the past, he had accrued 470,000 silver taels in Brightmoon City. Later, he had received all kinds of promotions and rewards in the capital. When he became the regent of the Fiend races, and then the regent of the human race, he had received many gifts from countless people. All in all, his fortune after that easily totaled tens of millions of silver taels, and that was excluding the ki stones and other precious treasures he had.
At first, he'd thought that he had finally achieved financial freedom, and there was no need for him to worry about money anymore. Who could have thought he would squander his ten million silver taels within merely half a month?
Most ingredients for the Marrow Cleansing Pills could be obtained through trade, but the Ki Condensation Pills required Sky Crane Roots, Red Star Jade, and Purple Firmament Flowers. These ingredients weren’t as rare as the Southern Sea Fiend’s tentacle fluids, but they were still extremely rare and expensive herbs. Besides that, Daji and Mo Xi were on the verge of a breakthrough, so they needed a lot of Ki Condensation Pills. Due to that, Zu An had to purchase a huge amount of those three ingredients.
Tang Hui, who was in charge of the logistics warehouse, was extremely competent; it hadn’t taken him long to secure a batch of goods. Initially, he hadn’t asked for payment as he wanted to fawn on Zu An, but Zu An had still paid him in accordance with the market price and ordered him to pay the sum to the supplier. He knew that Tang Hui couldn’t possibly pay for it on his behalf and would find other ways to make up for the deficit. Ultimately, the ones who would suffer were ordinary merchants and the populace. He didn’t want to cause undue suffering for his own needs.
Other than the ingredients for pill refinement, the materials Daji and Mo Xi needed for their breakthroughs were exorbitant too. Daji needed Wuyang Jade, Gray Wolf King Fangs, Blue Earthflowers, and Nine-headed Pheasant Feathers, whereas Mo Xi needed Rainbow Cloudstones, Thunderjade Raccoon Cores, Chinese Bellflowers, and Gemflame Stamens. Among those, Chinese Bellflowers weren’t the common herb Zu An was familiar with from his previous life, but rather a special herb in this world. Ordinary cultivators would struggle to obtain even a single one of these materials, as they were not only expensive but rare as well. Only someone with a high standing among the humans and the fiends like Zu An could have a chance of obtaining such invaluable materials. Still, he had to pay for those ingredients, the prices of which were exorbitant even if he was given a preferential rate.
On top of that, Daji and Mo Xi needed valuable materials to raise their skills too, with each level easily costing hundreds of thousands of silver taels. Pill refinement also consumed a lot of silver taels, as silver was a much better medium for channeling ki and elemental ki compared to other materials.
…
Due to that, Zu An had ended up spending more than ten million silver taels in half a month. He had consumed a lot of ki stones too. Pill refinement and cultivation required a huge amount of ki, and high-tier ki stones were the best way to provide it.
“Ah Zu, is there still anything in the world that can trouble you?” a voice called out with a chuckle. Bi Linglong was standing by the doorway in a plain-colored dress, looking at him with a smile.
Zu An revealed a gentle smile as he asked, “What brings you here? Aren’t you worried about gossip?”
Bi Linglong hopped into the room and leaped into his arms, saying, “Things are different now. I’d have been worried about that in the past, but the officials have been advising me to spend more time with you lest the empress poach you away. Of course, I have to pretend to be in a dilemma, as how can I, the crown princess, fawn over a subject? Those officials think I’m too proud and are doing everything they can to persuade me. Little do they know that I’ve been laughing my head off. You don’t know how happy they were when I finally reluctantly caved in!”
Bi Linglong looked at Zu An with a mischievous grin as she continued, “Rather than gossiping about us, they’re more worried that I might keep my distance from you.”
She had entered the courtyard alone; her followers were waiting for her at the mountain’s midpoint. Such had been the case when she paid respects to the old libationer too, and Zu An’s current influence and authority were no less than that of the previous libationer. She usually put on a dignified front that distanced herself from others; it was rare for her to show her coy self.
Zu An couldn’t resist pinching her cheeks as he said, “I would have revealed my true strength much earlier if I had known.”
Bi Linglong shook her head and said, “I still prefer how things were before; there was no stress hanging out with you. It feels weird being with you now. You’re so strong that you feel foreign to me.”
Zu An wrapped his hand around her waist and kissed her, replying, “What are you afraid of? I won’t use it to bully you.”
Bi Linglong’s face reddened. She said, “Lies. That day, you showed no mercy when you bullied me.”
Her shyness drew Zu An in for another kiss.
“Don’t smear my rouge… Wuuu…”
…
Some time later, Bi Linglong lay on the bed with a dazed expression. Her mouth was slightly open, and her chest heaved. Zu An gently traced her body with his finger as if scouting his own territory.
“It’s itchy~” Bi Linglong grumbled coyly while cozying herself in his arms. “You said you wouldn’t bully me.”
Her tone quickly stoked Zu An’s lust. Alarmed, Bi Linglong quickly pushed him away and said, “My people are still waiting at the midpoint of the mountain. I can’t stay here for too long.”
