Chapter 2263: Ultimate Dream

After asking for a bit more information, Zu An learned that the one who was requesting a meeting was a female Embroidered Envoy. He immediately knew who it was.

When she came in, sure enough, it was Zhang Zitong. Those distinctive legs were still just as striking as ever.

“Did you need something?” Zu An asked curiously.

Why is she looking for me?

“This subordinate has something to report on, and I can only share it with the regent,” Zhang Zitong replied.

Zu An waved his hand to gesture for the eunuchs and maids to leave. They all withdrew, none of them suggesting that it could be dangerous without anyone else here. After all, everyone had seen how powerful he was today. Who could even hurt him in this world now?

When they left, Zu An looked at Zhang Zitong. “You can speak now.”

Zhang Zitong looked up. Her expression was really complicated, containing admiration, pleasant surprise, and also shock. After some hesitation, she greeted him with the standard Embroidered Envoy greeting. “This subordinate greets Sir Eleven!”

Zu An’s expression turned cold. “What did you say?”

Zhang Zitong sighed. “Sir really did hide everything perfectly, but I always found it a bit strange. Why was it that whenever something major happened, Sir Xiao always unconditionally supported the regent? Only later, when I saw that the Devil Sect Master was close to you, did I suddenly realize the truth.”

“What do you mean, suddenly realize the truth?” Zu An remained calm. There was no emotion visible on his face.

“Our visit to the Lake of Hatred was the most unforgettable adventure of my life. I still remember every single detail clearly.” Zhang Zitong looked at him and said, “Back then, the Devil Sect Master and sir were especially close. Now, I’ve seen that the Devil Sect Master and the regent are close as well. The Devil Sect Master is an extremely proud person, and according to the Embroidery House’s information, she has never shown any interest in any man. How could she be so close to two different men at the same time? That meant there could be only one answer, which was that they were the same person.

“Sir excels at transformation skills, so you could become anyone. In that case, why can’t you be the regent? Or perhaps this is your respected self’s real appearance, and that Sir Eleven was but one of your disguises.”

Zhang Zitong looked really excited and nervous right now. She had always admired Sir Eleven a lot, which was why she had always paid a lot of attention to him. Once she had formed her guesses and connected them with the other clues, many things had fallen into place.

Her expression suddenly changed. She felt a terrifying pressure descend on her. Even the air felt thick and viscous. It was as if an invisible pair of hands had wrapped around her throat, raising her into the air.

Zu An stood on the steps and looked at her coldly, saying, “I recall saying to you that being too smart isn’t always a good thing.”

He was actually feeling a lot of admiration deep down.

As expected of the most outstanding Silver Token Envoy back then, her deduction skills are quite outstanding. I’ve been seen through twice now.

When she felt the incoming threat of death, Zhang Zitong instinctively kicked in the air, but she couldn't struggle free at all. She did her best to pull at those invisible hands. Her charming face was completely red as she said, “You won’t kill me, because you're a good person.”

Zu An was speechless. He hadn’t expected that he would be dealt the ‘nice guy’ card even in this kind of situation. He replied, “Oh? But not too long ago, I killed quite a few people, no? In the capital, there are many people calling me a bloodthirsty demon in secret, and yet you're calling me a good person?”

“That’s because the ones sir killed all deserved death,” Zhang Zitong struggled to reply. She felt that it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

“Then why do you think I wouldn’t kill you?” Zu An looked at her coldly.

“That’s because our Zhang clan was completely killed trying to save the previous dynasty’s prince. I am the only one left,” Zhang Zitong quickly said. Right now, she didn’t have any time to think at all, because she could feel that she was dying. However, that turned out to be the very reason for Zu An's actions.

“You were willing to be so presumptuous just by relying on that?” Zu An harrumphed. He removed the terrifying force field.

Zhang Zitong fell out of the air. She sat on the ground, rubbing her neck as she gasped for air. However, there was a big smile on her face. “Of course not. Most importantly, it was because sir was a good person. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t dare to court death like this.”

Zu An was speechless. He walked up to Zhang Zitong and looked down at her, saying, “I don’t know why you would try to expose my identity. There's no benefit to you at all.”

“Because I wanted to get to know the real Sir Eleven, of course.” Zhang Zitong looked up at him, her expression shining.

“Didn’t we already know each other before?” Zu An asked impatiently.

“That was different.” Zhang Zitong smiled as she carefully examined his features. “The Sir Eleven I knew before was just a made-up name with a mask in between us. I didn’t even know what he looked like. How could that be considered really knowing each other?”

“Then you can see what I look like now?” Zu An really couldn't figure out how this woman’s brain worked. She had taken such a huge risk just because of this?

“Yeah.” Zhang Zitong was too embarrassed to look straight at him, and continued to shift her gaze around. There was a bit of bashfulness on her face.

When they were together in the Lake of Hatred, she had been really curious about what he looked like. She'd reflexively thought that he had to be really handsome, but then quickly snapped out of it, deciding that Sir Eleven was handsome no matter what he looked like. Even the ordinary appearance he had adopted at the Lake of Hatred was handsome.

