Chapter 622: Toying With the Heart
Translator: Pika
Zu An jumped in fright when he heard what Zhuxie Chixin said. Yun Jianyue’s expression changed as well.
She was dead for certain if Zhuxie Chixin caught her in her current state.
How did he find me? Did Zu An tell him? Those Embroidered Envoy might have some private signals…
But she quickly refuted this thought. If he really wanted her dead, then he could’ve just dealt with her while he was sucking out her cultivation. Why would he have to go through all this trouble?
Zu An’s head was filled with many thoughts as well. He thought about pretending to not be here and ignore him so that Zhuxie Chixin would leave after calling out a few times with no response.
However, he realized that this wouldn’t work. This man most likely knew he was here from how he just happened to be here at this time.
Could it be that he saw me bring back Yun Jianyue?
He couldn’t help but feel shocked when he thought of this.
He quickly analyzed these thoughts. No, this shouldn’t be it. I was extremely careful the entire time and had all those small creatures watching out for me. Zhuxie Chixin would have to be a freaking god to catch me.
He lowered his head and looked at his waist token. He could vaguely sense a bit of warmth from it. Was it this thing that gave him away?”
“Eleven?” Zhuxie Chixin’s voice became a bit impatient.
Zu An immediately replied, “Coming, coming.”
He sent Yun Jianyue a voice transmission. “Be careful, I’m going to deal with him.”
Yun Jianyue nodded. She didn’t even dare voice any reply.
Zu An hurriedly rushed out. He saw that Zhuxie Chixin was currently standing outside in the courtyard.
I don’t see any guards around him… I don’t think he’s here to catch me.
“Greetings, chief commander.” Zu An opened the door and greeted him.
“Why did it take you so long to come out?” Zhuxie Chixin frowned. His pale white face carried a bit of displeasure.
He did know I was here!
Zu An felt his heart pound and quickly said, “I had to fight a lot today, and I was quite frightened through it all, so I’m tired. That’s why I laid down on my bed and unknowingly slept. I thought I was dreaming at first when I first heard chief commander’s voice.”
Zhuxie Chixin said impatiently, “You’re probably the only one who dares to sleep in the entire imperial palace.”
“Chief commander has worked hard.” Zu An smiled apologetically. Then, he asked, “May I ask what you need me for?”
“It’s nothing important. I sensed that you were inside while patrolling nearby, so I wanted to have a chat with you.” Zhuxie Chixin pointed at his own waist token. His token was different from the other Embroidered Envoy. It wasn’t gold or silver, but made of jade. “This thing lets me sense other Embroidered Envoy within a set range. This allows all of us to save a lot of time.”
So it was the waist token after all! However, he didn’t find this too surprising with Zhuxie Chixin’s status.
But why did he suddenly come here to talk to me?
Zhuxie Chixin immediately said, “We’ve been busy all night and haven’t had much of a breather. You wouldn’t mind if I ask for some tea to drink inside, right?”
Zu An immediately panicked. If he invited Zhuxie Chixin inside and he saw Yun Jianyue, then that would be really bad.
But if a freaking superior was passing by your home and asked for a drink, how can you refuse?
“Uh… Chief Commander, you’ve really worked hard today…” His mind moved at lightning speed. He was just about to find an excuse when Zhuxie walked straight inside.
Zu An: “……”
His heart was about to jump to his throat. He even wondered if he could take down Zhuxie Chixin with Yun Jianyue’s help.
But he immediately rejected this thought. Forget about the fact that Yun Jianyue was already seriously injured and powerless, even if she could keep fighting, the chances of them defeating a pseudo grandmaster was slim.
Furthermore, Zhuxie Chixin could summon reinforcements from inside the palace at any time. Fighting against him was definitely a bad idea.
Seeing that he couldn’t stop him, he could only say, “I’ll naturally welcome the chief commander to my humble abode! But I just moved in and haven’t done much cleaning. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to properly accommodate the chief commander…”
He deliberately raised his pitch to warn Yun Jianyue. She was a grandmaster, so he didn’t think she was a dummy.
“There is no need to be so polite. We are all colleagues anyway, we’re our own people already.” Zhuxie Chixin turned around to give him a curious look. “Hm? Why are you sweating so much?”
