The high-ranking ministers had opinions, but not as strong as Long Qinghuang had imagined, which made her even more at ease.

After all, she was already set on playing the role of being “infatuated with male beauty.” Even if the prime minister and others pleaded desperately, the act would likely continue. Moreover, since the backlash wasn’t as intense, it only made her more eager to play the part, didn’t it?

Long Qinghuang cast aside her fleeting guilt and swiftly retreated to the inner palace, heading straight for the empress’s sleeping quarters.

This palace was built according to her human template, and the harem area had never been used for so many years. Now that someone finally lived there, shouldn’t she be happy?

Upon reaching the entrance, she sensed something was amiss. Long Qinghuang paused, then looked up. The previously empty plaque now bore words.

“Niluan Gong.”

Long Qinghuang’s first thought was of yin and yang in disorder, heaven and earth inverted.

She suddenly laughed aloud, her eyes curving into crescent moons once more.

Her little man was still expressing his dissatisfaction in this way, constantly dreaming of turning the tables and becoming the master.

Don’t even think about it. Whether you want to be on top or bottom, that’s negotiable, but you definitely can’t go back.

It was good for the sleeping quarters to have a name, so as to avoid the awkward “Empress’s sleeping quarters.” Long Qinghuang’s mood remained unaffected as she entered the hall with her hands clasped behind her back.

Lu Xingzhou leaned back in a soft chair, reading the documents she had given him, perhaps for the umpteenth time. A’nuo sat beside him, meditating cross-legged.

Long Qinghuang deliberately ignored Lu Xingzhou and leaned over to pinch A’nuo’s face. “Little faker, it’s rare to see you cultivate so diligently.”

A’nuo opened her eyes helplessly. “When did I ever lie to elder sister?”

“You’re just a little faker, that’s all.” Long Qinghuang smiled. “How is it? Do you feel that the spiritual energy here is especially abundant, better than cultivating anywhere else?”

A’nuo nodded; it was true.

She had only started to deliberately try cultivating after realizing her talent specialized in attacking plant demons like Xiao Kui.

The result was that her efficiency in extracting spiritual energy far surpassed any previous time, and even Tianyao Holy Land couldn’t compare to this place.

While it was partly because Longya Zhi Dian, where the imperial palace was located, was the most spiritually abundant place in the entire demon realm, the spiritual energy here being more compatible with A’nuo also played a significant role.

This was an important reason why Lu Xingzhou wanted to bring A’nuo to the demon realm.

Simply put, the spiritual energy here could be called demonic energy.

Long Qinghuang thoughtfully scrutinized A’nuo for a moment, then lowered her voice. “What I told you before is still valid, you know.”

A’nuo paused, her mind cycling several times before she realized what words Long Qinghuang was referring to.

It was back in Tian Shuang Guo when Long Qinghuang had once tempted A’nuo, saying that if she followed her teachings, she would also become fair-skinned, beautiful, and have long legs.

A’nuo secretly glanced at Lu Xingzhou, then also lowered her voice. “Really?”

Long Qinghuang said, “I’m not like you two fakers, when have I ever lied?”

A’nuo whispered, “Then what does Elder Sister Long want A’nuo to do?”

Long Qinghuang said, “Convince your master to stay here honestly and stop trying to run away all the time, then I’ll teach you.”

A’nuo’s small face looked a bit conflicted.

In fact, for A’nuo, it made no difference where she was, as long as she was by her master’s side.

But she knew this was something no one could convince him of.

A’nuo’s eyes darted around, then she whispered, “Master is now painstakingly helping Elder Sister Long catch spies, and you’re just thinking of plotting against him? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?”

Long Qinghuang said, “Isn’t it precisely because I value him so much that I want to keep him?”

A’nuo said, “To be good to someone, one should consider what the other person wants, just like Master is doing for Elder Sister Long now.”

Long Qinghuang paused, falling silent.

