CH 1859

This was the explanation Zu An and the women had agreed on before they left, to avoid trouble. After all, that ambush not only involved King Qi, but also the daoists, Buddhists, and even the libationer. If all of them were accused, the aftermath would be really difficult to clean up.

King Yan and the others were clearly dissatisfied with this reply. King Yan asked, “Don’t tell me that you didn’t see a thing on Golden Peak?”

“Right, I saw something else,” Zu An suddenly said.

“What did you see?” King Yan, Bi Qi, and Zhao Yuan replied, all rising from their seats.

“I believe i saw the Heavenly Sorrow Sect’s Guan Chouhai, the White Jade Sect’s Li Changsheng, and Kunlun Void’s Xuan Bajing. They all seemed to have rushed over when they heard the news. Then, all of them were sucked into that mysterious black hole,” Zu An replied.

Li Changsheng and Xuan Bajing should have been resting in their respective courtyards, but they had died in the secret dungeon and could no longer come back out. There was naturally no way of hiding that. As for Guan Chouhai, he had received a voice transmission from that guy telling him about what to say. After all, Guan Chouhai was a sect master and a grandmaster. The court didn’t have any conclusive proof and couldn’t really do too much to him.

“They were all there, as expected,” Zhao Yuan said with a sneer, as if it wasn’t that surprising at all. After all, as something so major had happened, they had already investigated many things.

“They might have just arrived just like us, or perhaps they were there for other purposes. I didn’t see anything, so it’s hard to say,” Zu An replied ambiguously. Guaranteeing that they had nothing to do with the ambush would just be inviting trouble upon himself.

“Did Sir Zu see whether Tranquility Temple’s Master Jian Huang was there?” Zhao Yuan then asked.

It was actually quite easy to check whether something had happened to specific people. They just needed to check to see who was still present after the chaos that had taken place on Golden Peak.

Zu An shook his head and replied, “Everything happened too quickly back then. I didn’t see Master Jian Huang.”

He thought to himself, No matter how they rack their brains, none of these people could predict that the one who actually got involved was that little monk Jie Se, right?

Zhao Yuan and King Yan clearly didn’t completely believe him, so they gave Yan Xuehen a look for confirmation. Yan Xuehen nodded slightly and said, “The same thing happened to me. I was sucked away after seeing these things.”

Zhao Yuan and King Yan were both speechless. They knew that there was definitely something wrong with the story. They figured they would be able to find out some information as long as they interrogated the other two women separately. However, Zu An’s status was different now, and together with the support of the Armed Escort Army and Bi Qi standing off to the side, no one could use torture on these people.

Bi Qi quickly helped change the topic, asking, “Ah Zu, tell us, what happened in that secret dungeon?”

Zu An replied,, “After we entered that secret dungeon, we discovered that it was a strange world. On top of that, it merged with the secret dungeon the daoists entered…”

Afterward, he told them what had happened in great detail, only sparing them the details of his conflict with Zhao Han.

The others were dazzled as they listened. They muttered to themselves.

“There was actually another world of such great size!”

“There were actually several people with cultivations no weaker than his majesty’s. That Ghost King was even stronger than his majesty.”

“That great tomb is even more mysterious. I wonder just what kind of being built it…”

…

As the others sighed in amazement, Bi Qi said with a complicated expression, “Ah Zu, tell us about his majesty’s demise in more detail. Even if we don’t ask about that, when we return, the others in the court definitely will.”

Zu An knew Bi Qi had good intentions, so he slowly explained, “Back then, his majesty was fighting over the Baopu Sutra with the Adventurer’s Guild Leader Zang Ao and the Divine Firmament Sect’s Sun En… In the end, the great tomb collapsed and closed itself. His majesty wanted to escape, but he was held up by the others. They kept each other in check, and none of them were able to escape in the end. His majesty realized that he couldn't escape, so he could only order me to assist in the crown prince’s succession to the throne.”

When they heard that Zhao Han had gone to the great tomb to fight over the immortal opportunity, the others were now eighty percent convinced. They all knew that the emperor’s desire for immortal ascension had already reached the level of madness. There had always been a saying that birds die for food, but they had never expected his majesty to suffer the same fate! As for the other details, they were even more full and detailed. There was no way one could come up with these things without seeing them in person.

“Then does that mean his majesty might still be alive?” King Yan asked with a strange expression. After all, judging from what Zu An said, Zhao Han had only been locked in the great tomb.

Zu An gave him a look, saying, “I don’t believe that anyone would be able to survive that kind of situation.”

The others felt a weight drop in their minds when they heard him say that with such confidence. They all kneeled down and cried ‘your majesty’ in grief, as if it were their own fathers who had died.

Zu An calmly watched their expressions. Sure enough, after these people expressed their grief as loyal ministers, they became more concerned with more practical issues.

“Your majesty sent you alone to assist the crown prince? What about the others?” they asked, their eyes shining brightly.

Zu An replied, “The situation was dire, so his majesty didn’t say anything. However, judging from his expression, he should have already made preparations in advance.”

