Chapter 1672: Behind-the-Scenes Story

“What?” Zu An exclaimed, feeling truly shocked. He had never expected her to have connections with King Yan!

His shock wasn’t completely unfounded. King Yan was famed for his contributions in fending off the Devil Sect and their rebel army, receiving countless awards for it. That was why they were known as sworn enemies, and no one would associate them together.

“Is it that surprising?” Yun Jianyue replied with a chuckle. “This is precisely the reason why I had to confirm whether you were worthy of my trust or not.”

Zu An shook his head with a frown, saying, “If I remember correctly, Honglei was captured by King Yan Manor. I even had to figure out a way to save her. Just when did you two get in contact with each other?”

“Before then, there were some rumors and slander going around in the court, claiming that King Yan was suspected of having befriended some undesirable parties. That was why we worked together to put on that play. We just didn’t expect the one who showed up to be you,” Yun Jianyue said, sounding a bit apologetic.

Zu An immediately figured out many things. King Yan and the Devil Sect being in contact made perfect sense. King Yan was someone with such great ambitions, so of course he wouldn’t be satisfied with just being the court’s hired hand. He was already a king himself, so he couldn't even get promoted beyond that.

Even if he wiped out the Devil Sect, so what? Could it be that he would become a candidate for the throne? On the contrary, that would do nothing but make him lose his soldiers and generals. Furthermore, even though he was a part of the royal family, he wasn’t from the same faction as Zhao Han. Their bloodlines were rather far apart from each other. As the sayings went, ‘When the leader falls, everyone related suffers the same way, and when the birds have flown away, the bow is stored away.’ He understood these principles well.

As such, although he looked like he was doing his best to subdue the Devil Sect on the surface, he was actually in close contact with them. That way, he could endlessly obtain the court’s military supplies while gaining additional rewards and honors. With that, he had much more room for maneuvering. Thus, both the illegal smuggling and the nurturing of a private army went smoothly.

Meanwhile, the Devil Sect didn’t want someone like King Yan to constantly bother them either, so they easily hit it off. Each year, the Devil Sect was in charge of offering some sacrifices so King Yan could obtain battle achievements, while they would borrow King Yan’s protection to strengthen themselves.

It was no wonder Zu An’s rescue of Qiu Honglei had been so strange back then. She had even said something strange along the lines of ‘what if I did something to let you down’. So this was what she had been talking about at the time! At the time, Qiu Honglei hadn’t been in danger at all. She had known the truth, but she couldn't explain herself. She could only hint at it ambiguously.

Meanwhile, Golden Token Seven’s words from back then had become easier to understand as well. As a Golden Token Envoy assigned by the emperor to monitor the region, he had likely suspected King Yan and the Devil Sect’s relationship for quite some time. After getting involved in the rescue of Qiu Honglei and finding out certain details, he had likely already confirmed that the two sides were working together. Afterward, he said some profound and regretful-sounding words to Zu An. It turned out to have been because he was worried that his life would be in danger if he continued to investigate King Yan.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Later, things had gone just as Golden Token Seven anticipated. He had died mysteriously not long after that.

Yun Jianyue’s expression changed several times before she finally calmed down a bit. Then, she said, “I know you’re smart. You’ve probably already thought through what happened.”

Zu An nodded. In the end, he sighed and said, “You guys really fooled the entire world this time. If King Yan hadn’t been captured, you would never have told me the truth, right?”

“It’s as you say. If King Yan hadn’t been captured, I wouldn’t have told you about these things, but…” Yun Jianyue trailed off, looking at Zu An with dignified, yet charming eyes. She continued, “It’s only because of our relationship that I told you the truth. Otherwise, I would have said something else.”

Zu An hugged her with a smile, saying, “Looks like big sis Yun really does consider me as one of your own. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have told me this secret that’s so important to the Devil Sect.”

“Stop acting so cheeky,” Yun Jianyue said, moving to one side to avoid his touch. “I already told you to treat me like your master in the future. Otherwise, Honglei will find out that something is strange sooner or later.”

Zu An had a strange expression. When he thought about how their bodies had pounded against each other, it really was hard for him to treat her as a senior.

“Ahem.” He composed himself and continued, “But judging from what you’re saying, King Yan is still the biggest suspect regarding Golden Token Seven’s death.”

Yun Jianyue shook her head and replied, “King Yan expressed that he wanted to kill Golden Token Seven several times, but he couldn't act because of Golden Token Seven’s status. As such, he contacted our Holy Sect several times. But because I knew that you were a Golden Token Envoy, I was worried that you could have some kind of relationship with Golden Token Seven, and thus didn’t agree.”

Zu An was moved. He looked at her with a grateful expression and said, “You were already worrying for my sake even though we didn’t have the most intimate relationship yet! Big sis Yun, you care about me after all.”

Yun Jianyue harrumphed. “Hmph, that was because I owed you the favor from the Imperial Palace. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

Zu An didn’t argue with her, and just continued to look at her with a big smile.

“What are you looking at? We have more important things to take care of,” Yun Jianyue snapped with a hint of annoyance. She thought she had finally figured out how to deal with him, but she hadn’t expected him to be so thick-skinned, leaving her puzzled at what to do.

Zu An put away his smile and asked, “Could it be that King Yan asked someone else to take care of it?”

Yun Jianyue shook her head. “That’s not possible. Back then, after something happened to Golden Token Seven, he contacted the Holy Sect shortly after, requesting our help in finding out what happened in that situation. There was no reason for him to fool me.”

Zu An nodded and acknowledged what she said. King Yan and Yun Jianyue were collaborators; there was no reason to lie to her about this.

