Zu An thought to himself, How can you be like this? You were all smiles a moment ago, but you’re now going to become hostile?

But he reacted quickly too and said, “This time, by going to Cloudcenter Commandery, I’m representing the crown prince’s Eastern Palace. Because I have to leave for a long time, I still need to pay the crown prince and crown princess my respects and heed their instructions.”

The empress’ breath caught in her throat. She had originally wanted to use the situation as a pretext to make a fuss and discipline him a bit, but how could she have known that he would react so quickly?

Zu An took the chance to say, “If your highness doesn’t need me for anything else, this subject will leave first. I still need to prepare many things for this trip.”

Seeing that he was using his official duty to evade her, the empress was extremely unhappy. She said sarcastically, “Sir Zu truly is loyal and devoted to our nation, faithful and true to his majesty.”

“Your highness is too kind with...