Chapter 2222: The Watcher

Seeing his dazed expression, Sang Qian couldn't stop smiling, and Zheng Dan also had a strange look on her face. "Ah Zu, you're truly good at keeping secrets. You quietly managed to sleep with the two most powerful women in the entire empire."

Zu An felt a bit disoriented. "Could someone tell me what exactly happened?"

It was clear now that they weren't trying to trick him. It seemed his affairs with the Empress Dowager and the Empress had truly been exposed.

But he really didn't understand. It made sense that his relationship with Liu Ning would be exposed after the Liu family's downfall. But now the Bi family was at its peak, and Bi Linglong was still the Empress. How could they allow such rumors to circulate?

"The morning imperial court session the day after that incident, that foolish emperor accused you of bullying the Empress in front of all the civil and military officials," Sang Qian explained. "With so many people present, even if the Empress wanted to hide the news, she couldn't. Now, it's likely that the entire human race knows about your relationship with the Empress."

Zheng Dan sneered. "There are even storybooks circulating on the market with titles like 'The Regent's Romantic History,' 'Secrets of the Empress,' and 'Ah Zu's Mighty Prank on Linglong.' I hear they're quite popular."

Zu An: "???"

"What's gotten into Zhao Ruizhi?" He quickly calmed down. Given Zhao Ruizhi's intelligence, he definitely wouldn't know these things. So, someone must have incited him to act this way. But his relationship with Bi Linglong was very discreet; it was almost impossible for anyone to know. Why would those instigating this know? Could it be that Rong Mo told the Bi family, and the Bi family leaked the secret? No, that doesn't align with the Bi family's interests. The Bi family's current status relies on their daughter first being the Crown Princess, then the Empress. If Bi Linglong were entangled in scandals with other men, it would negatively impact their family's power.

Sang Qian glanced at Zheng Dan. She thought, "Dan Dan is truly amazing. My first reaction to this news was that it was fake, but Dan Dan asserted it was true. Now, looking at Brother Zu's reaction, it truly is." She then continued, "Those people were probably just speculating, trying to slander you and the Empress to achieve some specific goal. They just didn't expect to accidentally hit upon the truth." As she spoke, she couldn't help but laugh. It was rare to see Zu An look so flustered and embarrassed.

With her analysis, Zu An suddenly understood. It seemed this was most likely the case. How ironic! He and Linglong had taken such good precautions; it was almost impossible for them to be discovered. Yet, they were exposed for such a reason. Given Linglong's prideful nature, these past few days must have been very difficult for her.

He couldn't help but ask about Bi Linglong's current situation. Sang Qian replied, "According to the news Father brings back from court sessions, the Empress continues to handle state affairs as usual, as if nothing has happened. There were even several times when officials or palace maids accidentally discussed your affairs and she overheard them, yet she didn't get angry or punish them, which is quite unlike her usual style."

"What's so hard to understand about that?" Zheng Dan sneered. "When this matter first came to light, she might have been embarrassed, but afterwards, she probably realized that a long pain is worse than a short one. She was already troubled about how to make her relationship with Ah Zu public and legitimate. Now there's a ready-made solution: simply not admit or deny it. Let everyone get used to their relationship, and then reveal it publicly with Ah Zu in a few years, without causing too much fuss."

Sang Qian had an "I see" expression. She understood some of the power struggles in court better than Zheng Dan, but Dan Dan clearly understood relationships between men and women better than she did.

Seeing that Bi Linglong was fine, Zu An secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then he asked hesitantly, "How is the Empress Dowager doing?"

"You want to know how your affair with the Empress Dowager was exposed, right?" Zheng Dan saw right through his thoughts. "Don't worry, this matter hasn't become public knowledge. Only a few of us know."

Zu An: "???" If it was exposed, how could only a few of them know about it?

"Because of the sudden change that night, the Empress Dowager, severely wounded, fled to our courtyard," Sang Qian explained from the side.

Zu An suddenly stood up. "What? Where is she now?" He had thought that with Liu Ning's cultivation, she would be able to protect herself without issue. He didn't expect her to be so injured that she would come seeking their help; she must have been at her wit's end.

"Look how anxious you are," Zheng Dan said, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry, the Empress Dowager has recovered from her injuries thanks to our careful nursing. It's just that you can't see her right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Because she suddenly disappeared," Zheng Dan sighed, clearly still bothered by it.

"Disappeared?"

