Chapter 1050: Come Just in Time

"Master Yan has left," Zu An replied.

"Left?" Yun Jianyue sounded a little displeased. "Did she know I was coming, so she ran off so quickly?"

Qiu Honglei, standing nearby, explained, "Ah Zu just produced the imperial decree and scared her away."

Yun Jianyue scoffed, "That old hag would be scared by a mere imperial decree? He would have been killed dozens of times over in the time it took him to read it."

Zu An gave an awkward smile. What she said was true; given a Grandmaster's skill, if Master Yan had decided to attack, he wouldn't have had time to finish reading the decree.

Qiu Honglei, however, began to explain on his behalf, "That's because Ah Zu is clever and resourceful. He made Master Yan promise not to attack beforehand..." She then gave a rough description of what had just happened.

Yun Jianyue scoffed, "Warfare is a path of deception. Only a blockhead like her would abide by such an obviously unreasonable condition."

Qiu Honglei's expression was odd. "Fortunately, Ah Zu scared Master Yan away. Otherwise, with your injuries, Master, you probably wouldn't have been able to defeat her."

Yun Jianyue was speechless. "You ungrateful girl! Why are you siding with outsiders?"

Qiu Honglei shrank back. "I'm just speaking the truth."

Yun Jianyue grabbed her by the collar and drifted away as if carrying a small chick. "Come back with me and train properly, so you don't get beaten by that woman's disciple next year."

Zu An was utterly confused. He hastily called out, "Sister Yun, are you just taking her away like that? What about me?"

Yun Jianyue spat, "Who's your sister? I'm letting you off the hook today for Honglei's sake. If you ever try to flirt with her again, I'll break your third leg."

Her voice still lingered in the air, but she herself had vanished without a trace.

Zu An was speechless. This woman really changes her tune when she's not dressed up. Her attitude in the palace was completely different.

Tang Tian'er, standing by, was wide-eyed. She never expected him to have such a good relationship with the Demon Sect Mistress, to be able to talk to her like that. Yun Jianyue was a notorious demon in the jianghu, a ruthless killer. She didn't threaten people; if she disliked someone, she'd simply eliminate them. Yet, she had said she'd break Zu An's 'third leg'... It felt more like banter between friends.

At that moment, Zu An swayed. Although he had a strong physique, he had sustained severe injuries and was now quite weak. After Yun Jianyue left, he finally couldn't support himself any longer.

"Sir, are you alright?" Tang Tian'er rushed over to support him.

"I'm fine, just need to rest a bit," Zu An nodded to her. At the same time, he looked past her and noticed Zhuang Hetong was no longer there.

Tang Tian'er also seemed to notice something and pleaded meekly, "Sir, could you please spare my uncle for my sake?"

Zu An had to admit this woman was a born socialite. She had clearly hidden Zhuang Hetong away, and he wouldn't be able to find him even if he tried. Moreover, he was currently inside the Zhenyuan Trading House; if any conflict were to arise, it was obvious who would be at a disadvantage. Yet, in such a situation, Tang Tian'er still pleaded softly, giving him plenty of face. She truly understood how to manipulate a man's psychology.

Zu An smiled. "Miss Tang, there's no need to be so polite. You just saved my life; how could I not give you face?"

Just then, a dense array of footsteps could be heard in the distance. It was Xu Yu and Gao Ying, who had rushed over with the county soldiers and constables after hearing the commotion.

Tang Tian'er quickly said, "Sir, my presence here would be inconvenient. I'll take my leave first." She then quickly jogged back, stopping after a few steps. Her voice was barely a whisper: "Just now in the room... in that situation, I wouldn't have saved anyone else." Her earlobes slightly red, she quickly ran back.

Zu An chuckled to himself. This woman was truly adept at leveraging her advantages, making it impossible to tell if she was speaking the truth or not, yet she somehow managed to avoid causing any ill will.

By this time, Xu Yu and his men had arrived with the soldiers. "What happened? There was a huge fire here just now, and it seemed like powerful experts were fighting." As he spoke, he saw the scene, which looked as if it had been ravaged by a storm, and his expression subtly changed. Finally, his gaze fell upon Zu An.

