It Turns Out, They Are the Protagonists
Chapter 509: My Husband, Please Take Care of Him

In the Forbidden Zone, the clan members were discussing the reason for their young lady’s frequent letters to Yu State these past few days.

Some younger disciples who knew the truth were quite indignant, aware that their young lady had been completely preoccupied with Mu Zhian since returning, even meticulously collecting Reincarnation Water a few days ago and having it sent to the Jade Pool Holy Land.

Mu Zhian was clearly a married man, yet his relationship with their young lady remained ambiguous, keeping her dangling… Wasn’t he a total scumbag?!

The Forbidden Zone disciples only wished Mu Zhian had come back with their young lady, so they could teach him a lesson he would never forget and make him back off.

Forbidden Zone, the top floor of the Nebula Tower.

A young woman stood on the platform at the top of the tower. She wore a complex and magnificent purple dress, and a faint golden chain seemed to drift from her snow-white wrist, forming a picture scroll.

Within the scroll, the figure of a young man appeared.

Mu Zhian’s trip to Yu State was with her knowledge, so naturally, she couldn’t say anything.

However—

At first, when she saw the Princess’s figure appear in the scroll, she wasn’t worried at all, knowing the Princess was the wife of the Cloud Province Lord, and that the Princess even tried to dissuade Mu Zhian, believing he wasn’t worthy of Luo Tan.

Because of this, she didn’t mind the Princess’s breathtaking beauty.

Ye Lingxuan had the confidence. In terms of looks alone, she wouldn’t lose to the Princess when she grew up.

But she underestimated Mu Zhian, and also underestimated the position of the Innate Celestial Furnace in the hearts of female cultivators.

She even underestimated the mentality of these Dao Integration Realm Empresses.

Were they really Dao Integration Realm experts? Why were they all so into NTR?!

She hadn’t peeked at Mu Zhian’s situation for just seven days, and when she peeked again, that Princess of Cloud Province was actually having a… a secret affair with Brother Mu?!

Ye Lingxuan looked at the scene displayed by the Desolate Time Lock, a sense of confusion washing over her.

She felt as if she had “missed a hundred chapters of the story.”

Less than seven days… In just less than seven days, this beautiful married woman had gotten together with Brother Mu?

If it weren’t for the upcoming Forbidden Zone Lord inheritance ceremony, Ye Lingxuan would probably have rushed to Yu State to retrieve her beloved Brother Mu.

But now was a crucial moment. Only by completely merging with the Reincarnated Empress could she inherit all the memories left behind and become the true Forbidden Zone Empress.

Therefore, she could only watch helplessly as her beloved Brother Mu was intimate with another woman, unable to do anything…

“I originally planned to bring Brother Mu back to the Forbidden Zone after I reached Dao Integration, or even Transcendence… But what if, before that, he’s already become another vixen’s shape?”

The young woman in the purple dress sighed softly.

“The Desolate Time Lock has already locked onto him. Wherever he is, you can bring him back if you wish,” Ye Qingxin’s cool and pleasant voice echoed through the tower behind her.

She stood with her arms crossed, leaning against a stone pillar, a gentle glint in her alluring red eyes, “However, now isn’t the time to bring him back, you understand, right?”

Ye Lingxuan fell silent.

Indeed, she agreed to let Brother Mu go to Yu State before precisely so he could reach Soul Transformation sooner and have the means to protect himself.

If she brought him back now… wouldn’t her previous patience be wasted?

“Ancestor, only you understand my feelings… Only you are not my enemy.”

Ye Lingxuan turned and buried her face in Ye Qingxin’s embrace, subconsciously relying on this beautiful ancestor of the Ye family.

The summer night breeze blew, making Ye Qingxin’s black and red interwoven dress flutter behind her. Sparks of fire flickered around her, like a witch in flames.

Ye Qingxin held the young girl in her arms, gently stroking Ye Lingxuan’s hair to comfort her. However, looking at the young girl’s pure and serene face, a complex look flashed through Ye Qingxin’s eyes.

I’m sorry, it’s not just the Princess and the Pill Emperor you mentioned who are bad women.

…I am too.

…

Nightfall.

As agreed, Mu Zhian arrived at the Empress’s bedchamber.

Luo Tan’s words during the day still bothered him. If it weren’t for the Empress of Yu State saying them, Mu Zhian would have probably told her: Get out of here, riddle-lover!

Entering the bedchamber, he saw Luo Tan sitting at the table by the window, reading a book, seemingly not noticing his arrival.

“You’re quite punctual. Last time I went to Zunyun Academy, did you also come to the bedchamber at this time?”

Luo Tan didn’t look up, asking while flipping through the book.

Mu Zhian nodded, “It’s just a pity I didn’t get to see Your Majesty in the bedchamber last time because of the Sabbath incident. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?”

Luo Tan looked up from her book, her eyes holding a hint of amusement.

“Otherwise, I could have spent more time alone with Your Majesty,” Mu Zhian said with a hint of regret in his tone.

