Zuan was taken to live in a quiet mansion, which was obviously not far from the palace. He could vaguely see the vermilion walls and bright yellow glazed tiles of the palace.

Presumably, this was so that they could enter the palace as soon as possible the next morning.

The surrounding security was quite tight, but both King Liang and Liu Yao had left, presumably to return for their duties.

Even Zhu Xie Chixin left, seemingly to report something to the emperor at the palace.

Looking at the guards standing guard around him, Zu An was a little puzzled. Was Zhu Xie Chixin really that careless? These guards were good, but all three of their top experts had left. Weren't they afraid of giving others an opportunity to take advantage of them?

He even suspected that Zhu Xie Chixin had been bribed by other forces, but before, whether he asked the Sang family or Chu Chuyan, they all said without hesitation that Zhu Xie Chixin was the emperor's most trusted subordinate.

If even such trusted confidants are bribed, then this emperor might as well buy a block of tofu and smash his head against it; he would never be able to become the strongest person in the world.

Zuan couldn't understand why he would stay outside for a night before entering the palace. He felt like a patient waiting for an injection. It was alright once the needle was inserted, but the hardest part was waiting for the needle to be inserted.

He was also curious as to why he hadn't seen Chu Chuyan. She had made an appointment with him to go to the capital in advance to make arrangements, so she should have come to meet him by now.

At this moment, Chu Chuyan was anxiously looking in the Qin residence: "Grandpa, I have never asked you for anything in my life, but if you stand idly by this time, my grandfather will definitely die."

Opposite her stood a tall and imposing old man. Although his hair was streaked with silver, he did not appear old at all; instead, he exuded an air of otherworldly grace.

Even in his old age, one can still see his sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and his handsome face, suggesting that he must have been incredibly dashing in his youth.

He was Chu Chuyan's maternal grandfather, the top military officer of the time, Qin Zheng, the commander of the central army.

At this moment, he was concentrating on writing a piece of calligraphy, seemingly oblivious to Chu Chuyan's anxiety.

Chu Chuyan bit her lip, feeling extremely anxious. Her grandfather was clearly a military general, but he had a penchant for pretentious elegance and loved being praised as a "scholar-general."

Even though their handwriting is terrible, they still try to act like experts.

Despite her inner grumbling, she dared not say it aloud. Her grandfather was quite magnanimous in other aspects, but if anyone dared to say anything to him about this, he would immediately get angry.

Although his calligraphy is far from the level of a master calligrapher and is not particularly beautiful, it does possess a certain elegance and charm in its strokes.

At first, everyone praised him from this perspective, but later, someone went against their conscience and praised him more and more outrageously. Over time, he even thought he was the reincarnation of the Sage of Calligraphy.

After Qin Zheng finished writing the calligraphy in front of him, he took out his personal seal and stamped it with his seal before revealing a satisfied expression: "Chu Yan, come and see what I think of your grandfather's calligraphy."

Chu Chuyan's eyelids twitched. The calligraphy read "Tranquility leads to far-reaching goals," which was clearly a subtle reminder to her to guard against arrogance and impetuosity and to completely calm her mind.

But now that Zu'an has come to Beijing, how can she possibly stay calm?

Because she needed his help, Chu Chuyan had no choice but to offer a few insincere compliments.

Qin Zheng snorted: "Your tone is so obviously fake. Humph, I remember you never used to lie. Now that you've married that scoundrel, you've picked up a whole bunch of bad habits."

Chu Chuyan was displeased: "Auntie isn't a scoundrel."

"What else is a street thug but a hoodlum?" Qin Zheng said with dissatisfaction. "I don't know what your good-for-nothing father was thinking, actually finding a hoodlum to be his son-in-law in that small place like Mingyue City. It's outrageous!"

Chu Chuyan knew about his resentment towards his father, and it was really inconvenient for a junior to interfere in such matters.

Qin Zheng hummed with lingering satisfaction, "With your looks and cultivation aptitude, couldn't you find a handsome man like that anywhere in the world? Yet your scoundrel father and muddle-headed mother so easily married you off to a good-for-nothing, making you a second-time bride too!"

Chu Chuyan said calmly, "Azu is not a good-for-nothing. In my heart, all the talents in the world combined cannot compare to him."

"What kind of spell did that kid cast on you?" Qin Zheng frowned. "You two are just like that."

Chu Chuyan bit her lip, knowing that this trip to her maternal grandfather's house would definitely not go smoothly, but for Zu'an's sake, she could not care about anything else and could only patiently explain: "Tell me, in the whole world, which handsome man can make the emperor take notice? The fact that Azu was able to obtain the legendary Phoenix Nirvana Scripture proves that he is destined to be extraordinary."

Qin Zheng sneered: "It would have been better if you hadn't brought this up, it just makes me angry. Originally, the situation on King Qi's side was very favorable, but then that brat came up with some kind of immortality-granting 'Phoenix Nirvana Sutra,' which suddenly put us in an extremely passive position."

Chu Chuyan couldn't help but say, "Grandpa, I've never understood why the Qin family, with its background, would get involved in the struggle for the throne. Although my great-aunt is the mother of the Prince of Qi, it's not like we should drag the entire Qin family into this mess. If things go wrong, it could lead to the destruction of our family and clan."

Qin Zheng said in a deep voice, "You are also a cultivator yourself, so you should know the principle that if you don't advance, you will fall behind. The Qin family is currently the number one family in the military. Can we guarantee that it will still be in ten or twenty years? Countless families below are watching us, waiting to take our place, enjoy our glory, and plunder our resources. How can we do nothing?"

"It's all your mother's fault!" Qin Zheng said, getting angrier as she spoke. "Back then, when your great-aunt married Prince Qi's father, we originally intended for your mother to enter the palace as a concubine. That way, our two families would bet on each other, and no matter who won or lost, we would be the winners. But your mother was blinded by greed and insisted on eloping with that good-for-nothing Chu Zhongtian, forcing us to side with one side."

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