Chapter 639: Kill on sight

Zu An offered a sheepish smile: "Eunuch, you misunderstand. I have the utmost respect for Her Majesty the Empress; how could I possibly do anything to offend her?"

Eunuch Lu chuckled, his expression unreadable.

Zu An truly did not want to engage further with the old pervert. He casually said a few words and then excused himself.

He quickly arrived at the side hall, where the Crown Prince was gorging himself, his mouth and hands covered in grease.

The Crown Princess, standing beside him, had a frosty expression. She clearly wanted to reprimand the Crown Prince, but mindful that they were in Kunning Palace, she suppressed her anger to avoid a bad impression if others saw her scolding him. The more she suppressed it, the angrier she became, finally saying coldly, "Crown Prince, are you finished eating? We should go back now."

The plump Crown Prince shook his head: "Someone from the Empress's palace just said there are still many dishes that haven't been served yet, like steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roasted duck, roasted young chicken, roasted gosling, braised pork, braised duck, soy sauce chicken, cured meat, pine flower pork belly, air-dried meat, sausages, assorted Su dishes, smoked chicken with white belly, steamed eight-treasure pork, glutinous rice stuffed duck..."

The Crown Princess's eyelids twitched. This fellow could never remember more than three lines of the Three Character Classic even when told to recite it, yet he remembered all these dish names perfectly. She wondered if he had been a pig in his past life.

When Zu An approached, he could almost imagine white smoke rising from her head.

He hesitated, wondering if approaching her at this moment would be like walking into a firing line.

However, the matter was urgent, so he couldn't afford to worry. He braced himself and approached her: "Crown Princess."

"Yes?" the Crown Princess responded, clearly displeased.

Zu An felt a surge of annoyance. *This woman is so fickle,* he thought. *When I wore the mask, you were so gentle and lovely. How could you completely change now?*

He patiently explained, "It's like this: Her Majesty the Empress just bestowed many items upon us. However, I wasn't in the Eastern Palace yesterday, so I feel unworthy of receiving these things. Perhaps they could be given to someone who genuinely needs them."

"Someone who genuinely needs them?" the Crown Princess thought, *This fellow at least has some self-awareness.* She then said aloud, "Never mind. Those who were supposed to receive rewards have already taken them. You keep them."

As a Crown Princess, she naturally wouldn't strip her subordinates of the rewards they had received. Otherwise, the Empress would appear as a great benefactor, while she would become the villain.

"Oh, wait..." A thought suddenly struck her; she realized there was indeed one person who hadn't received a reward.

At this realization, she couldn't help but feel excited and immediately called out to the plump Crown Prince beside her: "Crown Prince, we should go and thank Sir Gold Medal Eleven. He saved us yesterday."

Hearing her say this, the anxious Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Crown Princess was intelligent.

Precisely because she was intelligent, Zu An, though tempted to simply drag the Crown Princess to the residence to deal with Cheng Xiong, feared she might realize something later or that others might notice something amiss.

At this moment, he couldn't allow anyone to make the slightest connection between the Crown Prince's aide and Sir Gold Medal Eleven.

So he could only subtly prompt her, letting the Crown Princess think of Gold Medal Eleven herself. That way, there would be no issues.

The Crown Prince was eating enthusiastically. Hearing her, he waved his hand: "No, I'm not going. I haven't even finished my food."

"Eat, eat, eat! All you ever do is eat!" The Crown Princess finally lost her patience. Seeing the Crown Prince's fat jiggle as he spoke, her face filled with disgust. "How can a life-saving favor go unreturned? When the Emperor and the Grand Tutor find out, they'll scold you again."

The Crown Prince, meanwhile, shielded the food on the table with his body, as if afraid she would throw it on the ground, something she had done before in the Eastern Palace.

After successfully protecting his food, he finally let out a sigh of relief: "If we want to reward that guard, why not just summon him here and give him some rewards? Why do we have to go ourselves?"

Zu An's heart tightened. What the Crown Prince said was not without reason. At this time, ministers and guards were all subjects of the imperial family; there was no custom for masters to personally visit their subjects.

Fortunately, the Crown Princess snorted coldly: "A life-saving favor naturally requires us to express our sincerity. Moreover, as members of the imperial family, showing goodwill and winning over subjects is an extremely profitable endeavor."

But no matter how she tried to reason with him or appeal to his emotions, the Crown Prince remained unmoved: "If you want to go, you go yourself."

