Chapter 2248: Thinking Highly of Themselves

“Zu An, what are you doing?!” When they saw this scene, the other four dukes were horrified and immediately widened the distance. They secretly made hand seals in their sleeves, or prepared various weapons to defend themselves.

Zhao Song had been a bit hard to deal with because of his personality, but they had all served as the eight dukes for so long that seeing an old acquaintance die just like that felt a bit tragic. Furthermore, Zhao Song had just broken into the earth immortal rank, so he should have at least had a bit of a fighting chance! Why had he died without any of them even seeing what Zu An did?

Just what level had Zu An’s cultivation reached?

At that moment, they were all worryied for their own safety.

Everyone present was stunned. They had been wondering how Zu An was going to take care of the situation now that King Yi, Zhao Quan, Zhao Zhang, and the other members of the royal family were killed. They hadn’t expected even one of the glorious eight dukes to be killed! What they were worried about now was how the remaining four dukes were planning to resolve the situation.

The regent really seems to be angered badly this time. He won’t just rebel on the spot, will he?

Jiang Luofu gave Zu An a bit of a worried look. Even though the Jiang clan had just experienced such a horrifying event and she really wanted to kill them herself, she felt that Zu An’s actions were a bit too extreme.

King Yi’s death was already said and done, but Zhao Song was one of the glorious eight dukes! He was also a respected elder of the Zhao clan. Ever since Zhao Chen died, the entire royal family had been led by Zhao Song. It seemed that it would be hard for things to end well now.

But she quickly calmed down. She would stand at Zu An’s side no matter what.

I'll convince my academy brothers and sisters to support Zu An too.

Yun Yuqing didn’t seem to care too much. She came from the Demon race either way, so even if Zu An couldn't remain on the human side, she would just take him back to the northern Fiend territory. If that happened, she could even shake off the sweethearts here on the human side. She felt that such a conclusion wouldn’t be that bad at all. The only thing that was worrying was that the Demon race seemed to have some internal conflict.

Zu An calmly said, “I only discovered that I was too kind before. Just because I left for a slightly longer time than usual, these people started to cause trouble left and right, starting all kinds of conspiracies against me. I don't wish to make the same mistake a second time. Since he was dissatisfied with me, rather than letting him scheme and stir up a huge amount of trouble the next time I left, I thought it would be best if I eliminated such hidden threats now.”

This time, things had happened to Liu Ning and Gao Ying, but what about next time? He had too many people he cared about. He wouldn't necessarily be so lucky as to be able to save them all then. There was also another, more important point, which was that the alien monsters were still eyeing this world. The Doomsday Spirit and Plague Monarch were still brewing plots in the dark. What the human side needed was to work together to face this foreign enemy, and he couldn't tolerate these fellows being a drag. It was better to just get the pain over with than prolong the agony, so he decided to eliminate all of the problems once and for all.

Grand General Cheng Yuan took a deep breath and askedd, “Zu An, are you really planning treason?”

They had all felt that Zhao Song was too rash when he asked the same question. But what difference was there between Zu An's current actions and a rebellion? As one of the eight dukes, he felt like he had the duty to step forward.

Zu An didn’t say anything. With a wave of his hand, the clouds above scattered and the cosmos above was revealed. The sight of countless monsters gathered above entered full view.

Everyone present gasped when they saw the densely packed monsters. Even though they had heard about the monsters’ invasion, that was something only the strongest few needed to worry about. Most people had no real concept of the danger involved. But now that they personally saw the monsters with such malicious appearances and menacing fangs, it was clear that the invaders intended to feast on people! That was far more useful than any earnest and well-meaning advice from the court.

With a wave of Zu An’s hands, the clouds gathered once more, and the sky regained its usual appearance. This scene couldn’t be maintained for too long, as it would easily create panic among the common people.

“I've spent so long fighting bitterly against these terrifying and cunning monsters, which has consumed almost all of my spirit. I don't wish to exhaust even a sliver more of my attention on blades aimed at my back,” Zu An said in a grave voice.

The remaining four dukes exchanged a look. They could all see the shock in each other's eyes.

Zu An could split open the skies with just a wave of his hands? Just what kind of tremendous power is this?

They only felt as if they had been pressured until they had no choice. None of them really wanted to make someone this terrifying their enemy. When they heard those words, they all bowed with respect. “The regent has worked hard.”

As long as there was a sufficient pretext. there was no need for them to publicly make Zu An their enemy. After all, he was too strong, and he didn’t have much regard for rules. Who knew if he would just end their lives a second later?

