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Chapter 1557: Harsh Criticism

The emperor remained expressionless as he suddenly replied, “Oh? You’ve spoken so many praises about her, but not a single one was about her treatment of the Crown Prince?”

Zu An was alarmed. This guy came prepared after all. No wonder Eunuch Wen was secretly following me. Thus, he said, “Everyone in the palace knows how well the Crown Princess treats the Crown Prince, so that’s why I didn’t bother to mention it.”

“Did you not mention it, or did you subconsciously choose not to?” The emperor harrumphed.

Zu An’s expression remained neutral as he replied, “I don’t know what your majesty is trying to say.”

The emperor frowned. Normally, whenever he became upset, all of his subjects shook in fear. In contrast, Zu An’s completely calm demeanor left him feeling really unhappy. He could only continue, “I heard that you and the Crown Princess were in the same room for many hours; is that so?”

Zu An thought, As expected. He calmly replied, “That’s correct. Today, the Crown Princess was curious about what happened in the Unknown Region, so she summoned me to ask me about it. We were worried that the information would be heard by people who shouldn’t know it, which is why everyone else was sent away.”

There were no flaws in his reply. Not only did he justify their reason for being alone, he also added that they weren’t truly completely alone. The servants had still been able to see what the two of them were doing from behind the curtains.

The emperor stared at Zu An with sharp eyes. His expression eased a bit when he didn’t notice anything off. However, he asked, “Seeing as you know it’s a secret, why did you tell the Crown Princess?”

Zu An revealed a bit of surprise. He ‘cautiously’ replied, “The Crown Princess is the wife of the Crown Prince, and she’s always received your majesty’s favor. I thought that seeing as she wasn’t an outsider…”

“Of course Linglong isn’t an outsider,” the emperor said with a cough. After a brief pause, he said, “She seems to especially appreciate you too.”

Zu An replied, “Being able to receive the Crown Princess’ appreciation is this subject’s glory. I’ll definitely strive to the utmost for her in the future. I won’t hesitate to shed hot blood and sweat for her.”

The emperor frowned. Why did those words sound a bit strange?

He recalled how the two of them had been involved in a scandal before; but then the libationer himself had stepped forward to clear their names, and thus he couldn’t really believe that the two had anything going on. Still, he felt a bit irritated when he recalled that incident.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any proof. He couldn’t pick out any problems from Zu An’s responses either. As such, he decided to look around first, to let Eunuch Wen continue his investigation first. He changed the subject, saying, “Right, I heard that you wanted to meet with this emperor. What is it?”

Zu An said, “I’ve already found Sir Sang Hong.” Sure enough, the emperor sat up a bit straighter in response. Zu An continued, “I brought him here to meet your majesty.” 

The emperor asked unhappily, “Why didn’t you report something so important earlier?”

Zu An thought, You were so ready to criticize me earlier that I didn’t have a chance to say anything. However, he could only say, “I was ambushed by mysterious assassins on the way to the Imperial Capital. The other party even used army crossbows and a city defense crossbow.”

After killing the elite assassins in that battle, he had sensed his Keyboard System’s experience bar advancing by a large margin. He was already close to reaching level 70. He looked at the emperor, really wanting to know what level Zhao Han was at according to the experience system.

“City defense crossbow?” the emperor repeated, his face twitching in anger when he heard what had happened. City defense crossbows had been used in the city again and again, proving that to a certain extent, the army was no longer under his control.

“So many people surrounded and attacked you, and yet you were still able to safely escort Sang Hong to the Imperial Palace?” the emperor asked, sizing up Zu An curiously. He could see through almost anyone in this world, but for the first time, he felt as if he couldn\'t see through this youngster.

“The reason why Sir Sang survived Silkworm City was that he just happened to meet my lady from the Chu clan. This time, we had her escorting us as well. That was why we were able to protect Sir Sang,” Zu An said. He didn’t want Zhao Han to overestimate him and be on guard for no reason. It was still better to bow his head in this situation.

Sure enough, when he heard that Chu Chuyan was also there, the emperor felt relieved. He said, “I remember that Chu First Miss came to the capital once before. Her talent was indeed exceptional. Now, having saved an important minister of the court; she deserves to be rewarded.”