Luo Tan couldn’t help but smile faintly and gestured slightly towards the chair beside her, “Sit down first.”

After Mu Zhian sat down, Luo Tan crossed her legs elegantly. Today, she wore the same magnificent white dress with gold and silver threads she had worn during the morning court session, luxurious and elegant.

“Although you didn’t see me last time, you saw another me. It’s not that much of a loss, is it?” Luo Tan suddenly asked with a smile.

“Perhaps you’re even secretly rejoicing.”

I have a feeling Her Majesty isn’t very friendly tonight… Mu Zhian sighed softly, “A Dao Integration Realm expert’s disguise technique, even I can’t see through it. If I had known the person in the bedchamber was Her Highness the Princess, I wouldn’t have dared to act presumptuously, not even if I had a hundred lives.”

“Are you saying you didn’t have any thoughts about the Princess?” Luo Tan asked.

Mu Zhian was momentarily silent.

To say he didn’t have any thoughts about the Princess from the start would be unrealistic.

Moreover, she was the Daughter of the Great Dao, the key to comprehending the Great Dao… Even Senior Spirit Dragon’s future Transcendence through the Great Dao might depend on the Princess.

Such a beautiful married woman with a top-notch figure and appearance… who wouldn’t be tempted?

“It seems you’re quite honest.”

Seeing Mu Zhian’s silence, Luo Tan already had her answer. Her smile was bright and captivating under the candlelight, without a hint of jealousy, instead, a faint curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.

“Did you gain anything from your trip to Cloud Province?”

Mu Zhian slowly opened his palm, revealing a willow leaf that seemed as ethereal as cloud and smoke: “Thanks to Your Majesty and Her Highness, I’ve successfully brought back the Cloud Smoke Willow.”

Luo Tan nodded slightly and said to herself, “With the Cloud Smoke Willow and the other key ingredients prepared by the Jade Empress, the remaining materials can be prepared within fifteen minutes in my Yu State… With this, the Nine Cauldrons Nascent Soul Pill is complete.”

She crossed her legs, her black silk-clad legs faintly visible beneath her white dress, twirled a strand of hair with her fingertip, and said with a smile, “After the pill is refined, all that’s left is for you to cultivate to the peak of Nascent Soul Realm in a few decades, then you can use the Nine Cauldrons Nascent Soul Pill to break through to Soul Transformation…”

“But it’s quite strange, why did the Jade Empress start making arrangements for you so early?”

Luo Tan’s tone held a hint of puzzlement, her eyes looking at Mu Zhian with a playful smile.

Mu Zhian was stunned, then after a long silence, he said speechlessly, “Since you already know, there’s no need to tease me again.”

Clearly, Luo Tan had already figured it out. The reason Yao Meng started making arrangements for Mu Zhian so early and asked her to refine the Nine Cauldrons Nascent Soul Pill was because she guessed that she would take the opportunity to get close to Mu Zhian while the Jade Empress was away.

Although he didn’t know how this Empress figured it out, she had clearly guessed the truth.

“Fairy Yao Meng is truly magnanimous, actually willing to send her own Dao Companion into another woman’s arms… and even has the leisure to spy. Could it be that the ‘Qing’ (green/blue) in Jade Empress(uses the character Qing) actually refers to the literal ‘green’ (cuckolded)?”

Luo Tan said slowly. As her voice fell, Mu Zhian was utterly shocked.

“What… what did you just say?”

Mu Zhian’s first reaction was disbelief, a single thought popping up in his mind: Holy crap, I was spied on?!

Then came relief.

Well… it’s Yao Meng after all. Although she always says she’s not interested in spying on others, that’s just talk.

Yao Meng had spied on him in his Innate Celestial Furnace before.

And after his relief came a sudden chill down his spine.

Yao Meng knew everything, which meant she also knew about his affair with the Princess in Cloud Province during this time…?

Just as Mu Zhian was about to speak, Luo Tan gently caressed the Green Lotus Ring on his right hand, her elegant and lazy voice echoing through the bedchamber, “Jade Empress, how long are you planning to keep spying?”

Silence.

For a moment, the entire Yu State imperial palace seemed to freeze. The wind outside stilled, the bed curtains froze mid-air, motionless.

The candlelight on the table turned gray, everything around them turning gray, only Luo Tan remained in color.

Then, the next moment, a green light quietly condensed in mid-air within the bedchamber. Within the green light, the flawless and graceful figure of a woman could be vaguely seen.

Her long hair cascaded down to her snow-white calves, her eyes filled with a gentle compassion, as if a goddess descending from the nine heavens, lofty and beyond reach.

Luo Tan wasn’t surprised by Yao Meng’s appearance. She had already realized everything after the Princess told her the secret of the Green Lotus Ring.

“I’ve been wondering why you were so at ease leaving your Dao Companion in Yu State… So you’ve been secretly watching everything?” Luo Tan asked faintly.

“The reason you brought him here and asked me to look after him was because you had your eyes on my Innate Celestial Furnace, right?”

