Chapter 1314: Demon Clan Imperial Palace

Zu An worried that the royal residence was deliberately using these excuses to turn away visitors. So, he circled to a secluded corner, and seeing no one around, he climbed over the courtyard wall.

There were some defensive formations on the wall, but with his current Grandmaster cultivation, avoiding them was not difficult.

Along the way, he did encounter some patrolling guards, but compared to the heavily fortified human society, the defenses here in the demon race's territory were much rougher, even sloppy.

Even for a royal residence, its defensive capabilities were inferior to those of a slightly higher-ranking minister's mansion among humans.

He had originally intended to grab a maid to ask for Xue'er's private chambers, but then he noticed several maids continuously carrying tea to a specific room. Listening to their private conversations, it seemed a meeting was underway discussing Princess Xue, and it had been going on all day without reaching a conclusion.

Zu An's heart stirred, and he quietly followed.

However, he dared not get too close. He wasn't arrogant enough to underestimate the world's experts. With a group of high-ranking figures meeting in the heart of the Elf Royal Residence, there were bound to be masters present, and revealing himself would lead to trouble.

Under these circumstances, using his spiritual sense to probe was also inappropriate, as it could easily be detected by other Grandmasters or even higher-level experts.

So, he used his Jade Cong to control a plump, large yellow cat, which lazily padded around the meeting hall.

Voices gradually drifted out from inside:

"Princess Xue hasn't returned so late; has something happened?"

"What could possibly happen inside the imperial palace?"

"It's precisely because it's the imperial palace that something could happen! What if Crown Prince Jinwu forces himself upon Princess Xue? Wouldn't that be disastrous?"

"Even if nothing truly happened, the palace gates are closing soon. If she stays overnight in the palace, how will outsiders talk about it? Princess Xue's reputation would be completely ruined."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire meeting hall fell silent.

Zu An's heart sank. Sure enough, Xue'er was in danger.

At this moment, another voice spoke up: "Actually, if everyone considers it from a different perspective, this might not be a bad thing."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Think about it: what an immense honor it is to marry the Crown Prince and become the Crown Princess! Soon after, she would become the new Demon Empress. Countless women wish they could marry him but cannot."

"In the end, it would be a very good outcome, both for her personally and for the entire Elf clan."

"But Princess Xue has already sacrificed enough for our Elf clan! She endured hardships in human society and rescued so many of our people. For us to ask her to sacrifice even more, isn't that going too far?" Someone immediately raised an objection, which was echoed by many others.

Zu An felt a slight sense of relief. These elves weren't entirely heartless; at least some remembered Xue'er's contributions over the years.

"How can you call this a sacrifice? Becoming the Crown Princess and then the Demon Empress is an immense honor!"

"Furthermore, the Elf King is currently imprisoned. Everyone knows why. If Princess Xue doesn't marry, do any of you have a way to free the Elf King?"

Hearing this challenging question, the others fell silent, clearly lacking the confidence to rescue the Elf King.

Zu An didn't continue listening. The elves had various considerations, but he had none. In this situation, the priority was clearly to rescue Xue'er from danger first.

He quickly left the Elf Royal Residence and headed straight for the Demon Imperial Palace.

Although he had never been to the royal capital, the imperial palace was the most prominent and magnificent structure, making it easy to find.

Unlike the human imperial palace in the capital, with its red walls and yellow tiles, the Demon Imperial Palace primarily used blue and gold.

The blue pigments were self-evident, and as for the gold, it was almost entirely made from actual gold.

Zu An inwardly grumbled, "These demons are truly extravagant, using actual gold? Aren't they worried about common folk scraping off bits of it now and then?"

Furthermore, the doors of the Demon Imperial Palace's buildings were significantly taller than they were wide, creating a somewhat imbalanced proportion. Yet, paradoxically, this created a strange sense of harmony, emphasizing an imposing, oppressive aura.

Almost every building featured numerous thick, exposed pillars. While human architecture favored smooth, flat columns, here the pillars had jagged or wavy patterns on their surfaces, and many were adorned with various carvings.

