Bi Linglong is certainly beautiful and noble, but Zu An can't very well reply to the emperor, "Your daughter-in-law is wonderful, can he?"
After thinking for a moment, he replied, "The Crown Princess is considerate of her subordinates and handles matters fairly and impartially... Everyone in the Eastern Palace praises her."
He didn't understand why the emperor would ask him that question, and his answer certainly couldn't be about Bi Linglong's appearance or her feminine attributes.
"Oh, after hearing so many of her virtues from you, not a single one is about her relationship with the Crown Prince?" The Emperor suddenly spoke, his face expressionless.
Zu An's heart skipped a beat. This guy really came prepared. No wonder Eunuch Wen secretly followed me: "Everyone in the palace knows how good the Crown Princess is to the Crown Prince, which is why I didn't mention it."
"Is it because it wasn't mentioned, or because you subconsciously don't want to mention it?" the emperor sneered.
Zu An remained calm: "I wonder what Your Majesty means by these words?"
The emperor frowned. In the past, when he was angry, all the ministers would be trembling with fear in his presence. This guy's nonchalant attitude made him very unhappy.
"I heard that you spent more than an hour in a room with the Crown Princess today?"
Zu An thought to himself, "As expected," and calmly replied, "That's right. Today, the Crown Princess was curious about what happened in the unknown place, so she summoned me to inquire. Fearing that the secrets would be leaked, she dismissed everyone outside the beaded curtain."
His answer was watertight, explaining both the reason for their private meeting and clarifying that it wasn't truly a case of a man and woman alone in a room, as the maids could see them through the beaded curtain.
The emperor's sharp eyes were fixed on him, and seeing nothing amiss, his expression softened slightly: "Since you knew it was a secret, why did you tell the Crown Princess?"
Zu An seemed somewhat taken aback before cautiously replying, "The Crown Princess is the Crown Prince's capable assistant and has always been deeply favored by the Emperor. I didn't think she was an outsider..."
“Linglong is certainly not an outsider,” the emperor coughed lightly, and after a moment said, “She seems to appreciate you very much.”
Zu An replied, "It is my honor to be appreciated by the Crown Princess. I will definitely devote myself to her in the future, shedding sweat and blood."
The emperor frowned; something about those words sounded rather strange.
He recalled a previous rumor between the Crown Princess and him, but the Grand Master of Ceremonies had come forward to prove his innocence, and he didn't believe there was anything between the two of them.
But when he recalled this incident, he only felt a little irritated.
Unfortunately, there was no evidence, and there was nothing wrong with the other party's behavior just now.
So he decided to observe the situation further and have Eunuch Wen investigate more clues before making a decision: "By the way, I heard you wanted to see me. Is there something you need?"
Zu'an then said, "I have found Lord Sang Hongsang."
As expected, upon hearing this, the emperor sat up slightly.
"I brought him to see the Emperor." The Emperor said displeasedly, "Since it's such an important matter, why didn't you report it just now?"
Zu An thought to himself, "You were so accusatory just now, how could I have a chance to speak?" He could only say, "On the way to the palace, we were surrounded and attacked by mysterious assassins. They even used military crossbows and siege crossbows."
After eliminating those elite assassins in that battle, he noticed that his system experience bar had increased significantly, and was almost at level 70.
He glanced at the emperor, eager to know what rank Zhao Hao held in this system.
"Siege crossbows?" After inquiring about some details of the encirclement and attack, the emperor's face twitched, clearly showing his anger. The repeated use of siege crossbows in the capital proved that the army was no longer under his control.
"With so many people surrounding you, you still managed to escort Sang Hong to the palace?" He suddenly looked at Zu An with curiosity. He could see through almost all the masters in the world at a glance, but this guy made him feel like he couldn't see through him for the first time.
"The reason why Lord Sang of Cancheng was able to escape before was because my wife, Madam Chu, happened to pass by and rescued him. She was also with us this time, which ensured Lord Sang's safety." Zu An didn't want Zhao Hao to overestimate himself and become wary for no reason. He still had to play it safe.
As expected, upon hearing that Chu Chuyan was also present, the emperor was relieved: "Miss Chu once visited the capital and was indeed exceptionally talented. Now that she has saved an important court official, she deserves a great reward."
In the past two years, Zu'an has made many outstanding contributions and his position has risen like a rocket. He was unwilling to reward him again and make him difficult to control, so he instead rewarded Chu Chuyan, even though the Chu family had made him quite unhappy in the past.
Zu'an, however, was oblivious to these imperial schemes. Instead, he felt incredibly proud, since even the emperor acknowledged Chu Chuyan's talent for cultivation.
At this time, Sang Hong had already arrived at the Imperial Study with the help of eunuchs. The emperor then gestured for Zu An to leave, as he needed to question Sang Hong privately.
With the emperor here, Zu An wasn't worried about Sang Hong's safety. After leaving the imperial study, he couldn't leave the palace for the time being because he still had to wait for Sang Hong. He subconsciously wanted to go find Bi Linglong to discuss what had happened today, but he immediately realized that the emperor was already suspicious and had even sent Eunuch Wen to monitor him. Going to her now would be courting death.
He thought he should try going to Bai Fei again to see if he could get any new information from her.
Not long after they walked out, someone stopped them in front of them.
Upon seeing the other person's appearance, Zu An was taken aback: "Oh, it's Eunuch Lü! What's wrong with your eyes?"
At this moment, one of Eunuch Lü's eyes was bruised, as if it had been hit by something.
Eunuch Lü gave him a complicated look: "Lord Zu, how dare you ask? It's all thanks to you, Lord Zu."
"What does this have to do with me?" Zuan felt baffled.
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