Chapter 106: The Royal Scandal

Chapter 106: The Evolving Beast

“When did your relationship start?” Sitting at the head of the table like a parent discovering their daughter’s involvement with another man, Zhou Tian looked toward Afra and Wu Zhao, who were quietly lowering their heads nearby, and directly asked about how their relationship had developed.

“It’s been a while now.”

“Since the third day after you moved into the palace.”

Without any hesitation or concealment, both Wu Zhao and Afra answered Zhou Tian’s question straightforwardly the moment he asked.

Upon hearing their words, Zhou Tian couldn’t help but cast an annoyed glance at Wu Zhao.

Although Afra was indeed a lesbian, as far as Zhou Tian knew, apart from her relationship with Anna, she had never been involved with any other women in such an intimate way. In other words, Afra was not the type to take advantage of every woman she met. Even if Wu Zhao was undeniably beautiful, it seemed unlikely that Afra would so quickly enter into this kind of relationship with her.

Therefore, Zhou Tian suspected that the development of Afra and Wu Zhao’s current relationship was likely the result of Wu Zhao’s scheming. Though he had no idea what Wu Zhao’s intentions were in forming such a bond with Afra, just the thought of Wu Zhao secretly plotting stirred a deep sense of anger within him.

Unable to contain his frustration, Zhou Tian smacked Afra’s thigh sharply and shot Wu Zhao a fierce glare before speaking sternly, “Since things have come to this, let’s just leave now. In the future, if possible, try to avoid such situations. I don’t want the emperor to catch you in the act someday. If I suffer losses because of it, just wait and see how I deal with both of you.”

“It’s not like everyone has your ability to appear and disappear like a ghost. I’m not defenseless. If someone tries to get close to my palace, they’ll be found out immediately unless they suddenly appear from underground. What you’re worried about simply won’t happen. Besides, that bastard would never dare come to my palace!” Wu Zhao retorted. Seeing that Zhou Tian intended to take Afra away, she reached out and blocked him, saying, “You just took advantage of me and now want to leave? There’s no such good deal in this world. If you don’t give me an explanation today, I’ll reveal that you broke into my palace and spied on me.”

“You…” Zhou Tian knew that if such news got out, both he and Wu Zhao would face severe consequences. However, he couldn’t guarantee that Wu Zhao wouldn’t actually do it. If she did, it would spell trouble for him. So although angry, Zhou Tian stopped in his tracks after hearing her ‘threat.’

“What exactly do you want?” Since he couldn’t avoid Wu Zhao, Zhou Tian decided to be upfront. He believed Wu Zhao must have some purpose behind all this. If it wasn’t too difficult, he’d consider helping her. After all, without her information, Afra might already be doomed.

But when Zhou Tian asked again, Wu Zhao still showed no intention of telling the truth. Instead, she gave him a seductive smile and teased, “I like you, big brother. How about becoming my lover? You and your little girlfriend—threesome, maybe?”

“Pfft!” Zhou Tian couldn’t hold back his laughter, but Afra, who was sipping tea nearby, was so shocked she spat it out, drenching Zhou Tian and turning him into a drenched mess.

Glowering at Afra for laughing at him, Zhou Tian grabbed a cloth and wiped himself off before speaking seriously to Wu Zhao, “Stop joking like that. If anyone overhears, it won’t be good for any of us.”

“Oh, such a gentleman!” Wu Zhao teased with a smile, then suddenly pointed at Zhou Tian’s right hand. “Unless you weren’t holding my bellyband.”

“Uh…” Zhou Tian blushed deeply. This was too embarrassing! Who knew how it happened—he had just casually picked something up, and it turned out to be Wu Zhao’s intimate garment. Saying those things and doing those actions right in front of her left him mortified.

“Alright, no more jokes. I really need your help. Are you willing?” Perhaps fearing she had pushed too far and scared him away, Wu Zhao finally put on a serious face and made her request.

“Tell me what it is.” Though Zhou Tian wanted to be serious, recalling earlier events made it hard for him to maintain his dignity in front of Wu Zhao. He also wasn’t sure if she was playing him again, so he gave a hesitant answer.

“I want to borrow your seed.”

Hearing this, Zhou Tian’s face instantly flushed red. He glared fiercely and shouted again, “Stop joking or I’ll really leave!”

“Who said I’m joking?” Wu Zhao looked at him seriously and affirmed, “I really want to have a child with you.”

“Are… you kidding?” Zhou Tian shook his head and refused outright. “You’ve got the wrong person. If you want to have a child, you should go find your emperor.”

“Him?” Wu Zhao sneered, showing contempt. “That guy is a man? Believe it or not, until now, I’ve never been touched by a man.”

“Believe it, of course I do.” Zhou Tian nodded affirmatively but still refused. “Precisely because you’ve never been with a man, I can’t touch you. You’re the Empress of the Yanhuang Empire. If anyone finds out you’ve been with someone else, and the trail leads to me, I’ll be in big trouble.”

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen.” Seeing Zhou Tian’s hesitation, Wu Zhao tried to reassure him. “You might not know, but our emperor prefers eunuchs—not women.”

“What?” Zhou Tian was shocked. Though he had suspected the Yanhuang Emperor was impotent after hearing Wu Zhao hadn’t been touched by a man, he never imagined that the emperor’s preference for eunuchs was the reason he had never been with his empress. Hearing Wu Zhao reveal this explosive secret left him stunned.

Thinking Zhou Tian didn’t believe her, Wu Zhao continued to explain, “It’s a huge scandal in our royal family. When the emperor was still crown prince, his indulgence in debauchery weakened his health and neglected his duties. The previous emperor locked him in the Eastern Palace and forbade any women from approaching him. Because of this, he spent his days with eunuchs and eventually developed a liking for them. Although there are many women in the palace, apart from the first batch of concubines, the emperor has never been with a woman.”

“That’s why I said, given your situation, if anyone touches you, it will be known immediately. I don’t want trouble. Whether you’ve never been with a man or the emperor prefers eunuchs, it doesn’t concern me. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.” With that, Zhou Tian took Afra’s hand and prepared to leave using his teleportation technique.

But just as he grasped Afra’s hand, his body suddenly went limp, collapsing onto the ground.

Frowning at Afra, whose eyes were reddening and who was desperately searching himself for something, Zhou Tian turned to Wu Zhao and demanded angrily, “What did you do?”

“I just put some medicine in the tea.” Wu Zhao answered casually as if it was nothing, then began removing her clothes and approached Zhou Tian. “It was just a precaution, but it actually worked. Both your and Afra’s tea had a sedative. I planned for Afra to pass out so I could be alone with you, but Afra drank both cups herself. Luckily, since you got sprayed with her tea, the effect was weaker. Now you can’t refuse me, can you?”

As she undressed Zhou Tian like a lustful wolf, Wu Zhao explained as if comforting him, “Don’t worry about anyone finding out. Actually, to cover up his scandal and for the royal lineage’s sake, every time the emperor invites royal family members to the palace, he secretly drugs them to force concubines and male royals to conceive children. That’s how he’s managed to have a few princes. If I hadn’t been lucky, I might have fallen into his trap too. Even if I have a child with you, that bastard will only think it’s his bloodline and never suspect I was with you.”

After that, Zhou Tian vaguely remembered Wu Zhao saying something about avenging that bastard and making outsiders the emperor of Yanhuang Empire. Then, in a daze, he only recalled rolling around on the bed for a long, long time...

(Immense thanks to No.3 for the monthly vote—this is the first monthly vote for this book!)

[To be continued]

Chapter 106 of The Evolving Beast is now complete!