Chapter 716: Silenced

“Disappeared?” Zu An raised an eyebrow. Actually, this was within his expectations as well. Someone that important couldn’t possibly remain behind to be investigated. Though as for whether she had gone missing or if she had been silenced, he was leaning toward the latter.

But he was currently behind bars and had a billion things to worry about. He couldn’t even have someone else investigate this matter.

“By the way, do you know what’s going on with the Hundred Flower Palace’s Concubine Bai?” Zu An asked.

Chu Chuyan was apologetic, her eyes misty. “I was too pressed for time, and this is an investigation on the palace’s matters, so I didn’t have time to look into it yet.” 

Zu An held her hands and said, “I was being too impatient. You don’t need to bother with this matter anymore. Let’s wait for news from the empress’ side first.”

“What kind of relationship do you have with the empress, exactly? Why…” Chu Chuyan’s eyes were full of puzzlement. “Why was it that after she found out I’d arrived because of you, her expression turned extremely strange? When she heard what you told me to tell her, not only did she not get angry, her tone instead became more friendly.”

Zu An smiled. “It’s probably because the empress owes me a favor. That’s why she’s willing to help me find a way to save myself. You don’t need to worry too much.”

Chu Chuyan sighed in relief. “That’s good then.”

…

Chu Chuyan left after the two of them chatted for a while longer. She was able to discern what was important right now. She knew staying here further was meaningless, and that she had to send out her men to save Zu An. She couldn’t entrust everything to the empress.

Zu An was incredibly moved. He reminded her that she absolutely shouldn’t do anything too rash, or else she might be deceived by bad people. At the same time, he told her that he still had some cards to play, that he’d most likely be able to make it past this ordeal. He had watched so many shows in his past world, after all. He didn’t want Chuyan to do something stupid for the sake of saving him.

Chu Chuyan was also an extremely sharp person. She immediately realized what he was saying and replied, her face reddening, “What kind of nonsense are you even thinking of?” Then, she said with a beautiful smile, “I know that you care about me. Don’t worry, I’ve managed the Chu clan before, so what kinds of sinister schemes do you think I haven’t seen?”

Zu An now felt at ease. “I almost forgot that my dear wife was such an amazing woman, haha.”

There were still some jailers nearby, so Chuyan was still shy. She couldn’t handle the term ‘dear wife’ and quickly left out of embarrassment.

The jailers ran over to consult Zu An some more about his skills.  He boasted a bit to them while asking them about some of the palace’s matters.

“Concubine Bai? Concubine Bai rarely comes out. I don’t think there are many people who know what she’s doing.”

“I heard that her maid has been gone for several days though.”

“It’s probably more than that. After something so big happened in the eastern palace, the Hundred Flower Palace obviously needs to keep a low profile. It’s normal for her personal maid to not show herself.”

“If something really happened to the crown princess, then Concubine Bai might actually become the most suitable candidate to rise to the position of crown princess.”

…

Zu An began to think to himself after hearing their chattering. A while later, he asked, “What’s the situation with the crown princess, by the way? Ah, this topic is a bit sensitive since both of us are involved in this case. It’s okay if you can’t speak about it.”

The jailers exchanged a look, and then they said with a chuckle, “Sir Zu is too polite! We all know that the two of you are being wronged. It’s not a big deal to tell you at all.”

“Exactly! Yesterday morning, the palace elder examined the crown princess’ body. There were no traces of the crown princess having been violated by a man.”

“That’s not all! I heard that the crown princess is still a virgin.”

“How is that possible? The crown prince and princess have already been married for so long. How could she still be a virgin?”

“That crown prince of ours…”

…

They might not have spoken so much if it were just for the fact that Zu An had covered for them after the Devil Sect assassins escaped. It was still because the information had proven that the crown princess was innocent that they dared to discuss these things.

Zu An coughed and said, “Everyone, please watch what you say. I think it’s just some gossip that wishes to slander the crown prince. You can’t let yourselves fall into their trap.

The jailers seemed to have suddenly realized something. “So that was it! Sir Zu, you’ve saved us again!” All of them felt lingering fear and expressed their thanks.

