Back to Work, Another Day of Planning a Rebellion

Moonlight shimmered over the Qi River.

The swift current battered the riverbank.

Two figures were underwater... Bang! The figures burst out of the water.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Gu Yuan doubled over and spat out river water, along with a small fish that flopped about on the ground.

Pfft.

"So you can't swim?"

Qi Yueli sat on a rock with her hands braced behind her, her expression and brow completely relaxed.

"I'm allergic to water..."

After coughing up water for a while, Gu Yuan finally felt a little better.

"Phew... Senior sister, you're incredible..."

He raised his eyes.

Moonlight fell on Qi Yueli, her soaking clothes clinging to her skin and showing off her perfect figure.

Gu Yuan was a little mesmerized.

That figure, those long legs, without a single flaw, and those golden proportions-wasn't she just too perfect?

That was cheating!

Blatant cheating!

Even a hundred red cards wouldn't be too many!

Gulp.

Qi Yueli turned her eyes and met Gu Yuan's rather suggestive gaze.

She instinctively glanced down at her chest...

"Turn around!"

A faint blush appeared on Qi Yueli's face.

True essence rushed at Gu Yuan, forcing his body to turn around.

"Cough, cough! Senior sister, I swear to heaven, I didn't see a thing!"

"Senior sister? Senior sister?"

When he looked back again, Qi Yueli was nowhere to be seen on the rock.

"She's not angry, is she?"

"Gu Yuan, oh, Gu Yuan, why couldn't you keep your eyes to yourself... Forget it, would I even be a man if I could? Senior sister is generously endowed, so she surely won't be so petty."

Qi Yueli: ...

"Ow!"

Gu Yuan felt a kick to his head.

"I'll come to the Marquis of Pingxiang's residence tomorrow night to teach you how to cultivate."

"Got it, senior sister!"

"Senior sister, are you still there?"

There was no answer from his surroundings.

"Hmm... looks like she's gone... Senior sister likes appearing and disappearing mysteriously too, huh."

Gu Yuan busied himself for a while, wrung out his clothes, and returned to the Marquis of Pingxiang's residence.

Everything went smoothly on the way; he wasn't even stopped for questioning.

He didn't get to use the Mystic Shadow Guard waist token he'd prepared beforehand.

The night was deep and quiet.

Gu Yuan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, his head filled with images of Qi Yueli.

"This is bad."

"My Dao heart is damaged!"

"Time to write in my diary!"

The Great Qi imperial palace.

Qi Yueli's chest rose and fell.

"Hmph, little rebel, lecher, how dare you covet my body!"

"I wonder just how much nerve he has."

"Huh?"

"Gu Yuan's Diary" flashed in her hand.

"It's so late, and he's still writing in his diary?"

[Taishang Laojun, swiftly obey my command... Yuanshi Tianzun battles the Jade Emperor... Diaochan gives birth to Sun Wukong... Emperor Huangtian has done right by everyone...]

"What kind of nonsense is all this?"

[Senior sister has such a great figure. I'm done for, I can't sleep...]

"..."

[Calm down, stay cool. You're pursuing eternal life. You can't let romantic feelings disturb your Dao heart...]

[But then again, senior sister isn't a character in the story, so it should be fine to pursue eternal life with her. Immortals should have Dao companions, shouldn't they...]

[Senior sister has such a great figure...]

"Lecher!"

[Time to sleep. I still have to go to work tomorrow. Sigh, I'll have to face that troublesome empress again. What will it take to get her to fire me...?]

[Come to think of it, who has the better figure, the empress or senior sister...?]

[I have to give her a really good look tomorrow. I refuse to believe the empress won't fire me for that!]

Bang!

Qi Yueli slammed the diary shut.

She was afraid that if she kept reading, she really wouldn't be able to stop herself from running to the Gu residence and giving Gu Yuan a thorough beating...

After putting down the diary, Qi Yueli took out the Dragon Seal, her eyes showing a hint of excitement.

