Chapter 182: The Empress’s Summon

Zen and the rest started walking toward the entrance and the guards raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"Hey, isn't that the princess?"

"Weren't they all disappeared in the auction house? How come she's back already?"

The guards mumbled to themselves as they walked up to Krista Dragoon and Leila Dragoon slowly.

Meanwhile, Krista Dragoon glances at them briefly before asking, "What do you guards want?"

Her tone was full of contempt and disgust at the guards because she knew which faction they belonged to and it was none other than the empress of the Jade Kingdom.

The guards didn't care about her tone of speech and bowed slightly. "Princess Krista Dragoon, the empress has ordered for your summon as soon as we spot you on sight."

'Hmm, this empress's claws are truly amazing. Already got these loyal guards and although they were asking Krista in a respectful tone, their attitude was saying otherwise, and that it's a command.' Zen chuckled inwardly as he stood in front of the guards.

The guards tilted their heads slightly and stood their ground despite Zen's approaching closer to them.

"Sorry Sir, but this is a family affair and it's not right for you to intervene," The guard said once Zen was about 2 meters away from him.

"So you're saying it's a family affair and it's not suitable for me to intervene. Then what relationship do you have with Krista that permits you to ask her to show up somewhere." Zen said as he snapped his finger.

Instantly, the essence flame appeared and surrounded the guards, blocking their exit as it approached them closely. The temperature became heated and the people inside the Jade Kingdom saw the scene happening outside the entrance with excitement.

"Look, someone is fighting the guards!" A person shouted as he pointed his finger to get more attraction from others.

"Haha, it's about time those guards picked the wrong person to mess with. Not everyone is afraid of their authority and listens to their order." Another person scoffed.

Meanwhile, the guards pale as they never imagined Zen to be this aggressive and started attacking without any warning.

They slowly sneaked a glance at Krista Dragoon, their meaning was clear that if anything happened to them then she must consider the consequences that will befall her.

However, Zen wasn't an idiot to not notice their sly action as he waited for Krista Dragoon for an answer.

If she decided to let the guards go then there was practically no hope for her to overthrow the empress. 

One must be decisive and ruthless at times to warn the rest that you are not an easy target where they can discard you at any given time.

Krista Dragoon ponders for a while before turning around to look at Leila Dragoon.

"Leila, let's check out Madam Evie's restaurant." Krista Dragoon said.

Leila Dragoon brightened up and nodded her head, "Yes, I always wanted to check Palace Moon Restaurant out."

Evie chuckled softly as she decided to lead them the way to her restaurant. She has been doing too many tasks at once so she was a little hungry and this was a good time to get some food.

"Alright, ladies, please follow me then since I rarely invite guests to my restaurant," Evie said and started walking inside the Jade Kingdom.

The rest of the women soon followed behind, leaving Zen alone with the guards.

"Princess Krista Dragoon and Princess Leila Dragoon, you cannot just leave like this." The guards shouted in panic as they could feel the essence flame temperature continue to increase.

Krista Dragoon didn't even bother turning around to see the guards as she held Leila Dragoon's hand and followed Evie. The crowd also didn't dare to block their way as they all moved aside with their attention remaining outside the entrance.

The crowd was curious about what Zen would do to the guards. 

"Do you think he will kill the guards?" A person asked softly.

"It's hard to say because killing the guards is akin to asking for a death warranty from the empress but he already offended the empress by blocking the guards." Another person added and the crowd nodded their heads.

Killing the guards or letting them alive does not matter anymore since it was guaranteed that Zen had already offended the empress.

Who doesn't know that the empress is a vengeful woman that would do anything to gain the full authority of the kingdom when the emperor is sick in bed.

There was a time when a court official accidentally went against the empress's order and the next day, his entire family was massacred yet none of the imperial guards made a move to investigate what happened.

Thus, no one had dared to openly offend the empress anymore as it was clear that she had full control over the imperial guard except for Zen.

"Sigh, any last words?" Zen decided to be a gentleman and asked if they have any last word before dying.

The guards trembled in fear as they had tried to fight back but their bodies just wouldn't listen, almost like they were restricted by something.

'Heh, just using my aura mixed with true qi and mana is enough to restrict movement from low-level people.' Zen laughed at how easy it was to kill off these small fries without wasting a lot of energy and stamina.

"P-Please spare us, we are only following the empress's order and have no malicious intent toward the princesses," The guards knew his fate was about to be over so he knelt down and started begging for mercy.

"I-I know a lot of things inside the imperial guard. I-I can be your spy and gather information for you." The guards thought for a while before telling Zen that he can be useful as well.

As long as he was able to get out alive now, then he could seek help from the empress and inform her about this dangerous person. 

'There's no way you would refuse a spy that would give out critical information.' The guard exclaimed inwardly as he studied Zen's expression to know what he should say next.