Chapter 909: Night Exploration
“What, can I not seek you out by myself? Are you disappointed that it isn’t my sister-in-law?” the young lady replied with a big grin.
Zu An’s breathing almost stopped. He answered in an embarrassed manner, “Come on, how can you say that? Even if you don’t care about your sister-in-law’s pure reputation, you have to consider mine!”
The crossdressing young lady was naturally the Sang clan’s young miss, Sang Qien. He really hadn’t expected her to be around King Qi Manor. It was almost as if she had been waiting for him.
Sang Qien stared blankly for a while. You’re a freaking man; why the hell do you care about purity?
Zu An laughed and patted her shoulder. “What did you come to visit me for?”
Sang Qien’s entire body stiffened when she sensed his movements. She vigilantly dodged off to the side. “What are you doing? Men and women shouldn’t touch each other so easily!”
Zu An chuckled and said, “You’re dressed as a man right now, so you’re a man in everyone’s eyes. Isn’t it normal for guys to have their arms around each other? If you avoid me like that, it’ll only draw suspicion to yourself. There’re a lot of people who have their eyes on me in the capital, you know?”
Sang Qien knew that what Zu An said was the truth. After all, he was a key survivor of the dungeon. To a certain extent, he had become the focal point of the crown prince and King Qi’s struggle. There were eyes from both sides watching him, and even third parties would watch his actions carefully.
That was why Sang Qien had to disguise herself when she met Zu An. She didn’t want to expose the Sang clan so quickly. It was also why she stopped struggling. Fortunately, Zu An didn’t go further than touching her shoulder and didn’t disrespect her. She sighed in relief.
“My father said that you might need help, so he sent me over to take a look.” Sang Qien blushed. She had never interacted so closely with another man before.
Zu An couldn't help but laugh. “It seems like Sir Sang really cares about me! I’ve indeed been in quite a tough spot recently.”
He told her about the assignment the emperor had given him. “I don’t understand what this kind of investigation can possibly do. There’s no way King Qi Manor will cooperate, and even if there is an investigation, can’t he just assign anyone else to investigate it? Why did he just have to choose me? I already ruined King Qi’s plans in the dungeon, so I already have a target on my back. They’re itching to get rid of me.”
Sang Qien frowned and thought to herself for a while. Zu An looked at her with curiosity. This girl was pretty, and she was attractive even when she was frowning.
“I know what’s going on. His majesty must have sent you on this task on purpose…” Sang Qien’s eyes suddenly lit up. She was just about to say something excitedly, but she came to a sudden stop when she saw Zu An’s scorching gaze.
Zu An laughed and replied, “When did you pick up the bad habit of stating the obvious? Of course the emperor sent me here on purpose.”
Sang Qien gave him an annoyed look, but she still explained, “What I’m trying to say is that his majesty never intended for you to find out anything. The reason he sent you was just to… annoy King Qi.”
She snuck Zu An a look as she spoke. When she saw that he wasn’t showing much of a reaction, she then continued, “This task is also meant to divert King Qi’s attention. If my suspicions are correct, his majesty is actually planning something against King Qi.”
Zu An raised his eyebrows. He thought that the reason the emperor had sent him was to get closer to King Qi and give him the fake manual. He hadn’t expected the emperor to be hiding more plans.
“Little sis Qien’er, I have a completely new opinion of you!” Zu An’s hand on her shoulder tightened a bit.
Sang Qien gave him an annoyed look. “Just worry about your case! Even though the emperor isn’t hoping for you to find anything, loitering around King Qi Manor will only put you in great danger. You’re the reason why King Qi is now at a huge disadvantage. If you keep dancing in front of them, even if King Qi can tolerate it, his subordinates won’t.”
Zu An nodded inside. He had already seen that King Qi’s attitude was passable, but the others from King Qi Manor, as well as Yu Nan and the others, all hated him. If he had met them in private, they might’ve already attacked him.
