Chapter 1677: Exposed

Zu An didn't hold back and directly asked Tang Tian'er the question.

Tang Tian'er shook her head slightly: "I do know who killed Gold Badge No. 7, but please forgive me, I can't tell you. I can only say it wasn't someone from our Carefree Pavilion."

Zu An fell silent, his mind rapidly piecing together the various pieces of information he had gathered recently, vaguely understanding something.

Seeing his silence, Tang Tian'er couldn't help but feel a little worried: "Are you blaming me now?"

Zu An shook his head at her words: "I'm already very grateful that you've told me this much. How could I possibly blame you?"

"Really?" Tang Tian'er was a little suspicious. "You don't blame me?"

"Of course it's true. You wouldn't tell anyone else this much. I'm too grateful to you to even think of blaming you," Zu An smiled. "You're part of the Carefree Pavilion, so you must have your own concerns. If I were to press you further after you've frankly admitted that, it would be ungracious of me."

"I'm glad I could help," a smile reappeared on Tang Tian'er's face. "Since you've finally made it here, let me show you around the Carefree Pavilion and help you truly relax, so you can experience what genuine carefree living is like."

"I still have matters to attend to. Perhaps another time," Zu An politely declined.

Tang Tian'er didn't insist: "Once you've dealt with your current affairs, I'll be sure to host you properly."

Zu An nodded slightly. After bidding her farewell, he returned to Yi City and summoned Xiao Jianren, Zhang Zitong, and other Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards to the council hall.

"Lord Eleven, have you found anything useful?" Zhang Zitong asked with concern. Her tall figure truly stood out among the Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards, adding a touch of brightness to the otherwise solemn council hall.

"Indeed, I've made significant progress," Zu An replied.

Xiao Jianren, who had been secretly admiring Zhang Zitong's long legs, was jolted to attention by Zu An's words: "Please enlighten us, Lord Eleven!"

Although the emperor had given Lord Eleven a three-day ultimatum, Xiao Jianren, as a direct subordinate of Lord Eleven, knew he wouldn't be able to escape if anything went wrong.

The other Embroidered Uniform Guards also looked intently at Zu An.

Zu An scanned the room and slowly said, "We've been making a mistake all along. The King of Yan smuggling military supplies to train his private army is one case, and the murder of Gold Badge No. 7 is another. We subconsciously conflated these two cases, which is why we made errors."

Zhang Zitong couldn't help but interject: "Lord Eleven, Lord Seven had been investigating the King of Yan's rebellion, and the King of Yan had long hated him to the bone and wanted him dead. You're not going to believe Zhao Huang and his group just because they cried injustice a few times and stirred up trouble today, are you?"

Xiao Jianren's expression sobered instantly, and he quickly spoke up: "Miss Zhang, you are mistaken. Our Lord Eleven is not someone who fears trouble; there must be a reason for what he says."

Zu An nodded inwardly, thinking, 'It seems this old fella hasn't been completely swayed by beauty yet.'

Zhang Zitong, however, seemed unconvinced: "In any case, the King of Yan had the strongest motive and the capability, and there's both human and material evidence. I don't see any problem."

"Let's set aside the physical evidence for now. The human witness you mentioned must be Mr. Huo, but did Mr. Huo ever admit to killing Gold Badge No. 7 from beginning to end?" Zu An asked.

"Of course he wouldn't admit to something like that. In our work, we often encounter people who've clearly committed crimes but still feel they've been wronged," Zhang Zitong said dismissively.

"No matter," Zu An smiled. "I've already sent someone to bring him here. We can question him again shortly."

The expressions of the Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards in the room grew serious. As seasoned investigators, they sensed an unusual atmosphere, but couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.

Just then, an Embroidered Uniform Guard rushed in, distraught, to report: "Lord Eleven, Mr. Huo is dead!"

"Dead?" The expressions of the many Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards in the room changed.

"How did he die?" Zu An, however, remained calm, as if he had already expected it.

"It appears to be suicide," the Embroidered Uniform Guard replied. As professional investigators, they generally possessed some forensic skills, allowing them to roughly determine the cause of death.

Xiao Jianren couldn't help but frown: "Something's not right. Mr. Huo doesn't seem like the kind of person who would be so easily broken."

"He was likely silenced," Zu An slowly said.

At his words, everyone in the room was startled.

"Silenced?" Zhang Zitong asked, puzzled. "He was held in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's prison. Who would have the ability to silence him there?"

The other Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards echoed her:

"Yes, could it be that he knew he couldn't escape death, so he decided to end it all quickly?"