After observing for a while, Zu An couldn't help but frown. Perhaps because dusk was approaching, defensive formations had already been activated near the city walls, which were far more sophisticated than those at the Elf Royal Residence.

In truth, with his cultivation, it wouldn't be too difficult to sneak in, but the entire palace exuded an inexplicable pressure. He knew it was the aura of the Demon Emperor.

Remembering that the Demon Emperor was as renowned as Zhao Hao, he dared not be careless in the slightest. If he were to directly intrude into the defensive formations and be detected, ten lives wouldn't be enough.

However, this didn't pose a challenge for him, as he still had his "Thousand Faces" ability.

He initially thought of disguising himself as Crown Prince Jinwu, but then a thought struck him: Crown Prince Jinwu was too conspicuous. The Jinwu Guards in the palace would likely know whether he was inside or not, and if another Crown Prince Jinwu were seen approaching from outside, anyone would know something was amiss.

With a thought, he immediately transformed into the likeness of Heichiran. This fellow's appearance was easy enough to replicate, but the most difficult part was his pitch-black teeth. Zu An even worried he wouldn't be able to perfectly mimic them and was ready to blacken his own teeth with charcoal.

To his surprise, when he finally looked in a mirror, he found his teeth had also become identical, making him marvel at the wonder of "Thousand Faces."

He found a passerby nearby and used the "Cute Girl Voice Changer" on them, then confidently strode towards the palace gate. "Halt!" He was quickly stopped by guards, but after recognizing him, they all bowed. "It's Lord Zongzheng."

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Heichiran might still be inside after escorting the Little Demon Empress back, but it seemed there was no issue.

Mimicking Heichiran's demeanor, he nodded. "I'm entering the palace to see the Crown Prince."

He had chosen to disguise himself as Heichiran precisely because of Heichiran's relationship with the Crown Prince; Heichiran's aunt was the Crown Prince's birth mother. Given this connection, it was perfectly normal for him to visit the Crown Prince.

As expected, the guards did not suspect anything and cleared the way. "Please enter, Lord Heichi."

Zu An was surprised by how smoothly it went and walked straight inside.

Just as he stepped through the palace gate, a voice called out from behind him, "Wait!"

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. He shouldn't have rejoiced too soon.

He turned around and saw a general in golden armor leading a pair of guards approaching him.

He inwardly cursed. Although he could impersonate Heichiran, he couldn't replicate his memories. He didn't know these palace generals.

"Lord Heichi, why have you returned?" The golden-armored general had a long, unusually narrow face, giving him an odd appearance.

A thought sparked in Zu An's mind. Remembering Kong Qing's recent description of the palace situation, he bowed in return and replied, "General Ma, the Crown Prince needed me for something; how could I not return?"

"The Crown Prince needed you? How come I wasn't aware?" The golden-armored general had no objection to being called by that name, indicating he was indeed Ma Tian, the General of the Left Guard. He then glanced outside and continued, "Hmm, why don't I see your attendants?"

Zu An's reaction was swift: "Because it concerns a confidential matter, I didn't bring anyone with me."

Hearing him speak so mysteriously, Ma Tian found it difficult to press further, especially since Heichiran's relationship with the Crown Prince was closer than his own.

However, he looked up at the sky and said with some difficulty, "The palace gates are about to close. You know the rules: no external officials are permitted entry after the gates shut, unless they have a direct order from the Demon Emperor or the Crown Prince."

Zu An inwardly groaned. How could he possibly have such an order?

Seeing his troubled expression, Ma Tian, not wanting to offend him, said, "Is Lord Zongzheng's matter urgent? If not, you can come back tomorrow morning. If it is urgent, perhaps I should report to the Crown Prince right away?"

Zu An thought, "Reporting to the Crown Prince would expose everything," but he had no reason to stop him.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He took out an item and said, "I don't have a direct order, but the Crown Prince had someone send me this."