The Embroidered Envoys in the room all readied their weapons and looked at the entrance vigilantly. “Who dares to cause trouble in the Embroidery House?!”

What kind of joke was this? What kind of place was the Embroidery House? This was the Embroidered Envoys’ headquarters! No matter which court official was brought here, they would all tremble in fear. Yet now, someone dared to cause trouble here?

Several Embroidered Envoys brandished their Soul Reaping Chains in that direction to immediately restrict the individual. Unfortunately, they were all blown back by an invisible force as soon as they attacked.

Even though the Embroidered Envoys were capable of formation tactics, and the Soul Reaping Chains specialized in penetrating ki, all of that was meaningless before an absolute difference in power.

This was a master rank cultivator!

Those present shivered inwardly. Zu An turned around as well. The one who had come was a tall white-haired elder with sharp brows. His eyes were filled with anger.

Zu An couldn’t help but smile. “I was wondering who it was. So it was sir Minister of War! I wonder what sir Minister of War intends by barging into the Embroidery House.”

He had seen Shi Miao interfere during Yun Jianyue’s assassination attempt on the eastern palace, so he recognized this person.

“Dad, hurry and save me, dad!” Shi Jun became extremely excited when he saw his father. He finally saw a ray of hope in an endless abyss. The Embroidered Envoys’ torture methods were just too terrifying, and he really didn’t want to experience them.

Shi Miao gave Shi Jun a look. When he saw the blood on his son’s body, his face instantly sank. He scanned the place with his sharp eyes. “Who caused those injuries on his body?”

The Embroidered Envoys looked at each other in dismay. They were usually domineering, but that didn’t mean they were stupid. In front of a master, wouldn’t stepping forward be the same as asking to be punished right now?

All of them gave Zu An pleading looks. He was the highest ranked individual here, so he was the one who should speak right now. However, they didn’t feel too optimistic. Even though golden token envoys were formidable, none had reached the master rank. What could he possibly do in this type of situation?

They were probably going to be used to take the blame, but once Chief Commander Zhuxie Chixin returned, they would then get their revenge on these people.

Under their looks of despair, Zu An said indifferently, “Stop looking all over the place. The one who hit him was me.”

“Sir Eleven!” All of the silver and bronze token envoys were moved, but equally worried.

Sure enough, Shi Miao erupted with fury. “You’re courting death!”

You have successfully trolled Shi Miao for +444 +444 +444…

By the time he finished speaking, he had already shot straight at Zu An like an artillery shell. It was as if a tornado had swept through the room, as the powerful winds made several tables instantly explode.

‘Sir Eleven is finished!’ thought most of the Embroidered Envoys present. The Embroidered Envoys excelled at formation tactics. In the entire Embroidery House, apart from Sir Zhuxie, it would mean death for any one member to face a master rank.

But no one could have expected that, with a loud thud, Zu An promptly raised his hand and exchanged a palm with the other party.

The shockwave from the impact made dust fall from the wall beams. The Embroidered Envoys swayed unsteadily from side to side, while those with lower cultivations began to bleed from their noses.

However, Zu An, who had been at the very center of the explosion, was only knocked back by one zhang. His expression seemed to be at ease, as if he hadn’t really been injured. Meanwhile, Shi Miao was also blown back by nearly one zhang!

The onlookers were so shocked their jaws had practically fallen to the ground.

Not only was Sir Eleven unharmed after being attacked by an enraged master rank cultivator, he had even equally blown his opponent back by one zhang! Just how terrifying was this person’s cultivation?

Shi Miao was bewildered as well. He had thought his attack would have been enough to seriously injure his opponent. He had wanted to use his target as an example. Yet not only had he failed, he was instead the one embarrassed.

This person’s hand was strange. He recalled that just when they were about to make contact, the other party’s hand seemed to have released a powerful suction force that drained away a large portion of his strength. That was why their exchange had seemed to be evenly matched.

Other Embroidered Envoys flocked over when they heard the activity. Shi Miao was completely surrounded, preventing him from suddenly attacking again.