“What are you two mumbling about?” Lu Xingzhou finally spoke. “Is His Majesty concerned about A’nuo’s cultivation?”

Long Qinghuang replied distractedly with an “En.”

Lu Xingzhou said, “A’nuo primarily cultivates the path of the physical body; all her energy is converted into physical strength, which is very similar to the cultivation of the Dragon Clan. If His Majesty deems this child promising, perhaps a few pointers would be beneficial?”

Actually, it was still quite different from the Dragon Clan’s cultivation. Dragons generally also possessed innate Five Elements, for example, Long Yan, as his name suggested, was a great fire dragon. Long Qinghuang, with her exceptional talent, could master multiple elements.

But in terms of brute physical power, she was indeed uniquely suited to be A’nuo’s teacher.

Long Qinghuang said, “If this little faker can please me, a few casual pointers from me would be enough for her to benefit endlessly; I don’t need you to tell me.”

Lu Xingzhou smiled without replying.

Long Qinghuang hesitated for a moment, then walked over and sat down beside Lu Xingzhou. “Have you drawn any conclusions?”

Lu Xingzhou said lightly, “Nothing much. I just don’t like the looks of a few dragons here. Can His Majesty banish them?”

Long Qinghuang immediately knew what he was referring to, and her eyes curved into a smile.

Every time Lu Xingzhou got jealous, she would be very happy.

“They’re already your defeated opponents, do you still care about this?” Long Qinghuang breathed sweet air into his ear. “You know that with just a word from you, the position of empress will be yours.”

Lu Xingzhou said, “Leaving everything else aside, can you at least have them clarify their address? ‘Niangniang’ is really awkward to hear. Even if I genuinely stay here, that’s not what I should be called.”

Long Qinghuang asked, “What is this called on your human side?”

Lu Xingzhou said, “To be precise, a royal consort is usually conferred a title of ‘qinwang’.”

Long Qinghuang laughed. “That’s simple. As long as you truly become this empress, I’ll immediately confer you the title of qinwang. See, Gu Zhanting was only willing to confer you a baron, and the title hasn’t even been decided yet. I’ll directly give you a royal title, and you can choose the specific title yourself.”

Such sincerity was indeed enough to make most people give in, but Lu Xingzhou merely smiled. “I was thinking, I must have been heavily criticized in court today, right?”

Long Qinghuang immediately said, “They wouldn’t dare!”

“I would rather His Majesty confer me a baron as well; their criticisms would actually be lighter.”

Long Qinghuang was stunned for a long while before she understood what Lu Xingzhou meant.

A royal consort was a qinwang, while a minister would be a baron.

But these words made Long Qinghuang even more incredulous. “You… are willing to enter my demon court as an official? Isn’t this also betraying Da Qian?”

“I never cared about Da Qian or not Da Qian.” Lu Xingzhou smiled. “Moreover, there have been cases of one person holding the prime minister’s seal of six nations.”

“Then why do you want to do this?”

“Lu Xingzhou has always only wanted to stand openly before people. What do I have to hide, needing to stay in the inner palace to offer advice? Can I not publicly stand in court and refute the prime minister, needing His Majesty to speak for me?”

Long Qinghuang stood there, dumbfounded.

Lu Xingzhou leisurely said, “In my opinion, this prime minister is unqualified, not as good as Pei Qingyan.”

Long Qinghuang was even more stunned. For the past few centuries, her governance of the demon realm had been thriving, and Long Yan had contributed immensely and was utterly loyal, earning her complete trust. In contrast, Pei Qingyan was reportedly unremarkable in Da Qian, more like a fence-sitter who only served the interests of his aristocratic family, completely helpless against the great public resentment towards families like the Huo family. If Long Qinghuang were to evaluate them, Long Yan would be leagues ahead of Pei Qingyan.

Yet, in Lu Xingzhou’s mouth, it was the other way around.

