Chapter 894: Video Recording Pendant
Zu An said, “I don’t know what happened afterward.”
The emperor was perplexed. Zu An quickly explained, “When I saw how strong that octopus monster was, I knew I was no match and quickly left while protecting the crown prince and princess. I didn’t expect that octopus monster to chase after us. I did everything I could, but I was still knocked out by a strike from its tentacle. When I woke up, only the crown prince and princess were left, while that octopus monster was nowhere to be seen.”
The emperor fell silent. There were many parts where their stories didn’t line up. However, most of it made sense. He would have actually suspected the two of them of colluding instead if they’d said the exact same thing.
Bi Linglong had said that after Zu An was knocked out, the octopus monster sent out endless tentacles. As she despaired, she suddenly saw golden light cover Zhao Ruizhi’s entire body. Then, she was knocked out by a powerful shockwave and didn’t know what happened afterward. When she woke up, the crown prince was covered in wounds, and that octopus monster had already disappeared.
Looks like that split soul died with that octopus monster… the emperor thought to himself. He felt that was the most logical conclusion. He also knew that his split soul’s way of thinking was the same as his. With his nature, he knew that there was no way he would leave Zu An alive if he really had to expose himself.
On the contrary, if it were Bi Linglong, he could choose to make her faint first to leave her alive. After all, he was actually quite satisfied with this pretty and capable daughter-in-law. The relationships behind the clans were also complicated, so changing the crown princess would be a big headache.
But what kind of octopus monster could take down my split soul with it? Zhao Han felt that was outrageous. He asked a few more details, including information about the formation that had been activated and other such things.
Zu An replied to the questions one after another. He didn’t tell the exact truth, but rather let the emperor deduce Xu Fu’s identity and connection to the ancient dynasty himself.
That was just how people were. Anyone would subconsciously be on guard if they heard someone else tell them things, but if they reached the conclusion themselves, they would probably believe it.
Sure enough, the emperor deduced that the octopus monster had been a powerful ancient figure, and that it was for the sake of eternal life that such a malicious formation had been created.
No wonder it was able to take me down with it… What a pity it is that the dungeon has been destroyed. Otherwise, I would’ve gone there myself to see just how that monster planned to obtain eternal life. The emperor remained silent for a moment, then asked about many more details. His attention was primarily on the Yin Yang Five Elements Formation.
Zu An immediately picked up on that, but he didn’t hide anything either. After all, five suitable elemental bodies were hard to find, let alone pure yin and yang bodies. Furthermore, that formation was so complex, and many of its materials were already extinct. The emperor couldn't recreate it even if he wanted to.
Eunuch Wen’s voice suddenly emerged. “Your majesty, we’ve brought the item.”
“Come in,” The emperor said indifferently.
Eunuch Wen quickly walked in while carrying a jade pendant. His gaze remained fixed during the entire process, and he didn’t even give Zu An, who was lying on the stretcher, a look.
Zu An frowned. Why does this jade pendant look a bit familiar?
The emperor received the pendant. At the same time, he asked, “How is the crown prince?”
Eunuch Wen replied, “He’s injured, but the hospital staff has already treated him. However, he seems to have been scared quite badly. It might take him some time to recover.”
Zu An was alarmed. He finally knew why that jade pendant was familiar. This was the pendant the crown prince carried on him! Why had the emperor taken it?
The emperor said, “Let him rest first and don’t disturb him.”
“Understood!” Eunuch Wen left the room when he saw that the emperor didn’t have anything else to tell him. He even closed the door behind him when he left.
The emperor fiddled with the pendant, then suddenly said, “This pendant is something this emperor placed around the crown prince. I was hoping that if something happened to him, it could record the identity of the one who injured him. This emperor almost thought that it might never come in handy, and yet today, it has.”
Zu An immediately felt as if he had sunk into a frozen cellar. I’m finished! I never expected something like this! If this pendant recorded what happened back then, there’s no chance of me surviving this!
He reacted quickly and said, “Your majesty truly has acute foresight. This junior has endless admiration.”
