Chapter 702: East Palace Predicament

After giving her instructions, the Crown Princess entered the inner hall with a solemn expression.

Soon, the eunuchs and palace maids of the East Palace sprang into action, continuously rushing out to deliver messages.

On the contrary, only Zu An was relatively relaxed. He had only recently arrived at the East Palace and didn't know many officials, so if he were to deliver messages, he wouldn't find anyone. Thus, he had no tasks assigned to him.

No, that's not right. He did have a task: playing chess with the plump Crown Prince.

Zu An, distracted, placed a chess piece on the board, and asked, "Crown Prince, what's going on?"

"How should I know? You can't play there! I won't allow it!" The Crown Prince quickly used his plump hand to block a spot on the board, preventing Zu An from placing his piece.

Zu An couldn't help but laugh, taking back his piece. He realized he had been foolish to even ask the Crown Prince.

He wanted to ask the Crown Princess, but recalling her icy expression just moments ago, he worried about offending her. So he poked the plump man next to him: "Crown Prince, it seems something major has happened. Aren't you going to check?"

"It's fine, Linglong will handle it anyway." The Crown Prince waved his hand impatiently, his attention returning to the chessboard.

Zu An sighed: "The Crown Princess is a woman after all; she has moments of weakness too."

The Crown Prince said indifferently: "Linglong has always been able to resolve even the most difficult matters over the years. Oh, stop talking and focus on the game."

Zu An was speechless. *I can win easily even when distracted,* he thought, *and he tells me to focus?*

For the Crown Princess to be stuck with such a thoughtless and foolish husband, what terrible karma must she have accumulated in her past life?

However, royal affairs were not his concern. While playing chess with the Crown Prince, he secretly observed the movements within the East Palace.

Soon, officials began to arrive one after another. Most were elderly or middle-aged; few young people were seen. Many of them wore robes embroidered with either cranes or qilin, clearly indicating they were top-ranking officials of the imperial court.

Civil officials of the first rank wore robes with cranes, while military officials of the first rank wore robes with qilin.

"Huh," he thought, "how come there's someone in a python robe?"

Zu An glanced and smiled. It turned out to be an old acquaintance, Prince Liang, Zhao Yi.

Accompanying him was an elderly man. Although his hair was completely white and his face was covered in wrinkles, he appeared vigorous and full of spirit, exuding an intimidating aura without needing to show anger.

Another old acquaintance, General Wei Liu Yao, followed half a step behind him, his demeanor respectful.

Zu An was stunned. Given Liu Yao's arrogant and condescending attitude back in Brightmoon City, who could this person be?

After all, he had just arrived in the capital and didn't know many people, but he could ask the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince looked up, and the fat on his face trembled with fright: "It's my maternal grandfather!"

As he spoke, he secretly hid the chess pieces under his cushion, clearly somewhat afraid of the man.

Zu An understood. So it was General of Chariots and Cavalry Liu Guang, the Empress's father. The current Empress and the Crown Prince's birth mother (the previous Empress) were sisters, both daughters of Liu Guang.

Liu Guang had risen in status due to his daughters, being conferred the title of Imperial Grandfather and General of Chariots and Cavalry. From the military rank system, his position was second only to the Grand General and General of Agile Cavalry, even higher than the two Dukes of the Qin family.

Of course, military rank was one thing, but actual power was another. The two Qin family dukes oversaw the selection and appointment of military officers, holding more substantial power.

Just then, Liu Guang happened to look over and strode quickly towards them. How could the Crown Prince's small actions escape his notice?

"At a time like this, the Crown Prince is still wasting his time on trivialities." Liu Guang, seething with anger, pointed at Zu An and said, "Drag this fellow who enticed his master to play games out and give him a hundred strokes of the rod!"

Zu An's expression changed. He truly was getting caught in the crossfire while doing nothing.

"Is it my unlucky day today?" he wondered. "Why am I running into so much trouble one after another?"

Just then, Liu Yao, who was nearby, rushed to his elder brother's side and whispered a few words. Liu Guang's gaze towards Zu An changed slightly: "Oh, so you're Zu An. Although you've performed meritorious deeds recently, still..."

Before he could finish, he suddenly paused, tilting his head to listen to something. It seemed someone was communicating with him via spiritual energy transmission.

After a moment, he changed his tone: "Since you're new here, we'll forgive your ignorance. However, as the Crown Prince's attendant, you are responsible for supervising his studies. Don't fool around with him anymore."

"Yes!" Zu An cupped his hands. "Thank you, Imperial Grandfather."

He was curious. Could it be that Liu Yao had interceded for him? But that made no sense; they had no particular relationship, and given what had happened in Brightmoon City, it would be good enough if Liu Yao didn't hold a grudge against him.

Just then, the Crown Princess appeared not far away: "Gentlemen, please come in for a discussion."

