Chapter 731: Father's Loving Son and Filial Piety

The Embroidered Uniform Emissaries in the room, weapons in hand, looked warily at the doorway. "Who dares to cause trouble at the Embroidered Building!"

What a joke! The Embroidered Building was the Emissaries' headquarters. Any official brought here would tremble with fear. Yet, someone dared to act so brazenly here?

Several Emissaries near the door immediately lunged forward, swinging their Soul-Snatching Ropes, intending to subdue the intruder at once. However, just as they were about to strike, they were sent flying by an invisible surge of energy, scattering them in disarray.

Although the Embroidered Uniform Emissaries had coordinated formation techniques and their Soul-Snatching Ropes could pierce a cultivator's protective true qi, these were meaningless in the face of an absolute power disparity.

Grandmaster realm! Everyone's heart froze.

Zu An turned to see the newcomer: a tall, white-haired old man with sharp, sword-like eyebrows, his eyes now blazing with fury.

Zu An couldn't help but smile faintly. "I wondered who it was; turns out it's Grand Marshal Shi. What's the meaning of Grand Marshal Shi trespassing in the Embroidered Building?" He recognized Shi Miao from the last assassination attempt by Yun Jianyue and her group at the Eastern Palace, where he had seen Shi Miao fight.

"Father, save me, Father!" Upon seeing his father, Shi Jun became incredibly agitated, like a drowning man grasping a twig. After all, the Emissaries' punishments were terrifying, and he desperately wanted to avoid experiencing them.

Shi Miao glanced at him, his face darkening at the sight of the bloodstains on his son. His sharp gaze swept across the room. "Who inflicted these injuries on him?"

The Emissaries who had beaten Shi Jun exchanged glances. Though usually arrogant, they weren't foolish. With a Grandmaster present, stepping forward now would be asking for trouble. They all looked to Zu An for help. As the highest-ranking officer there, it was naturally his place to speak.

However, they weren't optimistic. Even though Golden Tablet Emissaries were powerful, none seemed to have reached the Grandmaster realm. What could they do in such a situation? Most likely, a few of them would be made scapegoats, and only after Commander Zhu Xie returned would they settle scores with this person. Who would care about the lives of ordinary soldiers like them?

Just as they felt despair and fear, Zu An spoke calmly, "Stop looking around; I was the one who hit him."

"Lord Eleven!" A group of Silver Tablet and Bronze Tablet Emissaries felt both gratitude and worry.

As expected, Shi Miao immediately erupted in rage. "You're seeking death!"

The moment he finished speaking, he shot towards Zu An like a cannonball. A sudden whirlwind seemed to erupt in the room, the immense wind pressure shattering and toppling many surrounding tables and chairs.

"Lord Eleven is finished!" This was the thought in every Emissary's mind. The Emissaries were strong in coordinated combat, but within the entire Embroidered Building, anyone other than Commander Zhu Xie would face certain death if a Grandmaster got close.

To their surprise, with a loud bang, Zu An raised his hand in time to meet the strike with his own palm.

The residual force from their palms shook dust from the walls and beams. The Emissaries were thrown off balance, and some with lower cultivation levels even bled from their mouths and noses.

Yet, Zu An, standing at the center of the storm, only recoiled about ten feet. He appeared relaxed, seemingly unharmed. Shi Miao, on the other hand, was also forced back nearly ten feet!

Everyone was stunned, their jaws nearly hitting the floor as they stared at him. He had taken a Grandmaster's furious blow without a scratch and even forced him back ten feet. Just how powerful was Lord Eleven?

Shi Miao also looked bewildered. He had expected that blow to severely injure his opponent, intending it as a warning. Instead, he failed to achieve his goal and lost face.

This man's fist was strange. Recalling the moment of impact, Shi Miao felt a powerful suction force from Zu An's fist, which absorbed and dissipated a significant portion of his palm strike, making their exchange appear evenly matched.

At that moment, other Embroidered Uniform Emissaries, having heard the commotion, swarmed in and formed a formation, completely surrounding Shi Miao to prevent him from attacking again. As the saying goes, courage wanes after the first rush. Shi Miao had just had his powerful palm strike easily fended off, leaving him unsettled and hesitant to make another move.

