Zu An’s mind was stirred into action, and he quickly processed the possible suspects, one after another.

Zhuxie Chixin? No, he was the emperor’s trusted aide for many years. The emperor wouldn’t make him the prime suspect from the get go.

His own eunuchs? That doesn’t seem right either. If he really suspected them, he could just have them tortured for a confession. There is no need to put a golden-token envoy like me in charge.

That leaves the Imperial Guard Generals…

Now that he learned that Cheng Xiong was part of King Qi’s faction, most of his uncertainties were put to rest.

“It is Cheng Xiong!” Zu An blurted out.

Yun Jianyue nodded, as though proud of him. “Indeed. King Qi has great influence over the military, as it has been passed down to him from successive generations. Not only does this influence extend across the local armies, but within the imperial palace as well. If you were the emperor, would you feel at ease leaving a vital position like the Left Guard General to someone in King Qi’s faction?”

“Of course not.” Zu An grew excited as well, and continued from where she left off. “We’ve found out that the assassins are related to King Qi… Actually, even if the assassins were unrelated to King Qi, the emperor would never let such a good opportunity slip by. He will use it to shift the blame onto King Qi and use it as an excuse to purge King Qi’s faction from the imperial court.”

No wonder Yun Jianyue was so confident. It didn’t matter at all if she were exposed, because she was sure that the emperor would still act in accordance with their plans. Either way, King Qi’s wings would be well and truly clipped. This wasn’t a plan that relied on utmost secrecy, but one that would work either way, which was why she didn’t care about being exposed at all.

He gave Yun Jianyue a complicated look. “Big sis sect master, you really are devious.”

“You’re too kind.” Yun Jianyue was full of delight. “You’re not too bad yourself, kid.”

“Then what should I do now?” Zu An asked. With such a cunning queen on his side, he didn’t have to waste his own brainpower.

Yun Jianyue fell into deep thought, her beautiful face taking on a rather serious expression.

A moment later, she said, “You should first pay Zhuxie Chixin a visit. As the leader of the Embroidered Envoy, it is his duty to act when his subordinates are being bullied. Furthermore, as the emperor’s trusted aide, the emperor will seek his assistance in getting rid of Cheng Xiong. He will be a huge help. However, there’s one problem. That man has always been mistrustful. You must prepare yourself to be thoroughly questioned before you meet him. Once you have him on your side, you should…”

Zu An had felt as though he was in a terrible fix, but her meticulous analysis helped to clarify matters greatly. He sighed in admiration. “Whoever marries you in the future will have a wife as awesome as Zhuge Liang!”

Yun Jianyue frowned. “Who is Zhuge Liang?” She immediately followed up with an angry huff. “Why do I need to marry anyone? Even if I have a need for men, I’ll just take in some male pets. In this world, is there really any man worthy of marrying me?”

Zu An had a strange look on his face. A moment later, he sighed. “Big sis sect master is tough after all!”

Yun Jianyue’s eyelids twitched. She spun around arrogantly and began to fix up her hammock. She clearly didn’t intend to sleep on the same bed as this man again.

…

Zu An left to seek out Zhuxie Chixin. He was part of the Embroidered Envoy, after all. He had every right to complain about the way Cheng Xiong had confronted him.

Along the way, however, a sudden impulse struck him. It had been a while since he’d taken part in the Keyboard System lottery… There was so much going around in the palace, and danger lurked around every corner. Having a few more life-saving measures was always a good thing. 

He hunted around for a secluded place to bring out the Rage System.

After all this while, he’d unknowingly accumulated 285,132 Rage points.

He started drawing right away. Previously, he would perform rituals like washing his face and praying, but he’d grown numb to the process of drawing the lottery, and couldn’t be bothered with such superstitious nonsense anymore.

Thank you for playing… Thank you for playing… Ki Fruit… Thank you for playing…

Huh? Where did the tiger talismans go?

Zu An became a bit disappointed. He’d used the tiger talismans to obtain Daji previously. Even though Daji’s current strength was only at the peak of the fourth rank, he was able to use her flame element through resonance, which allowed him to cultivate flame element abilities. That was the greatest benefit.

If he could obtain a valkyrie of a different element, that would grant him an ability from a different element.

