Chapter 1319: Fiend Imperial Palace
What Zu An was most worried about was that the king manor was just making up an excuse to chase away unwanted guests. As such, he went around a corner, and when he saw that there was no one around him, he jumped over the courtyard wall. The courtyard wall had some defensive formations, but with his master rank cultivation, avoiding them wasn’t particularly difficult.
There were some guards patrolling the surroundings, but compared to human residences that were typically heavily guarded, the fiend races’ security was crude; it could even be considered sloppy. Even the security of a king manor like this couldn"t compare to that of a mid-ranked human minister’s home.
He initially planned to seize a random maid to ask about Snow’s room, but he suddenly saw some maids rushing toward a room while carrying teacups. Judging from their private conversations, it seemed that they were discussing Princess Snow. Furthermore, it seemed that they hadn’t reached a conclusion even after discussing it all day.
Zu An was surprised. He quietly followed along, but he didn’t dare to get too close. He wasn’t c.o.c.ky to the point that he believed he could make the entire world his enemy. Since this was a meeting of some of the Elf King Manor’s big shots, there would definitely be some powerful cultivators there. It would be troublesome if he ended up being exposed. Using his soul to search the inside wasn’t too appropriate either, as other master rank or even stronger cultivators would detect it.
As such, he used the jade badge to control a fat yellow cat as it walked lazily around the meeting hall. Inside, voices continuously rose and fell.
“Why has Princess Snow not returned yet? Could it be that something has happened?”
“What could possibly happen in the imperial palace?”
“It is precisely because she is in the imperial palace that something might have happened! What if the Golden Crow Crown Prince uses force against Princess Snow? It would all be over then, no?”
“Even if nothing happened, what hour is it already? The palace gates are already about to close. If she spends the night in the imperial palace, what will those outside say about it? Princess Snow’s reputation will be completely done for!”
The entire hall fell silent. Zu An’s expression grew grim. Snow was in danger after all…
Just then, another voice spoke up. “Actually, if we look at it from another perspective, this might not necessarily be a bad thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it for a minute! What kind of glory and honor would it mean to become the crown princess? She will soon become the next Fiend Empress. Countless young ladies dream of that, and yet will never be able to experience it. At that time, whether it comes to her future or the future of the entire Elf race, it will be a great result.”
“Princess Snow has already sacrificed enough for our Elf race, though. She has experienced so many difficulties in human society and rescued so many of our clansmen. And yet we are still going to ask her to make more sacrifices? Is this not too much?” someone immediately objected, and many others agreed.
Zu An felt a bit more at ease. These elves weren’t entirely lacking in conscience. There were at least some people who remembered Snow’s sacrifice for so many years.
“How can something like that be considered a sacrifice? What kind of glory and honor would it represent to become the crown princess and future Fiend Empress?”
“Not to mention that our Elf King is currently imprisoned. We all know the reason why that happened. If Princess Snow does not marry the crown prince, do you all have a way of saving the Elf King?”
The room fell silent. It was clear that none of them were confident in their ability to save the Elf King.
Zu An didn’t continue listening. The Elf race’s people all had their own thoughts, but he didn’t feel any such hesitation. At that moment, the top priority was clearly to save Snow first. He quickly left the Elf Manor, heading straight toward the Fiend Imperial Palace.
…
Even though he had never been to the Fiend King Court before, the imperial palace was naturally the most grand and majestic location. It wasn’t too hard to find.
Unlike the red walls and yellow tiles of the human imperial city, the Fiend Imperial Palace was adorned in blue and gold. Practically all of the gold was even made of real gold.
Zu An cursed inwardly, d.a.m.n, these fiend races really are rich and overbearing! They actually used real gold? Aren’t they scared that ordinary people will just shave some off?
Apart from that, the Fiend Imperial Palace’s entrances were much taller and wider than the other parts, to the point that the proportions were a bit unbalanced. However, that unexpectedly added a strange sense of harmony to the place, creating an unusual sort of pressure.
Almost every single building within had many large, thick pillars. Among humans, pillars were smooth and even; in contrast, the surface of the pillars here either had jagged or wavy patterns. Many pillars even bore different kinds of carvings.