"He has been tortured quite a bit recently. Given his mental cultivation, his body is weak, so it's normal for him to break down."

Listening to their chatter, Zu An calmly stated: "All your premises assume he truly was the killer of Gold Badge No. 7. But what if he wasn't? Having cultivated to his level, would he willingly die?"

Hearing him say this, everyone's expressions changed. If he had indeed been silenced, then there was likely an internal problem within the Embroidered Uniform Guards. They exchanged glances, all secretly raising their guard.

Then Zu An said, "Actually, the reason we prematurely concluded that the King of Yan and Mr. Huo were the killers of Gold Badge No. 7 is because someone was subtly guiding us to think that way."

Xiao Jianren was startled: "That's not right. No one guided us; these were all our own findings..."

Mid-sentence, he suddenly froze, his expression changing several times as he looked at Zhang Zitong beside him.

The other Silver Badges also looked at her. To become a Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guard meant being a top investigator in the Embroidered Uniform system. Aside from cultivation level, their abilities were not that far off from Gold Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards.

They were all intelligent individuals. They hadn't noticed it before, but now, with the hint, they immediately realized that it seemed Zhang Zitong was the first to mention Mr. Huo.

Zhang Zitong's face instantly became a spectacle, and she looked furiously at Zu An: "You suspect me?"

Rage value from Zhang Zitong: 11,111,111...

At this, Xiao Jianren couldn't help but say, "Lord Eleven, could there be some misunderstanding? Lord Seven's kindness to Miss Zhang was as vast as a mountain. How could she possibly do such a thing?"

The Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards nearby also nodded in agreement.

Zu An offered no explanation, instead looking directly at Zhang Zitong: "At first, you intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the King of Yan's manor and Mr. Huo. Later, you deliberately broke into the King of Yan's manor, completely pitting us against them."

"After that, whenever our investigation reached a deadlock or shifted to other areas, you would intentionally guide us back to the King of Yan."

The other Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards felt a chill in their hearts. Recalling the various events from this period, Zhang Zitong indeed exhibited similar behavior. However, at the time, everyone simply thought she was extremely angry and eager for revenge due to the death of Gold Badge No. 7, so no one suspected her.

Zhang Zitong took a deep breath: "Lord Eleven, I used to admire you quite a bit, but today you've proven to be utterly disappointing. We Embroidered Uniform Guards rely on evidence in our investigations. To accuse me based solely on this is far too far-fetched."

"Of course there's evidence," Zu An sighed. "You've actually hidden it quite well all along. Unfortunately, you became too impatient later in your rush to incriminate the King of Yan. You managed to investigate every detail of the secret room in the King of Yan's study, even knowing the exact weight of the final ledger. You created a substitute to avoid triggering the mechanism. Thinking it over, you must have handled that ledger before to know it so precisely."

Zhang Zitong's expression shifted: "I've already stated that anything involving people leaves traces. I learned this by investigating some of the craftsmen who were involved in building the secret room years ago."

"Oh, I had people investigate the craftsmen you mentioned afterwards. They indeed participated in the construction of the King of Yan's manor, but they only worked on the exterior of the study. They knew nothing about the secret room inside. So how could you have obtained that information from them?" Zu An looked at her coldly.

"I..." A hint of panic finally appeared on Zhang Zitong's face. "There are a few other craftsmen. To protect their safety, I intentionally withheld their names. That was also something I promised them."

"Then you can tell us their information now. We'll verify it ourselves," Zu An said, gesturing to a few people in the room. "The lowest rank here is Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guard. Surely, they wouldn't leak any secrets, would they?"

"Yes, Miss Zhang, please tell us their information quickly. We can absolutely guarantee their safety," Xiao Jianren said, looking eagerly at Zhang Zitong, his eyes seemingly carrying a hint of pleading.

"Alright, they live in..." Zhang Zitong's voice trailed off, and Xiao Jianren couldn't help but lean closer to listen.

Just then, Zhang Zitong suddenly lashed out, twisting his arm back and placing a dagger from her sleeve across his throat.

For days, Xiao Jianren had been hoping for an opportunity to get closer to her, but she had always kept her distance. He never expected their closest contact to happen under these circumstances. His face instantly turned ashen.

The other Silver Badge Embroidered Uniform Guards in the room also tensed up, ready to act at any moment. Given her current behavior, how could they not understand what was happening?

Zu An looked at her calmly: "Do you think you can escape?"

Zhang Zitong's face was pale, a mix of defiance and unwillingness flashing across it: "When did you start suspecting me?"