Yun Yuqing shook her head. “That guy is too cunning. I wasn’t able to succeed.”

King Wu was furious. “How is that possible?! How could Zu An possibly escape your grasp, given his cultivation? Do you know how much I’ve invested in this mission?!"

Yun Yuqing was dazed when she saw her usually gentle and refined husband yelling at her. She had never seen her husband lose control like this before. In all their years of marriage he had never ever shown her such aggression.

King Wu was anxious and agitated. He paced back and forth across the room. “Do you know what I had to do to get King Liang and Liu Yao to enter the manor? I had to put so much effort into just stalling them! Now you’re telling me that you’ve come back empty-handed? That everything was for naught?!”

Yun Yuqing remained silent, her face going pale.

King Wu was about to launch into another tirade when he noticed the blood on his wife’s lips. He was shocked. “You’re hurt?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Yun Yuqing said indifferently. “It's just a small injury.”

King Wu sensed his wife’s bitterness, and immediately explained himself. “I lost my composure just now. I didn’t want to blame you. You know how many years I’ve laid low, preparing for just such an opportunity.”

Yun Yuqing nodded. “I know.”

King Wu knew that she was probably still hurt, but he couldn’t be bothered with that right now. He would let time slowly do its thing. “How were you injured? Did an expert interfere?”

Yun Yuqing shook her head. “No. Everything went smoothly, but I was injured by Zu An.”

“How is that possible?” King Wu was confused. “Given what we know, Zu An only has four or five ranks of cultivation! How could he possibly injure you? I even took a look at him myself earlier on. His cultivation was sealed up by the Embroidered Envoy, so there should have been no chance for him to retaliate!”

“Even though his cultivation was restrained, his mind wasn’t. I tried to use Demonic Eye to control him, but I was the one injured by his counterattack instead.” Yun Yuqing produced a white handkerchief and began to wipe away the traces of blood around her mouth. She still felt a twinge of fear when she recalled that strange red bird.

“Does Zu An really have some type of magical treasure or trump card?” King Wu could not believe it. “Your Demonic Eye was ineffective, and he even managed to injure you somehow! This is absolutely outrageous.”

"I believe it is a feature of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra,” said Yun Yuqing. She didn’t completely trust Zu An, but that red bird shared some similarities with a phoenix, which led her to this conclusion.

King Wu grew cautiously excited. “The Phoenix Nirvana Sutra is extraordinary after all! In just a few months, Zu An managed to become strong enough to injure you. I must obtain it!”

However, his expression quickly fell. “It's such a pity that we failed this time… King Liang and the others are heading out tomorrow. There won’t be another chance.”

Yun Yuqing hesitated, then said, “I think we still have a shot. If we can keep them here for another day, I should be able to negotiate with Zu An.”

King Wu frowned. “Those embroidered envoys might suspect something if you keep visiting repeatedly.”

“It’s fine.” Yun Wuqing smiled. “Huang Huihong and the others have been afflicted with my Demonic Eye’s spiritual imprint. As long as I trigger it, then they will obey me. We don’t need to worry about them at all.”

“Will the emperor discover anything, though? Given his cultivation, we might not be able to hide the truth from him.” Just thinking about how terrifying his father was was enough to make King Wu’s face pale.

Yun Yuqing shook her head. “You don’t need to worry about that. The imprint will disappear on its own after three days without a trace. I refuse to believe that they can make it back to the capital within three days.”

King Wu laughed loudly. “Madam, you really are a good wife! You’ve solved all of my worries so easily! Let's do that, then. I’ll do something about King Liang and Liu Yao. We’ll keep them for one more day. You must deal with Zu An tomorrow!”

Yun Yuqing’s beautiful brows came together in a frown. “There’s an issue with that. My Demonic Eye cannot control Zu An, so we can only rely on ordinary methods. However, he is wanted by the emperor, so we cannot kill or hurt him. He knows this too, which is why he has made all sorts of crazy demands.”

“Crazy demands?” King Wu said, “I’m not scared of the price he will set, I’m scared that he wouldn’t even want to negotiate! As long as I, King Wu, am able to obtain it, I will willingly give it to him. Once I obtain the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra, I have confidence that the imperial throne will be mine in the future. When that happens, the entire world would be mine! What wouldn’t I be willing to give up?”

Yun Yuqing’s face instantly became red. “But he wants something special.”

“I am willing to give it up no matter how special it is!” King Wu roared with laughter. He was already starting to fantasize about obtaining the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra.

“Listen to what I have to say first!” Yun Yuqing was both ashamed and furious. “He wants me!”

It took King Wu a moment to understand her words.

“He wants you?” King Wu was so stunned that he was unable to react. “What do you mean?”

“It’s exactly what you are thinking.” Yun Yuqing turned her head away. Even her neck was a little red. “That's why I came back to discuss this with you first, to see if you can come up with anything else that might stir his heart.”

“This bastard is going too far!” King Wu yelled furiously. “He is just a rat from the streets! He should be thanking the heavens that he managed to land first miss Chu, yet he now wants my wife?!”

You have successfully trolled Zhao Yan for 666 Rage points!

He suddenly broke into an intense fit of coughing.

Yun Yuqing’s heart softened when she saw how angry her husband was getting. She quickly rushed over to pat his back. “Dear, please don't harm yourself out of anger! That fellow is nothing more than a ruffian, he doesn’t understand respect. These are merely the words of a random scoundrel. Let’s think about what we can offer to make him change his mind.”

“Okay.” King Wu nodded. A strange brilliance flickered in his eyes. No one else knew what he was thinking.

The two of them began to discuss what they could use to convince Zu An. They proposed many different ideas, but each was shot down one after the other.

In the end, only two or three plans that could possibly succeed were left over.

King Wu was still unsure. “Do you think Zu An will accept these conditions?”

Yun Yuqing shook her head. “I don’t know either. Our interaction taught me that he is incredibly vicious. I cannot figure out how he thinks.”

King Wu’s voice grew angry. “Hmph! If not for all this uncertainty, I would have just thrown him into prison and beaten it out of him through torture! Instead, we are now the ones being led around by the nose…”

Yun Yuqing’s brow furrowed tightly. Clearly, she shared her husband’s thoughts.

King Wu hesitated, then suddenly said, “Yuqing, what if he doesn’t agree to any of these proposals?”

Yun Yuqing fell silent for a moment. “Then we’ll keep King Liang and the others for another day. As long as I can chat with him a few more times, I believe we’ll find a way.”

King Wu shook his head. “King Liang and the others have their duty to complete. Keeping them here for another day is already the limit. There is absolutely no chance of them staying for a third day.”

Yun Yuqing sighed deeply. “In that case, we might have to just give up. After all, coveting the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra is already an act of defiance against the emperor. Giving up might not necessarily be a bad choice.”

“No!” King Wu firmly refused this. “Absolutely not! I was banished to this remote land, all because I wasn’t a child of the empress! Meanwhile, that brother of mine is clearly a loser, but he holds the position of crown prince just because his mother is the empress? Why?! All these years I’ve been planning in secret, just so I can seize back what I deserve!

“However, I have a limited amount of resources at my disposal, and there was no hope at all. This Phoenix Nirvana Sutra is a chance bestowed upon me by the heavens themselves! I cannot let it go!”

Yun Yuqing tried her best to console him. “We’ve already done everything we could. Sometimes, you cannot force things to happen.”

“No, we haven't exhausted every option yet.” King Wu stared at his wife. “If—and I am saying if—all of those plans fail, you should agree.”