“Then what else could I do? I can’t investigate the concubine’s corpse, and there’s no trail to go off of.” Zu An was quite vexed.
Sang Qien was actually happy to see Zu An be the frustrated one for once. “I think it’s best if you give up on that thought. Even though she was just a concubine, she was King Qi’s woman. There’s no way he would let you examine her corpse. His majesty would never demand it either.”
Zu An asked, “Are there female coroners in the capital?”
Sang Qien shook her head. “Coroners usually work with heavily decomposed corpses, so their job is usually done by men. I’ve never heard of a woman being willing to do something like that.”
Zu An scoffed. “I believe in gender equality. Why the heck are you guys discriminating based on sex in this world?”
“Gender equality?” Sang Qien’s eyes lit up. “You normally speak a bunch of nonsense, but this is something nice for once. Just because you said that, I guess I can reluctantly help you out this time.”
“You know a female coroner?” Zu An asked, confused.
“I already told you that no woman would want to do something like that. But…” Sang Qien’s voice changed when she said, “I know a thing or two.”
Zu An was stunned. “Why do you know something like that?”
“There was a time when I was bored, so I learned a bit about every profession,” Sang Qien said out of embarrassment. After all, playing around with things like corpses wasn’t something a girl was supposed to be proud of. “But even if I know some things, it’s useless. There’s no way King Qi Manor will let us examine her corpse.”
Zu An smiled. “I have a way!”
…
When it was late at night, he brought Sang Qien near King Qi Manor. She looked at the tall walls and asked while rolling her eyes, “So this is your solution?”
Zu An prepared the tools they would need while saying, “Since there’s no way they’ll agree to the inspection, we’ll just do it ourselves. Don’t worry, I have some masks here that’ll change your appearance. They won’t give away your real identity even if we get caught.”
Sang Qien couldn't help but correct him. “They’ll obviously find out that we’re wearing masks if they catch us! What’s the point of that then?!”
“Then just don’t get caught, duh.” Zu An helped her put on the mask as he spoke. These were masks he had gotten from the Blackwind Stockade’s Chen Xuan. They really were absolutely essential when doing anything bad.
Sang Qien was really starting to panic when she saw how nonchalant he was. “King Qi Manor’s security is tight, and there are experts everywhere. We’ll definitely be caught if we go in like this.”
She had already made the decision that she’d immediately back out if he insisted on this. After all, she had the Sang clan to worry about.
But Zu An said seriously, “There were many more King Qi Manor experts in the dungeon.”
Sang Qien was momentarily stunned when she saw the firmness and confidence in the other party’s eyes. Even though she had wanted to back out a second ago, she now chose to trust him.
“Don’t worry, even if we run into any danger, I’ll save you even if I have to sacrifice my manhood,” Zu An said in consolation.
Sang Qien harrumphed. This fellow really couldn't be serious for more than three seconds.
“Let’s go.” Zu An grabbed Sang Qien’s hand, then jumped over the wall.
Even though King Qi Manor had a defensive formation around it, the ki stone consumption would be astronomical if such a large area were protected all time. That was why normally speaking, it would only be focused on some important rooms. The other places relied more on patrolling guards. That also gave Zu An an opportunity.
Sang Qien was very nervous. After all, a place like King Qi Manor had always been like a tiger’s den. Even though her cultivation was top-notch among her peers, she’d be discovered and captured within ten seconds after breaking in.
And yet, when she entered with Zu An, it was smooth sailing. They would always somehow avoid the guards at the last moment, as if he could foresee the future. It was almost as if they were just going on a stroll through the place.
She was just about to ask him how he did it, but she suddenly saw that a troop of guards were coming straight at them. There were also guards behind them whose patrol path intersected with the troops ahead. Their patrol had no blind spots.
Sang Qien’s face paled, because they had nowhere else to run. They were going to be found out in moments! Then, countless King Qi Manor experts would follow, rushing over after hearing the alarm.