But never had she expected Sir Eleven to be even more handsome than she imagined. Besides that, he just happened to be the regent!

“Even though I don’t want to kill you, you know too much. Even if I don’t want to kill you, I have to.” Zu An frowned.

“Huh?” Zhang Zitong was immediately stunned. She reacted quickly and said, “I’m on your side! I’ll follow you no matter what you do in the future!”

Zu An said with a sneer, “You didn’t even tell me what organization you were under. You expect me to trust you even when your background is so shady?”

Zhang Zitong bit her lip. She seemed to be struggling internally. But she quickly set her resolve and said, “I definitely wouldn’t tell anyone else, but since sir is asking about it…”

She paused for a moment before continuing, “When I was locked up, it was Tang Tian’er who saved me. It was also her who sent me to the Devil Sect General Headquarters.” Sir Eleven and the regent were the two people she admired the most in the world. She was willing to trust his character.

“Tang Tian’er?” Zu An was stunned. That sweet smile appeared in his memory. He had never expected it to be her. “The young miss of Pegasus Merchant Group?”

“Yeah. She's the Pegasus Merchant Group’s young miss on the surface, but she's actually an important figure in the Hub of Freedom,” Zhang Zitong replied.

“You really were from the Hub of Freedom after all.” Zu An had had his guesses, but his main suspicion was now confirmed. As for Tang Tian’er being from the Hub of Freedom, that was something he hadf already known. However, it seemed that her role as an employee there was just to mask her real identity.

“I'm no longer a part of the Hub of Freedom. The trip to the Devil Sect's Lake of Hatred was the last thing I did for them, to repay them for saving my life,” Zhang Zitong hurriedly said.

“What did she send you to the Devil Sect for?”

“To ruin the Shadow Group’s plans, annd to prevent the Devil Sect from being seized by the Shadow Group.”

Now that he heard her reply, Zu An was a bit intrigued. “How much do you know about the Shadow Group?”

“The Shadow Group has always been mysterious, so I don't know that much.”

Zu An frowned slightly. That organization was too mysterious, and they always seemed to have been in the background in major events. However, he just couldn't get his hands on them at all. An organization that could remain outside of his control really did make him feel a bit uneasy.

“Then how much do you know about them? Don’t tell me you don’t know anything?” he asked as he looked at Zhang Zitong.

Zhang Zitong replied, “The organization was originally established by some Meng Dynasty remnants who remained loyal and refused to change. Their goal was to protect the Meng Dynasty’s imperial bloodline, and they vowed to overthrow the Zhao clan’s regime. In order to accumulate the necessary funds, the Hub of Freedom was established, using some of the secret channels and information of the previous dynasty to succeed. Business became better and better over time.

“Once they all became richer, however, a divide formed between the group's members. There were some whose loyalty grew weaker, as they only wanted to make more money and enjoy their lives. There were others who never gave up on their ideals. Tang Tian’er is stuck between the two groups, and has been mediating their relationship.”

She suddenly smiled and said, “However, even all of these people added together can't compare to sir. Sir single-handedly replaced the Zhao clan’s empire and regained the throne.”

Zu An said indifferently, “I don't have any interest in the matter of the past dynasty’s prince or imperial grandson or whatever. Some vow to regain the empire doesn't interest me. Everything I'm doing isn’t for them, nor is it for some last-generation grievance. Tell the Hub of Freedom that out of respect for their past contributions, they can show allegiance to the court and I'll make proper arrangements for them. If they have any other thoughts, tell them to give up. Otherwise, I won't show any mercy.”

“Understood!” Zhang Zitong wasn’t too surprised to hear this response. With the regent’s current strength and position, why would he care about those things at all?

She then said with a big smile, “I've already told all of my secrets to sir. Can I stay by sir’s side now?”

When he looked at her expectant, but also scared look, Zu An felt his heart soften. The Zhang clan really had sacrificed far too much, and he really did need a trusted aide to help him with various things right now. As such, he said, “Alright, I’ll keep you here as a secretary.”[1]

“What is a secretary?” Zhang Zitong was stunned.

Zu An thought for a bit. He explained it to her using the system of the modern officialdom. “It’s just like being the emperor’s assistant. You’ll handle some daily matters.”

Zhang Zitong was pleased beyond her wildest expectations. “Okay! In the future, if there's anything to do, you can make this secretary do it!”

“Then what if there isn’t anything to do?” When he saw how happy she was, Zu An’s mood couldn't help but improve.

“You can still come looking for me, of course.” Zhang Zitong patted her chest. “I promise that I'll take good care of sir.”

Zu An was stunned. However, when he saw her pure and innocent expression, he knew that his thoughts had gone in the wrong direction.

Sigh, who would’ve thought that I would already achieve the ultimate dream of countless keyboard warriors in this different world.

1. The term used for 'secretary' in modern times is 秘书 (mi shu), with the characters individually meaning 'secret' and 'book'. ☜