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Zu An stared blankly for a moment. Then, he cautiously replied, “I receive the court’s official salary and I am an Embroidered Envoy, which views loyalty as the highest priority. Why would I not dedicate myself to the service of my country?”
Tang Tian’er sighed and said, “It seems you aren’t really treating me as your friend… You aren’t even willing to tell me the truth.”
Zu An smiled and replied, “Aren’t you full of secrets yourself? I didn’t ask you to share them all, did I?”
“But I clearly told you more about me than the other way around!” Tang Tian’er said with a pout, clearly not too happy with his response.
Zu An said with a sigh, “I even told you about my Golden Token Eleven status. Do you really still think I don’t treat you as a friend?”
Tang Tian’er was stunned. Then, the usual sweet smile returned to her face, her mood clearly improving considerably.
“Now, what really brought you here today?” Zu An took the chance to ask.
“Can I not look for you if I don’t need anything?” Tang Tian’er harrumphed, but she still said, “I do have something I need to tell you this time. Think about whether the emperor is still worth your time after you listen to what I have to say.”
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“What do you mean?” Zu An asked, quickly turning serious when he heard that it had something to do with the emperor.
“You probably understand the reason why the court and the Fiend races are currently fighting, right?” Tang Tian’er asked.
“If I recall correctly, it was because a certain small city was completely massacred by the Fiend races, and then the emperor sent the Qin clan’s two State Dukes and their armies to retaliate out of anger, right?” Zu An replied
Now that he thought about it, it had already been a long time since the Qin clan set out to war, but the Fiend races’ side wasn’t to be trifled with. The two sides had fought bitterly and ended up in a deadlock. Later, Zu An had returned from the Fiend races’ territory with a peace offer, creating a turning point.
However, that campaign of mass slaughter had always felt strange. As the Fiend races’ Regent, the intelligence he received had stated that the Fiend races hadn’t actually done such a thing, and that they believed it was just human race slander. Still, he hadn’t really taken it to heart, because there was a chance that they had just refused to admit to it. Furthermore, the Fiend King Court didn’t have that much control over distant regions. There was a chance that some local leaders had sufficient autonomy to commit such actions and refuse to admit to it.
Tang Tian’er suddenly said, “It wasn’t the Fiend races who committed the slaughter, but rather the emperor.”
“What?” Zu An exclaimed in shock. His first reaction was disbelief. After all, even though Zhao Han’s character was a bit on the poor side, he was still considered a competent emperor. That small city had been full of his own people, so why would he do something like that?
“You know that our Hub of Freedom excels at gathering information. We noticed that there was something strange with that slaughter, so we sent our people to look into it. Recently, we confirmed that,” Tang Tian’er said. She paused for a moment before asking, “Didn’t your immediate superior Zhuxie Chixin go missing recently?”
“That’s right. He seems to have gone somewhere to carry out a secret mission,” Zu An said seriously.
“What secret mission? Wasn’t it just to massacre that city’s citizens?” Tang Tian’er replied, her expression ice-cold.
Zu An frowned and asked, “Why would they do that?”
“According to the evidence we’ve collected since then, Zhuxie Chixin seemed to be using the lives of an entire city to make some evil pill. The analysis of the higher-ups of the Hub of Freedom suggests that Zhao Han’s heaven and man deterioration is drawing closer, or perhaps he received some type of injury, so he’s using the lives of an entire city’s commoners as well as their blood essence to replenish himself. But Zhao Han is already unmatched in this world, and I’ve never heard of him facing anyone recently, so it’s likely the former.”
Zu An suddenly understood what was happening. He naturally knew what was going on with Zhao Han. In the past, the split soul in the crown prince’s body had been killed in Westhound Tomb Secret Dungeon. The damage that had resulted was naturally considerable. Only, he hadn’t expected the emperor to be so deranged, to actually use the population of an entire city to refine medicine.
At the same time, he finally knew what was going on with that mysterious name list. He had been wondering why anyone would suddenly be so daring as to face Zhao Han, but they had to have found out that Zhao Han was injured through their own channels. That was why they had begun to grow restless.
“You seem to already believe me,” Tang Tian’er said, a bit surprised when she saw his expression. She had thought she would have to explain quite a bit to convince him.
“Do you have proof?” Zu An asked. Even though he was mostly convinced, he didn’t show his real feelings on the surface.
“We don’t. An entire city’s population was killed, so what proof is there to gather? This is just the most likely conclusion we came to after examining many different parties’ intelligence,” Tang Tian’er said. She then added, “That is, unless we were to arrest Zhuxie Chixin and interrogate him.”
Zu An naturally knew that wasn’t possible. He asked gravely, “Did you come here to ask for my cooperation?”
Tang Tian’er shook her head and said with a smile, “Not at all. I’m just telling you about it so you don’t end up being played by him~” Then, she waved toward Zu An and said, “I still have other things to take care of, so I’ll be leaving first. Let’s talk some more when we have a chance in the future.” Then, she left in high spirits, her mood clearly quite good.
Zu An sank into his own thoughts. There would eventually be a showdown between him and Zhao Han. He had just been making plans for the sake of self-preservation before, but now, he also had those innocent souls to fuel his decision.
As for Tang Tian’er telling him about it, and yet not requesting anything from him, he could understand that as well. It was most likely to plant a seed for the time being. Then, if something really happened, perhaps he would no longer stand by Zhao Han’s side.
However, she had no idea that he also wanted to take down Zhao Han. Of course, if he told her about that now, the Hub of Freedom would likely just suspect that he was trying to get into their system and become more wary of him. His current situation was still better.
“Tsk tsk, look at you. The pretty girl has already left, and yet you’re still staring in that direction,” Yun Jianyue said mysteriously.
Qiu Honglei was by her side, feeling rather strange. Why did she feel as if her master had ended up saying her line? Shouldn’t I be the one who’s upset here?
It’s probably because my master really loves me, and is worried that I might sound jealous and draw resentment. Then, Chuyan might have a competitive edge over me.
Sigh, my master really is the greatest! She’s always thinking about me, and yet I’m making her out to be some villain. I have to properly repay her in the future.
Zu An replied with a hint of irritation, “What the heck are you thinking, big sis Yun? She actually just told me a shocking piece of information.”
When they heard his serious tone, the two women forgot all about their jealousy. They asked, “What is it?”
Zu An then told them about the slaughter of the city. Qiu Honglei was filled with rage after hearing about such injustice. She spat, “He really doesn’t have even a shred of humanity! That dog emperor dares to do something not even a beast would do!”
Yun Jianyue sneered and added, “Compared to these emperors’ desires, how much are the lives of ordinary people worth? Especially for someone like Zhao Han, who was rather cold to begin with. But with how despicable his behavior has been, his downfall isn’t far off.”
She had already made up her mind to spread such information as far as possible to shake Zhao Han’s foundation. After all, the Devil Sect had always been pitted against the court.
After they discussed things with each other for a bit, Zu An asked, “What are you two planning to do now? Are you still going back to Violet Mountain?”
Qiu Honglei showed him an ambiguous smile before asking, “Do you want me to return and fight against that Miss Pei?”