Chapter 123: Free of Charge (III)

The two of them began to chat happily.

For the first time, Long found that Shi could be so talkative!

If Long wasn’t there, if he wasn’t sure that that man was indeed his empress, Long wouldn’t believe that that was really Shi Qingzhou!

Looking at Shi who was talking and laughing with others, Long felt very surprised, and also a little… strange.

Shi seemed to have forgotten Long and kept talking with Zou. Looking at Shi’s profile, Long fell silent.

Long couldn’t help thinking of that novel, which said that Shi gradually controlled the entire world.

Shi was so capable in that novel, so he must also be very powerful in real life, right?

In that novel, Long was very popular in all parts of the world. If he didn’t have the ability to talk with different people wisely, how would he be so successful?

In that novel, Shi ascended the throne… If he wasn’t smart and didn’t use some means, how could he become an emperor?

In the past, however, Shi only behaved like a gentleman in front of Long…

Was that the real Shi Qingzhou?

Or was it that he had been hiding his true nature?

Was he behaving like his true self now? Was this man the real Shi Qingzhou?

Unconsciously thinking about those things, Long felt that his head was aching.

Long found that he couldn’t even tell.

The Shi Qingzhou in the imperial palace and the one in Tianji Sect… seemed to be two totally different people.

While thinking of this, Long didn’t even notice that Shi and Zou had stopping talking in the room.

Naturally, he also didn’t notice that they were going outside.

After taking several steps, Shi found that Long didn’t follow up, so he stopped and called, “Yuan.”

Long didn’t hear that. The Shadow Guardian behind Long gently touched his elbow, which made Long come to his sense at once.

Then, Long naturally saw that Shi was going out.

So, Long quickly followed up.

Zou seemed to have just noticed Long’s presence. He glanced at Long and asked with a smile. “Qingzhou, this is…”

Shi smiled. “A friend.”

Seeing that Shi didn’t want to explain more, Zou immediately understood and laughed. “Well, Qingzhou’s friend is also my friend. This way, please.”

Long didn’t speak and just smiled. Shi looked at Long with doubt, but Long just blinked and said nothing.

Since Long said nothing, it was not convenient for Shi to ask him anything at that moment. So, Shi just followed behind Zou and went outside.

Shi and Long went out together, followed by the Shadow Guardians.

Zou took them to another room, where there were a lot of books.

Long walked in, but he didn’t know why they went there.

In fact, he didn’t listen to what Shi and Zou were talking about earlier, so he naturally didn’t know what they were doing there…

Zou walked in and went straight to a bookshelf, and then he took a stack of bamboo slips from it.

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In that room, bamboo slips and books were half and half.

Then, Long saw Shi take out a painting from his pocket.

Long recognized at a glance that in the painting, it was the jade pendant Fang Shuoyang brought from the Tianyin post.

When did Shi paint this jade pendant? Long was very curious.

After thinking for a moment, Long came to the conclusion that Shi must’ve painted it when he went to attend the morning meeting.

It was indeed painted by Shi when Long went to attend the meeting this morning.

With the bamboo slips in his hands, Zou took Shi’s painting… After a moment, he went to the bookshelf on the other side.

Zou was apparently looking for something. After about a quarter of an hour, Zou said, “Please wait for me here for a while.”

“Okay, take your time, Qingyuan.” Shi smiled.

Zou laughed heartily and then left.

After Zou left, Shi immediately turned his eyes to Long.

Long blinked. “Hmm? Qingzhou?”

Shi puckered his lips. “What are you thinking, Yuan?”

It seemed to be the second time or the third time that Long heard his empress call him like that.

Long didn’t expect that Shi would call him that pet name in such a place.

Long felt… it was a little bit unpleasant.

But Long wasn’t angry. After hearing Shi’s question, Long said, “I didn’t think about anything. What’s wrong?”

“I found you are absent-minded,” Shi said.

“Uh…” Long blinked. “No…”

Shi puckered his lips and said, “We’ll talk about it later.”

Long let out a long breath. “Okay, let’s talk later.”

While Shi and Long were waiting, Long stood up and went to the bookshelf.

Shi blinked, but he didn’t tell Long not to walk around.

Long didn’t want to see other people’s secrets, either. He went to the bookshelf, but didn’t reach out to take the books or the bamboo slips.

Long seemed to be just interested in the bookshelf.

After Long observed the bookshelf for a long time, Zou finally came in.

“Qingzhou, I got something.”

Shi’s eyes brightened slightly. “Oh? Qingyuan, that’s so fast. Who is the owner of this jade pendant?”

Zou didn’t behave like earlier when he was quite casual. Instead, he carefully closed the door and glanced at Long significantly.

Shi understood what Zou meant and immediately said, “Qingyuan, just say it. It doesn’t matter.”

Zou nodded. “That being the case, I will just tell you. This jade pendant belongs to the royal family of Eastern Darkness.”

The royal family of Eastern Darkness? Long and Shi’s eyes widened sharply.

Zou nodded seriously. “Yes, I’m absolutely sure. This is from the royal family of that country.”

Shi and Long looked at each other.

Then, Shi smiled. “Qingyuan, thank you for your information. We have to go. As for the payment, let’s do it according to the old rules, shall we?”

Zou shook his head. “I won’t take your money this time.”

“Hmm?” Shi raised his eyebrows, as he was puzzled. “Why not?”