Zu An looked around for a bit, but he couldn"t help but frown. He didn’t know if it was because the sky was turning dark, but defensive formations were already being activated around the city walls. Those formations were much more profound than the ones in the Elf King Manor.
In truth, with his cultivation, it still wouldn’t have been too difficult for him to go inside. However, there was a mysterious pressure emanating from the entire palace. Zu An knew it was the aura of the Fiend Emperor.
When he thought about how the Fiend Emperor and Zhao Han were equally famous, he didn’t dare to show the slightest bit of carelessness. If he were to be detected by the defensive formation after going in, he would be one thousand percent dead.
Even so, the formations wouldn’t be able to stop him, because he also had ‘Face of a Thousand Ident.i.ties’.
He initially thought about entering as the Golden Crow Crown Prince, but after thinking about it, he felt that ident.i.ty would be too conspicuous. The Golden Crow Guards would probably know if he was in the imperial palace or not. If they saw a Golden Crow Crown Prince walk in from outside when he was supposed to be inside, they would all know there was something wrong.
He thought for a bit, then decided to change into Heichi Ran. That guy’s appearance was surprisingly easy to imitate; the hardest part was his pitch-black teeth. Zu An even worried about being unable to completely copy Heichi Ran and considered painting his teeth black with charcoal. However, when he took out a mirror, he saw that he was completely identical. He was once again amazed by the miraculousness of ‘Face of a Thousand Ident.i.ties’.
Afterward, he found some random pa.s.serby to activate the Kawaii Waifu Voice Changer, then strutted through the palace gates.
“Halt!” the guards called out, stopping him. However when they saw who he was, they all bowed respectfully. “So it was Sir Director.”
Zu An sighed in relief. He had been worried that Heichi Ran might have left again after escorting the second empress back. Now, it seemed there would be no issue. Thus, he nodded in the way Heichi Ran had before, saying, “I’m going to see the crown prince for something.”
He had chosen to change into Heichi Ran precisely because of the man’s relationship with the crown prince. Heichi Ran’s paternal aunt was the crown prince’s birth mother. With such a relationship, it wasn’t strange for him to visit the crown prince.
As expected, the guards didn’t feel suspicious. They stepped aside and said, “Sir Heichi, please enter.”
Zu An hadn’t expected things to go that smoothly and walked directly in.
However, as soon as he stepped through the palace gates, a voice called out from behind him. “Wait!”
Zu An was alarmed. As expected, it was too early to feel happy. When he turned around, he saw a golden-armored general walk over with a group of guards. He complained inwardly, This is bad. Even though he could impersonate Heichi Ran, he couldn’t copy his memories! He didn’t know the guards in the palace at all.
“Sir Heichi, why did you return again?” the general asked. He had a long face, which made it look strangely narrow.
Zu An was startled. He recalled Kong Qing’s description of the palace situation and replied, “General Ma, the crown prince needed me for something, so how could I not return?”
“The crown prince was looking for you? Why didn’t I hear about this?” the general asked. He didn’t question the way he had been addressed, meaning he was the Left Guard General Ma Tian. He glanced outside and asked, “Hm? Why don’t I see your attendants?”
Zu An reacted quickly and said, “It’s because the matter is cla.s.sified, so I didn’t bring anyone with me.”
Ma Tian didn’t press the matter when he heard how secret the subject was. After all, Heichi Ran was closer to the crown prince than him. He glanced at the horizon, sounding troubled as he said, “But the palace gates have already closed, and you should know the rules. Outside subjects can’t enter after the gate closes unless the Fiend Emperor or the crown prince have given the order.”
Zu An protested inwardly, Where the h.e.l.l am I supposed to get some written orders?
When he saw his troubled expression, Ma Tian didn’t want to offend him and asked, “Is Sir Director’s concern urgent? If not, please return tomorrow. If it is, why don’t I immediately make a report to the crown prince for you?”
Zu An thought to himself, If you make a report to the crown prince, everything will be exposed! And yet, he had no reason to stop him.
However, his mind moved quickly and he suddenly took out something, saying, “I don’t have a written order, but the crown prince had someone give this to me.”
Pika"s Thoughts
Ah yes, the floor is made out of floor.
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