Chapter 1676: Lucky Stroke
After giving the order, the floating head in the sky gradually dissipated. The officials both inside and outside the city bowed and said, “We respectfully bid your majesty farewell.”
With Zhao Han’s appearance, the potential for rebellion had all but completely dissolved. Zhao Huang and his troops left Yi City’s surroundings, allowing all the officials on Yi City’s walls to sigh in relief.
Zu An flew over to the city gates. Zhang Jie greeted him and said, “It is all thanks to Sir Eleven’s prompt arrival today, or else the consequences would have been too horrible to imagine.” When he saw that Zu An remained quiet, as if he had something on his mind, he continued, “Sir Eleven must feel a lot of pressure from what his majesty said earlier. I have managed to collect quite a bit of evidence recently and will give all of it to sir.”
“Thank you, Sir Zhang.” Zu An sneered. This Zhang Jie really was crafty. On the surface, he seemed to be acting out of concern for Zu An, but in reality, he was pushing Zu An closer and closer to the pit of hell.
The emperor already expressed that he didn’t want to bring down King Yan, and yet this man is now handing me evidence of his crimes. Is he trying to start another rebellion?
After they exchanged some more words and ended the conversation, Xiao Jianren and Zhang Zitong both surrounded Zu An and asked, “Sir Eleven, is there anything you need our help with? We won’t hesitate to be of service!”
They were clearly worried that something could happen to Zu An because of the emperor’s three-day time limit.
Zu An nodded slightly and said, “It’s fine. You all should just continue the investigation as previously assigned. As for this case, I’ve already come up with a corresponding plan.” Afterward, he quickly disappeared.
His two subordinates sighed in admiration. They were still completely baffled, and yet Sir Eleven already had a way of dealing with the situation. He really was mysterious and unfathomable!
After Zu An left the city, Yun Jianyue quickly reappeared. She sighed as she looked at him, remarking, “You were really toying with the emperor like a monkey, but he didn’t treat you much better either. Should I be praising you or should I feel bad for you?”
“I’m already used to it,” Zu An said, his expression remaining calm. “He loves playing these sorts of power games and gets pleasure out of feeling as if he has the fate of others in his palm. If not for that, I might have actually followed him loyally.”
Yun Jianyue clicked her tongue and said, “You were never the sort of person to be content with following another. Sometimes, I even feel as if you aren’t from this world. The way you think is way too different from that of other people.”
Zu An laughed and replied, “There’s no harm in telling you this, then. I actually transmigrated from a different world.”
“Tsk, if you’re from a different world, I’m a goddess descended from the heavens,” Yun Jianyue retorted, snickering. She naturally treated what he said as a joke.
However, her smile quickly faded and she asked, “What are you planning to do now? You only have three days left.”
“I plan to visit the Hub of Freedom. There are many things I need to confirm,” Zu An replied. Many of the things that had happened recently appeared in his mind. He already had a rough idea as to what was happening.
“I’ll talk things over with King Yan’s side and tell them not to cause any more trouble. At the same time, I’ll see if I can improve the relationship between you two, so I won’t be keeping you company in the Hub of Freedom,” Yun Jianyue said. She definitely didn’t want to have to deal with another one of his women.
Zu An nodded. Time was pressing, so they didn’t say much more and quickly parted ways.
…
Zu An went straight to the Hub of Freedom. Even though it was extremely hidden from other people, after several trips there, he was already completely familiar with the way. He had a special token, so the guards of the Hub of Freedom didn’t trouble him. Soon after, someone guided him to Tang Tian’er’s residence.
Tang Tian’er just happened to emerge from her room just then. Her characteristic sweet smile was on her face as always. Zu An had to admit that in a money-squandering establishment like the Hub of Freedom, both Tang Tian’er’s appearance and her attitude were perfect.
Tang Tian’er was surprised by his visit. She waved her hand to dismiss everyone else and invited him into her room. She poured some tea while saying with a smile, “I was just about to look for you, yet you came to me instead. Doesn’t this mean our two hearts are beating as one?”
Zu An said with a sigh, “Sometimes, I really can’t tell if that’s really what you think or if you’re just putting on an act.”
Tang Tian’er suddenly looked as if she were about to cry. She replied, “Your words are really hurtful, you know?”
Zu An ignored her and asked, “You were looking for me?”
“Of course! Something so major happened in Yi Commandery, and you were given a three-day restriction by the emperor. I was worried about your safety!” Tang Tian’er replied.
“Your sources of information are surprisingly sharp,” Zu An said with a hint of surprise. He had practically traveled directly from Yi City, and yet Tang Tian’er already knew what had happened.
“Don’t forget what our Hub of Freedom does for a living,” Tang Tian’er said with a smile. There was a bit of pride on her face.