“That’s right,” Yao Meng’s red lips parted slightly, her beautiful, heavenly voice echoing through the bedchamber. To Luo Tan’s surprise, Yao Meng actually admitted it frankly.

Luo Tan raised a delicate eyebrow, “You’re not even denying it?”

“It’s the truth. And since you already know, there’s no point in denying it,” Yao Meng replied casually.

“You should know that what I hate most is being schemed against. Just this alone is enough for me to blacklist the Jade Pool Holy Land forever,” Luo Tan said faintly.

“Schemed against?”

However, hearing this, Yao Meng couldn’t help but smile faintly, “If you didn’t have any feelings for him yourself, Pill Emperor, with the formations in Yu State, could I have forced you to do something you didn’t like, even offering your Innate Celestial Furnace to him?”

Luo Tan: “…”

Even the Pill Emperor, who had experienced countless schemes and intrigues, was momentarily speechless.

“I only asked you to look after him for a few days. Did I ever ask you to… bed him?” Yao Meng continued.

“I was the one who schemed against you, but whether you were willing to be schemed against was ultimately your decision.”

“If you didn’t have any improper thoughts towards my Dao Companion, how could you have been schemed against?” The holy fairy spoke in a gentle and calm voice, making it difficult for Luo Tan to refute.

She pursed her lips, wanting to speak, but realized there was nothing she could say.

She did expose the Jade Empress’s spying, and also her scheme… But no matter how one looked at it, she wasn’t exactly in the right.

The Jade Empress only asked Luo Tan to look after Mu Zhian for a few days, she didn’t say anything else… Yet after the Jade Empress left, Luo Tan had already secretly planned to devour this ‘cake’.

“I didn’t come to see you today to discuss who’s right or wrong, such boring matters,” Luo Tan said, trying to maintain her usual elegant and calm tone.

“I want to make a deal with you.”

“Alright, what do you want?” Yao Meng asked softly.

“Anything I can give you is fine… After all, I was the one who caused this.”

Luo Tan turned to look at the young man beside her, her eyes softening slightly, and said gently, “I want him.”

Yao Meng gently shook her head: “You can have anything from the Jade Pool Holy Land… except him.”

Luo Tan pondered for a moment, then revealed a charming smile: “Then you can’t interfere in my private matters with him in the future, how about it?”

Yao Meng fell silent.

As expected of the Empress of Yu State, Luo Tan’s perspective was truly sharp.

Luo Tan knew she wouldn’t give up her husband, so she first proposed an impossible condition, wanting Mu Zhian, then offered a compromise… Yet this condition still revolved around Mu Zhian.

And this condition was in a very ambiguous position… Rejecting it seemed like a pity, not rejecting it… made her hesitate.

After all, no one liked giving their beloved to someone else… even temporarily.

But this was related to whether Mu Zhian could reach Soul Transformation in a short time.

Luo Tan seemed to have the upper hand. She smiled brightly and said, “You should know how long it normally takes to cultivate to the peak of Nascent Soul Realm, right?”

“A few decades at the shortest, a thousand years at the longest, it all depends on one’s luck and talent,” Yao Meng replied calmly.

“Besides that, you should also know the benefits bestowed by the Innate Celestial Furnace.”

Luo Tan stood up gracefully and said in a gentle and sincere tone, “I will give him everything I have, but I also need your promise today.”

Yao Meng’s beautiful eyes flickered, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.

Luo Tan possessed the Innate Celestial Furnace. The first person to dual cultivate with her could advance a major realm in a short time… And as the Empress of Yu State, the only Pill Emperor in the Nine Provinces with a chance of refining immortal-grade pills, she would be of great help to Mu Zhian in the future.

Most importantly… this Pill Emperor probably didn’t even realize that she was already falling for him.

On the surface, it seemed like Luo Tan was cuckolding Yao Meng, but ultimately, Mu Zhian’s first Dao Companion wasn’t Yao Meng at all.

And, Mu Zhian had already been intimate with so many beauties… What was one more Luo Tan?

But what’s going on with these women?

Could it be that they’ve been lonely for too long? Why are their hobbies all so similar to mine…?

Yao Meng felt a strange feeling in her heart. She quickly exhaled and smiled brightly, “Alright, I promise you.”

Just then, time, which had been frozen in the bedchamber by the Principles of Time, began to flow again, the gray bedchamber gradually returning to its vibrant colors.

Mu Zhian seemed surprised to see Yao Meng and subconsciously said, “You were really hiding in my Green Lotus Ring?”

“It was just a wisp of my spiritual sense residing within the Green Lotus Ring that happened to be awakened by Luo Tan.”

Yao Meng smiled faintly. With her skirt fluttering, she gracefully walked towards Mu Zhian, her jade-white feet stepping on the void.

Then, under Luo Tan’s gaze, she lowered her head slightly and gently captured Mu Zhian’s lips with her rosy lips.

After a moment, she glanced sideways, indulging Luo Tan’s preferences, and said softly:

“Then, my husband, I’ll leave him in your care.”