Clearly, in his mind, his savior was not as important as his food.

The Crown Princess bit her lip, finally saying nothing more. She motioned with her hand: "Let's go!"

Zu An followed far behind her. Hearing the tinkling sound of the pendants on her gown clashing, he secretly sighed. Her mood must be quite poor right now; otherwise, she wouldn't be walking so quickly that her jade pendants clanged so fiercely.

Courtiers and members of the imperial clan traditionally wore jade pendants. Firstly, it signified that a gentleman was open and upright, making sounds wherever he went and thus unable to eavesdrop. Secondly, it served as an adornment and simultaneously regulated the wearer's movements and demeanor; only with unhurried, graceful steps would the jade pendants produce the most melodious and soft sounds.

Therefore, the Crown Princess walking with her jade pendants clanging so loudly was already considered a breach of decorum, clearly indicating she had just been greatly angered by the Crown Prince.

While he mused, he quietly left the entourage. In a secluded spot, he quickly retrieved Sir Gold Medal Eleven's attire from the Glazed Pearl and swiftly changed into it, then rushed towards his residence in the palace.

He hoped he would make it in time!

He secretly prayed, knowing that Cheng Xiong's actions were clearly aimed at him. Perhaps he would first check on other Embroidered Uniform Emissaries for show, but it wouldn't be long before he would head straight for Zu An's residence.

Sure enough, by the time Zu An arrived, Cheng Xiong had already surrounded the courtyard with a large contingent of palace guards.

Cheng Xiong was saying, "Sir Eleven, we are conducting a routine search. If you don't respond, I will bring my men in."

After speaking, seeing no movement inside, the corners of his lips curled slightly upwards, and he said to his subordinates, "Since Sir Eleven is not here, go ahead and open the door."

Zu An noticed two particularly dressed individuals among the guards who looked less like guards and more like researchers from a library. A thought struck him: these must be the Rune Masters. They specialized in carving runic formations, which could serve many unexpected purposes.

The defensive runic formations for these palace residences were created by them, so they naturally knew how to open them.

Seeing the two about to breach the formation, Zu An snorted coldly and walked straight out: "What are you doing?"

Seeing him arrive, Cheng Xiong's face revealed a sinister smile before he feigned an apologetic expression: "Sir Eleven, you've returned just in time; it saves us from having to break down the door. We are currently investigating the uniforms issued to the Embroidered Uniform Emissaries. Please bring out your uniform for everyone to inspect."

Zu An sneered, "Nonsense. What right do you have to inspect an Embroidered Uniform Emissary? You tell me to bring it out, and I bring it out? Who do you think you are?"

Cheng Xiong's breath hitched. He hadn't expected this fellow to be so lazy as to not even bother with pretenses.

Cheng Xiong's anger flared.

Since that's the case, he wouldn't hold back.

Cheng Xiong's face instantly turned cold: "According to reports from the palace guards, an assassin wearing an Embroidered Uniform Emissary's attire escaped the palace yesterday. Therefore, today we are thoroughly investigating the usage of uniforms by all Embroidered Uniform Emissaries who were in the palace yesterday."

Zu An immediately interrupted, "A joke! If the palace guards identified that person as an assassin, why didn't they apprehend them on the spot, instead of waiting until afterward to say something? I have sufficient reason to suspect you are trying to frame me."

Having risen to his position, Cheng Xiong was naturally a man of firm resolve. He immediately countered, "As the saying goes, the clear will be clear, and the muddy will be muddy. If Sir Eleven truly has a clear conscience, why not allow us to investigate? It would serve to silence idle gossip."

Zu An sneered, "What kind of logic is that? You casually throw a bucket of filth on me and expect me to prove my innocence? Well, I say you ate two bowls of excrement this morning. Why don't you cut open your stomach and pull it out for everyone to see that it's not excrement to prove your innocence?"

The surrounding guards desperately tried to suppress their laughter, wanting to laugh but not daring to, which was truly uncomfortable.

"You scoundrel!" Cheng Xiong roared in fury.

Cheng Xiong was utterly enraged.

"Men, seize this fellow! If he resists, kill him without hesitation!" He was utterly determined to kill, even feeling a sense of excitement in his eyes. He now had the moral high ground of an investigation, and his suspicions were reasonable. As long as this fellow resisted, he could claim that the man had resisted because he knew he was exposed, making his killing perfectly legitimate. Afterward, even Zhuxie Chixin wouldn't be able to say a word.