A young man with pretty features accompanied Chu Chuyan, as well as a healthy, bronze-skinned young lady. All of them were old acquaintances of Zu An’s. However, a young master he didn’t recognize was fawning over them. He seemed to be chatting about something with Chu Chuyan.

Zu An was speechless. No wonder Mi Li had spoken like that just then. From this distance, it really did look as if they were chatting in an extremely close manner. He harrumphed and stormed up the stairs with a gloomy expression. Still, he didn’t suspect Chu Chuyan. Not only did he trust her, he also had confidence in himself. But that other fella… Heh!

“Chuyan, do you see the scenery over there? This is the best viewing spot in the entire capital city. Ordinary people don’t have the privilege of admiring this scenery from this angle.

“I’ll bring you over to hunt when there’s a chance next time. That’s the royal family garden, a place ordinary people can’t go to. However, our Murong clan has received the emperor’s benevolence, so we have permission to hunt inside.”

…

Even though the young man was dressed in armor, there was no masculinity to him. It instead made him look even more like a weak intellectual. He was chatting up Chu Chuyan with a smile.

Chu Chuyan’s pretty brows furrowed slightly. She subconsciously moved to the side to keep a bit of distance from the young man. “Young master Murong, please don’t call me Chuyan. You can call me Miss Chu, or Madam Zu.”

The young man’s eyes narrowed when he heard the words ‘Madam Zu’. Anger surged within him.

You have successfully trolled Murong Luo for +110 +110 +110…

Zu An was stunned. This kid’s name was Murong Luo!

As he walked up the stairs, he just happened to hear Murong Luo say to Chuyan, “Miss Chu, everyone knows that your esteemed father and mother have already driven that drafted son-in-law out of the clan. How can we still call the two of you husband and wife?”

Chu Chuyan said indifferently, “He’s still my husband in my heart.”

This man was Murong Qinghe’s clan brother. Because of Chu Chuyan’s good relationship with Murong Qinghe, she had decided to do her a favor. As such, she couldn’t say anything too excessive. She could only say such a thing to clearly make some distance and make him back off.

Murong Luo was angry inside, but he looked confident and carefree on the surface. He said, “Life is full of changes. Chu First Miss is someone who values feelings greatly. I’m in awe.”

“Hey, are you done yet? My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have a great relationship. Just give up already.” Chu Youzhao had long since grown tired of the conversation. She jumped out and stood in between the two.

Zu An nodded internally. He hadn’t doted on this kid for nothing; at least she knew to help her brother-in-law.

Murong Luo frowned. He gestured toward Murong Qinghe for help. However, Murong Qinghe was completely infatuated with Chu Youzhao and didn’t notice his gaze at all.

In the end, a woman’s heart belongs to her man; they’re not reliable at all. Murong Luo harrumphed. He was just about to say something when a cold voice said, “Do you know what the punishment for negligence while on duty is?”

“Which idiot said that?” Murong Luo said furiously. He was the head of this gate, and he had the Murong clan behind him. He could do whatever he wanted here. He had been wondering how else to show off in front of his goddess, but now, a fool had jumped out at the perfect time. He was going to use this fellow to display his power.

However, when he turned around and saw the uniformed men, he almost pissed his pants.

Embroidered Envoys! He had grown up in the capital, so he obviously knew who the Embroidered Envoys were! Let alone the fact that the one in the lead was a golden token envoy!

Zu An sneered, “The Embroidered Envoys act in the place of the son of heaven, yet they are merely idiots in your eyes? Looking down on his majesty is a huge crime of disrespect! Men, arrest him!” He obviously needed to teach a fly who had gotten too close to Chu Chuyan a good lesson.

Murong Luo’ expression changed. He quickly replied, “What are you saying? That’s not what I meant!”

Murong Qinghe couldn’t be bothered to continue admiring her man anymore. She quickly jumped out to protect her clan brother, pleading, “Sir, please forgive him. He didn’t know that you were the ones who came here and didn’t intend to offend you. Please accept my apology in his place.”

Many matters weren’t convenient for men to do. It was much easier for women to ease tension. She obviously couldn’t let Murong Luo bear such an offense. After all, it wasn’t related to Murong Luo alone, but rather to the safety of the entire clan.

Zu An harrumphed and said, “Everyone heard what he said just now, so I’m not wronging him. Didn’t you all hear it?”

