"Father-in-law, please, don't stop."

A palace guard caught sight of them and lowered his long spear, shouting, "Lu..."

"Master Lu, there is no need to be so impatient," Guan Shiyin retorted in a low voice, his body half-turned. At the same time, he released his grip on Lu Xi's mouth and instead clamped his throat, while his other hand reached under Lu Xi’s armpit to his shoulder, delivering a sharp, quick tap.

To the guards watching from across the way, the scene transformed into this: Lu Xi, with his back to them, had buried his head deep into the neck of a young eunuch.

Guan Shiyin retreated half a step, leaning against the palace wall, his head tilted to one side with an expression of bashful shyness. "Ah, Lu, Lu..."

The guards across the way were dazed. They had only heard rumors that the Crown Prince was indiscriminate in his affections, but they never expected Master Lu, who was always by the Prince's side, to be the same...

Before their wandering thoughts could conclude, they saw the two intimately entangled eunuchs rolling along the wall toward them.

One guard nudged the other and whispered, "Why hasn't Master Lu said a word?"

"Shut up. In this situation, who has the time to talk!"

That was true. From their angle, Master Lu, buried deep in Guan Shiyin's neck, seemed to have his head constantly bobbing. Although they couldn't see the specific movements, Guan Shiyin's neck, growing redder by the second, was clearly visible.

The guard watched the pair draw closer and asked, "He may not have time, but we have to ask. The Crown Prince has ordered that no one, regardless of who they are, may enter the Mingde Palace without a written decree."

"Fine, then you ask. I'm certainly not going to."

"Hey brother, why are you like this?"

"What else can I be? I don't want to die young. Who in this harem doesn't know that Master Lu, who has been with the Crown Prince since childhood, sometimes speaks for the Prince himself! The Prince ordered that a decree is needed to enter the Mingde Palace, but that surely does not include Master Lu. Just turn a blind eye and let it be."

"Master Lu is fine, but what about that little eunuch? What if..."

"If there were a problem, do you think he could get in and walk out again?"

And so, as Guan Shiyin and Lu Xi rolled closer and closer, embracing, the guards along the way all closed one eye—the one, of course, that was facing the direction from which they were rolling.

Lu Xi was sweating profusely from anxiety, but his body was completely controlled by Guan Shiyin, and even his speech-inhibiting pressure point had been struck. Thus, the sounds he made trying to plead for help only reached the guards' ears as muffled, irrepressible moans of passion.

Some guards, unable to bear it, simply closed both eyes.

Guan Shiyin caught every detail in his peripheral vision, his own voice becoming increasingly erratic. "Lu, ah, please don't... ah—"

The rolling motion along the wall finally reached the entrance of the Mingde Palace. Guan Shiyin feigned tripping over the threshold. As he tumbled through the door, he let out a sharp cry, "Master Lu, watch where you're touching!"

Hearing the door open behind them, some guards instinctively turned to see what was happening, but the moment they heard Guan Shiyin's shout, they spun back around even faster than they had turned. Watching them roll vertically was one thing, but if they had witnessed them rolling horizontally, they wouldn't have long to live.

The doors of the Mingde Palace closed behind them.

Inside, Guan Shiyin immediately shoved Lu Xi, who had been sprawled on top of him, off his body. He also released the collar he had been clutching to simulate the other man’s lewd actions against his neck.

He brushed off his chest with disgust, intending to stand up.

"Who is it?" a voice suddenly rang out from the inner chamber.

The voice was low and powerful, followed by footsteps that were steady and rhythmic—the sound of someone well-versed in martial arts.

Guan Shiyin reached back and grabbed Lu Xi. Hearing the person’s footsteps about to emerge from the inner chamber and cross the threshold into the outer room, he flung Lu Xi forward like a sack of sand.

Before throwing him, he had quickly moved Lu Xi's hands to his front. This way, the first thing the person inside would sense would be the air displacement of an incoming attack.

The person emerging was Fu An.

She had heard the doors open and close, but she hadn't thought much of it, assuming that anyone who could enter must have already received the Crown Prince's approval. There had been a scream, but she hadn't heard it clearly. Thus, she had simply come out to take a look.

As one foot crossed the threshold, a figure came hurtling at her. Fu An quickly retracted her foot and raised the tray in her hand high. Before she could clearly see the figure flying through the doorway, she leaped up and slammed the tray down with both hands.

Unable to resist, the airborne Lu Xi took the blow directly to the head. His wide-open eyes were instantly stained red by the blood gushing from his cracked skull. He landed with a thud, his face turned toward Fu An.

"Lu..." Fu An realized with horror that the person she had just struck down with the tray was Lu Xi, which meant the scream from before was...

Realizing something was wrong, Fu An looked up just as a figure, moving too fast for her skill level to track, reached her. As she raised the tray to strike again, she opened her mouth to call for help.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Guan Shiyin’s hand moved like lightning, and the blade between his fingers slashed across Fu An’s throat in a flash.

A single blow was fatal.

Fu An’s body went limp, and the tray slipped from her hands. Guan Shiyin quickly reached out to catch it. However, even though he caught the tray and Fu An's body to prevent further noise, the sound of Lu Xi hitting the floor had already alerted the guards outside.

A guard’s voice sounded from outside the door, "Master Lu?"

Guan Shiyin tensed. He looked up and saw Fang Rulai emerging from the inner room to investigate.

A knocking sound echoed. "Lu..."

Guan Shiyin suddenly lunged toward Fang Rulai. To Fang Rulai, he was just a young eunuch with an unfamiliar face. Not understanding what was happening, Fang Rulai instinctively stopped and turned to run back.

"Mas..." The knocking didn't cease.

Guan Shiyin had already wrapped an arm around Fang Rulai’s waist.

A familiar sensation washed over him, and Fang Rulai checked the urge to call out. It was him...

"Mas..." The knocking grew more urgent, as if they were prepared to enter if no one answered.

Guan Shiyin held Fang Rulai, stepped against a pillar for leverage, and cradled him as they shot toward the door like an arrow released from a bow.

Creak—the door was pushed open a crack.

A guard leaned his face in, only to see two figures flash past. Immediately after, there was a loud "bang" as the door was knocked shut from the inside.

The speed was so great that the guard didn't have time to dodge, and his nose was struck directly, causing blood to flow profusely.

The guard beside him also sensed something was wrong and stepped forward to investigate, but he was frozen in his tracks by the sounds coming from within the room.

"Ah, ah, Master... Lu, ah, please don't, you... ah-ha, how could a lowly one like me be worthy of... No! Not there! Ah—Master, don't stop, I beg you, don't stop... ah, ha..."