Zu An then sent people to seek out Yuan Shoucheng and bring him into the palace to find out where his confidence lay. However, Yuan Shoucheng was already gone, and the people said that he was continuing his travels to explore areas of excellent geomancy.

Zu An sneered. This wasn’t outside of his expectations. As such, he decided to just look for Wei Zheng. Since this person already had a job in the underworld, he could be considered a specialist in the matter of the Dragon King's soul.

Wei Zheng was a bit troubled. “Your majesty, this subject still has a flesh body and hasn't formally moved on yet, so there are still many abilities that I still cannot use. The only reason why I could kill the Dragon King was because of the Celestial Court’s decree. However, it isn’t too difficult to deal with this Jing River Dragon King. You can have General Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao guard the entrances. They have fought their entire lives and carry fierce auras. Not even ghosts would dare to give them a baleful look.”

Zu An expressed his agreement. He knew that after this, Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao had begun to be treated by the people as door gods. People frequently stuck portraits of them on doors.

Then, with Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao’s protection, his health indeed improved a lot. Zu An didn’t experience nightmares at night, nor was he disturbed by any ghostly creatures. Even so, General Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao were ordinary people and couldn't stand guard every night. Zu An decided to have a painter hang their portraits on the door.

However, after just a few days, more ghostly creatures came from the rear entrance, so Wei Zheng personally guarded that entrance with his sword. Ever since then, no more ghosts attacked, but Zu An’s body still grew increasingly weak. Soon after, the disease reached a critical condition beyond cure.

While Zu An lay on his deathbed, Wei Zheng said, “Please feel at ease, your majesty! This subject has a way to guarantee your majesty a long life.”

Zu An pretended to sigh heavily. “My condition is incurable and my life is almost over. How can I continue living?”

Wei Zheng replied, “This subject will send a letter to the underworld government, asking for the help of Underworld Judge Cui Jue.”

Zu An was surprised and asked, “Who is Cui Jue?”

Wei Zheng replied, “Cui Jue was a minister in service to the late emperor, and previously served as the magistrate of Zi state before being promoted to the Assistant Minister of Rites. He and I performed the eight bows of friendship and share a deep bond. Although he has now passed away, he serves in the underworld as the Judge of Fengdu, making him responsible for the registers of life and death. We still frequently meet in my dreams. If I take this letter to him, then because of our friendship, he will surely let your majesty return. I guarantee that your soul will return to the world of the living and reclaim your imperial throne.”

Zu An sighed in relief. Playing along with the storyline had finally helped him reach this point in the story. The other competitors likely didn't know the situation and would try to find all sorts of ways out of this, but this was a situation where the more one did, the more mistakes one would make. It would only make something easy become more dangerous. Of course, he was taking advantage of his knowledge of this segment of history. If he didn’t know all that/, he would’ve made the same mistake.

Shortly after, he received the letter and placed it into his sleeves. Then, he closed his eyes and passed on. However, he only had an out-of-body experience. He gradually left the Imperial Palace, but he didn’t panic. After all, this wasn’t the first time he'd experienced such a thing.

Just then, someone called out from the distance. “Great Tang Emperor, come this way.”

Zu An looked over and saw that this person had a black gauze cap on his head and a rhinoceros horn belt around his waist, and looked a lot like the underworld judges from the shows of his previous world. He already had his guesses regarding who this was, but he still pretended he didn’t know as he asked, “Who are you?”

That person replied, “This humble servant served the late emperor as the magistrate of Zi state, and then I took on the office of assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites. My surname is Cui, given name Jue. I have now been given the duty of underworld judge in the capital of Hell. In Yama’s Palace, I saw that Jing River’s ghost dragon petitioned, claiming your majesty executed him despite promising to save him. King Qinguang of the first hall immediately sent a ghostly official to summon your majesty for a trial before the three courts. Once this subject learned of this, I came here to receive you, but unexpectedly came late. I am truly sorry for this, truly…”

Zu An sized him up. This individual was likely even higher-ranked than the Black and White Guard of Impermanence, Ox Face, and Horse Head. However, he couldn't sense how powerful the judge really was because his cultivation was currently completely sealed.

“Sir has had a long and exhausting journey. This emperor’s high official Wei Zheng wrote a letter entrusted to you, so it is fortunate that we are meeting now.”

Zu An handed him the letter while thinking to himself,

Normally, an underworld judge is a rather high-ranked official in the underworld, so why is he still so polite and respectful toward Li Shimin?

Is there anything a human world emperor could do to influence the underworld?

Cui Jue opened the letter and gave it a look. His expression immediately turned happy as he said, “This subject has already heard about Wei Zheng executing the dragon. I feel nothing but praise toward him. He has been looking after my descendants day and night. Now that this letter has arrived, your majesty can be at ease. This humble servant will ensure that your majesty returns to the living world and once again ascends to the jade palace.”

Then, Cui Jue brought Zu An to the underworld. Zu An hadn’t expected to come back so quickly. When he saw the Hell Gates, the Yellow Springs Path, the sinister red spider lilies, and the dusky Yin Mountain in the distance, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

Then, the two entered a city. This was the territory of King Yama. Zu An hadn’t entered through this side before.

Shortly after, he saw the late emperor Li Yuan, as well as his brothers Jiancheng and Yuanji. They came closer and said, “Shimin is here! Shimin is here!”

Jiancheng and Yuanji came over to demand his life. Zu An didn’t have any cultivation right now and couldn't move out of the way. He was instantly captured by the two.

Jiancheng cursed, “It’s one thing if you killed me to take my position, but why didn’t you even let your sister-in-law go? You're worse than a beast!”

Zu An had seen some similar shows before. The screenwriters seemed to really like depicting a relationship between Li Shimin and his sister-in-law. It turned out the dramas weren’t nonsense!

He immediately denied the claims and said, “Such things have never happened. I treat my sister-in-law with nothing but respect. I definitely have not violated her.”

“If there isn’t anything, why are there all kinds of rumors here in the underworld?!” Li Jiancheng cursed furiously.

Zu An gave Li Yuanji a look. He couldn't help but feel repulsed. A feeling of disgust filled his mind. It seemed that Li Shimin really did loathe this disgusting younger brother, so he said, “I’m sure he is merely spreading nonsense. I treat my older brother’s wife with nothing but respect, but as for my young brother’s wife, maybe she was mistaken for the former.”

Li Yuanji was speechless.

I was just enjoying my melon while watching this fun drama, but why did my hair suddenly turn green?

He was irritable in nature to begin with. He couldn't take it anymore and ran over to grab Zu An, yelling, “I’ll kill you!”