“Be careful!” Sang Hong said, his expression grave. He quickly activated his ki and slowly approached. When he finally saw the person’s appearance, his expression changed as he called out, “Empress dowager?”
Sang Qien and Zheng Dan were both shocked. They had never expected this beautiful woman with so many wounds on her body to actually be the empress dowager! In that instant, countless thoughts appeared in their minds. If even the empress dowager had suffered such serious injuries, it seemed the Imperial Palace had already reached a certain degree of chaos.
Also, why had the empress dowager run all the way here? They didn’t seem to have any form of relationship.
Just then, Liu Ning’s lips twitched, as if she wanted to say something. Since men and women needed to watch their interactions with each other, Sang Hong couldn't really touch her. Zheng Dan handed Sisi to Sang Qien and squatted down to support Liu Ning, asking, “What happened, your highness?”
Liu Ning looked at Zheng Dan's beautiful oval face.
As expected, that guy Zu An’s beauty standard is always first-rate.
However, she was incredibly weak and could only say, “I am Zu... Zu An’s woman...”
Afterward, she could no longer endure her injuries and fainted. Everyone else was left baffled just like that.
When Zheng Dan had somewhat recovered from her shock, she asked in a trembling voice, “I... didn’t hear wrongly just now, did I?”
Sang Qien’s expression also changed continuously between shock and embarrassment. She said, “I think... I also... heard wrongly."
Even so, they knew fully well that they were all cultivators. Even though the empress dowager's voice was soft, how could they not have heard it well?
Sang Hong’s old face was now full of amazement.
That kid Zu An really is fickle in love! My own daughter and daughter-in-law have already been stolen... ahem, I seem to have given out my daughter on my own. But I never expected him to be so daring that he would even dare to try to steal the empress dowager!
If news of this got out, that would be enough for the entire clan to be executed!
That kid might be the only one in this entire world who would dare to do such a thing!
In her annoyance, Zheng Dan tossed away the woman in her arms, letting her fall heavily to the ground. She grumbled, “What is wrong with this woman? She ran all the way to our place just to say such weird things. Is there something wrong with her head?!”
Sang Qien sighed and said, “She is the empress dowager, and yet her injuries are so severe. It’s obvious that the rebellion was directed at the Liu clan. Judging from how injured she is, she clearly had to fight her way out of an encirclement and had nowhere else to go, so that's why she came to us.”
“The capital has so many places. What do you mean she has nowhere else to go? Doesn’t the Liu clan normally always strut around? Why is she running over to us? Are we even that close to her?” Zheng Dan replied as she continued to pace back and forth in the courtyard, clearly in a terrible mood. At the same time, she was actually starting to respect this sister-in-law of hers. Sang Qien had actually managed to piece together the truth with just a few words.
Sang Qien gave her a look and said, “Why do you think the empress dowager would say those strange words before going unconscious? It’s probably because there's already no place left in the entire capital that she trusts. Only our place is left, and the only reason that she trusts us should be because she knows that we...” She gave her father an embarrassed look before continuing, “Because she knows about our relationship with Ah Zu and that we won’t harm her.”
Zheng Dan exclaimed angrily, “What right does she have to do that? Does she really think that we won’t harm her just because of that? Even if we don’t harm her, that doesn’t mean we should take the risk to save her!
“That guy Ah Zu really is something. Does he not have any back at home? He just had to go around and fondle other flowers.”
Sang Qien gave her an upset look.
Did she forget that we aren’t Ah Zu’s own proper wives either? We were also the result of his ‘flower fondling’.
“Also, Ah Zu really isn’t picky. He even wants a woman this old!” Zheng Dan got angrier the more she spoke. But in the end, she gave the empress dowager on the ground another look and had to admit that she was indeed beautiful.
Her ass is so big and perky...
Ahhh, I’m getting more and more upset!
Sang Hong finally said, “Regardless of what reason she has to come here, I don’t think we should keep her here. She is someone from the palace, and furthermore the respected empress dowager. The fact that she is injured to this extent means that the Liu clan is completely done for. Those rebels will definitely search everywhere for her whereabouts. We’ll only be bringing trouble onto ourselves if we keep her here.”