It was no wonder that back in the prison, King Yan had said that he had someone look into it, but he wasn’t willing to say who it was. He hadn’t wanted his relationship with the Devil Sect to be exposed, as that would also completely destroy everything he had. He hadn’t wanted to share something like that with Golden Token Eleven.

But he probably never expected the Devil Sect Master to actually be so close to me.

“Then did big sis Yun find out anything?” Zu An asked.

Yun Jianyue replied, “I thought that King Yan had some ability, and with my Holy Sect’s competence, we would easily find out the truth. But even though we investigated and investigated, all the clues disappeared. We continued for a long time, but didn’t manage to find any valuable information. I could sense that there was a powerful force backing this ordeal, one that wasn’t weaker than King Yan at all, and is hiding in the shadows.”

Zu An was stunned. He said, “All of Yi Commandery is King Yan’s territory. With your Holy Sect’s help, how could there be any powers that you don’t know about?”

“That’s what we couldn’t figure out either,” Yun Jianyue said with a frown. “But King Yan is quite the ambitious and ruthless individual. Since he couldn't find the mastermind, he decided to push things in the direction that would be most beneficial to him. You just happened to have arrived in Yi Commandery, so he bribed an Embroidered Envoy named Jiang Zhong to mislead you and make you investigate the Hub of Freedom instead.”

Zu An suddenly understood what had happened. He asked, “Why did he want me to act against the Hub of Freedom?”

King Yan’s Pegasus Merchant Group previously competed against the Zhenyuan Merchant Group. Could it be that the Hub of Freedom has something to do with the Zhenyuan Merchant Group?

Yun Jianyue’s reply was quite surprising to him, however. “The Hub of Freedom and Yi Commandery’s Governor Zhang have a good relationship. Furthermore, Zhang Jie has been at odds with King Yan over various matters over the years, but he couldn't do anything to retaliate because of Zhang Jie’s status. He always viewed Governor Zhang as a thorn in his side, so he wanted you to investigate the Hub of Freedom, and then Zhang Jie, thus eliminating this opponent of his.”

Zu An was alarmed. Zhang Jie? He seemed to have overlooked the governor’s existence. Someone who could face King Yan in Yi Commandery for so long… Why would someone like that put on such an incompetent and powerless appearance?

“But even though you clearly fell into his trap, why didn’t you investigate the Hub of Freedom, instead investigating King Yan?” Yun Jianyue asked, touching on the question that had left King Yan the most puzzled the entire time. King Yan had felt that his scheme was already quite brilliant, and yet it hadn’t accomplished anything. Its failure truly kept him up at night.

There was no need for Zu An to hide such a thing from Yun Jianyue, so he replied, “I have a friend in the Hub of Freedom. We talked, and I believe they wouldn’t deceive me.”

“You left out their name on purpose, so it must be a woman, right? And definitely a ridiculously pretty woman,” Yun Jianyue retorted with a sneer. “You’re really something, you know? No matter where we go, regardless of whether it’s great sects or hidden organizations, your lovers are everywhere.”

You have successfully trolled Yun Jianyue for +200 +200 +200…

Zu An chuckled in embarrassment, replying, “What do you mean? It’s just a friend, a friend.”

“A friend, just like me?” Yun Jianyue blurted out, but she quickly regretted it. Hadn’t she just ended up dragging herself into this mess now too?

“There’s no way she and I are as close as me and big sis Yun,” Zu An quickly said with an upright expression. It was the truth, so he had absolutely no guilt in saying it.

“Who’s close to you?” Yun Jianyue retorted, starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. Her thoughts were unreadable as she said, “If King Yan found out that he was defeated because of your fickleness in love, he would likely just die from anger.”

Zu An could only laugh in self-mockery. He was worried that Yun Jianyue would use this as a pretext to start a fuss and quickly asked, “I am actually really curious as to how King Yan bribed Jiang Zhong. After all, Embroidered Envoys are always strictly examined. All of them are individuals with clear backgrounds and firm wills. Jiang Zhong’s rank wasn’t low, so how did King Yan bribe him?”

It hadn’t been that long since the Embroidered Envoy was set up, so it wasn’t likely for there to be be that much corruption yet.

Yun Jianyue said seriously, “King Yan didn’t bribe him, but instead saved his life.”

Zu An was stunned. So that was what happened!

Yun Jianyue didn’t wait for him to ask further and continued, “Back then, Jiang Zhong was about to be silenced by a mysterious group of people, but King Yan just happened to save him. That was how he ended up working under King Yan.”

“Silenced?” Zu An repeated in shock. Someone dared to kill an Embroidered Envoy to keep a secret? Who in this world dared to do such a thing? Could it be an internal conflict within the Embroidery House?

Yun Jianyue said, “This is also the only thing we gained from our investigation. The ones who tried to kill him were assassins from the Shadow Group.”

“Shadow Group?” Zu An exclaimed in surprise, not expecting to hear the mysterious organization’s name again. From Brightmoon City to the capital, and even until now, he had already interacted with them several times. The organization seemed even more mysterious than the Hub of Freedom. For better or for worse, he could find the Hub of Freedom’s money-squandering establishment. But no one had ever seen what kind of place the Shadow Group was in.

“That Jiang Zhong seemed to have been roped in by the Shadow Group by some method. Unfortunately, he didn’t know too much about the Shadow Group, and we weren’t able to find any valuable intelligence either,” Yun Jianyue said, sounding quite vexed.

“Why would he be silenced?” Zu An asked after a pause.

“That involves the disappearance of a batch of gunpowder,” Yun Jianyue said. She paused for a moment before continuing, “The reason I came to Violet Mountain this time was partly to investigate that.”