Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

As night fell, at Ganquan Palace, in Tianxiang Tower.

Shu Yingwen, wrapped in a black mink coat, stared blankly at the open door.

He took a deep breath, still unable to make up his mind whether to go in.

"Now that you're here, why don't you come in?"

A soft, seductive voice came from inside, causing Shu Yingwen to tremble involuntarily.

He was a former concubine who was ordered by Ji Yuxi to serve here.

Moreover, Ji Yuxi had given him a strict order: he had to meet all of this important person's demands, or he would not be able to bear the consequences...

Shu Yingwen was completely unaware that she had become a victim of the power struggles within the harem, nothing more than a pawn for women's pleasure.

He walked cautiously through the gates of Tianxiang Tower.

The moment I stepped inside, a gust of wind swept past, and the door behind me was slammed shut.

The heater in the lobby dispelled the chill of early spring, bringing some warmth to Shu Yingwen's body, which had been stiff from the cold.

In the center of the hall, there was a table of exquisite dishes, with a pot of warm imperial wine beside it.

"You came?"

With a soft call, a beautiful and charming figure appeared before Shu Yingwen, scrutinizing him intently.

Having been trained countless times, Shu Yingwen could immediately see the lust in the woman's eyes.

Moreover, it was even stronger than Ji Yuxi's, so strong that Shu Yingwen felt a sense of fear and involuntarily took a step back.

"Hehe, young man, what are you doing? Since you're here, sit down and have a drink with me."

Wu Li seemed quite satisfied with Shu Yingwen's current performance. She swayed her hips as she walked to the table, then picked up the wine pot, poured a glass of wine into it, and slowly approached him.

Shu Yingwen broke out in a cold sweat, then cupped his hands and replied, "I came here to the Imperial Concubine on the orders of the Empress Dowager. May I ask what you need me for?"

Wu Li smiled slightly, put one arm around his neck, and whispered in his ear, "Don't you really know what to do? Men, don't you feel your heart flutter when you see me?"

As he spoke, he brought the wine glass to Shu Yingwen's lips.

Shu Yingwen felt a tingling sensation all over her body. After inhaling a strange fragrance, she felt completely dizzy and her mind went blank.

Subconsciously, he drank the drink that was offered to him.

Soon after the wine entered her stomach, Shu Yingwen felt her whole body gradually becoming hot.

"What, what did you give me to drink?"

"Ha ha……"

Wu Li immediately dropped the wine glass, then took out a red hemp rope about the thickness of an adult's thumb from behind her waist and wrapped it around the back of his neck.

"Of course, it's something that will make you happy. Come, come with me."

My little puppy, as long as you keep me comfortable, you'll get plenty of rewards..."

As he spoke, he tied a knot in the red hemp rope around Shu Yingwen's neck, and then led Shu Yingwen towards the dormitory on the second floor like a dog on a leash.

Shu Yingwen felt as if her body was out of her control, completely at Wu Li's mercy.

Just as he was walking up the stairs to the second floor, Shu Yingwen's mink coat fell off, revealing his complete, muscular physique.

"Giggle-"

This scene made Wu Li's eyes gleam, and she smiled brightly.

……

Inside the Yingjun Pavilion of Changle Palace.

Jiang Mengxuan sat quietly at the dining table, watching Shen Lang wolf down his food. She then took a closer look by supporting her chin with one hand.

Shen Lang felt no burden about this. He had barely eaten anything at the celebration banquet today and was starving. He wouldn't care about those damn rules anymore.

"Is it delicious?"

"Yeah, not bad."

"Then eat more."

"Ah."

Jiang Mengxuan smiled helplessly and remained silent, waiting for Shen Lang to finish the food in his hand.

Shen Lang only put down his chopsticks with satisfaction after eating the last piece of vegetable on the plate.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave now."

After saying this, Shen Lang stood up, bowed, and prepared to leave.

"What, you've eaten and drunk my food, and now you want to leave?"

"Is there anything else, Your Majesty?"

Jiang Mengxuan smiled faintly: "There is indeed something I need to discuss with you. Please sit down first."