He didn’t really think he could occupy the position of the crown prince’s aide all by himself. As for who else would be involved, the great clans could then discuss it among themselves once all of them return to the capital.

The three nodded their heads with ‘as expected’ looks on their faces. They then asked him a bit more about what had happened in the secret dungeon.

Zu An, Yan Xuehen, and even Chuyan and the others answered some of the questions. However, all of their stories interlocked and mutually corroborated each other.

When they saw that they couldn't really get much else out of Zu An’s group, the others decided to get up and leave. They clearly planned to pass on the newest information to their own forces first. Only Bi Qi quickly returned to meet with Zu An one on one.

Zu An didn’t want to let down Bi Qi for his previous help, so he had Yan Xuehen and the women return to the nearby residence for some rest and to stay close to him. Otherwise, it would become a tricky situation if they were captured by the soldiers in such a situation.

“Ah Zu, what do you think about Linglong?” Bi Qi asked, startling Zu An.

Zu An’s first reaction was, Could it be that Bi Linglong told her father about our relationship? Why did it sound just like King Qi when he was looking for a son-in-law?

“The crown princess is very good. She’s pretty… ahem, and she has respect for the wise. She has always treated me with kindness and protection,” Zu An said. Midway through his sentence, he realized that with her personality, there was no way Bi Linglong would talk about such a shocking thing, even if it was her father.

Bi Qi was very satisfied with his reply. He patted Zu An’s shoulder and said, “Very good. You are from the Eastern Palace, and Linglong has always trusted you. In the end, we are all our own people, so I’ll get to the point and move on to more important matters.”

Zu An shuddered and said, “Sir Bi, please speak.”

“Do you know why there were so many important ministers before, and yet now, I am the only one standing here?” Bi Qi asked, his expression grim. He was clearly unhappy.

“Why?” Zu An asked.

He had already noticed that even though there were many civil and military officials who had followed Zhao Han to the Fengshan Ceremony, many of those familiar faces were gone. The ones in the lead had only consisted of Bi Qi, King Yan, and Zhao Yuan. Zhao Yuan was a military general, while King Yan was the king who presided over the nearby region. Strictly speaking, they weren’t the core forces of the court. Only Bi Qi was left from among them. The other officials seemed to have all left.

“Hmph, when something happened to his majesty, the Liu clan’s brothers used that as a pretext to start a purge of the court’s officials, removing them one after another.

“Because I followed his majesty to Violet Mountain, I also received part of the blame for the crime of failing to protect his majesty. That is why I am staying here to make up for my mistakes through contributions,” Bi Qi said, feeling frustrated and angry.

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Zu An recalled that because there were signs of the rebel army gathering around the nearby Zhou Commandery, the court had sent troops ahead to suppress them. Liu Guang and Liu Yao, relatives of the empress, had wanted to rack up some military achievements and thus avoided Violet Mountain. That was how they had managed to hide from all the chaos.

The emperor had been ambushed and his whereabouts were unknown. How great of a matter was that? Many people were going to lose their heads and their official ranks. Bi Qi’s group had high statuses, but they were also involved. Liu Guang and Liu Yao had the empress backing them, so they naturally had the authority to speak. They had continued to press the issue, so that was why Bi Qi had been left here.

“Hmph, Meng Yi is most likely collaborating with the Liu clan and has already returned to the capital,” Bi Qi said, feeling more and more depressed the more he spoke. He couldn't help but drain the teacup next to him before rolling up his sleeves to pour himself another cup.

He was part of the Imperial Secretariat, while Meng Yi was the leader of the Central Secretariat. The two were usually on equal footing, and yet Meng Yi was able to return to the core of his authority, while he was left here. He was naturally furious at the result.

Zu An couldn't help but ask, “Why haven’t I seen the Qin brothers?”

Chu Chuyan had been quite worried about that, so she had asked him to help her find out the answer.

Bi Qi knew that he had a connection to the Qin clan and replied, “The Qin clan and King Qi are too deeply involved. The two brothers were immediately locked up after the chaos. Furthermore, the court has demanded that the armies of the Qin clan’s old dukes be seized. They are currently standing trial. The Qin clan is doomed to be finished.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Ah Zu, you have such great prospects. I can promise to find a prestigious and noble woman for you in the capital. Is there a need for you to tie yourself down by Miss Chu?”

Zu An thought to himself, Giving me your daughter would be more like it, but he knew that was completely impossible.

At the same time, he was full of worry for the Qin clan. He replied, “The Qin clan’s state dukes have always had military power. Could it be that there was no resistance at all when they were being imprisoned?”

“Qin Zheng, that old codger, thinks of himself as high and pure. He believes that, as he worked for the sake of the people and had no selfish motives, he has no reason to fear an investigation. Who could be easier to deal with than those kinds of people?” Bi Qi replied. A mocking  expression appeared on the corners of his lips, as if to deride Qin Zheng’s naivety in politics. “However, their prestige has always been high, so the court doesn’t know how to deal with them either. I reckon they might be quietly killed after the chaos blows over.”