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“You don’t know?” Zu An asked with wide eyes.
When Guan Chouhai saw his doubtful expression, he said, “This was actually something I inadvertently learned. It was Landowner’s plot at first, but then King Qi took over... Right, King Qi’s code name was Salted Fish.”
Zu An was stunned. He hadn’t expect King Qi to actually have that kind of code name! Could it be implying that he had become a piece of salted fish because he had been unable to become the emperor all this time?
“What was the libationer’s code name?” Zu An then asked.
Guan Chouhai had fainted on Golden Peak. He had been wondering if Zu An was messing with him at first, but when he heard the other explain everything in detail, he finally set his resolve and said, “The libationer’s code name was Passerby.”
“Passerby?” Zu An repeated as he thought to himself, The libationer always watched everything with the cool eye of a bystander, so he did match that description.
Sigh, if not for the fact that the libationer had already seriously injured Zhao Han, I might not have been able to kill him so easily.
He had witnessed some of Zhao Han’s incredible skills before on Golden Peak. However, when they fought, the emperor hadn’t used many of them.
“Then who do the nicknames Servant, Tomato, Stone, Malva Nut, and Chick correspond to?” he asked.
Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Guan Chouhai slowly said, “Servant is Wu Wuyan, Tomato is Master Jian Huang, Stone is Li Changsheng, Malva Nut is Xuan Bajing, and Chick might be Lu Sanyuan.”
Zu An nodded. Wu Wuyan was the great elder of the shamans and believed in their shaman deities. The codename made sense, as she was a servant of the shaman deities.
Master Jian Huang was codenamed Tomato? Is it because he likes tomatoes or because his ‘yellow’ and the tomato’s 'red' match each other?[1]
Li Changsheng, that old man, looked elegant and graceful on the outside, but his nature was actually as cold and hard as a stone.
Xuan Bajing wasn’t that fat. Did he frequently do it with ‘malva nuts’?[2]
As for Lu Sanyuan, what the heck is with his code name?
“Why did you say 'might be' with Lu Sanyuan?” Zu An couldn't help but ask.
Guan Chouhai replied, “That's because I met the others before on Violet Mountain, so I'm more certain about the previous few. I've never met Lu Sanyuan myself and only heard that he was going to bring the great army to surround Violet Mountain and draw away Zhao Han’s army. That was why I suspected that he was with our group.”
Zu An nodded and asked, “Did that Landowner never make an appearance then?”
“No. The only one in this world who might have known his identity was King Qi,” Guan Chouhai said nonchalantly. He didn’t really care too much about that. What he cared about much more was the safety of his own sect.
In contrast, that was what Zu An was more interested in. Even though it didn’t seem to affect him too much currently, having someone like that always hiding in the dark gave him an uneasy feeling.
“Has Zhao Han truly perished?” Guan Chouhai couldn't help but ask.
Zu An nodded. There was no need to hide that from him.
Guan Chouhai laughed loudly and exclaimed, “Good, good!”
Without the mountain that was Zhao Han pressing down on them like a huge weight, all of the sects could finally let out a breath of relief. Furthermore, Wang Wuxie, Xuan Bajing, and Li Changsheng had all already died.
Doesn’t this make me practically the king among the daoists? Yan Xuehen is a woman, after all, and my relationship with her isn’t bad at all. She'll likely even support me later on. The only one I have to be mindful of is Jadefall Palace’s Wan Tongtian. That guy is a formidable opponent…
When Zu An saw Guan Chouhai's infatuated appearance, he didn’t disturb him and left his carriage. Then, he arrived at Zhao Xiaodie’s side.
When she saw him, Zhao Xiaodie seemed especially happy and chased the two maids out. Then, she grabbed onto his arm and said, “Big brother Zu really is so good to me.”
“Why do I not feel that way?" Zu An remarked, stunned. He pulled his arm back rather awkwardly after feeling an astonishing sense of elasticity on his arm.
“Of course you’re good to me. You even made sure to take care of my senior brother and chatted with my master for a while. Who else would you have done this for but me?” Zhao Xiaodie replied confidently.
Zu An was speechless. He thought, I guess it’s good as long as you’re happy.
He quickly asked, “Do you know a person referred to as ‘Landowner’?”
“Landowner?” Zhao Xiaodie repeated, staring blankly for a moment. “Are you talking about those people in the world with a lot of land?"
Only then did Zu An give her a rough explanation of the entire course of events.
Zhao Xiaodie shook her head and said, “I never heard my father mention it before.”
Zu An thought, As expected. The trail ends here.
When Zhao Xiaodie saw that, she immediately said, “Don’t worry, big brother Zu. My father might not have told me as many things because I spent most of my time cultivating in the Heavenly Sorrow Sect, but my big brother always stayed at his side and acted as his right hand man. He might know, so I’ll help you ask him later.”
“It’s best if you don’t tell him that you’re asking for me," Zu An said, coughing lightly. He had quite the grudge with Zhao Zhi.