Sang Qien shook her head, saying, "We can't do that. Since she came all the way here, she has a close relationship with Ah Zu. How can we just watch without doing anything? Otherwise, if Ah Zu returns and finds out what happened, he'll definitely blame us.”
A hint of viciousness flickered across Sang Hong’s face as he replied, “Won’t it be fine as long as he doesn’t know? We can just silence her, or throw her out on the street. There’ll definitely be rebels who will help us take care of things.”
Now, Zheng Dan also spoke up. “Ah Zu might not know, but we'd never have a clear conscience. We wouldn’t be able to face Ah Zu anymore. Besides, if it were me in her situation and I looked for other sisters while on the verge of death, I definitely wouldn’t want that to happen to me.”
Sang Hong’s expression changed. He asked, “But do you know the price that has to be paid for letting her stay? If the rebel army found out... We still have Sisi to think of. Not a single one of us would survive! You have to take responsibility for everyone’s safety!”
Sang Qien took a deep breath before saying, “Father, I understand your misgivings, but this is something I can't watch as a bystander. We must save her.”
Sang Hong’s expression changed several times. In the end, he said with a sigh, “Love truly is irrational.”
Afterward, his figure flickered and he disappeared outside the courtyard wall.
Zheng Dan exclaimed in surprise, “What is he doing?”
Sang Qien stopped her, saying, “Don’t worry, father left to clean up after the traces that the empress dowager left behind. Otherwise, the rebel army soldiers would easily track her to us.”
When she looked at the scars on the empress dowager’s body, Zheng Dan was starting to feel a bit of admiration. She said, “Sir Sang really is tough on the outside, but soft on the inside. He is the most meticulous after all.”
Sang Qien said with a bitter smile, “Father’s personality is exceedingly rational. It was only because he couldn't persuade us that he ended up playing along with our nonsense.”
They gave the empress dowager on the ground another look. Both girls harrumphed at the same time.
“It’s all that playboy Ah Zu’s fault!”
Then, Zheng Dan picked up Liu Ning and hid her in a secret room. This whole affair was too important, so they couldn't even let the manor’s servants and maids see. They could only take care of things between the two sisters themselves.
The two women undid Liu Ning’s clothes and treated her injuries. When they did so, the entire room seemed to brighten a bit. Zheng Dan couldn't help but say with a snort, “Her skin really is good. She’s already so old, just how does she do it? No wonder that guy Zu An couldn't hold himself back.”
When Sang Qien heard that Zheng Dan wasn’t even calling him Ah Zu anymore, she couldn't help but smile with amusement. She said, “The empress dowager was incredibly famous in the capital in the past. Now that she's a grandmaster, her body doesn’t age like a normal madam's would.”
“Is this the massive butt rumored to easily bear sons? And yet even after all these years, we’ve never heard of her giving birth to anyone, neither male nor female,” Zheng Dan said; she took out some medicine and pressed it against Liu Ning’s body while giving the empress dowager's butt a slap. That shocking elasticity made even her tremble.
“Hey, don’t treat the empress dowager with disrespect!” Sang Qien reflexively said, startled.
Zheng Dan smiled ambiguously and replied, “What empress dowager? She's nothing more than a boorish woman who's trying to steal our man.”
“Maybe you have a point...” Sang Qien said, blushing. Then, she also gave Liu Ning’s bottom a slap, producing a white wave. She clicked her tongue in amazement. “It really is big!”
As someone from a distinguished clan, she had been taught to follow the rules inflexibly and remain absolutely loyal to the royal family. Who would have thought that she would actually do something so unfilial to the empress dowager?!
“I really wonder just what this woman eats to get that big.” Zheng Dan harrumphed. However, her hands didn’t stop continuing to apply medicine on Liu Ning’s body. “Hmph, these were medicines that Ah Zu prepared for us in the past, and yet we’re actually using it all on this woman.”
“Exactly!” Sang Qien felt as if she had just opened the door to a brand new world. She gave that perky bottom another strike.