Chapter 1672: Secret Truths

"What?" Zu An was genuinely shocked. He had never imagined the other party could be connected to the King of Yan.

His shock was understandable. The King of Yan had been famous for years for suppressing the Demonic Cult and its affiliated rebels, earning countless imperial commendations. They were widely regarded as mortal enemies; no one would ever associate them.

"Are you surprised?" Yun Jianyue smiled. "That's precisely why I needed to confirm whether you were trustworthy just now."

Zu An frowned. "I remember Qiu Honglei was captured by the King of Yan's mansion, and I went to great lengths to rescue her. When exactly did you two establish contact?"

"It was before that. Around that time, rumors were circulating in the imperial court, suspecting the King of Yan of harboring bandits to inflate his own importance. So, we collaborated on a charade, only we didn't expect the imperial envoy who arrived then to be you," Yun Jianyue said, sounding somewhat apologetic.

In an instant, Zu An understood many things. The alliance between the King of Yan and the Demonic Cult was actually quite logical. The King of Yan was extremely ambitious and would certainly not be content with merely being the court's enforcer. Moreover, as a vassal king, he had reached the highest possible rank.

Even if he truly annihilated the Demonic Cult, what more could he gain?

Could he possibly become the Crown Prince?

On the contrary, he would only suffer losses in troops and resources. Although he was of royal blood, he wasn't from the same lineage as Zhao Hao, making their kinship relatively distant. He understood the principle of 'when the cunning rabbit dies, the hounds are cooked; when the high-flying bird is gone, the good bow is put away.'

Therefore, while outwardly he diligently suppressed the Demonic Cult, he secretly nurtured its existence to enhance his own standing. This allowed him to continuously receive various military supplies, commendations, and policy advantages from the imperial court.

This created ample room for manipulation, making it natural for him to smuggle goods and maintain a private army.

The Demonic Cult, naturally, didn't want the King of Yan constantly besieging them. So, the two parties immediately saw eye to eye. Each year, the Cult would provide some "sacrifices" to allow the King of Yan to claim military victories and report to the court, while they would grow stronger under his protection.

No wonder the words he spoke when I rescued Qiu Honglei were so strange—muttering odd things like whether he would forgive her if she had done something to displease him. This was the reason.

At the time, Qiu Honglei was never in danger. She knew the truth but couldn't openly tell him, only able to hint vaguely.

And now, the words of Golden Plaque Seventh also made sense. As a Golden Plaque Embroidered Uniform Guard dispatched by the emperor to oversee the region, he had likely long suspected the relationship between the King of Yan and the Demonic Cult.

Having participated in Qiu Honglei's rescue, and based on various details encountered, he had probably confirmed their collusion by then.

The profound, almost testamentary words he had spoken to Zu An at the time were likely due to his concern that Zu An would face mortal danger if he continued investigating the King of Yan, so he had left a hidden message or clue with him.

Subsequent events indeed proved him right; he died mysteriously not long after.

Yun Jianyue watched his expression shift between gloom and clarity, finally settling into calm, before she spoke: "I knew you were intelligent. You must have figured out the crux of the matter by now."

Zu An nodded, then let out a soft sigh. "You've really kept the world in the dark. If the King of Yan hadn't been arrested this time, would you still have kept the truth from me?"

"Indeed, as you said, I wouldn't have done this if the King of Yan hadn't been arrested, but..." Yun Jianyue's majestic yet alluring phoenix eyes fixed on Zu An, "if it weren't for our connection, I wouldn't have told you the plain truth. I would have used other persuasive tactics."

Zu An smiled and reached out to embrace her. "It seems Sister Yun truly considers me one of your own, otherwise, you wouldn't tell me such a vital secret of the Demonic Cult."

"Don't be so presumptuous," Yun Jianyue shifted aside, avoiding his touch. "I've told you before, you need to treat me with the respect due to a master from now on, or Honglei will notice something amiss sooner or later."

Zu An's expression was peculiar. Remembering how he had behaved so recklessly with her before, it was truly difficult to regard her as a master or elder.

"Ahem," he quickly composed himself. "But according to what you've said, the King of Yan is still the prime suspect in Golden Plaque Seventh's murder."

Yun Jianyue shook her head. "The King of Yan hinted several times that he wanted to kill Golden Plaque Seventh, but his status made it inconvenient for him to act personally. He contacted the Holy Cult multiple times, but I considered that you are also a Golden Plaque Embroidered Uniform Guard and feared that Golden Plaque Seventh might have some connection with you, so I refused."

Zu An's heart stirred, and he looked at her, a little touched. "We weren't even intimate back then, yet you thought of me so much. Sister Yun truly has me in her heart."

Yun Jianyue spat lightly. "Hmph, I simply owed you a favor from the imperial palace back then and wanted to repay it. It wasn't anything more than that."

Zu An didn't argue, just watched her with a smile.

"What are you looking at? Let's get serious," Yun Jianyue said, a little annoyed. She had finally figured out a way to interact with him, only to find this young man was so thick-skinned that she couldn't quite handle him.

Zu An then dropped his smile. "Could it be that the King of Yan found someone else to do it?"

Yun Jianyue shook her head. "Impossible. Not long after Golden Plaque Seventh's incident, he contacted the Holy Cult and asked us to help him investigate the truth. He had no reason to lie to me."

Zu An nodded, acknowledging her words. The King of Yan was her collaborator, so there was no need to deceive her on this matter.

