Chapter 1041: Surround and Kill

Upon hearing this, Zu An's spirits immediately lifted; it seemed his trip was indeed not in vain. Unfortunately, the speaker's voice was extremely hoarse and somewhat strange, as if deliberately disguising their true voice.

"If Zuo Su doesn't die, will everyone here truly feel at ease?" the black-robed figure sitting furthest away interjected, their tone hinting at mockery.

Zu An frowned, puzzled as to why these people would disguise themselves so completely for a private meeting, even altering their voices. Did they not even know each other?

However, upon closer inspection, he noticed subtle differences. Although everyone wore black robes, the patterns on their sleeves and collars were distinct. The person furthest away had white patterns, the one to their left had orange patterns on their robe, and the one to their right had red patterns. The patterns on the other two people were blue and yellow, respectively.

"What do these colors signify?" Zu An pondered.

What made his expression even more solemn was the cultivation level of these individuals. Although it was difficult to determine precisely, there were at least two Grandmasters and two at the ninth-rank peak. Even the weakest seemed to be at the ninth-rank middle stage, and it was possible some were concealing their true abilities.

Have all the experts from Yunzhong Commandery gathered here? Zu An couldn't help but complain to himself; it seemed he shouldn't tempt fate. He might accidentally get himself killed here.

An awkward silence fell over the room. Clearly, their concern for Zuo Su's death was merely feigned; no one genuinely cared.

After a moment, the yellow-patterned black-robed figure, whose back was to Zu An, broke the silence to mediate: "Alright, alright, no one wanted this to happen. The urgent matter now is to consider what to do after Zuo Su's death. What about the power vacuum in the Commandery Governor's Mansion?"

At this point, the red-patterned black-robed figure spoke, "Hmph, Xu Yu recently took over the Commandery Governor's Mansion. The power vacuum has long been filled."

Zu An thought to himself that it seemed Xu Yu was not one of them. Finally, there was someone in the entire Yunzhong Commandery he could temporarily trust.

"No matter," said the blue-patterned black-robed figure beside him, their voice old, clearly indicating they were no longer young. "Xu Yu is not good at socializing and lacks the means to gather a following. He poses no great threat to us."

At this point, the orange-patterned black-robed figure also added, "Xu Yu comes from a humble background and has no powerful connections. He's nothing to worry about."

Zu An was startled. This person sat ramrod straight and exuded a sense of familiarity, but he couldn't recall who it was at the moment.

At this point, the white-patterned black-robed figure tapped the table. "We should find an opportunity to win over Xu Yu; it would be best to make him one of us."

The old blue-patterned figure gave a bitter smile. "That fellow considers himself lofty. It's not like we haven't tried to win him over before, but he was uncooperative."

"That simply means we chose the wrong approach," the white-patterned man snorted. "Everyone has weaknesses. To win someone over, you should appeal to their preferences. Wasn't Zuo Su also unyielding before, yet we still managed him?"

"You have a point. I will look into it thoroughly," the yellow-patterned black-robed figure replied gruffly.

"Rather than winning over Xu Yu, I'm more concerned about another matter," the white-patterned man said, slowly turning his head as if surveying everyone present. "Why was Zuo Su arrested? And the Imperial Envoy clearly wasn't making random arrests; they also sent people to arrest several related officials simultaneously. How did the Imperial Envoy know so much?"

At this point, the yellow-patterned black-robed figure hesitated, then said, "Previously, Imperial Envoy Deputy Zu An visited Zhenyuan Money House. He retrieved a box that someone else had previously stored there. Not long after, Sang Hong began making arrests. I suspect that box might have contained some incriminating records."

At this, everyone's gaze turned to him. The red-patterned black-robed figure said grimly, "So, after all this, the leak came from your side?"

Unexpectedly, hearing them talk about himself, Zu An's heart stirred. It seemed the identity of this yellow-patterned black-robed figure could be confirmed: they were from the Zhenyuan Chamber of Commerce, though he didn't know exactly who. Judging by this situation, even if they weren't the chairman, they were definitely one of the highest-ranking members of the chamber.

The yellow-patterned black-robed figure quickly waved their hand. "Of course not. If we were the ones who leaked it, why would I even mention it? That box was stored in the money house long ago by someone else. It's a rule of the money house never to peek at customers' belongings, which is how this accident happened."

"Who stored that box?" the orange-patterned black-robed figure asked.

"We sent people to investigate. A young beggar stored it here..." The yellow-patterned black-robed figure was interrupted by the others before they could finish.

"A young beggar storing valuable items at a money house—you didn't suspect anything?" Several people glared at him resentfully, clearly blaming him for messing things up.

The yellow-patterned black-robed figure gave a bitter smile. "People who store things with us usually have all sorts of shady reasons. It's common for them to hire beggars to help store items; after all, we only recognize the key, not the person."

"Over the past two days, we conducted multiple investigations and finally found that young beggar. From his description, the person who stored the box should be Shen Zhou."

"Shen Zhou!" The others exclaimed in low voices. Clearly, they all knew this person. For a mere ordinary guard to be remembered by so many top figures was truly unprecedented.

"I can't believe he had this trick up his sleeve!" The white-patterned man heavily slapped the table. At this point, he suddenly let out a sound of surprise. "Yesterday, when the Imperial Envoy's subordinates were making arrests, other related individuals were 'dealt with' in time. Which of you handled that?"

The others were about to answer when a ray of light suddenly appeared on the round table. Zu An inwardly cursed. Tonight had been heavily overcast and dimly lit, making it perfect weather for covert nighttime movement. But just now, without anyone noticing, the clouds had parted, revealing the moon behind them.

Moonlight streamed down. Zu An, fearing his shadow would be cast on the window and expose him, instinctively crouched down. Unfortunately, the incident was so sudden that he forgot the hole he had quietly poked in the window was still there, and moonlight shot directly through it.

The reason these people in the room were so secretive was precisely to avoid revealing their identities. So, even with several people meeting, they hadn't lit any lamps, remaining in darkness. Upon seeing this light, they instantly knew what was happening.

Someone!

Knowing he couldn't hide any longer, Zu An pushed off with his toes, ready to flee. At that moment, a sharp sword energy shot out, shattering the windows and door instantly. A flying sword had already shot towards his waist.

"Han Fengqiu!" Having fought him before, Zu An immediately recognized the sword. He swatted the flying sword away with his palm, then summoned the Great Wind to teleport outside. He could handle one Grandmaster, but two Grandmasters of unknown strength, plus so many other top experts, and the possibility of guards from the Zhenyuan Chamber of Commerce arriving at any moment, meant he could only flee.

He had just considered using the Imperial Edict to summon the Emperor's power to suppress these individuals. Unfortunately, while the Imperial Edict was powerful, its activation was too slow. Previously, when he was escorted from Mingyue City to the capital by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Huang Huihong, the guard escorting him, failed to successfully summon it even until his death.