Zu An pulled down his mask. "Lord Xu, Brother Gao, it's me."

"Lord Zu?"

"Brother Zu!"

Xu Yu and Gao Ying hurried over and helped him steady himself.

"Brother Zu, how did you end up like this?"

Zu An opened his mouth, then tilted his head and fainted into Gao Ying's arms.

He wasn't truly unconscious, of course. He simply didn't want the people from Cloudmidst Commandery to know the full extent of his injuries. After all, he had just fought against a Grandmaster and several Ninth-Rank experts, not only winning decisively but also scaring off a Grandmaster. If he had no injuries at all, it would be too astonishing. Furthermore, he had a nascent plan that required using his injuries as a cover.

"Brother Zu!" Gao Ying, naturally unaware of the truth, was greatly alarmed by the sight. He quickly fed Zu An some healing medicine and dispatched someone to call for a doctor.

Xu Yu, meanwhile, sealed off the scene and apprehended some people from the Zhenyuan Trading House for questioning. However, the recent battle's aftermath was too powerful, so the trading house staff had hidden far away. The knowledgeable experts, at Tang Tian'er's signal, had already left. Consequently, the questioning only managed to piece together a vague account of what had just happened.

Upon learning that Zu An had fought against several Grandmaster-level experts, Xu Yu was greatly astonished. Even though Zu An now appeared to be mortally wounded, his battle record was astounding enough to shock the world.

An hour later, Zu An was taken back to the Imperial Envoy's Residence. Gao Ying trusted the doctors at the residence more than those from the Commandery Governor's Mansion.

Upon hearing the news of Zu An's severe injuries, Sang Hong rushed out in a panic, his usual calm demeanor completely absent. Zu An secretly observed this, feeling a warmth in his heart. It seemed that ever since that night, Sang Hong truly considered him family.

After the outsiders left, Zu An feigned a slight recovery of consciousness. Sang Hong, Pei You, and others quickly came forward to check on him. "How are you doing?"

"I won't die, but I'll probably need some time to recover from my injuries," Zu An continued to say "weakly."

"What exactly happened? How did you end up in this state?" Sang Hong could no longer contain his curiosity and quickly asked. Only then did Zu An give a rough account of what had happened at the Zhenyuan Trading House.

"How outrageous! Zuo Su truly was colluding with Jian Taiding. He deserved to die, absolutely deserved to die!" Sang Hong was extremely angered. After all, they had initially viewed Zuo Su as an ally of the court, a capable assistant in dealing with Jian Taiding. Now they discovered that the officials in Cloudmidst Commandery had long been in collusion.

"Now that Jian Taiding is severely injured, can we go apprehend him now?" Zu An said regretfully, "It's a pity he got away just now."

Pei You, standing by, couldn't help but exclaim, "Brother Zu, you are truly amazing! Not only did you defeat a dignified Grandmaster, but you're also complaining that you didn't capture him!"

"It was just a bit of cleverness," Zu An said modestly, not wanting to reveal too many of his trump cards.

"Even if it was just cleverness, it's astonishing enough," Sang Hong said, giving him a complex look. He thought to himself that he had been hesitant about tacitly agreeing to his daughter's and daughter-in-law's affairs before, but now it seemed like a truly profitable decision. 'With a father like this, my grandson will wake up laughing from his dreams.'

He quickly composed himself and continued, "Ah Zu, you don't need to blame yourself. Even if you had captured Jian Taiding just now, we wouldn't be able to convict him. Instead, it would cause his trusted aides in the Governor-General's Mansion to take desperate measures, which would be even worse."

"What do you mean by that?" Zu An frowned.

Sang Hong explained, "Because we have no evidence. Regarding the previous collusion with the demon race, only Zuo Su's involvement was recorded, not Jian Taiding's. Furthermore, regarding their killing of Zuo Su, you were the only one present who heard it. If they deny it, there's nothing we can do. Unless you could have captured the demon Grandmaster and the others on the spot. But if that demon Grandmaster was also there, your life would have been in danger today."