Chapter 242: The Queen's Ambition

"Brother Zijun..."

Bai Bai whispered as she walked toward the bed.

Suddenly.

Qingqing, who was following behind, pulled her back and held up a finger, pointing under the bed.

Bai Bai looked over, puzzled.

Two pairs of shoes had appeared under the bed.

One pair of men's shoes, and one pair of embroidered shoes.

"Brother Zijun, Bai Bai has left the things here; I'll come find you again next time."

Bai Bai pouted, placed the clothes she was holding onto the chair nearby, then turned and left with Qingqing, climbing back out through the window.

"Creak..."

The window closed.

Inside the room, it became quiet.

After the bed remained quiet for a long while, the person underneath finally let go of her mouth and asked, "Why did the Young Master want to make Bai Bai steal the Eldest Miss's things?"

Seeing that the matter had been exposed, Luo Zijun knew he had to make this girl keep her mouth shut completely.

"Fenfen, the Young Master was forced to do this... As long as you promise the Young Master not to tell the Eldest Miss about this, the Young Master will treat you well tonight, alright?"

"Hmph, I am loyal to the Eldest Miss..."

"If you don't agree, we'll end it here tonight, and I'll go sleep with Xiaohuan and Zhiyuan later."

Luo Zijun said this while teasing her.

The person underneath was soon teased into a daze, her face flushed, unable to control herself, and she sobbed, "Young Master, you... you are bad..."

Luo Zijun continued: "Will you or won't you?"

"Wuu, I..."

"Fine, then I'm leaving."

"Wuu wuu, bad Young Master... I, I..."

A moment later.

She finally gave in, tearfully agreeing.

Only then did Luo Zijun satisfy her.

A night of intimacy, not to be described in detail.

The next day.

The two slept until noon before Fenfen left in a panic.

After Luo Zijun got up, he washed up thoroughly.

After eating, he went to the backyard to continue his cultivation.

By evening, just after finishing his Medicine Bath, Zhiyuan came to the backyard to find him and said, "Young Master, the Eldest Miss wants you to come over."

Luo Zijun felt a sudden pang of guilt: "Do you know what it's about?"

Zhiyuan shook her head: "I don't know, the Third Miss is there too."

"Oh?"

Luo Zijun didn't think much more about it; after putting on his clothes, he went over through the small door in the wall.

Bai Bai and Qingqing were guarding the corridor.

Fenfen was nowhere to be seen.

Luo Zijun stepped onto the corridor and hurriedly asked in a low voice, "Bai Bai, do you know why the Eldest Miss is looking for me?"

Bai Bai shook her head and said, "The Eldest Miss didn't say."

Luo Zijun asked again, feeling guilty: "Did the Eldest Miss discover what happened last night?"

Bai Bai said, "She shouldn't have."

Luo Zijun wanted to complain to her for stealing so many things, but fearing she would be sad, he could only whisper, "Remember, you must not say anything, otherwise we'll both be finished."

Bai Bai nodded quickly, then blinked her large eyes and said with a face full of anticipation, "Brother Zijun, the thing you promised Bai Bai..."

Luo Zijun said, "In a few days, wait until..."

"Brother-in-law, what are you whispering about outside? Come in quickly."

At this moment, the door inside opened, and Bai Qingtong smiled from within.

Luo Zijun hurried inside.

Bai Qingtong gave him a meaningful look, let him into the room, and then closed the door.

The Eldest Miss was wearing a white dress and sitting at the table playing chess.

Bai Qingtong walked over and sat opposite her.

Luo Zijun glanced at their expressions and asked with a bow, "I wonder why the Eldest Miss has summoned me?"

Bai Meixue did not speak immediately; after placing a piece, she suddenly said, "Several pieces of clothing I wore yesterday have gone missing. Have you seen them?"

Hearing this, Luo Zijun's heart skipped a beat, and a look of astonishment immediately appeared on his face as he said, "Ah, what clothes? I haven't seen them; I didn't come here yesterday."

Bai Meixue raised her head and looked at him with calm eyes, saying, "A bodice, undergarments, and a pair of silk socks I had just worn."

Luo Zijun was immediately stunned and said, "I didn't see them. Could they have been dropped elsewhere, or perhaps carried off by the cat? I remember Daidai likes to carry things around."

"Meow—"

At this moment, a cat's meow suddenly came from the windowsill.

The white cat was crouching there, its pair of azure eyes looking at him, seemingly dissatisfied with his slander.

Bai Qingtong smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, with so many things, it's impossible for the cat to have carried them all away. I think they must have been stolen by someone."

Luo Zijun looked astonished: "How is that possible? Who would be so bold as to come here to the Eldest Miss's place to steal things?"

At this moment, Bai Daxiaojie looked at him and said: "Someone dares to be so bold as to sneakily hide under my bed, so naturally, someone also dares to come in and steal things."

Luo Zijun: "..."

