Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 357 Status is something you earn yourself
What advice could these dragons possibly offer? They were already showing their fear of the tyrannical mother dragon by not going to kill that demon queen. Upon hearing this, they all held their breath and stormed off without offering a single suggestion.

Long Qinghuang watched their sullen backs and smiled.

It seems to work; at least no dragon will suspect that she's hiding a man so he can come up with ideas to find the mole.

In truth, she herself didn't quite understand why...

In short, after meeting with the high-ranking members of the Dragon Clan, she arranged the affairs of the Demon Court that had been neglected due to the long war, to show that she hadn't just hidden in her room with a man as soon as she returned, and that she wasn't a complete tyrant. Then, Long Qinghuang hurriedly returned to the Empress's Palace.

To the guards, he was clearly a complete tyrant.

After being away on campaign for so long, all she did upon returning was cuddle with men and spend less time arranging affairs with the dragon clan's high-ranking officials than she could drink a cup of tea.
Long Qinghuang scurried back to the Empress's palace, only to be met with a thunderous roar.

A young palace maid's voice came from inside, saying, "Father~"

Long Qinghuang: "?"

What happened? I was only away from eavesdropping for a moment, how did the palace maid end up like this?
"How strange!" said the little maid.

Lu Xingzhou's voice came: "It's not surprising. Isn't 'mother' the opposite of 'father'? Since women are called 'Empress,' shouldn't men be called 'father'?"

The little maid bit her finger and thought for a long time, shaking her head like a rattle: "It sounds reasonable, but it sounds too strange to shout. I won't shout it."

"It's good that you didn't shout. If you dare to shout, I'll chop you up!" Long Qinghuang kicked open the door aggressively and threw the little palace maid out.

The young palace maid was about to bow to His Majesty when she realized what was happening and was already thrown outside. The door slammed shut behind her.

Long Qinghuang grabbed Lu Xingzhou by the collar: "I specially arranged for an ordinary-looking palace maid to serve me, and you still managed to provoke her like this!"

Lu Xingzhou slowly reached out and pried her fingers apart one by one: "I was just joking with the little palace maid. If you're not here, who am I supposed to talk to?"

"Isn't Anuo here?" Long Qinghuang turned her head and saw that Anuo had already eaten her fill and was sleeping soundly on the fragrant and soft bed.

Ah Nuo couldn't care less about what these adults were thinking. This was a bed of empress standard, the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in! Instead of lying down, they were making such a fuss over this and that. The adults were all stupid, and her master wasn't much smarter either.

"..." Long Qinghuang suddenly realized that she and Lu Xingzhou were now alone together, and she felt a sudden panic. Then she thought, "Why am I panicking?" She glared at him fiercely and said, "Would you joke with me like that?"

Lu Xingzhou gave her a strange look: "You want me to talk to you like that? Are you sure you won't hit me?"

Long Qinghuang: "..."

Lu Xingzhou pulled her hand away from his clothes and sighed, "My Emperor, I still don't understand whether you kidnapped me to be your concubine or you want my abilities."

In fact, Long Qinghuang herself didn't understand, and was even more confused by the questions, so she simply said, "Anyway, it was your suggestion to play the role of being obsessed with men, so I have to play it."

She realized he was still holding her fingers after she finished speaking, and quickly pulled them out.

Lu Xingzhou blinked: "This isn't how someone truly obsessed with men behaves."

Long Qinghuang laughed angrily: "Trying to seduce me again, huh!"

Upon hearing this, Long Qinghuang suddenly felt relieved.

Yes, this isn't how someone truly obsessed with men behaves. You should just pin him down and continue with the pig bristle brush.

To be frank, while his appearance is attractive, what's truly attractive is his ability; people want him because of his ability.

Long Qinghuang sighed, then sat back down at the table and continued drinking her tea: "I went out just now not because I was afraid you would say I wanted to leave."

Lu Xingzhou: "Mhm."

"What kind of attitude?"

"...Listen to His Majesty's tone."

Long Qinghuang choked for a moment, then continued, "I was just now because I sensed that a high-ranking member of the Dragon Clan was looking for me, so I went to deal with him."

"Uh-huh."

"So, what do you say about helping me find the mole?"

This time it was Lu Xingzhou's turn to drink tea.

Long Qinghuang waited for a long time, but Lu Xingzhou didn't say anything. She couldn't help but raise her eyebrows and say, "I'm asking you a question!"

Lu Xingzhou put down his teacup: "I lack all the necessary information. What can I possibly come up with for you out of thin air? Shouldn't you tell me in detail how you suspected there was a mole and how you investigated before we can analyze this?"

Long Qinghuang paused, then fell silent, as if she didn't know what to say for a moment.

Lu Xingzhou suddenly asked, "Is Chen Yu dead?"

Long Qinghuang was taken aback: "Why do you ask that?"

"Finding the mole is your top priority. You should be eagerly telling me everything. The reason you're keeping quiet is that you're subconsciously protecting Chen Yu's information and don't want me to know too much," Lu Xingzhou said calmly. "But Your Majesty, this attitude is counterproductive to any of your goals." What other goals do you have besides finding the mole?
Long Qinghuang suddenly realized that she had another male object of her desire.

He said that because he was...jealous!
Long Qinghuang's eyes crinkled into a smile: "You actually... ha..."

Lu Xingzhou remained silent with a sour face.

Long Qinghuang smiled and took his hand, shaking it gently: "Don't be angry, how can he be the same as you?"

Ah Nuo twitched slightly on the bed, then continued sleeping.