In the midst of his disappointment, Zu An’s eyes suddenly lit up. He noticed that the light marker had halted above the ‘J’ key. Unfortunately, he was using multi-draws, so the words flashed across the screen too quickly for him to see exactly what it was.

When he was finally done with the drawing, he noticed that he had obtained a new skill, as well as 280 Ki Fruits.

He impatiently scrolled back to read the description of the new ability.

Keyboard, come!

[1]

Skill description: As a keyboard warrior, ‘Keyboard, come!’ is your most important skill. Whenever you are unjustly wronged, shout ‘Keyboard, come!’ loud and proud! Make sure your voice is full of spirit. Let the people know what it means to speak things into existence!

Once the skill is activated, all the words you speak will become reality.

Special note: The use of this ability consumes soul force, so please refrain from excessive boasting. The more intensely you boast, the greater the backlash, which will hit you an hour later. Your soul will suffer an intense shock.

Your soul will only stabilize after reaching master rank, which will allow for more liberal use of this skill.

Please remember that if your boasting is too ridiculous, even a grandmaster’s soul will not be able to handle the backlash. You will perish before your words fully come into effect.

As a keyboard warrior, you could troll as hard as you could behind a computer screen, but when face-to-face with others, it is best if you act cautiously!

Zu An was completely dazed after reading the description.

Keyboard, come? Speak things into existence? What kind of ridiculous skill is this? So this is a keyboard warrior’s final form!

As for the limitations, they were completely understandable. If he boasted that he had created this very world, it was possible that he would explode once the very thought appeared in his head.

He might not even have to go that far. Saying that he was stronger than the emperor might be enough to end his existence.

What is the limit of this skill?

It really was a head-scratcher. He wanted to give it a try, but he was worried that he might burn himself so badly that he’d be too embarrassed to speak about the manner of his death when he reached the afterlife. 

Dying from excessive boasting? That’s way too embarrassing!

There was nothing to do but leave this skill aside for now. He fed the 280 Ki Fruits to Daji. Daji had been at the peak of the fourth rank, but these Ki Fruits brought her to the middle step of the fifth rank. She required 600 Ki Fruits in total to reach the peak of the fifth rank.

Zu An was incredibly envious whenever he saw how few of these fruits were required to raise her cultivation. They had been a reasonable source for him to increase his own cultivation early on, but now, he couldn’t rely on them to increase his cultivation at all.

When all this was done, he headed to the office of the Embroidered Envoy.

The Embroidered Envoy had their own specialized office in the imperial palace, a remote palace called the Embroidery House.

He almost choked when he first saw this name. 

This name is way too feminine, right? It doesn’t gel with the badass style of the Embroidered Envoy at all!

News of this affair had already reached Zhuxie Chixin, who had rushed over immediately.  He listened to his subordinates complain about Cheng Xiong, his face growing darker by the moment.

The Embroidered Envoy was the one who carried out investigations of individuals, yet now, they were the ones who were being investigated. All of them felt incredibly wronged.

He waved his hand towards Zu An when he saw him arrive. “Eleven, come with me. The rest, return to your posts. I will deal with what happened today personally.”

Zu An followed him upstairs. This was where he dealt with administrative work.

Zhuxie Chixin slowly sat down in his chair and gestured for Zu An to sit as well. “Is there  bad blood between you and Cheng Xiong?” he asked.

Zu An shook his head. “I only met him a few days ago. How could that happen?”

“Then why is he out to get you?” Zhuxie Chixin was confused. He was a keen investigator, and could obviously tell that Zu An was Cheng Xiong’s target.

Zu An pretended to hesitate for a moment, then said, “I suspect he has guessed the point of my own investigation, and is seizing the initiative to make the first move.”

Zhuxie Chixin looked at him calmly, his expression unreadable. “Are you saying that he was the one who leaked out information regarding His Majesty’s absence?” 

Zu An shook his head. “I have no proof, but this seems to be the only possibility.”

Zhuxie Chixin shook his head. “No, there is one other possibility. That Cheng Xiong’s suspicions aren’t wrong, and that you did collude with the assassins.”

The moment he finished speaking, his gaze pierced through Zu An, and his aura immediately enveloped Zu An’s entire body.