Zu An hurriedly waved his hand and said, "I am not clever at all, nor do I know how to read people's expressions. I am clumsy and definitely cannot do a good job of serving the Emperor."
"If you don't do well, you can learn. There are plenty of experienced old eunuchs in the palace who can slowly train you." Seeing Zu'an's nervous expression, the emperor couldn't help but smile slightly.
Zu An gritted his teeth and said directly, "Your Majesty, you probably have something for me to do. If you dare to make me a eunuch, we'd rather part ways than obey."
The emperor's eyes narrowed, and the temperature in the entire imperial study seemed to drop several degrees: "Are you threatening me?"
Zuan forced a smile and said, "I'm just telling the truth."
The emperor snorted: "You brat are really audacious. Fine, I'll leave your two ounces of meat there for now. If you fail to perform your duties later, you can be sent to the Imperial Household Department."
Zuan: "..."
I have more than two ounces; if I took it out, it would scare you to death.
The emperor took off the green hat from his head, stroked it for a while, and then took another booklet from his desk and threw it to him: "Memorize the contents of this booklet, and then find a way to give it to the Prince of Qi."
Zu An instinctively took the booklet. Its surface was neither gold nor silver, clearly indicating it was no ordinary item. Moreover, the entire booklet possessed an inexplicable sense of antiquity, as if it had been stored for tens of thousands of years.
However, this was not what surprised him the most. What surprised him the most was the few large, gilded characters on the booklet, written in a flamboyant style: "The Phoenix Nirvana Sutra"!
Could it be that the emperor had already obtained the true "Phoenix Nirvana Sutra"?
Zu An broke out in a cold sweat, but he quickly realized that if the emperor knew that he had given him a fake version of the "Phoenix Nirvana Sutra," he would be dead by now.
The emperor frowned and asked, "Are you nervous? Why are you nervous?"
With his cultivation level, he couldn't possibly fool the other party's sudden increase in heart rate and the opening of their pores.
Zu'an knew that the emperor was already suspicious, so he dared not be negligent and hurriedly came up with a reason to answer: "The main reason is that I am a small person like myself. If I get involved in the struggle between the emperor and the Prince of Qi, any one of you could easily crush me with a single hair. I am a little apprehensive for a moment."
This was indeed what he was worried about. Although the various assassination attempts he encountered along the way may not all have been at the behest of the King of Qi, they were certainly related to him.
To be able to rival the emperor, how powerful must Prince Qi's forces be? Even back in Mingyue City, one could sense that the struggle between the two sides had reached a fever pitch. For him, a lone individual, to participate in it alone would be impossible, even with nine lives.
Hearing his explanation, the emperor was relieved: "You are already caught up in the situation, and it's too late to distance yourself now."
Zuan remained silent. Ever since the news of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra was leaked, he had no choice but to get involved.
He did not regret revealing that he possessed the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. Otherwise, without the checks and balances of various factions, the emperor might not have thought of using him as a pawn. His most likely fate would have been to secretly have him arrested, tortured, and forced to hand over the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra before secretly executing him.
They've managed to carve out a way to survive, and although the road ahead remains fraught with peril, it's already a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.
Zu An silently opened the booklet. With his keen eyesight, he could tell that it contained an extremely profound and mysterious martial arts technique. However, considering that it was given to Prince Qi by the emperor, there must be some kind of secret technique inside.
If I remember correctly, the King of Qi was the emperor's own brother.
I thought I was cunning enough, but compared to the emperor, I was nothing.
At this moment, the emperor spoke again: "By the way, although you are quite clever, I am afraid you might do something foolish at a crucial moment. I still have to remind you that the Chu family and the Qin family are related by marriage, and the Qin family is the backbone of the Qi Prince's faction. If you subconsciously get close to the Qi Prince and betray me, hehe, the Imperial Household Department is short of eunuchs, and the Music Bureau is also short of people. I see that there are quite a few ladies and young ladies from the Chu family... Don't say I didn't warn you."
Zuan: "..."
That damned emperor is going too far, blatantly threatening us like this.
Noticing his gloomy expression, the emperor snorted coldly: "Don't think I'm heartless. Think about who killed you along the way. Your appearance caused them to suffer heavy losses. There are already irreconcilable conflicts between you. Only by following me can you find a way out."
"I imagine being a live-in son-in-law in the Chu family isn't a pleasant experience. And the Chu family isn't well-regarded by the Qin family either. There are countless families in the capital more powerful than the Chu family. Even if they reluctantly accept you after you've betrayed them and caused them to suffer losses, you'll still be a live-in son-in-law of a dependent family, with absolutely no status. But if you do your job well for me, I can decide to bestow all the ladies and young women of the Chu family upon you in the future, and you can even choose any of the famous ladies and gentlemen in the capital. You should know how to choose."
As an emperor, he wasn't usually this talkative; it would lower his status. But this matter was far too important, and to maintain secrecy, he couldn't rely on a third party to advise him. He had to personally explain the implications to him.
Zu'an secretly thought to himself, "Do I need you to take care of those young ladies from the Chu family? I can handle it myself."
"Huh, what the hell is 'Madam'?" he blurted out instinctively.
Your Majesty, are you really that perverse? You should know that she almost became your concubine.
Moreover, her relationship with Miss Chu is something that cannot be tolerated by human ethics.
The emperor was taken aback. He had only mentioned it casually, but realizing the meaning behind the other party's words, a strange smile appeared on his face: "So you still have this thought about Qin Wanru."
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