After the morning court session ended, Emperor An naturally kept Jing Zhe behind. The other ministers were not surprised, but their eyes clearly showed envy.

People like Jing Zhe, who enjoy the emperor's favor, are extremely rare—no, they are the only ones since the founding of the nation.

Such a young official of the second rank already wielded enormous power. Now, Emperor An has granted him the power of life and death without a second thought. It is conceivable that in the not-too-distant future, some fool will be in trouble again.

When Crown Prince Su Moyan and Prince Xiang Su Mowu left, they nodded to Jing Zhe. However, after they turned around, the emotions on their faces became uncertain.

After all the ministers had left, Jing Zhe was summoned to the council hall.

"Mo Chen has told me everything."

Emperor An cut to the chase: "I am very pleased that you have this idea. However, Mo Chen said that doing this requires internal energy as a guide, which would consume a lot of your internal energy?"

"..."

Jing Zhe paused for a moment, then immediately nodded.

Jing Zhe was worried that if he gave Emperor An the Immortal Transformation Pill, the Crown Prince or the Prince of Xiang would also have their own ideas, or Emperor An might want him to give them the Immortal Transformation Pill.

Now Su Mochen tells Emperor An that Jing Zhe can help him prolong his life by sacrificing his own internal energy, so Jing Zhe can only help him alone, and no matter what other people want to do, it won't work.

It must be said that Su Mochen's idea was good.

Hearing Jing Zhe say this, Emperor An smiled and shook his head: "Although I also wish to live forever and sit in this position to see how the quality education you mentioned will be implemented and how Anguo will prosper for a long time, I would not be so selfish as to sacrifice your inner strength to gain lifespan. That would be too unfair to you."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Jing Zhe quickly offered a small compliment.

Anyone who believes what Emperor An says is a fool, so Jing Zhe is naturally not foolish enough to take it seriously. If Emperor An really had such thoughts, there was no need to tell him; he could simply refuse him when the time came.

Therefore, Emperor An's words were most likely just for show; if he took them seriously, he would lose.

So Jing Zhe continued, "However, Your Majesty need not worry. Although it will consume some internal energy, what does it matter compared to ensuring that the people of Anguo can always have a wise ruler?"

Jing Zhe flattered him subtly, while Emperor An's expression betrayed his true feelings, with a smirk playing on his lips.

At this moment, Jing Zhe said in a deep voice: "I practice martial arts to improve my internal strength, but it is only for self-protection. Although it consumes internal strength and goes against my original intention of practicing martial arts, I believe that Your Majesty treats me well. As long as Your Majesty is on the throne, I will definitely not have to worry about my safety!"

However, we need to wait until the matter of Jinxi is resolved, and there is nothing left to worry about within Anguo, before we can then extend His Majesty's life! What does His Majesty think?

"You're very thoughtful. I'm not in a hurry. It's better to wait until we've dealt with the Jinxi matter. After all, there might be another war then, and your inner strength naturally can't be depleted."

Emperor An nodded in agreement, his expression becoming serious.

When Su Mochen told Emperor An about this yesterday, he was incredibly excited. As an emperor, who wouldn't want to live a long and immortal life?

In particular, since Jing Zhe appeared, Anguo has become better and better. There are newspaper branches, Yueyao embassies, and the inspiring quality education. In fact, Emperor An wants to be emperor for many more years so that he can see all these things come to fruition.

But he also knew that fate could not be defied, so he wanted to resolve the internal and external troubles while he was still healthy, so that he could relinquish the throne with peace of mind.

However, when he heard that Jing Zhe could help him prolong his life or even achieve immortality, Emperor An wavered.

Moreover, some of his plans changed accordingly; at the very least, the matter of succession to the throne had to be put aside.

An emperor who doesn't want to be emperor is definitely not a good emperor. As an emperor, once he learns that his lifespan can be extended, he certainly won't give it up.

So he said, "In that case, there's no need to rush into opening a branch office for the newspaper. You should stay in Jingzhou City and rest well, so that you'll feel more comfortable when dealing with the affairs of Jinxi."

Emperor An lived a long life, so there was no need to rush things, which is why he made this suggestion.

If Jing Zhe's trip was truly for the sake of "the country and its people" or "the common people," he would definitely accept it. However, it was clear that his purpose in going out this time was not what he intended, so he immediately refused.

Then, with a serious expression and righteous indignation, he said, "Your Majesty, I can wait, but the stability of the country cannot wait, the people cannot wait, and those children who yearn to learn to read and write cannot wait. When I think of these things, I cannot eat or sleep, so I cannot wait any longer!"

"..."

Hearing Jing Zhe's impassioned speech and thinking of his willingness to sacrifice his inner strength to help him live longer, Emperor An was deeply moved.

He patted Jing Zhe on the shoulder and said with emotion, "If all officials were like you—no, even half as good as you, how could Anguo not be prosperous and peaceful?"

After thinking for a moment, he walked to the back of the council hall, and soon Emperor Andi came out carrying a golden box.

"You have treated me as a national hero, and I will repay you as a national hero in return!"

As he spoke, Emperor Andi opened the golden box and took out a golden token that was obviously a bit old. Although he was only looking at it from a distance, Jing Zhe could still tell that the token was exquisitely crafted. It was a size larger than any token he had ever seen, and it was not square like other tokens, but rather oval in shape.

In this era, an oval token is definitely much more difficult to make than a square one. In addition, the exquisite craftsmanship and the faint dragon pattern on the token are enough to illustrate its importance!

"Your Majesty, this is..."

Jing Zhe asked curiously.

"This is a get-out-of-jail-free card!"

"A get-out-of-jail-free card..."

Even if Jing Zhe was ignorant, he had still heard about it.

Legend has it that this token was cast by skilled craftsmen commissioned by the founding emperor of Anguo and was given to those who made special contributions to Anguo. The person who received this token could be spared death even if the throne changed hands or if they committed heinous crimes.

That's why this token is called the "immunity token".

It looks like this is for himself?

For Jing Zhe, a "professional token collector," he owns many different tokens, but none of them are as important as this one!

With this token in hand, anyone who dares to mess with him will have to think twice. Thinking of this, Jing Zhe was extremely excited.

————