Chapter 985: Hot Potato

"You can only rage in impotent fury now," Zu An sneered for a while. Then, pulling Sun Xun aside, he whispered, "Prime Minister Sun, may I discuss something with you?"

Sun Xun cupped his hands and replied, "Master Zu, you helped me find the murderer of my son. I am incredibly grateful, so please speak freely about anything you need. As long as I can do it, I will certainly help you."

Zu An rubbed his hands, glanced at Qiu Honglei, and deliberately made a knowing expression. "Prime Minister Sun, last time in the capital, I suffered greatly because of this vixen. I've been holding a grudge, constantly seeking a way to get my revenge. I thought her identity was too mysterious and cunning, and that I'd never get a chance for retribution in this lifetime. Who knew fate would be so kind as to let me encounter her here again? I wonder if Prime Minister Sun could hand her over to me for an hour or two, so I can properly get my revenge?"

Seeing Zu An's look, Sun Xun naturally understood instantly what kind of "revenge" a man and woman alone in a room might entail. He showed a troubled expression. "Master Zu, this might be a bit inconvenient. Her cultivation level is very high, and if I let you in, it could be dangerous."

"It's fine," Zu An replied. "My cultivation is passable enough to subdue her. Besides, can't we just cripple her cultivation?" When Zu An had first seen her, he'd noticed that the elemental energy fluctuations in her body were still normal, which he found a bit strange. He took this opportunity to probe for the reason.

"That would create an endless, irreconcilable feud," Sun Xun replied. "Her master is the leader of the Demonic Cult and a Grandmaster. If he were to recklessly seek revenge, even the Prince might not be able to bear the consequences. Master Zu, we are all on the same side, so I won't hide anything from you. If it were anything else, I would certainly agree, but this vixen's identity is too sensitive. Any mishandling could easily cause a huge commotion, so please forgive me, Master Zu."

Zu An sighed. "That's truly a pity, for such a breathtaking beauty."

Sun Xun thought, "As expected, he's a lecher," and sneered inwardly, though on the surface he was very sincere. "Master Zu, I'll have someone arrange something for you later. The girls from Yi Prefecture are all tall and long-legged, not much worse than this vixen."

"No thanks, that's uninteresting," Zu An flatly refused. He went to Qiu Honglei's side, pretending to be utterly captivated and reluctant to leave, but secretly transmitted a message to her using his elemental energy.

"Honglei, don't be afraid, I will get you out."

"What are you looking at? Keep staring, and I'll dig your eyeballs out!" Qiu Honglei glared fiercely at him on the surface, while secretly transmitting her reply: "Absolutely not! The Prince of Yan's manor is filled with experts and heavily guarded. The Prince of Yan himself is a Grandmaster. It's too dangerous for you to try to rescue me; not only will you fail to save me, but you'll also implicate yourself. Don't worry, I'm fine. They wouldn't dare do anything to me."

"Go ahead and try to dig them out! With your slender, jade-like fingers touching me, even digging out my eyes would surely feel comfortable," Zu An replied while transmitting his message. "Don't worry, I won't act rashly or impulsively. I'll naturally act only when I'm certain of success."

Sun Xun, standing nearby, rolled his eyes. He thought, "This guy's flirting is so awkward. Has he never seen a woman before?"

Just then, a guard came rushing over and whispered a few words to him. After a moment of surprise, Sun Xun walked over to Zu An. "Master Zu, the Imperial Envoy has arrived. Shall we go together?"

Hearing that Sang Hong had arrived, Zu An nodded, then blew a kiss to Qiu Honglei in the cell. "Little lady, wash up and wait for me. You'll be mine sooner or later."

On the surface, Sun Xun smiled, but sneered endlessly inwardly. This guy truly had baffling confidence.

Only Qiu Honglei knew what he truly meant. Her face flushed slightly as she secretly scoffed. It had been a long time, and this guy was indeed still the same.

At the same time, she felt some worry. What if this guy really acted impulsively? Unfortunately, there was no way to inform her master.

Zu An and Sun Xun went all the way to the Prince of Yan's bedchamber. They found Sang Hong there, conversing happily with the Prince. One side inquired about the other's injuries, while the other complimented the Envoy's hard work. Sang Hong, in return, praised the Prince of Yan's great achievements.

Zu An was greatly impressed to hear this. This kind of bureaucratic rhetoric was something he could never learn; it truly was an art of language.

Gao Ying and Pei You, who were behind Sang Hong, secretly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Zu An. They had worried what danger Zu An might face by following Sun Xun alone, which was why they had hurried back on horseback to report.