Curious, Shen Lang had no choice but to sit back down at the table.

Then Jiang Mengxuan handed over a sealed paper: "I recently obtained a poem, but I can't figure out its mystery no matter what I do. Why don't you give it a try?"

Shen Lang was speechless: "Your Majesty, I am not good at poetry. You should find someone else."

Jiang Mengxuan tilted her cheek slightly: "Just keep me company to pass the time. Take a look at the content of this poem first."

Shen Lang was quite helpless. He sighed silently, picked up the envelope, and opened it to read.

That year, the flowers bloomed on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

Soldiers from beyond the Great Wall returned wrapped in their shrouds.

An evil wind blew into Yumen Pass.

The world is a scene of devastation.

After reading the first half, Shen Lang's brows furrowed slightly. He muttered a few words to himself and continued reading:

I've never heard of a female knight-errant or a sword immortal.

To vanquish demons and restore order to the world.

But then one sees the phoenix wings of the imperial city spread out.

Alone I ascend to the ninth heaven to embrace the vastness of the universe.

Shen Lang's brows furrowed even more deeply.

"What's wrong? You look so serious. It seems you've discovered something mysterious?"

Jiang Mengxuan asked curiously.

Shen Lang asked, "May I ask Your Majesty, where did you obtain this poem?"

Jiang Mengxuan: "Is there anything wrong with this gift from an old friend?"

"woman?"

"Ah."

Shen Lang closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something and carefully read the entire poem again.

Once he understood the meaning of the poem, he immediately pushed it back in front of Jiang Mengxuan and gave her a strange look.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

She felt really uncomfortable under Shen Lang's gaze.

"It's nothing," Shen Lang said casually, turning his face away. "It's just a not-so-fluent limerick, Your Majesty doesn't need to take it too seriously."

Despite saying that, Jiang Mengxuan still noticed that Shen Lang's body seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally distancing itself from her after reading the poem.

"Shen Lang, tell me, what does this poem mean?"

"It means nothing, Your Majesty, please don't overthink it."

Shen Lang awkwardly stood up, touched his nose, and said goodbye again: "Your Majesty, it's getting late. I won't disturb your rest any longer. I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, without waiting for Jiang Mengxuan to speak, he left the table and ran towards the door.

Then, before he had taken more than a few steps, he bumped right into Shu Yue, who had just come to deliver aromatherapy.

"Yeah~"

Shu Yue was knocked to the ground by a mishap, spilling the aromatherapy she was holding all over the floor.

"I'm so sorry..."

Shen Lang was about to apologize to the other party when he suddenly noticed that the smell in the air was wrong.

"Don't you have eyes?"

Looking at the spilled incense on the ground, Shu Yue's eyes were filled with endless hatred for Shen Lang.

"This is for His Majesty..."

click-

But the next moment, Shu Yue's arm was directly suppressed by Shen Lang, who used a grappling technique to pin her face to the ground.

Before Shu Yue could react, Shen Lang whispered in her ear, "Tell me, who ordered you to poison His Majesty?"

"Poisoned?"

Jiang Mengxuan, who was originally going to stop this "accident", was stunned when she heard the word "poisoning".

So she simply remained silent and watched Shen Lang's performance.

"What poison? What nonsense are you spouting? Let me go right now, do you hear me?!"

Shu Yue struggled desperately, refusing to answer any of Shen Lang's questions.

"Not going to talk? Heh, Miss Shu, you've been dealing with the Jingwei Division for quite some time now. Don't you want to experience their interrogation process?"

"What exactly do you want? I'm just delivering spices to His Majesty!"

"Is it?"

Shen Lang used his foot to shake a white pill out of the incense on the ground and placed it in front of her, right where she was lying on the ground.

"Explain yourself, what is this?"

Shu Yue was startled, but immediately shook her head: "I don't know, these are spices I took from Ranxiang Pavilion, Your Majesty, please help this servant!"

"Stop shouting!"

Shen Lang gave a deep shout, then squeezed the tip of her nose.

Soon, two tiny scraps of paper fell out of his nostrils.

"Come on, explain what's going on?"