Zu An didn’t want to make things difficult for her, so he relished in the sight of her cascading long hair and slender waist as she got up instead. As Bi Linglong put on her robes, she said, “Princess Xiaodie of King Qi Manor and those from the dao sects have been escorted to the capital. I was going to discuss how to deal with the Violet Mountain incident with you, but you distracted me.”
“But you enjoyed it too,” Zu An said as he grabbed the little hands hitting his chest, before deciding not to tease her anymore. “It’s not that hard. We can’t possibly say that King Qi staged a rebellion and joined hands with the libationer to get rid of Zhao Han. Let’s just claim a secret dungeon suddenly appeared atop Violet Mountain, and Zhao Han, King Qi, and the others lost their lives in there.”
“It feels as if King Qi and the others are getting off lightly,” Bi Linglong said in displeasure. They had been enemies for many years, but she would be deprived of a clean victory. That being said, she knew that the country would descend into chaos if she revealed the truth.
King Qi had carried great influence, with many powerful officials under his faction. If Bi Linglong's faction cornered those people too much, they could well take extreme measures. The situation was exceptionally volatile as King Qi’s son had returned to his lands to prepare for war. The moment an opportunity arose, he would raise his flag and stage a rebellion.
It didn’t help that the crown prince was incompetent and dumb, so many people refused to accept him as their liege. If a coup d’etat really happened, it was uncertain whether Bi Linglong and the crown prince would be able to hold onto their position or not.
“We can’t let them off that easily. Why don’t we pretend that the court is going to punish them? You can swoop in at the last moment and pretend to be a good person in front of them so as to earn their gratitude,” Bi Linglong suggested.
Zu An was taken aback. He said, “It would be better for you to do that. You need support more than I do.” He wasn’t too bothered about the power balance in the imperial court, so it didn’t matter whether he had the gratitude of King Qi’s faction or not.
“I’d love to do it, but the Eastern Palace has been rivals with King Qi Manor for so long that many of them hate me down to my bones. They wouldn’t trust me that easily. On the contrary, they would suspect that I’m up to something. You’re more suited to do that than mem” Bi Linglong said as she finally finished putting on her robe; she settled in front of the mirror to comb her hair.
Zu An walked up to her and took over the job of combing her hair, saying, “Linglong, you’re doing me a favor here by leaving all the good stuff to me.”
The stark naked man reflected in the mirror reminded Bi Linglong of the steamy action they'd just shared, and her face reddened. She said, “You might be the regent, but you don’t have any supporters in the imperial court other than the Sang clan. King Qi’s death has left a power vacuum; his faction is currently without a head. His subordinates will be a good base of support for you. I’d rather they come under you than have them swear fealty to King Qi’s son or some other ambitious fool.”
Zu An relented after hearing those words. It would be best to let things settle down, after all.
I should find some time to look for Zhao Xiaodie.
Bi Linglong took out a rouge paper from her storage pouch and pressed her lips against it.
Zu An looked at the cosmetics on the table and chuckled, saying, “It looks like you’re prepared.”
He had noticed earlier that she was wearing a plain dress instead of her usual extravagant clothes as the crown princess. That had practically become a hidden signal between the two of them.
“It’s all your fault!” Bi Linglong cried. To assuage her embarrassment and awkwardness, she quickly changed the topic and said, “I heard you sighing earlier when I arrived. Are you facing any difficulties?”
“It’s nothing much. I’ve just been burning too much money from pill refinement recently…” Zu An roughly explained the situation to her.
Bi Linglong reached into her storage pouch, pulled out a stack of banknotes, and passed it to him with a smile, saying, “Here’s two million silver taels. It’s my secret stash. You can use it.”
Zu An was speechless. There was no way he would accept her money!
However, Bi Linglong looked at him with a melancholic expression and said, “It’s rare that I can offer you any help, but you refuse to accept my aid. I heard that you accepted a batch of top-grade ki stones from Yu Yanluo back then…”
Goosebumps rose all over Zu An’s body as he thought, Why is she getting jealous over this? He quickly accepted the banknotes and said, “All right, I’ll accept this for now. I’ll return it to you when I have money.”
“Say any more than that, and I’ll really get angry. What's mine is yours too,” Bi Linglong said, putting on a stern face. “You should know that I've investigated you. Back in Brightmoon City, you famously declared that it was a skill to arrogantly mooch off others. Why are you so wishy-washy now?”
“Hahaha, you’re right. It’s great to mooch off others,” Zu An said as he grabbed Bi Linglong’s head and gave her one big smooch.
“You’re terrible! You messed up my rouge. I’ll have to put it on again."
“Why don’t we do something else, since it’s already smeared?”
“No… Let me go… You’re so bad~”
Meanwhile, outside the academy, Bi Ziang was getting impatient.
My subordinates told me she's been in there for some time now, so why isn’t she out yet? Is there so much between them to talk about? Surely not… He’s now the libationer and the regent, whereas Linglong is the crown princess. They need to take heed of their respective positions.
Linglong has always been sharp-witted, so I doubt she’d be taken advantage of.
Just then, Bi Ziang noticed a huge procession making its way over, and he jolted in shock. He wondered, “What’s the empress doing here?”
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