Zu An began to think to himself again after voicing his response. He hadn’t expected that the crown princess was actually telling the truth! It had been so many years since she got married, yet she was still a virgin. However, she might have more problems to deal with later now that the information had been leaked out.

The emperor wouldn’t make such a poor decision to expose that, right? Could it be King Qi’s faction then? But wouldn’t that completely prove her innocence in this matter? The more he thought about the matter, the greater his headache grew. He felt the things going on in the background weren’t so simple.

…

Time passed just like that. The jailers Zu An had chatted with had already dispersed. Zu An sat by himself in the prison cell alone, lost in his own thoughts.

“It’s mealtime!” A jailer lowered a food tray and then turned around to leave.

Zu An didn’t expect it to have become mealtime so quickly. He gave the large bowl in front of him a look. The prisoners who got locked up in the imperial prison weren’t ordinary, so the food was surprisingly decent. He really was starting to get hungry after tossing and turning for an entire night.

Suddenly, a thought flashed past his head. He raised his head and looked at the jailer. “Wait!”

“What is it?” That jailer turned around, his tone a bit impatient.

Zu An looked at him and asked, “Why do you look unfamiliar? I haven’t met you before.”

That jailer replied, “Oh, that’s because I was just transferred here.”

Zu An said with a smile, “Then can I trouble you to please call over General Guo for me? I have some important information to share with him.”

That jailer said impatiently, “Just eat your stuff. You think General Guo has the time to see you?” He left while cursing to himself afterward.

Zu An lowered his head to look at his food. He began to think to himself.

…

A while later, Right Guard General Guo Zhi entered with a group of people. “Sir Zu, Sir Imperial Director and the others wish to interrogate you some more.”

Zu An remained in the cell without moving.

Guo Zhi didn’t receive any reply even after calling out a few times. His expression changed. “Something bad has happened!”

He quickly opened the prison cell and rushed over to Zu An’s side. When he saw the purple color of Zu An’s face, he quickly shouted, “He’s been poisoned! Hurry and bring over an imperial physician!”

The jailers quickly rushed out. Guo Zhi did his best to remove the poison from Zu An’s body. Zhen Xueyi, Jiang Boyang, and Murong Tong all rushed over when they heard the news.

“Something happened?”

“Zu An was poisoned?”

“What the hell are you all doing?!”

The three elders cried out in anger and alarm.

…

Zu An, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly sat up. “I’m fine.”

“Huh?” Guo Zhi was puzzled. Wasn’t this fellow on his dying breath a moment ago?

Zu An showed the other party an apologetic smile. “Thank you for helping me, Brother Guo. I was really helpless just now.”

He had already grown suspicious when he saw that unfamiliar jalier. After all, after rescuing the Devil Sect’s assassins, he knew almost all of the jailers. All of them chatted a bunch together, and his relationship with them was great.

Even if there were a new jailer, why would they use a new person to take care of such an important prisoner? There was definitely something wrong with this new jailer!

Zu An’s first reaction had been that someone wanted to silence him. However, he wasn’t sure who it was that wanted him dead.

The most suspicious one was Guo Zhi, as this was his domain. No one could take care of this matter better than him. But he hadn’t dared disclose that suspicion earlier, so he could only pretend to have been poisoned.

When Guo Zhi rushed in, he had already prepared promptly to avoid the other party finishing the job when he came in.

When the other party had helped him force out the poison, he secretly used the Heaven Devouring Art. If Guo Zhi really wanted to harm him, then Zu An would immediately suck him dry. However, Guo Zi’s ki was gentle and beneficial. He really had helped Zu An remove the poison.

Even so, Zu An didn’t dare act carelessly. He only got up after Jiang Boyang and the others arrived.

He couldn’t trust anyone. Jiang Boyang was probably the one he trusted the most, as he had a certain level of friendship with the gorgeous principal. Of course, he wouldn’t fully trust the man just because of that, because these three ministers represented all types of powers. They kept each other in check, so none of them could do what they wished on their own.

Murong Tong immediately frowned. “Zu An, what the hell is going on?”

Zu An sighed. He pointed at that rice bowl in the corner. “Someone wanted to kill me.”

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