Zu An’s achievements in the past two years had already made his position skyrocket. The emperor really didn’t want to promote him any more than he had to, which was why he changed the one being rewarded to Chu Chuyan instead, even if the Chu clan had previously made him quite unhappy.

Zu An didn’t notice those tactics, however. Instead, he felt rather proud that even the emperor had recognized Chu Chuyan’s exceptional cultivation aptitude.

Just then, Sang Hong arrived at the Imperial Study, supported by eunuchs. The emperor gestured for Zu An to withdraw so he could talk to Sang Hong alone.

…

With the emperor there, Zu An didn’t have to worry about Sang Hong’s safety anymore. After he left the study, however, he still had to wait for Sang Hong and couldn\'t leave the palace. He reflexively wanted to seek out Bi Linglong to talk about what happened today, but he quickly realized that the emperor already suspected him, even sending Eunuch Wen to monitor him. Seeking her out would only be courting death.

Zu An wondered whether to visit Concubine Bai again and see if he could get any more intelligence out of her. However, not long after he left the palace, he was stopped by someone. He was stunned when he saw who it was, exclaiming, “So it was Eunuch Lu! What happened to your eyes?”

Eunuch Lu’s eyes were black and blue, as if something had hit him in the head. He looked at Zu An with a strange expression, replying, “Sir Zu still has the nerve to ask that? This is all thanks to Sir Zu’s actions.”

“What does it have to do with me?” Zu An asked in confusion.

Eunuch Lu’s face turned even darker as he replied, “It seems Sir Zu really has forgotten what you promised her highness.”

Zu An was speechless. Only then did he remember that he had said he would visit the empress when he had some time. However, after enjoying some time in the comfort of the Sang manor the previous night, he had completely forgotten about that.

Furthermore, Chu Chuyan had returned today; where could he have found the time to visit the empress? As such, he said with an embarrassed smile, “There were too many unexpected things holding me up. I’ll visit the empress another day to make up for it.”

“I was hoping that you would choose a different day, actually…” Eunuch Lu replied, giving him a look. “But there’s no need for Sir Zu to feel so bothered. Her highness has already returned to the palace and has personally come to meet you. She’s waiting right now. Or perhaps… Do you want her highness to come to find you?”

Zu An was speechless again. What kind of sick joke was this? Even though Liu Ning had kneeled and called him ‘daddy’ before, she was still the mother of the empire! Making her meet with a subject on her own… If another person saw that, there would be countless accusations of misconduct already!

However, he could only say, “I’ll have to trouble Eunuch Lu to lead the way.” Publicly offending the empress would really cause endless trouble. He had to deal with it somehow.

…

Zu An followed Eunuch Lu all the way to the empress’ resting chambers. He noticed that there were clearly fewer eunuchs and maids around; they had most likely been sent away on purpose. He walked into the palace; there were even fewer servants inside.

A penetrating and relaxing fragrance wafted through the air. Zu An could only recognize the rose scent base, but it seemed to be mixed with many other elegant fragrances. The fragrance was strong and passionate, just like the empress herself.

Upon arriving just outside the pearl curtains, Eunuch Lu bowed and said, “Your highness, Sir Zu has arrived.”

“I see. You can leave,” the empress said lazily. Zu An saw that she was lying down. She wore a sparkling dress embedded with fine gemstones, making her look dazzling. However, compared to her perfect curves, the gems didn’t seem all that amazing. That was especially true because the material seemed to be translucent,  further accentuating her curvaceous body.

“Understood,” Eunuch Lu said. He felt a bit depressed, but he didn’t dare to express anything. He only gave Zu An a look of envy.

When the door closed, Zu An bowed and said, “I greet your highness.”

“Oh my, I wouldn’t dare to receive such respect from you. Does this empress even exist in your heart?” the empress sneered, clearly unhappy.

You have successfully trolled Liu Ning for +745 +745 +745…

Zu An jumped in fright. This woman was already so angry?! He didn’t wait for her to act up and quickly said, “Your highness can’t blame me for this! His majesty already suspects us, and he even sent Eunuch Wen to investigate me!”

“What?!” the empress exclaimed. She quickly sat up in fear, causing waves to ripple across her body.