After Shi Miao’s palm strike had easily been handled, he was left in great shock. How could he dare to attack again?

Zu An said sternly, “How brazen. Do you know what kind of crime entering the Embroidery House without permission is?”

“All those who trespass without permission shall die!” an Embroidered Envoy added from the side. There were many people who had been injured because they stood in Shi Miao’s way. They were quite angry right now. When had they ever suffered so much in their home base, ever since the Embroidered Envoys were founded?

So what if he was a Minister of War? The Embroidered Envoys were separate from the court. They didn’t have to bow down to anyone.

Zu An was amused when he heard this. There really hadn’t been much he could do to the Shi clan before, but this fellow had ended up courting death today. How could he let such a great chance go? As such, he decisively gave the order, “Men, kill this intruder on the spot!”

Even though the other party was a master, there were many experts in the Embroidery House. Furthermore, they excelled in detaining someone together. With his help, it wasn’t too difficult to detain Shi Miao at all.

Shi Jun was stupefied. This fellow even dared to kill his father? Was there something wrong with the world today?

When he saw those Embroidered Envoy charge at his father with drawn blades, he felt a chill run through his bones. If his father really were killed here, then he would truly be done for. He quickly shouted, “Death pardon token! Dad, use your death pardon token!”

If this golden token envoy had been taken out, Shi Miao would have been confident that he could take care of this entire place. After all, Zhuxie Chixin wasn’t here. However, he hadn’t expected the golden token envoy to be able to match him evenly, which had greatly boosted the morale of the other Embroidered Envoys. If they really fought, he might even have a chance of losing.

He suddenly realized something when he heard his son’s reminder. He quickly brought out a dark golden death pardon token and raised it above his head. “This is his majesty’s death pardon token! Who dares to kill me?”

The Embroidered Envoys looked at each other in dismay and stopped moving forward. They belonged to the emperor’s secret infrastructure. They could disregard the threats of any official, but they couldn’t disregard the emperor’s orders.

Zu An was starting to find this situation tricky as well. He hadn’t expected this fellow to have such a thing on him.

Those people who had been given such a thing in history never had good endings. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, for those who had been granted death pardon tokens by Zhu Yuanzhang, having their entire clan eradicated would be considered on the lighter side.

Of course, the emperor had the authority to decide whether he wanted to pardon them or not. However, as subjects, they couldn’t overstep their authority, or else they would draw the emperor’s suspicion.

Zu An could only point at Shi Jun and say, “There’s only one death pardon token. Since he doesn’t have one, keep beating him.”

Shi Jun was stunned. He hadn’t expected that he would still be the real clown. He quickly reached his hand toward Shi Miao. “Dad! Dad! Hurry and give me the death pardoning token!”

Zu An smiled. Ah, what a loving family.

“Shut up!” Shi Miao’s forehead darkened. What the hell was wrong with his son today? Why had he suddenly become so stupid? “This token doesn’t protect me alone! Back then, his majesty personally said that as long as the Shi clan didn’t conspire against the empire, this would be enough to protect our entire clan!”

Shi Jun finally woke up from his daze. He really had been scared badly by these Embroidered Envoys. He gave Zu An a resentful look out of embarrassment. It was all because of this guy!

You have successfully trolled Shi Jun for +233 +233 +233…

In the end, Shi Miao brought Shi Jun away with the death pardon token. The Embroidered Envoys were left too scared of doing something wrong. Furthermore, they hadn’t gone through proper procedure to detain Shi Jun, so they could only release him.

The Embroidered Envoys all went to make a complaint to the emperor with righteous indignation. Zu An knew that the emperor most likely wouldn’t pay any attention to this matter, since the Shi clan wasn’t a normal clan. Furthermore, that ‘accident’ had taken place in the eastern palace, so he couldn’t criticize them too harshly.

Sure enough, the emperor only berated Shi Miao a bit and punished him by deducting an insignificant year of his salary, and then the matter was dropped. Shi Jun couldn’t be investigated further, either.

While Zu An was having a headache over this matter, the Palace of Peace sent a eunuch to contact him. The empress had invited him for an audience.