Chapter 764: How to Be Fair

The two were fighting in close quarters, almost body-to-body. No matter how Concubine Bai attacked, her opponent's hands, like agile snakes, would always entangle her.

At first, she could quickly change her moves and continue attacking, but as time went on, his entangling techniques progressively narrowed her space for evasion. Eventually, her hands were completely controlled, rendering her utterly unable to move.

She had never been in such close contact with a man before, and feeling both embarrassed and flustered, she lifted her leg and forcefully kicked him in the lower abdomen since her hands were immobilized.

However, the Feather Robe Entangling Silk Hand technique, specializing in close-quarters grappling and seizing, naturally had a counter for such an attack.

Zu An also raised his leg to block, then kicked her behind the knee, using the momentum to force her legs apart.

Concubine Bai twisted and turned; her excellent flexibility allowed her waist and body to contort into incredible angles, yet she still couldn't escape Zu An's control.

Instead, the close physical contact and friction made her face flush red.

Zu An chuckled, "My Lady, you're out of options now, aren't you?"

Just as he was about to continue negotiating with her, Concubine Bai suddenly smiled charmingly, then exhaled a puff of pink mist from her cherry lips directly onto Zu An's face.

Zu An was caught off guard; an unnatural flush appeared on his face, and then his body swayed before he crumpled limply to the ground.

"Hmph!" Concubine Bai finally pulled herself free from his grasp, snorted, and then couldn't resist kicking him. "You scoundrel!"

"Weren't you quite pleased with yourself just now? Why aren't you moving anymore?" Concubine Bai looked disgruntled, thinking how much she had suffered in their close-quarters fight.

Lifting her skirt, she squatted beside him, pulling out a dagger from who knew where. She traced it along Zu An's neck several times. Seeing that he remained unresponsive, she finally relaxed completely. "He really passed out," she mused. "Hmph, my Rose Red Dew is more than enough to make you suffer."

Immediately, she fell into a dilemma. "Should I kill you or not?" she wondered. "If I don't, this guy is too clever, and I'll be in danger in the palace. But if I do, the Cult Master might get angry, right? And then there's my junior niece, Hong Lei... Ugh, it's such a headache."

"If it's such a headache, then it's better not to kill," a playful male voice suddenly sounded in her ear.

Concubine Bai jumped in surprise, her face paling. She hastily swung the dagger towards Zu An's neck, but she was a step too slow. She felt a numbness in her chest, and then her acupoints were sealed.

Zu An chuckled as he climbed up from the ground, looking at the beautiful woman before him whose face showed a hint of anger. "My Lady, you just kicked me a few times. How do you think I should get my revenge?"

Concubine Bai looked utterly shocked. "Why aren't you unconscious?"

At such close range, and having just gone through an intense fight, his breathing must have been heavy. It was impossible for him not to have inhaled the poisonous mist she sprayed.

Even a small inhalation of her unique secret medicine could instantly induce unconsciousness.

"This person's luck has always been good," Zu An thought to himself, secretly congratulating his good fortune. Fortunately, his "Primordial Chaos Scripture" had just broken through to the third level, making him impervious to all poisons. Otherwise, he would have truly fallen victim just now.

"What's the name of this poison?" Zu An asked curiously.

Concubine Bai snorted and ignored him.

"Even if you don't say anything, I can guess," Zu An said. He used the *qi* from his Primordial Chaos Scripture to sense it, and although he couldn't completely reverse-engineer it, he could still roughly analyze its toxicity and purpose.

"Huh, this poison surprisingly poses no harm to the human body; it only induces unconsciousness and hallucinations," Zu An said, somewhat surprised. "Why would you use such a non-lethal poison as your trump card?"

"Mind your own business!" Concubine Bai was both annoyed and regretful. If she had known, she should have just slit his throat earlier. Hmph, she didn't know how this guy got so daring; when she held the knife to his neck, he didn't react at all, which was why she believed he was truly poisoned.

Rage value from Bai Rou Xue +233 +233 +233...

"Some time ago, the Emperor was sending people to investigate who the cult's informant in the palace was," Zu An said with a smile. "After much investigation, they found it was General Cheng Xiong of the Left Guard and his son. But I knew they weren't the ones, so I've always been very curious about who was truly leaking information to the cult."

"This person's status couldn't be too low, otherwise they wouldn't know core secrets such as the Emperor's whereabouts or palace defenses," Zu An continued, looking at Concubine Bai. "But if their status was too high, I couldn't understand why they would help the cult. It turns out it was you, My Lady, all along."

He had deliberately feigned unconsciousness just now, hoping to seize the opportunity to gather some intelligence while his opponent was off guard. He never expected to obtain such crucial information.

Concubine Bai was filled with regret; why had she just spoken those words aloud to herself? However, she quickly calmed down. "Hmph," she scoffed, "speaking of cult informants, am I the only one in the palace? Didn't you, Sir Zu, also collude with cult members and even save the Cult Master and Saintess?"

Zu An wasn't too surprised. It was easy to hide these things from others, but quite difficult to hide them from her, the cult's top spy. During that time, Yun Jian Yue had been staying in his White Sand Courtyard, and he himself was often away, so it was highly likely the two had secretly made contact long ago.

Right, back then, Concubine Bai had bestowed a lot of gifts upon him. Now, looking back, Yun Jian Yue's reaction at the time seemed a bit strange; that must have been the beginning of their contact.

