Those guards exchanged a look. They said with worry, “Zu An is now his majesty’s baron, and he is also the crown prince’s secretary. Would it be…”

King Qi said indifferently, “It’s fine. You all just need to bring him here.”

Seeing that they didn’t have to do the deed themselves, those guards sighed in relief. They cupped their hands and left to carry out the order.

King Qi looked in the eastern palace’s direction. His lips carried a hint of ridicule. The crown princess’ intent to raise a right hand man didn’t escape his notice. He won’t let it happen that easily.

Meanwhile, Zu An had just left the eastern palace, yet he was stopped by Piao Duandiao and Jiao Sigun.

“What’s wrong?” Zu An was curious when he saw the two want to say something, but hesitate.

Piao Duandiao hesitated for a long time. When he saw that no one noticed them, he said with a lowered voice, “Sir Zu, you really have to be careful in the following days.”

“Why would you say that?” Zu An was also a bit alarmed when he saw how serious they were.

Jiao Sigun said, “Do you know why the two of us were able to become the eastern palace’s lesser guard leaders?”

“Because the two of you are hidden dragons of the eastern palace?” Zu An couldn’t help but smile when he looked at these two.

They were stunned and didn’t understand what he was saying. However, they said, “With our qualifications, we have no right to rise up to become the guard leaders of the eastern palace so quickly. The two guards before us, regardless of whether it was their qualifications or cultivation, were top notch within the imperial guards. They were also high-spirited back then and wanted to do something great.”

“In the end, there was an instance where their attitude towards King Qi was… a bit arrogant. They berated him directly. King Qi didn’t say anything at the time, yet the next day, they didn’t report for the morning roll call. Everyone looked for them. Eventually, they found two headless corpses.”

“The subordinates who criticized King Qi with them all had their heads removed as well.”

“This matter created a huge disturbance. However, it soon ended without anything being settled.”

Zu An was stunned when he heard all of this. No wonder everyone in the eastern palace was shaking like quails. So there was this type of thing!

He really couldn’t tell at all. King Qi looked like a refined and scholarly person, yet he was actually this vicious.

No wonder he could fight against the emperor for so long, as expected of his own blood brother. The viciousness and paranoia ran in the family.

He suddenly noticed that the two guards were looking at him with a strange expression. He was shocked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

The two said, “Those two didn’t leave King Qi as badly burned as what you did back then. Good luck.”

Then, they left with a sigh, as if this man was beyond saving and already a dead man.

Zu An: “......”

He had to admit that even though these two were quite the amusing bunch, they were quite loyal. At the very least, they would do their best to warn him. They didn’t let him down.

But he wasn’t all that scared, because offending King Qi was part of his plans.

The Right Guard General Guo Zhi just happened to be on his patrol when he arrived at the imperial prison. He immediately smiled in a friendly manner when he saw Zu An. “Oh my, Brother Zu, which wind brought you back today?”

This fella solved such a difficult problem for him back then, so he found him rather pleasing.

Zu An smiled and exchanged some conventional greetings. Then, when he expressed his intent, Guo Zhi was surprised. “Didn’t we already obtain an oral confession? What else is there to investigate?”

Zu An said, “The crown princess told me to question them some more. It’s just routine business.”

Guo Zhi had a look of understanding on his face. “No problem, Brother Zu can question them as much as you want. I’ve actually been quite conflicted by how I should deal with these fellas. Cheng Xiong’s case has already concluded, so they’re already useless. Keeping them here is a problem too. There were many times where I just wanted to…”

He brought his thumb across his neck while speaking. Then, he said, “But his majesty didn’t say anything, so I don’t dare go too far on my own. Brother Zu, if you could, could you sound out his majesty’s attitude? How should I deal with these fellas?”

“Why hasn’t Brother Guo asked about that yourself? Your rank is much higher than mine.” Zu An was shocked. The emperor actually didn’t tell him that he was going to let them go. This would make his following plans much more difficult.