Hearing this, Sang Hong dared not delay. He didn't care about the safety of the Prince of Yan or anyone else; he had come purely for Zu An's sake.

At this moment, the Prince of Yan spoke. "Oh, Master Sang, I'd like to discuss something with you."

"Your Highness is too kind; please speak freely," Sang Hong replied. He felt hesitant, as this was precisely why he had simply chosen not to disembark earlier: he didn't want to deal with local powers.

The Prince of Yan said, "I mentioned to you before that we captured the Demonic Cult's Saintess. I heard that this vixen caused a huge commotion in the imperial palace a few days ago, so I intend to send her to the capital for the Emperor to deal with. This would also be a way to vent some anger for the Empress and the Crown Prince."

Sang Hong was startled at first, then immediately reacted. It must be that the Demonic Cult Saintess's identity was too sensitive; the Prince of Yan dared neither kill nor release her, so he was sending this hot potato to the capital.

Naturally, he didn't want to get involved in such a matter. "Replying to Your Highness," he said, "it is naturally our duty to assist with such matters. However, on this trip, we have other tasks. We must rush to Yunzhong Prefecture as quickly as possible, so I'm afraid we cannot spare the attention to help you escort this vixen."

Zu An was anxious, wishing Sang Hong would agree immediately. However, he quickly calmed down. Why would the Prince propose such a request that an Imperial Envoy clearly couldn't agree to? What was the real reason?

Sure enough, the Prince of Yan immediately said, "We naturally wouldn't dare trouble the Imperial Envoy with this matter. We only hope that the Imperial Envoy could speak to Governor Zhang of Yi Prefecture and ask him to send someone to escort that vixen to the capital. We've been continuously at war with the Demonic Cult recently and are really stretched thin."

"I'm afraid this..." Sang Hong immediately realized that this matter involved a local power struggle. Most likely, the Prince of Yan's manor wanted to dump this hot potato on the local officials: firstly, to spite them, and secondly, to create a difficult problem for them.

Firstly, if the Governor's Mansion successfully escorted the person to the capital, this would be taken for granted. Because it was the Prince of Yan's manor that captured the Demonic Cult Saintess, the main credit would definitely go to them, and no one would reward the Governor's Mansion.

Secondly, if any accident occurred during the escort of the prisoner, the responsibility would be immense. If the Emperor found fault, even the Governor might be dismissed.

So Sang Hong naturally didn't want to get involved and was about to refuse.

At this moment, Zu An readily agreed. "We are all working for the imperial court; such matters are naturally our inescapable duty. We will go and speak to the Governor about it."

Sang Hong was a bit surprised, but he knew Zu An wouldn't act without reason, so he tacitly agreed.

The group chatted for a while longer, then Sang Hong rose to take his leave. After seeing them off, Sun Xun returned to the Prince of Yan's bedchamber.

By this time, the Prince of Yan had already gotten out of bed; there was no trace of his previous weak appearance.

"Congratulations, Your Highness," Sun Xun said. "Now the problem is entirely with Governor Zhang."

The Prince of Yan frowned slightly. "What I don't understand is why that Zu An seemed so eager. Could it be some kind of scheme or trick?"

Sun Xun smiled faintly. "Your Highness is overthinking it. It's just lust..."

Saying this, he briefly recounted what had just happened in the dungeon. "He probably thinks that once Qiu Honglei is out of the Prince of Yan's manor, it will be easier for him to have his way with her."

After listening, the Prince of Yan sneered. "He truly doesn't know his place. He dares to lay a hand on Yun Jianyue's precious disciple. He'll die without even knowing how."

Sun Xun remained expressionless. Although that Zu An had helped him find the murderer, it was also true that he had had a conflict with Ji'er before. So, if anything were to happen to him, it would be a form of closure for Ji'er.

At this moment, the Prince of Yan said in a deep voice, "Prime Minister Sun, you are experiencing the pain of losing a son today, yet you still have to handle these complex matters. You've truly worked hard."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness," Sun Xun replied. "Although I am grieving, it will not affect official business, after all..." Sun Xun paused, "I don't have just one son."

His voice was thin and indifferent, sounding chilling.

The Prince of Yan laughed heartily. "Another day, I'll bestow upon you several more beautiful concubines, so you can have a few more sons."

Meanwhile, after Sang Hong and his group left the Prince of Yan's manor, he pulled Zu An aside and whispered, "Why did you agree to that matter?"