The other Embroidered Envoys weren’t stupid. They knew that their superior didn’t get along with this man, so why would they contradict him? They all nodded in agreement.

Murong Luo’s face turned incredibly pale. He was normally always the one who oppressed others. Who would have thought that the tides would suddenly turn, and that he would instead be the one  oppressed? Even though he knew that the other party was using this as a pretext to make a fuss, the envoy’s identity was too special. He really couldn’t do anything about it.

Murong Qinghe tugged on Chu Youzhao and Chu Chuyan’s sleeves, begging for help.

Since it was her dear little sister who was asking, Chu Youzhao obviously couldn’t just watch without doing anything. She said, “Sir, it was Miss Murong who invited the Qin clan out to play this time. We were merely stopping here for a short time, so we ended up troubling young master Murong. I hope sir can treat this matter leniently.”

Zu An thought to himself that the little brat was quite smart. She hadn’t argued about the matter of disrespect, because that was merely a pretext; rather, she had focused on the negligence of duty. At the same time, she had hinted at their backgrounds. In the capital, there weren’t many who didn’t know who the Qin clan and Murong clan were, so they still had to show them at least some respect.

Unfortunately, Zu An had no intention of doing any of that. He said, “I have always upheld the law impartially; I do not need to give anyone face. It changes nothing even if you bring out the Murong clan’s name here.”

Chu Youzhao got a bit upset when she heard those words. It wasn’t because of Murong Luo, but rather because the other party didn’t seem to treat the Qin clan as a big deal.

Seeing the Rage points the Murong clan’s siblings and Chu Youzhao provided, Zu An’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He didn’t have the slightest good intentions toward the two clans.

Just then, Chu Chuyan spoke up. “Sir, I believe you came because there are official matters to take care of. May I ask what they are exactly? Perhaps we can all help you with that matter together.”

Mi Li, who was sitting nearby atop the city wall, sneered. “Your wife is indeed the smartest one here. She immediately identified the real problem.”

Zu An thought, Of course my woman is smart. Then, he coughed and looked toward Chu Chuyan and asked, “Is this one Chu First Miss?”

It was Chu Chuyan’s turn to be shocked. She replied, “Indeed. Why do you recognize me?”

“You’re the wife of the crown prince’s chamberlain, so why wouldn’t I recognize you?” Zu An then began to praise himself without the slightest sense of shame. “Sir Zu is righteous and honorable, he acts with consideration for the people, he is handsome and suave…”

Mi Li had originally just been watching the whole scenario unfold like a play. She was completely stupefied when she heard Zu An speak. It looked like she had still ended up underestimating this fellow’s shamelessness in the end!

Even Chu Chuyan blushed when she heard those words. She hadn’t expected her husband to be treated so well in the palace.

Zu An coughed and finally stopped. “This matter is related to Sir Zu’s innocence, so I will leave the matter at that as a favor for Madam Zu. However, even though a death crime can be pardoned, it cannot remain unpunished. For negligence and disrespect, he is to be flogged twenty times!”

“Understood!” An Embroidered Envoy stepped forward and pushed Murong Luo to the ground.

Even though Murong Luo’s cultivation wasn’t bad, how could he be a match for the Embroidered Envoys? He immediately lost his center of gravity and was knocked to the ground. “You guys can’t hit me! My dad… Ah!” He screamed in misery before he even finished his sentence. The Embroidered Envoy’s rod had already smashed down on his bottom.

Even though Murong Qinghe and the others weren’t too happy to see this, it was already quite a good conclusion for the matter to end this way. After all, it was something that could have been much worse. Furthermore, for better or for worse, Murong Luo was still a sixth rank cultivator, so he should be able to handle this beating.

However, they had no idea how the Embroidered Envoy did things. The envoys knew how officials thought, and they were extremely skilled in this field. Even though it looked like just twenty strikes, this fellow would need at least half a month to recover.

As he heard Murong Luo scream miserably, Zu An sat down casually. Then, he called over Murong Luo’s assistant to ask him about Ou Wu.

The assistant replied, “I believe an Ou clan carriage indeed left a few days ago.”

Zu An frowned. “Why are his wife and children allowed to leave whenever they please?”

“We didn’t know that Ou Wu’s family was inside, and they had their clan’s command tile, so we couldn’t investigate inside,” the soldiers replied.

“Since you didn’t investigate, how did you know it was the Ou clan’s carriage?” Zu An’s sharp eyes scanned the soldiers.