"No, Daxiaojie, you don't suspect that I stole those things, do you? Why would I steal those things? I am a proper scholar, not a pervert."

Luo Zijun was a bit angry.

Bai Qingtong said: "Brother-in-law, did you really not steal them?"

Luo Zijun immediately raised his palm to swear: "If I stole them, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"

It was Bai Bai who stole them, it really was Bai Bai who stole them.

Bai Daxiaojie stared at him for a while longer before saying: "Fine, since you didn't steal them, then it's fine, you may go."

Luo Zijun was still somewhat indignant: "Daxiaojie is slandering people too much. We are a husband and wife who formally bowed in marriage, how could I steal your things? In Daxiaojie's eyes, am I really that despicable?"

Bai Daxiaojie said very frankly: "Yes."

Luo Zijun: "..."

"Hmph!"

He did not say anything more and left with an angry face.

After exiting the room, his heart was still pounding rapidly. He exchanged a glance with Bai Bai outside, did not dare to whisper again, and left immediately.

"No! So many things, suddenly lost for no reason, it definitely isn't normal."

Returning to his room, Luo Zijun immediately took out Bai Daxiaojie's clothing. After thinking for a moment, he only kept the bodice and silk socks; as for the undershirt and underpants, he decided to sneak them over tonight.

Soon, it grew dark.

After the lights in every part of the mansion were extinguished one after another, Luo Zijun performed Soul Out-of-Body, used Object Manipulation Technique, brought Bai Daxiaojie's undershirt and underpants to the neighboring courtyard, carefully hung them on the clothesline in the corner of the yard, and then left without a sound.

Who would have thought that just as he left, a white shadow suddenly appeared from the corner, eyes looking toward the clothing on the clothesline.

At the third watch.

Luo Zijun performed Soul Out-of-Body and arrived at the garden in the back.

Before long, the Moon Palace Fairy flew down from the sky, a white dress fluttering; under the illumination of the moonlight, she truly looked like a fairy descending to the mortal world.

"Is the task completed?"

The Moon Palace Fairy asked as soon as she landed.

Luo Zijun immediately took out Bai Daxiaojie's bodice and said: "Fortunately, I did not fail the mission; it is already completed."

The Moon Palace Fairy took a glance, reached out to take it, and then looked at him again, saying: "Are there any more?"

Luo Zijun shook his head and said: "No more. Didn't the Fairy say that one piece would be enough?"

The Moon Palace Fairy looked at him deeply once more before putting away the bodice and saying in a flat tone: "Let's go."

A vortex appeared.

The two soon arrived at Diyuan and entered the Ghost Realm.

Luo Zijun asked: "Fairy, how much longer until we can go find the Nether Spirit Fire?"

The Moon Palace Fairy said: "Wait a few more days. When the time comes, I will notify you myself."

"Oh."

Luo Zijun did not dare to ask any more questions.

After passing through the tunnel, he continued to the cave to cultivate, while the Moon Palace Fairy continued to hunt demonic creatures in the wilderness ahead.

A night's time passed quickly.

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, the two arrived at the surface. Just as they were about to separate, the Moon Palace Fairy suddenly asked: "You are not just a small servant at the Bai Mansion, are you?"

Luo Zijun said: "I am just a servant, anyway."

The status of a Matrilocal Son-in-law is just the status of a servant, isn't it?

The Moon Palace Fairy did not ask further, flew into the sky, and disappeared.

Luo Zijun returned to his room and soon fell asleep.

This day, he still did not go out and continued to cultivate in the backyard.

The Internal Energy Seed in his Dantian Sea was restless, but he always felt it lacked a bit of power to break through.

After thinking carefully, he still needed to make a trip out of the city.

Last time after making a reservation, because of some matters, he didn't go out. This time, no matter what, he had to go out to temper himself; otherwise, if he cultivated alone, it would likely be very difficult to break through.

In the evening, he left the mansion and went to the Juxian Pavilion, making a reservation for a hunt outside the city three days later.

The shopkeeper said: "You didn't go after your reservation last time. That Miss Xu looked very disappointed and even asked me why you didn't go. How would I know?"

Luo Zijun chatted with him for a while and then left.

He did not go to Bao'an Hall, nor did he go to Chujian Bookstore, but returned directly to the Bai Mansion, preparing to continue cultivating in the backyard.

This time he must succeed in advancing; he could not be disturbed by outside matters again.

Who would have thought that just as he returned to the small courtyard, Bai Third Miss came looking for him and told him: "I heard that Lai Da paid a lot of silver in compensation, and our Bai Mansion also demanded several tens of thousands of taels; the Laishi Winery is completely gone. To pay the debts of the money shop, he has already sold off all his houses in the Inner City, including the newly built Xiaoguanyuan, as well as two restaurants. Also, I heard that the silver at Jile Villa is also almost emptied out..."

