Zu An was uneasy; now, in the perilous palace, he dared not be careless.
Although his cultivation level is quite good now, there are countless people in the palace who are better than him, and there are many people in the world who are good at concealing their presence. It is normal that he cannot sense the other party using his aura.
So he hurriedly used the jade cong's ability to communicate with the nearby small animals and see the situation within a ten-zhang radius from their perspective.
Apart from the guards who patrolled from time to time, there was no one else around...
Wait a minute, Zu'an suddenly saw a familiar face around the corner a few feet away, a plump, fair-skinned old man.
"It's him?" Zu An frowned immediately. This person was none other than Eunuch Wen, who served the emperor.
Normally, Eunuch Wen would always speak to everyone with a smile, and his plump, fair skin made him look extremely kind. But now, he looked gloomy, a stark contrast to his usual kind and gentle demeanor.
Could this be his true nature?
Zuan felt a chill run down his spine; he had actually been fooled by Zuan's smiling face.
He thought that the King of Qi had been humiliated before and had sent someone to retaliate against him, but instead, he was met by someone from the Emperor's side.
Could it be that the emperor has been sending people to follow me?
No, given the Emperor's terrifying divine power before, there was no need to send anyone to follow me. Moreover, this feeling of being followed only just started. It must be after I offended the Prince of Qi. Hmm, could it be that Eunuch Wen is one of the Prince of Qi's men?
The thought startled Zu An. He knew that Eunuch Wen was a man close to the emperor. If even he had been bribed by Prince Qi, it showed how terrifying Prince Qi was.
But wouldn't that make the emperor seem a bit foolish? With his power, how could he not know that the people around him had been bribed? That's impossible.
But then he immediately thought of the movies and TV shows he had watched in his previous life—the person least likely to be the murderer was often the real culprit…
Various thoughts popped into his head, and he felt like his brain was a complete mess.
Just then, Eunuch Wen straightened his clothes behind the corner, rubbed his chubby face, and his usual smile reappeared on his face.
After turning the corner, he looked at Zu An with a mixture of surprise and delight: "Lord Zu, I've been looking for you for ages!"
Zu An forced a smile, realizing that he had two faces, making it much harder to deal with him than before: "Oh, it's Eunuch Wen. I wonder what brings you here?"
With a smile, Eunuch Wen said, "His Majesty wishes to see you. Please come to the Imperial Study, Lord Zu."
Even though the sun was shining on him, seeing his smiling face, Zu An felt a chill for no reason: "Thank you for your trouble, sir. I'll be right there."
"Please, Lord Zu!" Eunuch Wen said with a smile.
Zu An bowed and then followed him toward the Imperial Study.
After meeting the emperor several times, he is no longer as afraid as before.
Anyway, the emperor still has several important matters to attend to, so at most he will use imperial power tactics to give him a warning, but he won't really do anything to him.
On the contrary, he found it difficult to guard against this treacherous eunuch, Wen.
Why don't we privately confirm with the Emperor later to see if he is indeed one of Prince Qi's men?
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Zu'an extinguished it.
If Eunuch Wen was sent by the emperor to monitor me, asking such a question would only expose me.
Even if Eunuch Wen really has a problem, I have no evidence right now. As the saying goes, one should not interfere in matters of the heart. He has served the emperor for so many years, the emperor must trust him more.
If Eunuch Wen were to retaliate afterward, it would be quite troublesome.
Therefore, it's best not to expose myself yet. Right now, Eunuch Wen doesn't know that I know his true colors, and I'm actually in the dark. Once I'm exposed, I'll lose this information advantage.
"Does Lord Zu have something on his mind today?" Just then, Wen Gonggong's cheerful voice came from the side. "He seems much more gloomy than usual."
Zu An's heart skipped a beat. Had he seen through his disguise? He quickly smiled and explained, "It's always a bit nerve-wracking to be summoned by the Emperor."
"I see," Eunuch Wen said with relief. "Actually, Lord Zu doesn't need to worry too much. I think His Majesty seems to be in a good mood today."
"Thank you for your advice, sir." Zu An casually slipped two more hundred-tael silver notes over. It was best to keep this cunning old fox in check for now.
Upon seeing the silver, Eunuch Wen smiled even more broadly, his eyes almost squinting into slits.
They arrived at the Imperial Study. Eunuch Wen was guarding outside when Zu An went inside. The Emperor was reading a book on the dragon throne, looking quite relaxed.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Zu An bowed.
The emperor grunted in acknowledgment, and after a moment put down his book: "You've already released the assassin from the imperial prison?"
"I have fulfilled my mission." Zu'an thought to himself, "You're just asking a question you already know the answer to. Your divine sense descended right then and there, didn't you?"
The emperor nodded in satisfaction: "Do any of the members of the Demonic Sect have any doubts?"
"No, I shifted the blame onto the King of Qi..." He then proceeded to recount his plan in a way that was more of a lie than a truth.
"You're quite clever. This way, those people in the prison won't suspect anything afterward, and the news won't leak out." The emperor smiled faintly. This guy, who had risen through the ranks from humble beginnings, was far more useful than many ministers with formal training. Most other people probably wouldn't have been able to handle things so well.
Zu An hurriedly said, "But after I got out of the Heavenly Prison, I accidentally bumped into Prince Qi. At that time, he became suspicious of those members of the Demonic Cult disguised as guards. In the critical moment, I had no choice but to lie to him and say that the guard leader, Liu Chenyu, had been summoned away by Your Majesty..."
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