No wonder the King of Yan had said in prison that he'd found someone to investigate but refused to name them. If his collusion with the Demonic Cult were exposed, it would also lead to his ruin, which is why he dared not tell Golden Plaque Eleven.

He simply never imagined the Demonic Cult Leader would be so familiar with me.

"Then, Sister Yun, have you found anything?"

Yun Jianyue replied, "Originally, I thought with the King of Yan's influence, combined with the Holy Cult's capabilities, it would be easy to find the true culprit. However, the clues often disappeared mid-investigation. After a period of time, we hadn't found any valuable leads. That's when I realized there was a powerful force behind it, perhaps even as influential as the King of Yan's own power, lurking in the shadows."

Zu An was stunned. "The entire Yi Commandery is the King of Yan's territory, and you have the Holy Cult's assistance. How could there be such a force unknown to you?"

"That's what puzzles us too," Yun Jianyue said, her phoenix brows furrowed. "However, the King of Yan is a cunning schemer. Since he couldn't find the mastermind, he decided to steer the situation in the direction most favorable to himself. Conveniently, you arrived in Yi Commandery, so he had the Embroidered Uniform Guard he'd bribed, Jiang Zhong, mislead you into investigating the Carefree Pavilion."

Zu An suddenly understood. "Why did he want me to go after the Carefree Pavilion?"

The Flying Horse Chamber of Commerce under the King of Yan had competed with the Zhenyuan Chamber of Commerce in Yunzhong Commandery before. Could the Carefree Pavilion have some connection to the Zhenyuan Chamber of Commerce?

Yun Jianyue's answer, however, surprised him: "The Carefree Pavilion is quite close to Prefect Zhang of Yi Commandery. For years, Zhang Jie has consistently opposed the King of Yan in various matters, and the King of Yan, constrained by Zhang Jie's status, couldn't deal with him directly, always viewing him as a thorn in his side. So, he wanted you to investigate the Carefree Pavilion and then Zhang Jie, to help him eliminate this adversary."

Zu An's heart skipped a beat.

Zhang Jie?

It seemed he had previously overlooked Zhang Jie's existence.

To have contended with the King of Yan in Yi Commandery for so many years, how could he be as spineless and incompetent as he appeared?

"But you clearly fell into his trap. Why didn't you investigate the Carefree Pavilion later? Instead, you started investigating the King of Yan again?" Yun Jianyue asked, voicing the King of Yan's greatest bewilderment over the past few days.

The King of Yan had initially thought his 'divert the disaster to the east' tactic was brilliant, but it hadn't worked, leaving him restless even in his sleep.

Having nothing to hide from Yun Jianyue, Zu An replied, "Mainly, there's a friend of mine in the Carefree Pavilion. We had a chat, and I believe she wouldn't deceive me."

"You deliberately omitted their title, so I assume it's a girl, and certainly a breathtaking beauty," Yun Jianyue sneered repeatedly. "You really are something, boy. From all walks of life, be it prestigious sects or covert organizations, you seem to have a little lover everywhere."

Zu An chuckled awkwardly. "Not at all, just friends, merely friends."

"Friends, like you and me?" Yun Jianyue blurted out, then immediately regretted it. Wasn't she just implicating herself?

"Certainly not as intimate as with Sister Yun," Zu An immediately said with a serious expression. This was the truth, and he felt no guilt in saying it.

"Who's intimate with you?" Yun Jianyue's face looked unnatural, perhaps recalling some past scene. "If the King of Yan knew he lost because of your philandering ways, he'd probably be furious enough to drop dead."

Zu An could only offer a wry smile, worried she might elaborate further. He quickly asked, "I'm actually very curious about how the King of Yan managed to bribe Jiang Zhong. You know, Embroidered Uniform Guards undergo rigorous vetting; every one of them is supposed to be of impeccable background and unwavering will. Jiang Zhong's position isn't low, so how could he have been bribed?"

The Embroidered Uniform Guards hadn't been established for very long, not long enough for the organization to become corrupt.

Yun Jianyue's expression grew serious. "The King of Yan didn't bribe him; he saved his life."

Zu An paused, surprised. What was this about?

Yun Jianyue didn't wait for him to ask, continuing, "Originally, Jiang Zhong was targeted for assassination by a group of mysterious individuals. By chance, the King of Yan rescued him, and that's how he was brought into his service."

"Assassination?" Zu An was startled. An Embroidered Uniform Guard being targeted for assassination? Who in the world would dare do such a thing?

Could it be internal factional strife within the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters?

Yun Jianyue said, "That's also the only discovery we've made during our investigation recently: the assassins who tried to silence him were from the Shadow Pavilion."

"Shadow Pavilion?" Zu An hadn't expected to hear the name of this mysterious organization again. From Brightmoon City to the capital, and now here, he had encountered them several times. This organization was even more enigmatic than the Carefree Pavilion.

At least with the Carefree Pavilion, you could find their pleasure dens, but no one had ever seen where the Shadow Pavilion was located.

"It seems Jiang Zhong was recruited by the Shadow Pavilion using some unknown method. Unfortunately, he knew very little about the Shadow Pavilion, so we couldn't extract any valuable information," Yun Jianyue said, sounding somewhat frustrated about this.

"Why was he targeted for assassination?" Zu An pondered for a moment before asking.

"It involves a case of missing gunpowder," Yun Jianyue paused. "And my current visit to Zishan is also to investigate this matter."