Zu An smiled. "My Lady, do you think this connection means I'd let you go? If I just kill you, no one will know about these things. Wouldn't I be safer?"

Concubine Bai watched him quietly. After a long moment, she said, "Actually, you don't need to deliberately scare me like this. Someone valued by the Cult Master and Saintess would never be a despicable scoundrel."

Zu An felt a headache coming on. "Ugh, being given a 'good guy card' really doesn't feel good."

He stopped feigning and casually unsealed her acupoints.

As soon as Concubine Bai was freed, she instinctively stepped back a few paces to create distance, then rubbed her chest, which still ached faintly where he had just touched her acupoints.

Only then did Zu An speak. "Since we are now allies on the same boat, can we be straightforward about some things?"

"What do you want to know?" Concubine Bai sat back on the swing. With a flick of her sleeve, the surrounding flower petals gradually disappeared, and the figures of the palace maids and nannies in the distance became faintly visible again.

"That's quite an amazing trick you have," Zu An couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"Just a slight illusion," Concubine Bai replied indifferently.

Zu An nodded, then continued, "This time, framing me and the Crown Princess was a joint effort between you and Prince Wu, wasn't it?"

Concubine Bai hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Indeed, your previous analysis was pretty much spot on."

"Where is Xin Rui?" Zu An asked.

"She returned to the main headquarters after completing her mission," Concubine Bai replied.

"Her so-called mother and brother were probably fake too, right?" Zu An said, not believing the cult would leave such a large loophole, allowing Xin Rui's relatives to be easily controlled.

"Indeed, they were all impersonated by cult members," Concubine Bai replied. "Otherwise, escaping from the Shi family's surveillance to a gambling den and then being discovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guards wouldn't have been that easy, even with assistance."

"Your planning is truly far-sighted," Zu An said, taking a sharp breath. The other party's meticulousness clearly showed this was no whim; they must have prepared several years in advance.

But if it was several years in advance, did they plan to target the Crown Princess even back then?

"It was just early preparation," Concubine Bai explained. "It just happened that the Shi family members fell into our trap."

Zu An felt relieved. "Why did you choose me and the Crown Princess? I feel like I was just caught in the crossfire."

"Prince Wu suggested it; he specifically requested you and seems to harbor an intense hatred for you," Concubine Bai said, looking at him in surprise. "What exactly did you do to him to make him hate you so much?"

Zu An's thoughts raced. It seemed she didn't know about his affair with Yun Yuqing. Hmm, both sides in the alliance still had reservations.

"No choice, I'm just naturally so charming," he replied. "Perhaps when I passed through Jibei Commandery back then, I unknowingly made Prince Wu jealous."

Concubine Bai was speechless.

"The reason you let me go back then," Zu An asked curiously, "besides the reasons I just analyzed, was it also because I had previously saved Yun Jian Yue and the others?"

"Indeed," Concubine Bai said faintly. "To save you while also not arousing Prince Wu's suspicion, I put in quite a lot of effort, you know."

Zu An scoffed, "Speaking of which, should I thank you for almost sending me to the gates of hell multiple times?"

"You didn't really lose anything anyway," Concubine Bai said, pursing her lips into a smile. "The Crown Princess is a rare beauty, and her innocent body hasn't even been touched by the Crown Prince. Didn't you benefit from that?"

"So, you were the one who undressed us back then?" Zu An asked, a vein twitching on his forehead.

Concubine Bai recalled the situation, instinctively glancing at his lower abdomen before her pretty face flushed slightly. "Is there any meaning in asking that?" she retorted.

"Of course there's meaning," Zu An snorted. "You saw me naked; I should at least get to see you naked to make it even."

Concubine Bai smiled alluringly. "You want to see me? Alright, I'll just sit here without moving. You come over and undress me; I promise not to resist."

Zu An was annoyed. "Woman, do you really think I wouldn't dare?"

"Then come on?" Concubine Bai provocatively lifted her chin, while glancing at the palace maids and nannies not far away. *With so many people watching, do you dare?*

Zu An's eyes narrowed. "My Lady, I have a friend—he's really my friend, mind you. He absolutely cannot be provoked; he gets impulsive easily when provoked and disregards the consequences, only caring about satisfying his impulses..."

He hadn't even finished speaking when Concubine Bai suddenly stood up and hastily said, "Don't you dare act impulsively, or we'll both be ruined!"

In front of so many people, Zu An would definitely be ruined. And she herself, having been touched by another man, would inevitably become the subject of rumors throughout the palace. In the eyes of the imperial family, she would also become an impure person, and all the efforts of so many years would be for naught.

"But my friend is really angry; he can't hold back anymore," Zu An said, chuckling inwardly. He had drawn the "I Have a Friend" skill before but hadn't had a chance to use it; he never expected its first use to be here.

Hmm, seeing Concubine Bai's panicked expression, she clearly believed that the "friend" he spoke of was himself. It seemed that using this skill to deceive people in the future would be incredibly effective.

Concubine Bai's pretty face flushed red, then paled. She secretly regretted why she had provoked this guy just now.

She gritted her teeth, and with a flick of her sleeve, a shower of flower petals once again fell from the sky. At least this would block the view of the servants, giving them time to salvage the situation even if something did happen.

Looking at the flower petal rain around them, Zu An's expression became exceedingly strange. "My Lady, with you doing this, may I understand that you've already tacitly approved of my next actions?"