Seeing Zu'an's trembling appearance, the emperor nodded imperceptibly, seemingly quite satisfied with his attitude.

As an emperor, seeing his subjects trembling with fear and trembling below, their lives and deaths in his hands, was an experience he found incredibly alluring.

He came to his senses and said loudly, "That's right, you didn't make excuses or try to justify yourself, otherwise you would be a corpse by now. Very well, since you still have some loyalty, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself."

Loyal my foot!

He knew this was a common tactic used by the emperor, and in his heart he had already cursed his family a hundred times over, but his expression was as sincere as possible: "If Your Majesty commands, I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

At the same time, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that his life had been saved.

The emperor was increasingly pleased with his attitude. He had originally intended to give him a warning if he was being unreasonable, but since he was so cooperative, he decided against it: "Since you have that relationship with the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect, take this opportunity to infiltrate the sect. First, find out where the Demonic Sect leader, Yun Jianyue, is hiding. Second, find out the relationship between the Demonic Sect and Prince Qi. Also, if you can establish yourself in the Demonic Sect, you might be of great use in the future."

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the emperor really didn't know where Yun Jianyue was. Hmm, he absolutely couldn't let him know, or he'd be dead for sure.

He deliberately feigned difficulty: "The leader of the Demonic Sect is a Grandmaster. I'm afraid someone as insignificant as me might not be able to deal with him."

The emperor said calmly, "I'm just asking you to find out where she is, not to fight her. If it really comes down to dealing with her, I will do it myself. You don't need to worry."

Zu An pretended to be relieved, then asked in confusion, "Didn't His Majesty just say that the assassination attempt on the Crown Prince by the Demonic Sect couldn't have been instigated by Prince Qi? Why is it necessary to investigate the relationship between them?"

The emperor said unhappily, "Just investigate when I tell you to. Stop with all the nonsense."

After a while, seemingly worried that he wasn't taking the matter seriously, he continued, "Although the probability of Prince Qi instigating the Demonic Sect is not high, I was afraid that he would take advantage of this mentality and do the opposite, so I had you investigate."

Zu'an was dumbfounded. Was the emperor having a split personality? On one hand, he felt it had nothing to do with Prince Qi, but on the other hand, he was worried that it might. Tsk tsk, so suspicious. He was really a difficult person to serve.

I must learn from this experience and never assume I can gain this guy's complete trust.

He coughed lightly and said with some difficulty, "But I only have a personal friendship with Qiu Honglei and have nothing to do with the Demonic Sect as a whole. Many of them want to get rid of me as soon as possible. I am worried that it will be difficult to infiltrate their ranks. My death is a small matter, but it is a big deal to ruin His Majesty's important plans."

I still need to make this statement: I have absolutely no connection with the Demonic Sect, and I have no knowledge of anyone like Yun Jianyue.

The emperor's brows relaxed. Although he knew the man was flattering him, he found it comforting: "That's easy. Aren't there a few assassins from the Demonic Cult still imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison? Find a way to rescue them. The Demonic Cult will naturally be grateful to you. Plus, with Qiu Honglei's connection, you can easily infiltrate their ranks."

Zuan was stunned. Such a good thing?

The key point is that both Qiu Honglei and Yun Jianyue had begged him to help save people. They didn't even expect to be able to save them themselves; they just wanted those followers to die a quick death without being tortured.

Who knew the emperor would actually order him to go and rescue them? What was there to be afraid of?

Seeing him standing there dumbfounded, the emperor frowned and said, "What, you can't do it?"

"I'll try my best." Zu Jian pretended to look troubled, but secretly he almost burst out laughing.

The emperor said, “Don’t think this is easy. There are many clever people in the Demonic Sect, especially Yun Jianyue, who can become a Grandmaster and come up with this scheme to frame someone. He is definitely a person of exceptional talent. Your primary concern is to prevent them from becoming suspicious. In addition, I will have Guo Zhi secretly cooperate with you. Only go to rescue people when you are confident.”

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty." Zu An thought to himself, "You praised Yun Jianyue's wisdom to the skies, but you easily saw through her scheme. Isn't that just self-praise?"

"Alright, you may leave." The emperor waved his hand, clearly about to resume his cultivation.

Zu An gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, I have another request."

"What?" The emperor opened his eyes in surprise.

Zuan said, "I am willing to help Your Majesty infiltrate the Demonic Sect, but Qiu Honglei has saved my life several times. As the saying goes, one should repay kindness. I would like to humbly request Your Majesty to spare her life after you have destroyed the Demonic Sect."

He was trying his best to play the role he was supposed to, and he must not let the emperor know that he was secretly overjoyed.

The emperor sneered, "Is that gratitude? You're just lusting after her body!"

Zuan gave an awkward laugh, looking embarrassed.

The emperor then said, "Very well, as long as you successfully help me destroy the Demonic Sect, I will reward you with a mere woman. Of course, the premise is that she completely abandons her identity as a rebel, otherwise don't blame me for being ruthless."

“That’s for sure, that’s for sure,” Zu’an said hurriedly.

"Get out of here," the emperor said calmly.

Zu An left the Imperial Study. Although his face showed no abnormality, his heart was extremely heavy.

In the emperor's eyes, he was just an ant that could be crushed at any moment, and he was not taken seriously at all.

He might manage to dodge it once or twice, but he didn't believe he could be so lucky every time.

Hmph, fortunes change every thirty years, never underestimate a young man's potential!

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