After all, I was the one who broke his legs back then, so he probably loathes me.
“Don’t worry, I’m not stupid,” Zhao Xiaodie continued. “And I'll do my best to repair your relationship. After all, you are my…”
“Your what?” Zu An replied with a frown. He already had enough women around him. He didn’t even want to mess around with anyone else.
Huh? Manman’s Kiss of the Goddess actually lasted that long?
Zhao Xiaodie changed the topic and said with a smile, “My benefactor, of course.”
Now, Zu An couldn't really say much either. However, he suddenly sensed something and took out a recording mirror. The screen moved slightly.
Zhao Xiaodie stretched out her neck and looked over his shoulder. When she saw the name on the mirror, she cried out in alarm, “Crown princess?”
Zu An wanted to find a quieter place to connect the call, but if he left now, he could end up drawing Zhao Xiaodie’s suspicion instead. As such, he just connected the call. A ripple appeared on the mirror's surface, and then a cool and elegant face appeared. The red beauty mark between her brows made her face look even more stunning.
Zhao Xiaodie had already pulled her head back, but her ears were perked up to hear what the two of them were going to talk about.
“Sir Zu, where are you right now?” Bi Linglong asked, her voice carrying its usual dignity.
When he heard her official tone, Zu An immediately knew that there were other people at her side. He replied, "I am with the personnel from Violet Mountain together with Sir Bi and General Zhao; we are currently on our way back. We are still in Yi Commandery’s vicinity.”
Bi Linglong gave him a look. A hint of joy flickered in the depths of her eyes, but she quickly hid it. She said, “I heard that you ended up being trapped in that secret dungeon. Why didn’t you immediately report to me as soon as you came out?”
“I’ve had a few things to take care of these days…” Zu An replied. He naturally heard the unhappiness in her voice and couldn't help but feel a bit apologetic. He had spent all his time with Chuyan, Manman, and Honglei and forgot to contact her.
“Oh, was it because you were with that Miss Chu? Do a quick spin with your mirror and let me see your surroundings,” Bi Linglong suddenly said.
Zu An could only turn the mirror around helplessly and let her see Zhao Xiaodie. Otherwise, Bi Linglong could suspect him of being secretive.
When she saw Zhao Xiaodie, Bi Linglong was stunned. She exclaimed, “It’s you?”
“Greetings, crown princess,” Zhao Xiaodie said, cupping her hands. The crown princess’ Eastern Palace and King Qi had fought rather intensely over the years, so their relationship wasn’t good at all.
Bi Linglong’s smile was also a bit cold as she replied, “Xiaodie, why don’t you come and meet this little aunt once you arrive at the capital so we can bond a bit?”
“It’s sister-in-law!” Zhao Xiaodie harrumphed.
Her mother, Queen Qi, was Bi Linglong’s step-sibling’s older sister. From that perspective, Bi Linglong was Xiaodie’s aunt. However, her father and the emperor were brothers, and the crown prince was her cousin. As such, she was also a sister-in-law. The two weren’t too different in age, so they naturally didn’t want an entire generation between them.
Just then, Zu An said, “I was asking the princess about some things regarding the secret dungeon.” He wanted to make things clear ahead of time so Bi Linglong wouldn’t misunderstand anything.
“Did you learn of anything?” Bi Linglong asked, although her expression was no longer as gentle as before. Instead, it was faintly cold.
“I did find out some things,” Zu An replied.
Bi Linglong said, “It’s difficult to properly talk through a recording mirror. Report to me personally as soon as possible once you arrive at the capital. Oh, and you don’t need to move with the main procession. It’s too slow.”
Zu An was briely stunned, but he nodded and said, “Alright.”
He had already gathered about as much information as he could on this side. On the capital’s side, the Liu clan and Meng clan had allied and were scheming all sorts of things. Bi Linglong was no doubt alarmed and frightened, as she was all alone and really needed someone to rely on.
When she saw him agree without any hesitation, Bi Linglong’s expression finally eased up a bit. She said, “I will be waiting for Sir Zu’s early return.”
The call quickly ended, and the recording mirror became quiet again.
Zhao Xiaodie shifted her head closer and asked, “Big brother Zu, why do I feel like the crown princess seems to treat you a bit differently? The two of you don’t have a thing going on, do you?”
Zu An looked at her coldly and replied, “Princess, your imagination is a bit too wild, isn’t it? Let me give you a friendly warning. You should guard your tongue on matters like this, or else you might be the source of your family’s destruction.”
Zhao Xiaodie wrinkled her nose and said, “No one would even believe it if I said this out loud. However, ever since I learned about your relationship with both Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue, I don’t think there’s any woman you couldn’t win over. Forget about the crown princess; even with the empress or my own mom, I wouldn’t be that surprised if you had an affair with them.”
Zu An was speechless.
1. Huang is yellow in Chinese ☜
2. Malva nuts translated literally character by character is ‘fat big ocean’ ☜