Zu An's heart skipped a beat; the emperor's summons at this time was probably not a good sign.

He didn't ask Eunuch Wen what exactly happened. The emperor had already done more than enough by telling him this, so why make things difficult for him?

Moreover, he probably didn't know what the emperor was thinking.

The two arrived at the Imperial Study. Eunuch Wen went to announce their arrival first and soon came out to tell Zu An, "His Majesty invites Lord Zu in."

After saying that, he gave him a "good luck" look. Zu An smiled bitterly, knowing that he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in.

Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, this time they saw not the image in the bronze mirror, but the emperor himself sitting at the table, seemingly reading some memorial.

When Zuan came in, he didn't even glance at him, as if he were invisible.

Zu An stood to the side and bowed, saying, "Your subject greets Your Majesty."

The emperor still didn't respond. Zu An's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, this guy's bad mood seems to be directed at me.

He kept his eyes down, remaining silent, trying to be a quiet and handsome man so as not to add fuel to the fire.

After a while, the emperor looked up and saw his appearance. He couldn't help but laugh in exasperation: "Usually, all the high-ranking officials in the court are trembling with fear when they come here, but you act like nothing's wrong."

Zu'an replied, "I was worried that I might disturb His Majesty's reading of the memorials."

"Truly cunning and treacherous," the emperor sneered. "How's the task I assigned you coming along?"

As Zu'an considered his words, he slowly replied, "We've uncovered some clues. General Cheng Xiong of the Left Guard is using his son, Cheng Gang, to exchange messages with assassins at the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau)..."

After hearing his explanation, the emperor remained noncommittal: "Then what was the motive?"

Zu An replied, "Cheng Xiong is an important figure in the Qi King's faction. He probably wants to use an assassin to get rid of the Crown Prince so that the Qi King can win the position of heir apparent."

The emperor stared at him coldly: "Are you accusing my own brother, the renowned wise prince? How dare you!"

Zhao Hao's anger level increased by 444!

Zu An inwardly scoffed. The emperor was a classic case of wanting to have his cake and eat it too. Everyone knew that he and Prince Qi were already bitter enemies and he couldn't wait to get rid of him. Yet here he was, putting on a show of brotherly love and respect. Who was he trying to impress?

Of course, complaining is one thing, but saying it to someone's face would be suicide, so he could only go along with it and say, "Whether it was King Qi who was behind it or not, I dare not say, but this is the most reasonable speculation."

The emperor threw the memorial in his hand onto the table: "Your reasons are very good, and even the motives behind them are reasonable. If it were anyone else, they might actually believe your nonsense. Unfortunately, I know that Prince Qi would never do such a stupid thing."

Zu An was taken aback. With the Crown Prince dead, wouldn't Prince Qi be the biggest beneficiary?

The emperor seemed to have guessed his thoughts and continued, "I have many sons, many of whom are exceptionally intelligent and brave. So why did I choose the crown prince?"

Zu An's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly recalled the conversation Chu Chuyan had with him on the way to the capital.

Because of the late emperor, Prince Qi did indeed have the legal right to inherit the throne. The only thing the emperor could use to counter this was the system of primogeniture. The crown prince was the emperor's eldest son, so his position as heir apparent was legally sound, and even those in Prince Qi's faction had to accept this.

But if the emperor does not appoint his eldest son as heir, but instead appoints his other sons as heirs because they are more intelligent and virtuous, then in terms of intelligence and virtue, how could those princes possibly compare to the Prince of Qi?

The emperor said coldly, "You are a smart man, and you must understand the reasoning behind this. So if something happens to the current crown prince, I can rightfully replace him with another, more intelligent and talented prince, since he has become the de facto eldest son. Do you think Prince Qi would do such a stupid thing?"

Zu An broke out in a cold sweat in an instant, because he also figured out the key point: the one who didn't want the Crown Prince to die was probably none other than the Prince of Qi.

It was precisely because of this foolish crown prince that so many insightful people in the court worried about the future of the country and thus voluntarily supported the Prince of Qi.

If the Crown Prince were replaced by a smart person—no, even an ordinary person of average appearance—as long as he had the ability to maintain the status quo in the future, why would the ministers in the court have the nerve to go against the emperor, the most powerful person in the world, and support the Prince of Qi?

In this light, Yun Jianyue also miscalculated. No matter how she framed him, the emperor knew that this assassination attempt was definitely not carried out by Prince Qi.

Zu An hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is wise. I will go and investigate the real culprit again."

"Heh, investigate again?" The emperor's smile vanished. "This time, you conspired with the Demonic Cult to frame my Left Guard General. Who do you plan to frame next?"

At that moment, Zuan's heart almost stopped beating, and cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

So even the emperor knew!

Wait, calm down and don't panic. Maybe he's bluffing me?

So he feigned an innocent expression and said, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by this? I am foolish and do not understand."

The emperor nodded approvingly: "You have a good temperament. Even at this critical moment, you haven't broken down mentally."

Zu An had just breathed a sigh of relief when the emperor's face turned completely cold: "Unfortunately, the evidence is conclusive. Any further sophistry will only make you a laughingstock."

He then tossed the pamphlet he had just been reading over to me: "Take a look for yourself."

Zu An swallowed hard, opened the booklet in front of him. It was clearly a secret report. After reading the contents, his head went blank, and every cell in his body trembled.

This secret report detailed his interactions with Qiu Honglei, the most beautiful courtesan at Shenxianju in Mingyue City, and even mentioned that Qiu Honglei had taken the initiative to come to his door to offer to become his concubine.

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