Zu An said gravely, "What audacity! Do you know the penalty for trespassing in the forbidden grounds of the Embroidered Building?"

"Those who trespass in the Embroidered Building shall die!" an Emissary nearby added. Many of them had been injured trying to stop Shi Miao, and they were furious. Since the Embroidered Uniform Emissaries' establishment, when had they ever suffered such a humiliation at their own headquarters?

What did it matter if he was a Grand Marshal? The Embroidered Uniform Emissaries were independent of the imperial court and certainly didn't need to show him deference.

Zu An was amused. Usually, he had no real way to deal with the Shi family, but today Shi Miao was practically seeking his own demise. How could he miss such a good opportunity? So, he decisively issued the order, "Guards, kill this intruder on sight!"

Although the opponent was a Grandmaster, the Embroidered Building had many masters who excelled at coordinated attacks and apprehending people. With his own assistance, it wouldn't be difficult to capture or kill Shi Miao.

Shi Jun, standing by, was dumbfounded. Did this guy dare to kill his father too? Was something fundamentally wrong with this world? Seeing the Emissaries drawing their weapons and swarming towards his father, a chill ran through his bones. If his father were truly killed here, he would be utterly ruined.

Thinking of this, he urgently cried out, "Death-exemption token, Father's death-exemption token!"

Originally, Shi Miao had been confident that his own cultivation would be enough to intimidate everyone once he dealt with that Golden Tablet Emissary, especially since Commander Zhu Xie wasn't present today. However, he hadn't expected that Emissary to be his equal, which significantly boosted the morale of the other Emissaries. If a real fight broke out, he might genuinely face defeat here. At his son's reminder, he suddenly realized, quickly pulling out a dark golden plaque and holding it above his head. "This is a death-exemption token personally bestowed by the Emperor! Who dares to kill me?"

The Emissaries exchanged glances and halted their advance. They were a secret intelligence agency under the Emperor's direct command; they could ignore threats from any official, but they absolutely could not disregard an imperial decree.

Zu An also felt a pang of frustration, having not expected this man to possess such an item. Historically, those with such death-exemption tokens rarely came to a good end. For instance, during the Ming Dynasty, ministers who held death-exemption tokens issued by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang were, almost without exception, eventually executed along with their entire clans, and that was considered a lenient outcome. Of course, the Emperor had the final say on whether the exemption applied, and his subjects could not overstep their bounds, or they would risk incurring the Emperor's suspicion.

Zu An could only point at Shi Jun and say, "There's only one death-exemption token. Since he doesn't have it, continue the attack."

Shi Jun was dumbfounded, realizing he was the clown in this situation. He quickly stretched his hand past Shi Miao. "Father! Father! Please lend me the token for a moment."

Zu An smiled without speaking; this scene truly depicted a "kind father and filial son."

"Shut up!" Shi Miao's face darkened. Had his son taken the wrong medicine today? How had he become so foolish? "This token doesn't just protect one person! The Emperor personally stated that as long as our Shi family doesn't rebel, this token is enough to safeguard our entire clan!"

Only then did Shi Jun snap out of his daze, realizing he had indeed been terrified senseless by the Emissaries. Feeling embarrassed, he glared resentfully at Zu An, especially this particular fellow.

In the end, Shi Miao, relying on the death-exemption token, took Shi Jun away. Those in the Embroidered Building were hesitant to act due to the token, and the procedure for arresting Shi Jun was indeed problematic, so they could only let them leave.

A group of indignant Emissaries prepared to petition the Emperor, but Zu An knew the Emperor would likely not intervene. After all, the Shi family's standing was extraordinary, and given that Shi Kun had "accidentally" died in the Eastern Palace previously, the Emperor would find it difficult to be overly harsh.

As expected, the Emperor merely reprimanded Shi Miao and imposed a negligible penalty of a year's salary, letting the matter drop.

With no way to continue investigating Shi Jun, Zu An was nursing a headache when a eunuch from Kunning Palace arrived with a summons from the Empress.