The Dragon Palace wasn’t just any place that one could go in.

It had a complex structure for both the whole courtyard and the building itself. It was the tallest and widest residential building on the whole imperial palace grounds.

The building had 5 levels including the observatory deck at the very top which people called the Moon Pavilion. The Emperor could oversee the whole Imperial Palace from there and one of the late Emperors who had a drinking habit loved moon gazing from there hence the name.

The Emperor’s sleeping chamber was on the third floor along with a dressing room and another room that was meant to be the Empress’s bedroom.

On the fourth floor was the treasury for his most precious treasures that didn’t belong to the country itself. Family inheritances were all put there dating back from Zhang Period since everything from Jin Period was lost.

The reading room was on the second floor. It was also where the dining hall was where the Emperor usually ate his breakfast at.

The first floor was used to greet visitors in its front hall. At the backside was the bathroom where the Emperor would take a bath every night in the large pool of hot water.

While people in Qi Ming preferred taking baths in the morning, Qian Jin people commonly took baths at night.

The Dragon Palace’s courtyard was filled with facilities to serve the Emperor. He could practically live inside his private palace without going out at all.

And this grand area was secured by guards in every nook and corner. Both in light and shadow.

Mo Shen and Yuan Zhi returned from scouting the place. While Xue Lan and Mo Shen wanted to infiltrate into the basement of the main building, Yuan Mo wanted to find any information or clues as to where the Empress was possibly hidden.

“My Prince, why didn’t the Emperor actually kill the Empress? It’s too risky to frame Qi Ming for something they didn’t do while keeping the main cause alive,” Yuan Zhi asked while he ate lunch with Xue Lan.

“Their relationship is actually quite good. Tian Chen has known Huang Xieli since they were kids. She is the daughter of the late prime minister who got killed by another prince in the battle for the throne. He won’t kill her so easily,” Xue Lan explained.

Yuan Zhi thought for a while, “It’s hard to believe Huang Xieli cooperated in faking her own death. Doesn’t it mean she indirectly step down from her position as the Empress?”

“Because she loves the Emperor,” Xue Lan calmly stated. “She can’t show it though because Tian Chen gave her his trust because of her sensibility. Even in this situation, he trusted that she would cooperate with him.”

Yuan Zhi slowly understood.

“Is that why she ran scot-free although Tian Chen knew who actually ordered the consorts to send assassins to kill you?” Mo Shen hummed.

“She what!?” Yuan Zhi snapped his head to Mo Shen.

“It’s a normal thing around here,” Mo Shen shrugged.

“All the people she ordered around died in her place. As long as she didn’t use her own hands, she knew that she would be forgiven,” Xue Lan took a bite of the sweet and sour pork.

Yuan Zhi stared at Xue Lan and worriedly asked, “My Prince, you didn’t…sacrifice your own body to seduce the Emperor, right?”

“Don’t worry, Yuan Zhi. I won’t wrong myself and he doesn’t deserve it.”

Yuan Zhi’s shoulders relaxed as he sighed in relief.

“Well, you did kind of let him kiss you, My Lord,” Mo Shen raised an eyebrow.

“He what!?” Yuan Zhi’s face fell.

“It was just one time. I made sure he regretted it afterwards,” Xue Lan lightly said. “Compared to what I went through in Qi Ming and everything in the past, just a kiss is nothing.”

“A kiss is not nothing!” Yuan Zhi slammed the table in reflex from his agitation. “It’s an act that should only be done by a couple who loves one another. You can’t let just anyone kiss you.”

Xue Lan glanced meaningfully at Mo Shen. The other only chuckled in amusement.

“Your Highness?” a guard called out from outside.

Surprised, Yuan Zhi looked around the dining hall to find somewhere to hide but there was nothing. In the end, he dove down under the tablecloth.

Mo Shen flicked the cup of water on the table

The guard appeared at the door, “I heard some noises.”

“It was nothing,” Mo Shen smiled as he fixed back the cup. “My master spilt his drink and was startled that’s all.”

“I will still have to check. His Majesty’s order,” the guard entered.