He did his best to suppress his body’s reaction, to the extent that his heart didn’t even beat strangely. He didn’t dare to use any ki during the process, or the emperor would definitely notice something. He could only force himself to calm down through his powerful will.
In the end, he only succeeded because he had experienced too many things already, making his mind incredibly tough. Otherwise, if it were anyone else, they would have already revealed an opening and been caught by the emperor.
The emperor gave Zu An a look, then slowly said, “That’s why I’ll ask you one last thing. Of the things you just told me, did you tell any lies?”
Zu An quickly said, “This humble servant is terrified. I wouldn’t dare to fool your majesty.” Like hell I’d admit to something like that!
The emperor nodded. His eyes moved to the pendant in his hands, as if he were hesitating. A drop of sweat began to form on Zu An’s temples. The emperor immediately sensed something and looked up, remarking, “You seem nervous.”
Zu An replied, “My entire body hurts. I don’t know what kind of medicine the doctor just gave me, but my stomach feels horrible. I’ve been worried that I might act improperly because of that.”
The emperor frowned. However, he was familiar with the palace’s methods and quickly reacted. Zu An had probably been given some powerful drug to wake him up. “Then you can withdraw for now,” he said with a wave of his hand. When he saw that Zu An was still on the stretcher, he called in two lesser eunuchs.
“Thank you, your majesty!” Zu An exclaimed as the eunuchs carried him out of the imperial study. He sighed in relief. The reason why he had been sweating was because he had been worried that the emperor would check the pendant in front of him. If that happened, no matter what the pendant revealed, he would immediately be killed.
As he had been released, that meant the emperor at least trusted his words for now. As long as nothing bad was recorded in the pendant, he would have successfully passed this trial.
As long as there’s nothing bad there… He had already done everything he should do. Thus, he could only leave the rest to fate.
In the imperial study, a bit of golden light appeared on the emperor’s finger as he tapped on the jade pendant. The pendant flew into the air, and like a projector, it displayed a scene.
A massive octopus monster wrapped itself around Zhao Ruizhi as tentacles covered everything. The emperor could sense a terrifying pressure even though he was just watching a recording. As he withstood the power of those tentacles, Zhao Ruizhi’s entire body shone with golden light. However, when that golden light erupted, the pendant’s recording also ended.
The emperor was speechless. The ki fluctuations from both sides were probably so powerful that it had prevented the pendant from recording anything further. But the recording was already enough to tell him what he needed. The emperor naturally saw that his split soul had already been forced to use all of his strength.
“Sigh, heaven’s plans supersede those of man. How could I have predicted that such a small dungeon would actually be hiding such a ridiculous monster?” The emperor’s expression changed several times. He suddenly raised his head toward the academy and muttered, “That dungeon is normally operated by the academy. Did the libationer, that old thing, not know about this, or did he plan this entire situation?”
Zhao Han had many doubts. Many possibilities had already appeared in his head in that instant. Thus, he gave the order to gather his trusted aides and subjects. He had something he had to discuss with them.
…
On the stretcher, Zu An grinned. It was because he already knew that he had made it through this trial. If the emperor had really seen something from that pendant, he would have already been turned to ashes.
The two lesser eunuchs spoke up.
“Sir Zu, his majesty has prepared a guard room in the palace for you to stay in. This is a tremendous favor!”
“Exactly! Just how many outer subjects can even obtain the qualifications to live in the palace? His majesty must have decided this out of empathy, since Sir Zu was seriously injured while saving the crown prince and princess!”
The two lesser eunuchs chattered away. They clearly felt that Zu An had brought back tremendous contributions this time, that he would become someone important to the emperor. In that case, they obviously wanted to get closer to him.
Zu An sneered inwardly. The emperor was clearly doing this to lock him up in the palace and prevent any information from getting out. But that’s fine too. Staying in the palace has its own perks.
He pointed to the east and said, “I won’t return to that guard room yet. I want to go to the Eastern Palace.”