Before escaping the tomb, she had watched Gu Yuan throw the Dragon Seal back inside.

Then, while he wasn't paying attention, she had picked it up again.

"With Great Li's fate, the dragon vein can finally be saved!"

Qi Yueli took the Dragon Seal and vanished...

"Good morning, Your Majesty!"

"Mm, good morning."

The person on duty with Gu Yuan today wasn't Zhao Sheng, but another Mystic Shadow Guard named Lin Yu.

At that moment, he was looking at Gu Yuan with admiration, inwardly exclaiming how damn amazing he was.

In the world today, Gu Yuan was the only person who could act so freely and casually before the empress and still get a response from her.

"The empress's legs... Huh? Why do they look about the same as senior sister's?"

Gu Yuan stared without restraint.

Qi Yueli saw him.

The palace maids saw him.

Lin Yu saw him too...

Apart from Qi Yueli, everyone was scared witless.

Who in the whole world would dare look at the empress like that?

Wasn't that courting death?

Strangely, though...

Qi Yueli didn't seem to notice...?

What a pity. I wanted to see how the empress would react... Lin Yu thought.

Gu Yuan was utterly baffled.

What on earth is going on?

Can someone explain?

I'm staring at the empress like this, and she doesn't feel a thing?

That makes no sense!

Even with a Martial God Physique, it shouldn't be like this, right?

Could she really have taken a liking to me?

Gu Yuan couldn't read Qi Yueli at all.

Seeing Gu Yuan's dismayed expression, Qi Yueli felt a curious sense of satisfaction.

This feeling is rather nice...

After court.

Gu Yuan was even more confused.

At court, the empress had dealt with the natural disasters and bandit troubles across the land in an orderly manner. Her policies were steady and effective, and everything was handled very properly.

If things continued like this, Great Qi might actually have a chance to come back from the brink.

The atmosphere at court also seemed very different from yesterday...

In short, everything gave Gu Yuan a very strange feeling.

As usual, Qi Yueli went to the quiet chamber to "cultivate."

Last night, she had poured all of Great Li's fate into the dragon vein, bringing the nearly depleted dragon vein back to life.

Her troubled state of mind, which had plagued her for years, had finally settled.

Her thoughts gradually cleared, and she came up with many effective countermeasures.

The officials' attitudes at court today had also been different from usual.

All of this was thanks to the Dragon Seal, and even more so to Gu Yuan.

Qi Yueli had already decided that no matter what Gu Yuan did, even if he barged into the empress's bedchamber at night, she would forgive him...

"Gu Yuan's Diary" lay open on the table before her, and she eagerly awaited Gu Yuan's reaction.

He must be very surprised today...!

But after she waited a long time, not a single word appeared in the diary.

"What's going on?"

"Given his habits, shouldn't he be writing in his diary by now?"

Meanwhile.

The Mystic Shadow Guard's inner court.

Xiaoyun looked around, and her gaze finally settled on Gu Yuan.

She hurried over and said to him, "Heir Gu, the princess requests your presence."

The Mystic Shadow Guards around them all froze.

Good grief.

Not only did the empress treat Gu Yuan differently, but now even the princess was asking for him?

Just yesterday, Gu Yuan had kicked the princess!

Gu Yuan also found it strange.

"Are you sure the princess is 'requesting' my presence?"

Xiaoyun smiled. "Of course. The princess has prepared a banquet in the palace and invites Heir Gu to attend."

???

It was a damn banquet invitation?

The Mystic Shadow Guards were all stunned.

Shangguan Weiming also looked dumbfounded.

What was going on?

Could you really do whatever you wanted just because you were handsome?

Pah!

Shallow!

Gu Yuan frowned.

He had been quite happy when Xiaoyun arrived. As long as the princess came looking for trouble, he would have a reason to cause a fuss...

But now the princess was actually inviting him to dinner?

What had that kick brought about?

Could the princess be a masochist...?