“Huh?” Zu An was stunned. Someone spoke up for him? He didn’t even know if the one the emperor was talking about was male or female. Was it Chu Chuyan? But she wasn’t someone who had the qualifications to speak directly with the emperor, right?
The emperor’s expression became gloomy. He walked over to the window and gazed into the distant skies. His initial vicious expression now had a trace of softness. “Back then, I owed her a favor…”
His voice trailed off. He was reminiscing, but Zu An didn’t know if it was about his past or that person.
Zu An was stunned when he saw his expression. This was probably some old flame. Furthermore, why does the emperor look so much like a simp?
There was a woman in this world that he couldn’t obtain?
Zu An immediately felt his thirst for gossip burn within him. Who was this woman? What was even more weird was, why would this woman speak up for him?
When did I ever meet someone like that?
He thought back to the women that he knew. He couldn’t think of anyone.
The emperor already turned around. “Right, how has Wanru been recently?”
“Wanru?” Zu An was stunned. Only after a while did he realize who he was talking about. “Mother-in-law hasn’t had it easy recently at all. She has endless worries from all of the dangers surrounding the Chu clan.”
Meanwhile, his thoughts went wild. Qin Wanru had a relationship with the emperor? Why did he suddenly see some greenery above his father-in-law’s head?
Could it be that the one who spoke up for him was her?
But that doesn’t seem right? She can’t even help the Chu clan, so how can she protect me?
“Are you trying to speak up for her?” The emperor harrumphed. “Who told her to pick that Chu Zhongtian fella back then? Otherwise, she would be an imperial concubine right now. There wouldn’t have been any of those annoying vexations.”
Zu An: “……”
He really was shocked. Even though he guessed that there might be something between these two, he never expected Qin Wanru have had the chance to be an imperial concubine!
Father-in-law really was quite something back then! He actually stole a girl from the emperor himself! No wonder the Chu clan had it so rough these years…
“It’s not like what you’re thinking.” As if seeing through Zu An’s thoughts, the emperor said with a snort, “How can this emperor be the type who gets jealous over a woman? The main reason why I have continued to act against the Chu clan is because the Chu clan is nobility from the previous dynasty, moreover one of their leaders. Their land and wealth do not belong to the court, which makes them a state within a state. How can I tolerate something like that?”
“I get it, I get it.” Zu An had a strange look on his face. Even so, I refuse to believe that you didn’t have any thoughts of taking down your love rival. Otherwise, there are so many other nobles to take care of, why do you just have to start with the Chu clan?
The emperor frowned, clearly unwilling to discuss this matter further. “Even though I promised that person to spare your life, it is on the premise that you hand over the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. Otherwise, do not blame me for betraying the friendship of an old friend.”
Zu An: “……”
“Didn’t you just say that you didn’t care about that fleeting immortality?”
“It is fleeting for other monarchs, but the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra is now right in front of me, so how can it still be considered fleeting?” The emperor said with a cold laugh.
Zu An was speechless. So this guy was just trying to show off? I almost gave him too much credit.
He deliberately showed hesitation. “But that’s the only trump card I have. What if I still die after I hand it over?”
The emperor said indifferently, “I do not go back on my words. If I say that I have promised an old friend to spare your life, then I will spare your life. Do not challenge my patience.”
Zu An clenched his teeth. He fished out the Hat of Forgiveness and threw it over. “The Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’s chants and forms are stored in this hat. You’ll be able to sense the scriptures if you put it on.”
He was gambling on the fact that the emperor never truly saw the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra before. After all, all of Old Mi’s companions were silenced back then, and there was no way he would’ve sent back any news regarding the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra himself.
Later on, Eunuch Wei Dan never saw the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra either, so there should be no way for the emperor to know what the true scripture was written on.
Of course, he didn’t have the skill to leave soul imprints on the Hat of Forgiveness. That was Mi Li’s work. Only with her knowledge and cultivation was she able to pull off something like this.
When he received the hat and saw its lush green color, the emperor subconsciously frowned. He didn’t immediately put it on.
“I heard that you gave the Sang clan’s young master a green hat during the Sang clan’s wedding in Brightmoon City?” The emperor’s expression became dangerous.
Zu An panicked. He didn’t expect the emperor to know even these details. He could only reply honestly. “That is indeed the case, but that hat is different from this one. That was just a normal green hat, but this one has the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra recorded on it.”
The emperor frowned. “I still cannot understand why you would give Sang Qian a green hat, and it’s even the same form as your most precious ‘Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’. According to the intelligence, you and Sang Qian didn’t seem to get along.”
Zu An broke out in cold sweat. He didn’t expect his past pranks to end up messing things up now. “I wasn’t thinking about anything else back then, I just didn’t want to give him anything expensive, so I chose a cheap hat. It was a coincidence, purely a coincidence.”
“Is that so?” The emperor sneered. “I assumed that giving someone a green hat meant that you fooled around with his wife or some similar meaning.”
With his powerful information network, it wasn’t hard to figure out Zu An and Zheng Dan’s relationship.
Zu An: “……”
How could he possibly admit to that? If the emperor knew that this was what you were thinking, then you wouldn’t live no matter how many lives you had!
After all, apart from anything that would threaten the imperial throne, what the emperor feared the most was any of his concubines messing with other men.
There were endless beauties within the chamber of concubines, but there was only one emperor. There was no way he could pay close attention to every single one of them. A single moment of carelessness and one of those concubines might seek out another man out of loneliness. That was why all men who had any dealings with imperial concubines would have themselves castrated and turned into eunuchs.
He quickly explained, “That is absolutely not my intention! Furthermore, there is no way I could make something like this hat!”
The emperor nodded. “Hmph, if it wasn’t because of the profound mysteries not even I understand within this hat, I would’ve immediately cut you down upon seeing this type of green hat.”
Zu An smiled apologetically. “Your majesty is truly wise and brilliant!”
He sighed. This keyboard warrior system always gave him weird but amazing stuff. That ‘Heiress Ball of Delights’ was like this. Back then, there was such a huge gap in cultivation, yet he was able to fight back because of the Heiress Ball of Delights.
Now, this Hat of Forgiveness was the same. Mi Li could vaguely sense some mysterious rune formations on it, but that was only because of her extensive knowledge. She had great achievements in this field.
Even though his majesty was strong, he cannot compare to Mi Li in this aspect. That is why he could only sense the mysterious dao within, yet couldn’t understand what the source was.
But he knew that this hat was definitely not something ordinary. Forget about Zu An, not even he could make anything like this hat. That was why he believed Zu An.
However, how was he supposed to know that Zu An had crazy cheats?
The emperor returned to his dragon throne with the hat in hand. After some hesitation, he still wore it. With his cultivation, he didn’t have to fear any trickery with this hat. The reason he hesitated was because once he obtained the true method of immortality, the faith he pursued his entire life might begin to waver.
But the temptation of immortality was way too great. The battle with the Fiend clans wounded his foundation, which made his life expectancy become much lower than normal. He could even vaguely sense that he didn’t have many years left. However, he still had too many things that he wasn’t willing to let go of.
Zu An released a long sigh of relief when he saw the lush green hat on the emperor’s head. Even though there were some hiccups, things still went pretty smoothly.
He suddenly relaxed. He was probably the first one in history to make an emperor happily put on a green hat, right?