Even though the court had a Demon Suppression Formation in the capital, and they would still potentially have a fighting chance against Zu An, it was just a fighting chance. Even if all eight dukes were here, they would still have most likely lost in a fight against Zu An. And now there were only four dukes left, and Zu An was the academy libationer. If the great formation was activated, who knew if those guys at the academy would interfere and meddle?

Zu An nodded. “I'll leave this matter to all of you to take care of. I'm going to take a look around the Imperial Palace to see what exactly is going on with the accusation of treason against Sir Jiang.”

Yu Rui saw the others look toward him, and could only brace himself to say, “That is still the Imperial Palace, after all, so I hope that the regent doesn’t... doesn’t act too impulsively.” He really couldn't find any words that were suitable to speak right now.

Zu An nodded. “Don’t worry, I know what I'm doing.”

...

The entire matter was settled like that. All of the soldiers and major clans that had rushed over had strange expressions.

If it had been anyone else who started something like this, even death by a thousand cuts and having their manor completely emptied out would be getting off lightly. And yet when the regent did it, they only felt as if it made perfect sense.

Otherwise, it’d be hard to say who would end up searching and confiscating whose possessions.

Zu An exchanged some words with Jiang Luofu. There were some people who heard the news and had come over from the academy, so he had them stay behind to protect the Jiang clan. The teachers of the academy all agreed. As they were all from the academy, they naturally shared more feelings of unity, let alone the fact that Jiang Luofu was their own sister.

After arranging all of that, he walked over to Yun Yuqing and suggested, “Why don’t you follow me on a trip into the palace?”

He had initially wanted to keep Yun Yuqing with Jiang Luofu and the others, but she wasn’t that close with those from the academy. She had abandoned everything to side with him, so how could he leave her here all alone?

At first, Yun Yuqing had seen how popular and bright Zu An looked as he stood amid so many people, almost as if he had forgotten about her. She couldn't help but feel a bit sad.

Before what happened today, she had been the revered Madam Wu, whom everyone praised as a perfect wife. And yet after today, she was no more than a bad woman who had abandoned her husband and chosen a stronger man for the sake of social climbing. That wasn’t all, as even the Demon race people betrayed her. She really was all alone without a friend in the world. She felt a mysterious sense of loneliness.

However, while she was worrying about what she was going to do now, she suddenly heard Zu An’s voice and raised her head. She saw that he was already standing in front of her with a smile. There was none of the coldness or awe that he showed other people; instead, there was only warmth and tenderness.

“Okay!” Yun Yuqing held hands with him. When she felt his warm and large hand, she immediately felt that everything had been worth it.

When she saw Yun Yuqing’s smile shine brightly, Jiang Luofu released a deep sigh.

This kid really is considerate. He didn’t forget about the feelings of his sweetheart even in this kind of complicated situation. No wonder those women are so dedicated to him.

When she recalled how Yun Yuqing had decided to leave King Wu so decisively and walked over to Zu An’s side, Jiang Luofu couldn't help but feel respect for her.

...

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace, Zhao Ruizhi and Bi Qi were laughing heartily while chatting. The mood was quite good.

“The products of this world really are abundant. The fact that these weak ants occupy this kind of fertile place is punishable by death in itself.” Zhao Ruizhi suddenly felt quite unhappy.

“It doesn’t matter. All of these things will soon be ours.” Bi Qi laughed sinisterly. “The only thing we need to worry about is that Regent Zu An. That person’s strength is mysterious and profound, completely unlike the natives of this world. Many of our colleagues have been killed by him.”

Zhao Ruizhi’s eyes immediately widened. “Those idiots had nothing but muscle for brains! We're clearly in a world where our power is being suppressed by the world barrier, and yet they kept insisting on using brute force. It’d be weirder if they hadn't died.”

Bi Qi laughed and said, “It’s still your method that’s better, to hide in this stupid emperor’s body so no one can find you. That way, you have a proper reason to use this entire empire’s power and make them fight against themselves.”

“The only unfortunate thing is that I have to disguise myself as that idiot and play those games. It really is miserable.” Zhao Ruizhi got up and stretched out his chubby body.

“Just endure it for a bit longer. Soon, once this entire world is in chaos, once war and death are everywhere, my plague will be able to display its greatest power,” Bi Qi said with a sinister smile. “Assigning the two of us to this mission really was an extraordinary decision! You can engulf the entire world in war so my ability can be used at its maximum potential. The only thing we need to do is to properly hide our identities.”

“Don’t worry, how could that Zu bastard possibly expect that we're hiding in the palace?” Zhao Ruizhi looked extremely proud.