Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

Outside Luoyang, on the cement-paved official road, an ordinary-looking carriage sped along.

"Aha."

Inside the carriage, a weary yawn was heard.

Lu Chen lay listlessly on the recliner, unusually not rushing to handle official business, but looking at the luxurious ceiling of the carriage with a complicated expression.

Upon closer inspection, one could see faint dark circles under his eyes, and even the lines on his cheeks were faintly visible. His lips were also somewhat dry, giving him a completely drained appearance.

Swish!
At this moment, accompanied by a surge of spiritual energy, a graceful figure suddenly appeared beside him; it was Fu Xian, now restored to its original size.

"It surprised me that."

She moved closer to Lu Chen, her delicate body pressed against his side waist, maintaining a safe distance of less than three inches.

"Someone as gentle and refined as you has such a wild side. I've become so small, and I was almost shaken off."

"And all those weird flowers of yours."

As she spoke, something seemed to come to mind, and a hint of curiosity appeared on her face.

However, before she could finish speaking, Lu Chen raised his hand and patted her on the head.

"Stop making sarcastic remarks. I don't believe you don't know what's going on. With your abilities, you should be able to figure it out, right? Why didn't you remind me?"

Fu Xuan looked completely bewildered: "Why should I remind you? Isn't this a good thing for you?"

"Good thing my foot!"

Lu Chen couldn't help but swear.

"Didn't you think about His Highness the Holy King of your Holy Realm? He specially dispatched troops to help His Majesty regain his throne, paying such a great price. No matter how you look at it, it was all for His Majesty's sake. If this gets out..."

Upon hearing this, Fu Xuan looked at Lu Chen with a somewhat subtle expression.

After hesitating for a moment, before Lu Chen could continue, she said decisively:

"If you're worried about this, then I can tell you clearly that you're overthinking it. His Highness the Holy King has no improper thoughts about the Emperor of Great Xia. The reason he sent troops is not what you guessed. He and the Emperor of Great Xia are completely innocent, and there could be no romantic relationship between them."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ok?"

He sat up abruptly, looking at Fu Xian with a surprised expression.

"Are you serious? Please don't try to comfort me with something so important."

Fu Xian shrugged: "Now the Holy Realm and Great Xia are deeply intertwined. They share both glory and ruin. If either the Holy King or the Emperor of Great Xia has a problem, the consequences will be extremely serious."

"Although I am not good at politics, I will not treat such matters lightly."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

It felt as if a huge mountain had been lifted, and I instantly felt completely relaxed.

Can you tell me why?

He was somewhat curious: since it didn't involve matters between men and women, why did the Holy King support the Empress so unreservedly?

"No."

Fu Xian refused without hesitation.

"This matter concerns the highest secrets of the Holy Realm. All I can tell you is what I just said, and all you need to know is that the Holy King has no romantic feelings for the Emperor of Great Xia, isn't that enough?"

Seeing her say that, Lu Chen had no choice but to give up and not insist any further.

Although his relationship with Fu Xian has become closer and they are more familiar with each other after this period of close contact, and they are no longer as unfamiliar and distant as they were at the beginning, he still will not easily speak about matters that involve his bottom line.

Asking further will not only fail to get you an answer, but will also cause mutual resentment.

There's no need to bring it up.

"correct."

Lu Chen seemed to suddenly realize something. He turned his head and looked at Fu Xuan with a complicated expression.

"When I left Ziwei Palace, although I was nourished by Yaochi, I still felt very exhausted, almost exactly the same as when I woke up the morning before yesterday."

"Fu Sizheng, was it you that night?"

He stopped there, but the meaning was clear.

It's no wonder he had such speculations, nor is it because he's overly self-conscious; it's just that the experiences of the past two days have been too thought-provoking.

Although he was a bit slow on the uptake when it came to matters of the heart, he wasn't stupid. Especially after Jiang Chengwan said something similar to what Fu Xian said, how could he not overthink it?
Thinking about what Fu Xian said that night about "keeping an heir" and "the child's name," and then his state the next day, it all felt very wrong.

Fu Xuan remained silent for a moment, then parted her lips slightly, giving a cryptic response—

"You can think of a name for your second child now."

Lu Chen's lips twitched immediately.

Alright
It is true that the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches have been reversed.

Are all women in this world this aggressive? They either drug or seduce you or something.
Shaking his head, Lu Chen shook off his distracting thoughts and stopped thinking about these irrelevant things.

"In that case, take good care of yourself, and..."

He paused slightly at this point, and his gaze toward Fu Xuan softened inexplicably.

"Thank you."

Although it wasn't his wish, Fu Xian had gone to such lengths for him out of kindness, and since Fu Xian had suffered so much for him, he couldn't be ungrateful.

Upon hearing this, Fu Xian turned his head away.

"It's nothing, it's just what I should do."

"You willingly sacrificed yourself for the safety of the Holy King and the peace of the Holy Realm. As the Director of the Heavenly Secrets Department of the Cangming Realm, I cannot pretend that I know nothing. I have to do something for you, otherwise my conscience will not be at peace."

The atmosphere instantly became somewhat heavy when the topic of the Holy Realm and the Holy King was brought up.

Lu Chen's smile faltered slightly, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

But the next second, his gaze returned to its clear state, showing no sign of wavering.

"Let's talk about divination."

Lu Chen straightened up, sat upright, and looked quite solemn.

"You said before that as long as I was willing to shield the Holy King from death, no matter what happened or what others did, I would die, and that outcome would never change, right?"

click
Fu Xian clenched his fists for no apparent reason.

However, he still maintained a calm and composed expression.

"Yes."

She nodded gently and said slowly:
"The divination result will not change; the cause and effect deduced by the Heavenly Prophecy Plate are absolute. Your will is the only determining factor."

Lu Chen twitched the corner of his mouth.

"That's it"

He pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"Just in case, could you do another calculation? My intentions will not change, but since His Majesty and Chai Hongyu have taken action, and His Majesty even possesses the Extreme Sword, a sacred artifact that can touch upon cause and effect, it might cause some unexpected events."

Upon hearing this, Fu Xuan thought for a moment and did not refuse.

Then she waved her hand, summoning the Heavenly Manifestation Disc from the void, and closed her eyes while chanting incantations.

A moment later, as a special power surged forth, the Celestial Prophecy Disc began to spin rapidly.

About fifteen minutes later, the divination disc stopped.

Fu Xian slowly opened his eyes, then sighed softly, his expression inexplicably wistful.

"Just now I exerted all my strength to perform the deduction, and then I observed a small fragment of the future."

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow slightly, but did not speak. He gestured to Fu Xian to speak directly.

Fu Xuan didn't keep them in suspense. After lightly biting her lip, she slowly said:
"Only His Highness the Holy King returned to Luyang. In his hands are your seal, some relics, and the life talisman broken into two pieces."

The results are obvious.

Lu Chen remained silent for a moment, then smiled with a relaxed expression.

"Is that so? That's good." (End of Chapter)