Zu An had just removed his mask and didn’t put it back on yet. Either way, Zhuxie Chixin already knew who he was, so he didn’t have to hide anything.
Zu An quickly said, “It might be because I’m still worried. The imperial palace has its restrictions, yet so many assassins still came in somehow. I’m scared just thinking about it.”
“Today’s events were indeed a bit absurd.” Zhuxie Chixin felt deep understanding. At the same time, he warned, “Right, make sure you wear your mask when you wear these clothes. Your true identity cannot be exposed.”
Zu An cupped his hands. “Thank you chief commander for your reminder.”
This guy does care about me a bit. If I don’t have to, I’ll try not to do anything to him.
He rushed in ahead of Zhuxie Chixin. Sure enough, he didn’t see Yun Jianyue inside. He sighed with relief. Her ‘Mirror Mirage’ could completely hide her aura. As long as Zhuxie Chixin didn’t see her himself, then she practically didn’t exist in his perception.
He swept his eyes over the entire house. Eventually, his eyes landed on the bed. The curtains were lowered and the bedding was messy as if someone had just gotten up.
Zu An praised Yun Jianyue for her attention to detail. He told Zhuxie Chixin that he had just slept for a bit, and she actually helped him make things seem more realistic.
Furthermore, she helped him lower half the curtains. If she lowered all of it, then others would immediately suspect that he was hiding someone. But when it was half opened, it would instead look more natural.
Zu An already suspected that Yun Jianyue was hiding behind the half curtains that were lowered.
He quickly poured a cup of tea for Zhuxie Chixin. “Chief commander, please.”
He said this while naturally standing between the bed and Zhuxie Chixin to block his line of sight.
“You should sit down as well. There is no need to be so polite.” Zhuxie Chixin picked up the teacup and sipped on it before lowering it again.
Zu An felt his heart go thud. This man was clearly not here just for some tea.
Zhuxie Chixin was about to say something, but he hesitated. He was clearly trying to sort out his words. Suddenly, he sniffed. “Hm? Why does it smell like a woman here?”
Zu An felt like his scalp was going to explode when he heard what he said. When he saw the other party start to look around, he had no idea how his mind moved so fast, but he quickly said, “It might be because I held the crown princess earlier when I saved her back at the eastern palace. I ended up with a bit of her fragrance.”
Zhuxie Chixin frowned. “But this doesn’t seem like the crown princess’ smell.”
Zu An cursed. Everyone knows that women are more sensitive to the smells of other women, but why the hell is a big fella like you this way too?!
He tried to remedy the situation. “I stayed some time in the Palace of Peace as well, and I saved the empress as well. It might be a mixture of several smells.
Zhuxie Chixin nodded and accepted this explanation. He also knew that the empress liked to mix all types of well known scents. It was indeed hard to differentiate the smells once they were mixed.
Zu An was worried that he would keep asking questions, so he took the initiative to say, “Chief commander seems to be quite familiar with the crown princess’ smell.”
“Those in our trade are naturally a bit more sensitive to smells.” Zhuxie Chixin’s face went rigid. He quickly said with a lowered voice, “You cannot tell this to other people. You’re going to make me lose my life with those questions.”
Zu An said with an awkward laugh, “Chief commander, that’s definitely not my intention.”
Zu An immediately felt better when he saw how frightened Zhuxie Chixin became. You were the one who was scaring me all this time. I should have a turn too, right?
Zhuxie Chixin harrumphed. “You’re quite the lucky fella. You managed to save both the empress and crown princess today. Your prospects seem to be bright.”
Zu An said with a bitter smile. “Please don’t mention this anymore, I almost lost my head over the matter.”
Zhuxie Chixin was stunned. “What do you mean?”
Zu An said, “I was held back by his majesty because he heard that I touched the crown princess. He wanted me to cut off my own arm…”
Zhuxie Chixin had a weird look on his face. “You should be content with your situation. The fact that you are still fine is already because of his majesty’s grace.”
“If only it was that easy. His majesty wanted me to make up for my sins through contributions. If I cannot complete my investigation, then I’m probably still dead.” Zu An deliberately shifted the topic in this direction.
“Oh? Contributions to make up for your crimes?” Zhuxie Chixin’s expression changed slightly.