Yuan Zhi sweated slightly and inwardly cursed himself. He carefully listened to the guard’s footsteps checking for who knows what around the room.

“Care to look under the table?” Mo Shen offered with a hint of laughter.

Yuan Zhi, “!!?”

Why was he pitting him!?

Unfortunately for him, the guard accepted the suggestion. Suspecting that Mo Shen was planning to kill the guard if he got caught, he noticed the table cloth was lifted next to him and a hand appeared.

Seeing what the hand was signalling him to do, his face flushed red.

A few seconds later, the guard lifted the table cloth across Xue Lan and found nothing. Only Xue Lan’s feet peeking in from behind the table.

“Satisfied?” Xue Lan shifted the pillow on his lap with a flat expression on his face.

“Excuse me for my rudeness, Your Highness,” the guard saluted in apology and promptly left.

Under Xue Lan’s skirt, Yuan Zhi was too preoccupied with the thumping of his chest and the heat on his face to hear the guard retreating.

He slipped into the innermost layer, so the only thing that separated him from Xue Lan’s bare skin was his underpants.

He couldn’t put his hands anywhere but onto Xue Lan’s inner thighs. 

His nose was pressing onto…

Xue Lan glared at Mo Shen who was giggling carefreely. He let Yuan Zhi out to see the other’s nose was bleeding.

Xue Lan, “…”

Mo Shen burst into laughter and Yuan Zhi noticed the blood drops on the floor. He realized his embarrassing display and hurriedly ran to a corner to stop the bleeding in shame.

“Ah…virgins,” Mo Shen wiped his tears from laughing. “Such precious treasures they are.”

“Don’t mess with him,” Xue Lan continued eating.

“It’s not like I’m the one who caused him to have a nosebleed,” Mo Shen defended himself.

Xue Lan shook his head, disregarding Mo Shen’s words.

The two of them decided to move at night. Meanwhile, Yuan Mo wanted to check the late Prime Minister’s residence for clues, so he left the imperial palace after lunch.

As they waited for the sky to darken, Xue Lan went to the rooftop to paint the scenery.

The trees were significantly bare compared to the previous season, but in turn, he could see the imperial palace infrastructure quite clearly.

He chose the watch tower as the main point of his painting.

“Now that I think about it, I believe you haven’t rewarded me for getting us the third piece of clue,” Mo Shen hugged Xue Lan’s waist from behind.

“Didn’t I say that it’s only if you find it before Xue Nian’s spies did? You snatched it out of their hands. That doesn’t count.”

“Hmm…fair enough,” Mo Shen’s hand slipped into Xue Lan’s skirt. “But you didn’t say I couldn’t reward myself.”

“Then what’s the point of asking for a reward from me in the first place?” Xue Lan’s brush slightly flinched.

“Rewarded by you means you’ll give me what I want. I’ll admit that my performance was poor this time, so I’ll bear with just rewarding myself,” Mo Shen’s low chuckle rumbled into his eardrum.

Inside the robe, Mo Shen’s claws elongated and teasingly scratched the tender bud. The man in his arms twitched but stubbornly continued to paint, feigning indifference.

“My Lord, you’re so cute,” Mo Shen grinned in adoration and started massaging Xue Lan’s front between his fingers. “Let’s relief some of your pent-up frustration, hm?”

Xue Lan’s breathing gradually turned heavier and the strokes of his brush became unstable. When Mo Shen pinched his bud, the brush finally slipped out from his hand.

He rested his head onto Mo Shen’s shoulder, surrendering to the slow rousing of heat and pleasure in his body. His cheeks were shaded with pink and tears glistened in his eyes.

Watching the erotic expression on Xue Lan’s usually impassive face, Mo Shen would be ashamed to call himself a demon if he didn’t dine on the feast.

The deliberate entanglement of Mo Shen’s tongue further stimulated Xue Lan’s nerves. Every part of him felt so comfortable that it melted his senses.

Mo Shen patiently took his time until he guided Xue Lan to his peak.

As expected, his master in climax was extremely cute.