Her voice was filled with weariness, but it unexpectedly had a unique husky charm, which was very pleasant to listen to.

Zu An finally realized. "So it was the Crown Princess who saved me."

"Crown Prince, you too, come in. This matter concerns you." The Crown Princess glanced at Zu An again, a hesitant expression on her face. However, considering the significant difference in rank between him and Liu Guang and the others, calling him in would be too abrupt, so she gave up the idea.

Soon, Liu Guang and the others also entered the inner hall. After entering, he couldn't help but say, "Linglong seems to think highly of that young man, doesn't she?"

The Crown Princess replied: "Although Zu An seems a bit unreliable on the surface, he is a talent. He's only been in the capital for a few days, and Prince Qi's faction has already been severely weakened. You must have heard about him breaking Zhao Zhi's legs yesterday, right?"

Liu Guang stroked his chin beard, and laughed heartily: "This is the happiest news I've heard in recent years! So Prince Qi and his cronies finally got what they deserved!"

Prince Liang, Zhao Yi, also said: "I had dealings with him in Brightmoon City before. Although his cultivation isn't particularly high, there's something devious about him. He always manages to turn danger into safety, leaving his enemies humiliated."

At this, Liu Yao, who was nearby, immediately looked displeased: "Why are you looking at me?"

Prince Liang let out an "oh": "Just casually looking."

The Crown Princess quickly intervened to interrupt the two, preventing an argument: "We should be trying to win over such a person; there's no time to spare. How can we discourage him over such a trivial matter? That's why I just stopped Imperial Grandfather."

Liu Guang nodded, seemingly in agreement with this statement.

Liu Yao, who was beside them, grumbled instead: "Linglong, you value him too highly. He's just a hooligan from a small place. What's so great about him? At most, he's just lucky."

The Crown Princess directly ignored her simple-minded uncle and resumed chatting with the others.

Outside, Zu An was chatting with Pu Duandiao and Jiao Sigun.

The two guards looked at him with admiration: "Brother, we thought you were going to be punished by Imperial Grandfather, but you managed to turn danger into safety! Truly admirable, admirable."

Zu An rolled his eyes: "Why do I feel like you two were hoping I'd get beaten?"

"Brother, you've misunderstood!" they quickly declared, "Are we those kind of people?"

Zu An couldn't help but ask, looking towards the inner hall: "By the way, do you know what exactly happened?"

Jiao Sigun said with a resentful expression: "We've been punished to stay here since just now, so how could we know? But judging by the Crown Princess's demeanor, something major must have happened."

Pu Duandiao also nodded in agreement: "We've been in the East Palace for so many years, and we've never seen such a large-scale situation."

"Do you recognize any of the officials who went inside earlier?" Zu An continued to ask. Although he had previously heard Chu Yan explain the court's political landscape, he only knew their names and titles, and couldn't connect them to their appearances.

The two guards explained: "The first to arrive was Bi Qi, the Minister of the Right. He is also the Crown Princess's father."

Zu An recalled the people he had just seen. Bi Qi must have been the middle-aged man who arrived first.

He was quite handsome. After all, how could the father of such a beautiful daughter as the Crown Princess be ugly?

What struck him most was that even though Bi Qi's face showed no particular expression, it subconsciously gave people the impression of a cunning old fox.

This feeling was very strange, much like watching old TVB dramas where some characters were clearly introduced as righteous and noble, yet the actor's appearance made you subconsciously feel they were villains.

Bi Qi currently gave off this exact feeling. He was clearly dignified in appearance, and his expression wasn't one of deep suffering or hatred. On the contrary, he occasionally nodded to some eunuchs and palace maids. By all accounts, he should have been a refined and handsome gentleman, yet Zu An's first impression was that this guy was extremely cunning.

"Next to arrive was Meng Yi, the Supervisor of the Imperial Secretariat. You seemed to recognize the others who just arrived, so we won't mention them." The two guards explained.

Zu An's surprise grew. These must be the core figures of the Crown Prince's faction. What matter was important enough to bring them all together?

The group discussed in the inner hall for most of the day. It wasn't until evening that people began to emerge one after another, but each of them had a face clouded with worry.

After those people left, Zu An quietly sought out the Crown Princess: "Crown Princess, has something happened?"

"Crown Princess?" Bi Linglong pinched the bridge of her nose, then suddenly gave a bitter smile. "I'm afraid I won't be the Crown Princess for much longer."

Zu An was greatly shocked: "What makes you say that?"

In their interactions over the past few days, she had always exuded an inherent pride. He had never seen her so disheartened before.

Bi Linglong looked towards the Crown Prince playing in the distance, her eyes filled with helplessness: "Prince Qi's faction launched a full-scale offensive in court today. The Crown Prince will soon no longer be the Crown Prince, and naturally, I won't be the Crown Princess either."