Guo Zhi said in annoyance, “I don’t dare take such a risk! The palace just experienced that attack, and his majesty already berated us several times. Now, even Cheng Xiong was done in, so I should be lying low. But Brother Zu, you’re different! His majesty told me that you can freely visit the prison and to cooperate with any request you have. I’m honestly quite envious. Brother Zu has only been here a few days, yet you have already obtained the favor of his majesty!”

Zu An cursed inside. The emperor is being too tactful here! Guo Zhi might not be able to get the hint! Looks like I’ll have to figure out a way to save them on my own.

He thought for a bit, and then he said, “Then please withdraw all of the experts from the prison for now.”

Guo Zhi was shocked. “But what if the prisoners get away?”

Zu An said, “We are inside the imperial palace’s inner palace. How could they get away? Furthermore, they still have the Soul Reaping Chains of the Embroidered Envoy on them.”

Guo Zhi was quite troubled. “But why are we suddenly removing the guards?”

Zu An pulled him to the side and said quietly, “I want to make an illusion for those prisoners, to make them misunderstand and think that there is a chance for them to escape. With the hope of life, they will start to treasure life and relax a bit. This will allow me to gain more information.”

Guo Zhi’s eyes lit up. “Brother Zu is brilliant as expected! No wonder you were able to get out so much information from them last time.”

After saying this, he ran over to pull out his subordinates. He only left behind the lowest level jailers for the prison’s normal operations.

After completing all of this, he rushed over to Zu An and said, “Brother Zu, please feel free to do what you need to. The imperial palace’s security has become more strict after the recent attack, so I need to continue my patrol. I won’t be keeping you company.”

“Then I’ll invite Brother Guo for a drink next time.” Zu An cupped his hands.

“Sounds good!” Guo Zhi waved his hand and then left with his men.

Zu An remained silent for a moment. This fella had a simple appearance, but how could anyone in his position be stupid?

Ever since he was almost done in by Cheng Xiong, he didn’t dare to look down on the IQ of these officials anymore.

Guo Zhi probably guessed at what he wanted to do, and that was why he was leaving far away. He didn’t want anything to do with this matter.

Of course, if it wasn’t because the emperor already gave him some instructions, he wouldn’t have withdrawn his men so quickly.

Zu An sorted out his thoughts, and then walked straight into the prison.

Within the deepest level of the prison, there were a few people who were whispering among themselves.

“Elder, Sir Fire, why hasn’t anyone saved us even after all this time?” The one who spoke was Gu Yueyi. He had unreal expectations during these days, yet the higher his hopes climbed, the more restless he became.

“How can it be that easy to rescue someone from the imperial prison? Just wait patiently.” Elder Sun Luzhen opened his eyes and said. Even though he was covered in blood, his eyes were still bright.

“What if he never planned to save us? What if he lied to us?” When Gu Yueyi said this, his face became more and more pale. He felt like this was more and more likely to be the case.

Sun Luzhen and Solitary Fire also became quiet. The two of them also already vaguely thought of this possibility.

“Cease your complaints.” Sun Luzhen still kept his composure in the end.

Solitary Fire also said, “Indeed. We set our resolution to die during this assassination to begin with. If he can save us, then we will be thankful. If not, then that is to be expected.”

Gu Yueyi’s expression changed. He thought to himself, the two of you are already so old, so you’re obviously content with life. I’m still young!

He even thought that if Zu An really went back on his words, then he would just confess everything to Sir Guo. He wanted to see if he could use this secret to exchange for his life.

A clear voice sound. “I didn’t expect Solitary Fire to still be so open-minded. It really is admirable.”

Their group was shocked and pleasantly surprised. They all turned around and saw Zu An nearby. All of them sighed in relief.

Even though they gave no thought to their personal lives, living was obviously better than dying.

However, when they noticed the group of jailers standing behind him, their expressions all changed. Gu Yueyi said with a trembling voice, “You… you’re not here to silence us, are you?”

Zu An chuckled. He was just about to reply when there was suddenly a burst of noise. Several jailers were pushed down the stairs.

Eight golden armored imperial guards strut inside and viciously berated, “You blind things, you dare to stop us from bringing over the one King Qi wishes to meet?”