This time, Lu Xingzhou withdrew his hand, his face still grim.

Long Qinghuang felt no offense at all, and instead smiled and said, "It was indeed because of Chen Yu's intelligence that I became aware of the traitor. I did subconsciously protect his information because I was used to it and didn't want the traitor to silence him. But now that the war is over, Chen Yu only knows that much, and it's no longer of any use. If you don't like it, I'll have someone chop him up and feed him to the dogs right now."

Lu Xingzhou became somewhat curious: "Where is he?"

"Locked up in the alchemy room as a tool for alchemy, the pills he refines are still..." Before she could finish speaking, seeing Lu Xingzhou's somewhat stern expression, Long Qinghuang immediately said, "Oh right, he was also your defeated opponent at the Alchemy Academy, so even if he refines pills, they can't compare to yours."

Lu Xingzhou finally stopped being coy and said leisurely, "You sensed there was a traitor because when Chen Yu told you about the Great Qian, he mentioned that many officials in the Great Qian were demons. This is the secret that Prince Jin knew best and could tell Chen Yu. And you find it strange because many high-ranking demons were not appointed by you, such as the Prefect of Dongjiang. Even you, as the Demon Emperor, didn't know that, which makes no sense."

Long Qinghuang's expression turned serious.

Lu Xingzhou said, "And from Chen Yu's information, you also realized that this seems to be something that Emperor Qian tacitly approved, or at least that Prince Jin knew about it but did nothing about it. Officials are demons, Emperor Qian tacitly approved, and the Demon Emperor was unaware. Putting yourself in His Majesty's shoes, it's simply horrifying. Your first reaction would be that there must be high-ranking officials around you colluding with Gu Zhanting. Although you can't understand what the conditions for this collusion are, or why Emperor Qian could turn a blind eye to the demonization of officials... In short, it must be detrimental to you. So you orchestrated this war to fish for fish, but unfortunately, you didn't catch anything."

Long Qinghuang was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "You saw everything, so why are you asking me..."

"What I want to know is that it's unlikely that Chen Yu knew about the loopholes in the border defense network, and even if he did, he would only know a little bit about it... How did you manage to launch such a large-scale invasion and territorial conquest? Could Chen Yu have told you that?"

Long Qinghuang remained silent for a longer time before saying wearily in a low voice, "No. I had another contact in Daqian, but I was caught by Chen Yu. He was the most suitable person to take the blame and cover up my real inside man."

Lu Xingzhou slowly said, "King Qi."

Long Qinghuang stood up in shock, staring at Lu Xingzhou in disbelief, as if she had seen a monster.

“You see, I know everything you’re trying to hide from me.” Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly and gestured for her to sit down. “Don’t be nervous. I don’t care about their royal scandal at all. Whether we go back or not, it has nothing to do with me.”

Long Qinghuang pursed her lips, her tone even weaker: "Then what else do you want me to say?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "Of course, I need information on your suspects and the results of your secret investigations. I'm not familiar with any of these people, so what can I possibly analyze?"

Long Qinghuang gave him a deep look. Only now did she fully believe that Lu Xingzhou was genuinely helping her find the traitor, and not trying to get information about Chen Yu or any Daqian mole from her. Because Lu Xingzhou didn't need that; he already knew that.

What a monster! How did he guess about Prince Qi? Lu Xingzhou didn't even have a way of knowing about the new developments in the capital of Daqian and the news of Prince Qi's reinstatement. How did he think of Prince Qi?

People say that excessive wisdom is close to being a demon, so you must be the demon, wouldn't you be a perfect fit to be a demon queen?
“I said I would help Miss Long find the traitor, and I meant it. It was never an empty promise.” Lu Xingzhou said earnestly, “What does Your Majesty think if I offer this as a condition for you to let me return to my country?”

"No!" Long Qinghuang said instinctively, "Since you said you would help Miss Long find the traitor, that's a promise you made to her. Don't confuse the Demon Emperor's affairs with yours!"

Ah Nuo twitched again.

This event is also recorded in the Tianyao Holy Land.

Lu Xingzhou chuckled: "If you insist on putting it that way... then who is I talking to right now, the Demon Emperor or the Dragon Lady?"

Long Qinghuang hesitated for a long time before whispering, "It's Miss Long."

"Not the Demon Emperor?"

"No."

Lu Xingzhou stood up, extended his hand and smiled, "Then I'm hungry. Miss Long, would you like to accompany me on a stroll through the Demon Capital and try some local delicacies?"

Looking at the hand he extended in front of her, Long Qinghuang's mind went blank, and she didn't know for a long time whether she should take it or not.

How did it turn out like this?
No, even if Miss Long is the girl you like, she didn't agree to hold hands with you. You really know how to take advantage of people.

But doesn't this also prove that his feelings for her were genuine, and that he had been trying to seduce her using various methods?

However, he didn't want a domineering and aloof demon emperor, and his attitude was always very clear.

Just as I was thinking this, I heard Lu Xingzhou say, "Young lady, you don't want the traitor in your life to remain undetected for so long, do you?"

Long Qinghuang was both amused and exasperated, and grabbed his hand: "Come on, let's go get something to eat."

This might be the first time in Long Qinghuang's life that she had been "threatened," but she didn't feel the slightest bit of resentment. After all, she still wanted to keep him in the harem, and it was hard to say who would want to hold whose hand.

It would be better if he weren't so principled; he could just be a good concubine.

Long Qinghuang had not yet realized that when he was originally made a concubine, it was somewhat like treating him as a plaything, but now it was gradually no longer like that.

(End of this chapter)