"Tanchun came today to say that that Lai Mama cried for several days in front of the Jia Family's old lady. The Jia Family's old lady had no choice but to personally go out and find someone to fish Lai Da out of the prison. Those restaurants that bought fake wine and the government officials all stopped pursuing the matter because of his compensation and the Jia Family's face..."

Luo Zijun said: "So, Lai Da has already been released?"

Bai Qingtong said: "Yes, I heard he was released today."

The expression on Luo Zijun's face was very calm, as if he had long expected such a result. He pondered for a moment and asked: "How is the investigation into the Jile Villa matter going?"

Bai Qingtong whispered: "I found out some things. On the surface, Jile Villa is managed by Lai Da, but in reality, there are several owners. Besides Jia She and Jia Zhen, there are also people from the Wang Family, as well as the Prince of Nanhe. The reason Lai Da dared to let that villa do whatever it wanted is likely because that Prince of Nanhe was backing him. The fact that he got out of prison so quickly this time is probably also due to the Prince of Nanhe putting in quite a bit of effort..."

Luo Zijun said: "How is the strength of that Prince of Nanhe?"

Bai Qingtong said: "The strength of any prince cannot be underestimated, especially the Prince of Nanhe. He is the uncle of the former king and controls a portion of the Inner City garrison; he is a prince with real power, and even the Queen is trying to win him over. In this Lin'an City, there should be no one who dares to provoke him. His son is even more formidable; he has been a martial arts genius since childhood and is now in seclusion at some sect to cultivate. I heard he broke through the Martial Master realm long ago."

"A sect?"

Luo Zijun asked curiously, "Besides Martial Arts Halls, are there also sects?"

Bai Qingtong said, "Of course there are. Those Martial Arts Halls are actually all opened by certain sects, the purpose being to provide promising disciples to those sects. Our Daliang has four great sects, all with very formidable strength and many powerful martial artists within their gates; their sect leaders are often received by the late King."

Luo Zijun pondered for a moment and said, "Seen in this light, wanting to use the government to exterminate Jile Villa is likely impossible."

Bai Qingtong sighed and said, "With that Prince of Nanhe County there, I reckon even if the yamen obtained evidence, they wouldn't dare to intervene. Unless this case is poked all the way to the Queen. However... the Queen is currently wooing everyone in the capital who holds military power, and the Prince of Nanhe County has long since shown favor to the Queen, so even if it were poked to the Queen, I reckon it would..."

She did not dare to continue speaking.

Luo Zijun asked, "A country cannot go a single day without a ruler; during this period, has the Queen not selected a new monarch?"

Bai Qingtong frowned slightly and said, "I heard from Father that there are people in the imperial court urging it, but the late King had no heirs and no other brothers left; those with other qualifications are all a few uncles and their sons. Actually, that Prince of Nanhe County also had this idea when the late King passed away... but it was all vetoed by the Queen. The Queen said the monarch of a country must be the most outstanding one, so it is necessary to observe for a longer period... As for how long this period is, no one knows."

"The situation in the imperial court has been a bit chaotic recently; the Queen has killed many people and controls the Forbidden Army and most of the troops within the city, and the Left and Right Armies stationed outside the city have also sworn allegiance to the Queen..."

"Many imperial court officials have also been replaced, and now most of them obey the Queen's orders... so some royal family members are very dissatisfied in private, all saying that the Queen doing this is..."

The more Luo Zijun heard, the more he felt something was wrong, and looking at her, he said, "The Queen wouldn't want to..."

Bai Qingtong hurriedly made a "shh" sound and said, "Brother-in-law, you must not speak recklessly."

Luo Zijun thought for a moment and asked, "Does Great Yan not care about the matter of selecting a king here?"

Bai Qingtong said, "Yujing will not intervene; they only wait for the new king to be confirmed, then notify that side, and that side will issue an imperial decree. Moreover, Yujing is currently busy and overwhelmed, so they likely have no mind to manage things here. I heard that the King of Wu has united with the other six kingdoms to rebel and is gathering a great army, preparing to attack Yujing."

Luo Zijun's heart skipped a beat: "King of Wu? Seven Kingdoms Rebellion? That King of Wu wouldn't be named Liu Pi, would he?"

Bai Qingtong said, "The King of Wu is named Li Fang."

Luo Zijun secretly breathed a sigh of relief; if that King of Wu were truly named Liu Pi, and this were Liang Kingdom, then it would be over.

Although in the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, Liang Kingdom eventually held its ground, it was also a heavy loss of life, and the soldiers and civilians within the city were incomparably miserable.

Bai Qingtong sighed and said, "When the King of Wu originally took the Crown Prince of Wu to Yujing, the Crown Prince of Wu had a conflict while playing chess with the Emperor, who was then the Crown Prince of Great Yan. As a result, the Crown Prince of Wu was directly smashed to death by the Emperor with a chessboard. Now the Emperor has started to grandiosely strip away the lands of various kingdoms again, so the King of Wu... Brother-in-law, what is wrong with you?"

Luo Zijun's face turned pale, and he did not speak.

(End of this chapter)