“This subject pays his respects to the crown prince and princess!” Zu An said with a clear voice.

The atmosphere was originally quite strange, with even the crown prince and princess bowing their heads. The others of the eastern palace were keeping quiet out of fear as well.

Yet now, this loud voice suddenly sounded. It immediately became the focal point of everyone’s attention.

Little Xu and Little He who was standing at the crown prince’s sides stared in a stupor. This guy is really brave! He dares speak up at this type of time?

The imperial guards Piao Duandiao and Jiao Sigun who were close to Zu An winked their eyes as hard as they could from the distance. They were hinting towards him not to say anything bad.

Zu An felt warm inside. Looks like these friends were worth making! However, he had his own plans. He walked over to the crown prince and princess. “Hm? Apart from his majesty, who else can make the crown prince and princess serve him tea so respectfully? May I ask who you are?”

Publicly offending King Qi was a decision he made after careful thought. King Qi was the one who arranged most of those assassinations he experienced on the way to the capital. Why did he have to treat someone who wanted him dead nicely?

Furthermore, after all the things that happened after he arrived at the capital, there was no way the two of them could be on friendly terms again.

For example, it was because of him that King Qi faction’s Murong Tong was transferred out from the crucial security officer position. Now, the Left Guard General Cheng Xiong was also dead. No matter how magnanimous King Qi was, his subordinates would definitely hate Zu An bitterly.

Zu An didn’t even think King Qi to be that open-minded anyway. That was why he might as well just offend this person directly. That way, he would be tightly bound to the imperial princess.

As for the emperor’s task of giving King Qi the fake Phoenix Nirvana Sutra, this wasn’t a task with a time limit, so he couldn’t care less.

He looked at King Qi while speaking. Meanwhile inside, he sighed in praise that this mature and graceful middle-aged man would definitely be lethal for young ladies.

King Qi also looked at him. There weren’t any emotions visible in his eyes.

It was to the extent where Zu An didn’t even receive any Rage points.

Zu An was quite surprised. This was a shrewd person who he had to deal with carefully.

The crown princess was overjoyed at the turn of events. She found this guy a bit annoying at first, but he seemed much more pleasing today.

She smiled inside, but on the outside, she still pretended to reprimand him. “This is the world renown and wise King Qi. Zu An, how can you treat him with such disrespect?”

She deliberately emphasized the words renown and wise precisely to mock him for bullying them juniors today.

The crown princess actually knew why he would come with this type of attitude today. It was precisely the crown prince’s faction that put Cheng Xiong to death. It was easy to imagine how King Qi felt after losing such an important general. Regardless of whether it was for himself or for his subordinates, he had to come out and vent a bit.

That was why he deliberately troubled her and the crown prince, and she had no choice but to suck it up.

We’ve already obtained our benefits anyway. Do what you will with your pettiness.

But now that Zu An came, she suddenly discovered that she didn’t have to put up with his pettiness.

“I greet King Qi.” Zu An put on an alarmed look and greeted him respectfully.

“So you’re Zu An?” King Qi’s expression was a bit complicated when he looked at Zu An. After all, he always had the upper hand in his struggle against the emperor all these years. In his mind, his opponent was never this stupid nephew and his wife who thought she was smart. His real opponent was always his older brother on that dragon throne.

The emperor was indeed unrivaled, but he was no match against time. Furthermore, the crown prince was just too pathetic, so the situation was gradually leaning towards him.

Yet once Zu An appeared, he was completely caught off guard with his immortality granting ‘Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’. When he learned of this, his mental state that had remained calm for so long became panicked for the first time. If the emperor really obtained immortality, then what the hell would he even be fighting for?

Once this news went out, even some officials who were secretly on his side began to waver. The reason they were on his side wasn’t because they liked him, but rather because the most powerful emperor was about to die, and the crown prince was worthless.

Once they learned that the emperor had a chance of obtaining eternal life, why would these officials suddenly grow tired of living and betray the emperor?

He was already badly burned from before. After this fella arrived at the capital, he lost his Security Officer and the Left Guard General, these vital positions. This was the first time his faction suffered devastating losses in recent years!

Is this person my natural nemesis? He erased this thought as soon as it appeared. At his level, he wouldn’t let himself have such useless thoughts.

Zu An replied, “This lowly official is Zu An. I have longed to meet with the renown King Qi.”

King Qi’s eyelids jumped. This fella expressed his hatred for me just now, yet now he says he has longed to meet me? Isn’t this clear mockery?

You have successfully trolled Zhao Jing for +99 Rage points!

Zu An was disappointed when he received these Rage points. This was a grandmaster, for better or for worse! His soul force was incredibly powerful, he shouldn’t be offering such a small amount.

However, mockery was still just mockery in the end. How could anyone who could contend against the world’s most powerful cultivator for so long be weak?

When he was chatting with Yun Jianyue, she told him that there were two and a half people who scared her. The first two were the emperor and King Qi. As for someone like Zhuxie Chixin, he couldn’t even count as half. He was just an ant who was a bit more troublesome.

King Qi picked up his teacup and took a sip, then, he said calmly, “Judging from Sir Zu’s words just now, it seems that you don’t think it’s too suitable for me to have the crown prince serve me tea? Studies should be started from the basics, and a strict teacher will help the student appreciate learning. This is wisdom passed down from the ancient times. I fear that Sir Zu might not have heard of it before as you grew up in Brightmoon City’s streets.”

Zu An didn’t get upset when he heard him mock him for being ignorant. He said with a smile, “However, the crown prince is the heir apparent to the throne after all. The crown princess will become the empress. I feel that King Qi’s behavior does not really follow the dao of subjects.”

Many people gasped when they heard these words. Little Xu and Little He’s faces turned deathly pale. Piao Duandiao and Jiao Sigun sighed inside, thinking that Zu An was done for. He actually dared to speak like this to King Qi? He’s dead for sure!

Even the crown princess’ maid Rong Mo’s entire body went taut. She was scared that King Qi’s anger would shift to the crown prince and princess. Once this man attacked, not even she at her peak could be his match, let alone right now when she was still heavily injured.

She immediately cursed Zu An for being a good-for-nothing when she thought of this.

You have successfully trolled Rong Mo for +233 +233 +233…

Only the crown princess alone felt incredibly refreshed. She found Zu An more and more pleasing. She didn’t expect this fella to be so loyal to them. She felt like she should spend some effort fostering him.

King Qi’s eyes narrowed, but his reaction was quick as well. He said, “In the path of learning, respect for the teacher is the most important. Only when one respects their teacher will they attach importance to learning itself. Hence, there are two situations when the ruler will not treat his subjects as subjects. The first is when the subject presides over a sacrifice to the heavens, and the second is when the subject assumes the role of a teacher.”[1]

Zu An thanked the heavens that he went through nine years of compulsory education before he crossed over. Otherwise, he wouldn’t understand what this stuff meant at all.

Even though he was in a world of cultivation, for the sake of a stable country, a system of etiquette has been inherited through thousands of years. There was no need for a teacher to show the courtesy of a subject when he teaches the ruler the classics. When the ruler is learning, he should forget his status as a ruler and seriously learn. This was the so-called respect for your teacher.

His intentions were clear. This even applies to a ruler, let alone a crown prince and princess.

The crown princess’ pretty eyes looked towards Zu An. This was precisely the reason why she held it all in. She was curious as to how Zu An was going to respond.

For some reason, she just felt like this fella wasn’t going to disappoint her.

1. The original is incredibly hard to understand on its own like a lot of chinese literature