“Pei Qingyan often couldn’t do certain things because the emperor himself was the obstacle. But with Gu Zhanting making a mess of things, Pei Qingyan managed to maintain Da Qian’s government, increase its population, and fill its treasury. A prime minister achieving this is enough; what more could be asked?”

Long Qinghuang subconsciously asked, “Then what about Long Yan? The demon realm also has an increasing population and a full treasury.”

“Firstly, you yourself have been diligent in governance for centuries; trivial government affairs would collapse within a day without you. What use is a prime minister? The credit for governing Da Qian, I can attribute to Pei Qingyan. The credit for governing the demon realm, should I attribute it to him or to you?”

Long Qinghuang: “…”

“Secondly, the demon realm’s population has indeed increased. I see the Lion Clan, a mere tribe, has tens of thousands of soldiers.” Lu Xingzhou smiled. “But what about the Dragon Clan? Compared to several centuries ago, are there more or fewer dragons?”

“More…” Long Qinghuang had just uttered one word when she suddenly closed her mouth.

There were more sub-dragon species, but fewer pure-blooded dragons.

Long Yan himself was not a pure-blooded dragon.

“Pei Qingyan at least managed to serve the private interests of the Pei family.” Lu Xingzhou said lightly, “Long Yan, on the other hand, served the public good of the demon realm, but what about the Dragon Clan? Where is his merit? In a bunch of subspecies?”

Long Qinghuang said, “The pure-blooded Dragon Clan has difficulty in reproduction; this can’t be blamed on the prime minister…”

If anyone was to be blamed, it might even be Long Qinghuang herself. She herself didn’t care about the propagation of the pure-blooded Dragon Clan’s bloodline, having not sought a mate for a thousand years. With such an example from above, why should other dragons bother?

“Does His Majesty still feel that she should blame herself?” Lu Xingzhou said lightly, “His Majesty’s affairs, broadly speaking, are affairs of the imperial family; narrowly speaking, they are personal affairs, but none of them are matters of racial reproduction. One dragon cannot decide the reproduction of an entire race.”

Long Qinghuang asked, “Then what constitutes racial reproduction?”

“Have you taken any measures for pure-blooded reproduction? For example, since there are few dragons in the demon realm, making it difficult to find mates, have you tried intermarriage and breeding with the Dragon Clan in the sea? Are there any bloodline purification plans for the sub-dragon species? His Majesty, because she doesn’t want to find a mate herself, naturally instinctively avoids considering these matters, as once brought up, she would inevitably be bombarded first, which is understandable. But as prime minister, besides urging your personal marriage, why doesn’t he consider more?” Lu Xingzhou concluded, “He may have no selfish motives, but he simply doesn’t care. What is this, if not a fault of the prime minister?”

Long Qinghuang thought in a daze. No wonder Long Yan’s concern about her finding a human partner was only about its impact on work, not bloodline dilution, and he even said that finding a pig demon would be fine. That’s right, he probably had no selfish motives, he just didn’t care, because he himself wasn’t pure-blooded.

Lu Xingzhou, as an outsider, was originally even less concerned, but at least he noticed that this trend was not good for the Dragon Clan itself.

“Long Lie and Long Yun are both pure-blooded dragons; their pursuit of His Majesty is justifiable both publicly and privately.” Lu Xingzhou said, “But here’s the problem… they pursued His Majesty without success, so why didn’t they find other mates? Even if there are few dragons, there must be thousands of them, right? Are there no other female dragons?”

Long Qinghuang responded distractedly, “There are.”

“There seem to be quite a lot of buried matters in your demon realm… and this is just about the Dragon Clan itself, what about the others?” Lu Xingzhou sighed. “Last time you said you’d take me to the Holy Mountain when you had time. I think we really should go once. The Holy Mountain happens to be at the core of your demon realm’s reproduction problem, isn’t it? I heard that in the Southern Campaign ten years ago, His Majesty was also instigated by the Holy Mountain.”