"No need to worry," Sang Qian comforted him, seeing Zu An's panicked expression. "The Empress Dowager isn't in any danger. She left on her own without saying goodbye some time ago."

Zu An was somewhat puzzled. The two women had saved Liu Ning's life, so why would she leave without a word?

Sang Qian continued to explain, "It's probably because the rumors about you and the Empress were spreading throughout the city. After she found out, she knew that even if you returned, you'd be in a difficult position. So she simply left early to seek revenge through her own means."

Zu An frowned deeply. Although Liu Ning's cultivation was good, she wasn't invincible. There were many Grandmasters in the capital. Now that the Liu family was completely finished, it would likely be dangerous for her to seek revenge alone.

"It's all my fault for not thinking of this, for not taking good care of her," Zheng Dan said, a hint of guilt in her voice.

Sang Qian quickly said, "How can you blame yourself for this? Speaking of which, when the court conducted a massive search throughout the city for Liu family remnants, they even traced clues and searched all the way here. If you hadn't consolidated the capital's underground forces and been able to move her to another safe location, I'm afraid both the Empress Dowager and our Sang family would have been finished."

Zu An was somewhat surprised. He thought, "Zheng Dan really has a fondness for being a gang leader. It was like this in Brightmoon City, and it's the same in the capital."

"It was precisely because the Empress Dowager was settled outside, and because there were some watchers outside, it wasn't very convenient for us to go out," Sang Qian said apologetically. "That's why we couldn't stop her immediately when she left."

Zu An comforted them. "You can't be blamed for this. As a Grandmaster, if she wanted to leave, you wouldn't have been able to stop her even if you tried." He handed his daughter to Sang Qian. "There are some watchers outside. Do you know which family they're from?"

Both women shook their heads blankly. "We guess they might be looking for the Empress Dowager's whereabouts. After all, when the Empress Dowager fled, she disappeared in this direction."

"In that case, I'll just ask them directly." The moment Zu An finished speaking, he vanished from his spot.

Now, outside the Sang mansion, in a dimly lit attic, a black-clad figure was hiding inside, quietly observing the situation in the Sang mansion. Although he felt there was something amiss with the Sang family, he hadn't found any evidence in recent days, and there was no sign of that person returning.

He suddenly stiffened, turning around in disbelief. He found that at some point, another person had appeared in the room. In the capital, there was probably no one who didn't recognize this person: He was the Prince Killer, the true culprit behind the downfall of the Meng family, the Suppressor of Earth Immortals, the Dragon Slayer, the Empress's Lover, the Collector of Beauties, Regent Zu An! Just standing there, he exuded a terrifying aura. The man couldn't even muster a thought of resistance.

So, without the slightest hesitation, he committed suicide on the spot.

Zu An: "???"

He was just about to ask which faction had sent the man, but he never expected the man to pull such a stunt.

Sang Qian and Zheng Dan had just arrived and were startled by the scene. It was all too bizarre; the moment the man died, his body rapidly decayed.

Zu An's expression turned cold. "This seems to be a corpse puppet controlled by an evil cultivator." After a person dies, their soul departs, and the body rapidly decays, unless, like Pei You, one spends a huge price to preserve the corpse with a formation. Some evil cultivators practice necromancy, injecting a wisp of their spiritual sense into these corpses to control them. To some extent, it even shares similarities with how the Soul-Eating Demonic Spider controls corpses.

"Then it will probably be very difficult to track down the mastermind," Zheng Dan said. She was once part of the martial world and had heard of corpse puppets.

For those evil cultivators, corpse puppets are merely consumables; they wouldn't feel pain even if they were damaged. The biggest advantage is that they can withdraw their spiritual sense from the corpse puppet at any time, so even if they commit evil deeds, they won't be tracked.

Sang Qian's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Who in this capital would employ such evil methods? It was known that while the various major powers in the capital had conflicts in the past, they generally still adhered to certain rules. They wouldn't use such sinister methods, or they would easily become targets of public outrage. But now, everyone was resorting to any means necessary."

At this moment, Zu An calmly said, "Don't worry, he won't get away." With his current cultivation and control over the world's authority, it would be a joke if he let the opponent escape right under his nose. In just that moment, his vast spiritual sense had already spread out, covering the entire city. Normally, while such an action could allow him to search for others, it would also be detected by them. Just like radar, if you lock onto a target, the target and even third parties would sense this vast spiritual presence. However, now that he was one with the will of heaven and earth, he could do all this subtly, like a gentle breeze. Who would notice the elemental qi of heaven and earth around them?