“Then you should know why I came here to visit you today, right?” Zu An replied, staring straight into her eyes.
Tang Tian’er’s eyes remained clear. There wasn’t a hint of alarm in them as she replied, “You’re probably worried about how to deal with the emperor’s three-day time limit. But there’s no need for you to be too worried. If you really can’t solve the case in three days, our Hub of Freedom can guarantee your protection and safety.”
“The Hub of Freedom really is generous in your speech,” Zu An said with a harrumph. “You know I’m not here for that.”
“Then why are you here?” Tang Tian’er replied, giving him a look of confusion with an innocent and pure appearance.
“The case of Golden Token Seven’s death last time,” Zu An said bluntly. “The one who threw the corpse into Blackwater Pool was you, right?”
Tang Tian’er’s expression changed. She replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Wasn’t all of that done by King Yan? According to what I know, there was a traitor among your Embroidered Envoy who was bought out by King Yan, who then deliberately tried to frame us.”
Zu An looked at her with a gaze full of disappointment. He didn’t say another word and got up to leave.
When she saw his expression, Tang Tian’er trembled inside and quickly got up, shouting, “Wait!”
Zu An stopped in front of the door, but he didn’t turn around.
Tang Tian’er gritted her teeth and asked, “Are you here as Golden Token Eleven or as Ah Zu right now?”
“Is there a difference?” Zu An asked calmly.
“If you came as a Golden Token Envoy, then what I just said is my reply,” Tang Tian’er said. She paused for a moment, then added, “If it’s as Ah Zu, then I have something else to say. Does he have any interest in hearing me out?”
Zu An turned around and looked at her in shock. To be honest, he hadn’t had much confidence in getting anything out of this exchange after having discovered that Tang Tian’er seemed to be deliberately lying to him.
When she saw him turn around, Tang Tian’er’s sweet smile returned. She ran over and grabbed his arm to bring him back to his seat. She said, “It’s been a long time since we friends have met, so why are you in such a rush to leave?”
“Do you really see me as a friend?” Zu An asked with a sigh.
Tang Tian’er felt wronged and replied, “If I really didn’t treat you as a friend, would I have given up so much?”
Zu An was alarmed. He remembered how she had helped him when he hid in her bathtub. He had to admit that if she really was trying to fool him, there would have been no need for her to go that far at all.
Tang Tian’er slowly said, “The one who brought Golden Token Seven to Blackwater Pool was indeed me.”
Zu An was alarmed. He asked, “Was Golden Token Seven killed by the Hub of Freedom?”
Tang Tian’er shook her head and replied, “Golden Token Seven was already dead. I only brought his corpse there to discard it.”
“Why did you have to do that?” Zu An asked in confusion.
“I knew about the turtle spirit under Blackwater Pool, so I wanted to use its eyes to provide the officials with some information, which was that Golden Token Seven was already dead when he was thrown into the water. Meanwhile, his cause of death was supposedly drowning, so they would definitely have harbored suspicions,” Tang Tian’er explained. Her little mouth inadvertently turned downward in a pout as she continued, “But I never expected you to be the one who came to investigate this case.”
Zu An was surprised. He said, “So you wanted us to suspect that it was a spirit element expert who attacked him, and the most famous practitioner of those methods in all of Yi Commandery was none other than King Yan Manor’s Sir Huo.”
“Indeed. King Yan wanted to seize the Zhenyuan Merchant Group’s market share in Cloudcenter Commandery, and he has been aggressively attacking the Hub of Freedom over the past few years in Yi Commandery. I naturally wanted to get some revenge,” Tang Tian’er said confidently.
Zu An frowned slightly. To be honest, she had enough motive, but he still felt that she was just saying that as an excuse and was still hiding something. However, he didn’t keep pressuring her and instead asked, “According to what that turtle said, you seemed to be muttering to yourself that you hoped the corpse would be found earlier. Were you not worried that the turtle spirit would expose you?”
“I let it see me on purpose,” Tang Tian’er said with a mischievous smile. “According to the Hub of Freedom’s intelligence over the past few years, an important collaborator of King Yan was a mysterious woman, but we could never track down her identity. We wanted to use that turtle spirit to implicate that woman and King Yan Manor, then use the Embroidered Envoy to find out her identity. But who would have thought that you didn’t follow that trail and found us instead! That was what I couldn't figure out.”
Zu An had a strange expression. The mysterious woman she was talking about was likely Yun Jianyue. King Yan and the Devil Sect working together was likely something not even most of King Yan Manor or the Devil Sect’s higher-ups knew. Only someone such as Golden Token Seven, with his abundant experience, had been able to detect something strange.
By an even bigger coincidence, King Yan had also wanted to redirect the disaster onto the Hub of Freedom, so he had described the woman’s appearance in a way that pointed to Tang Tian’er. The original framing attempt had ended up succeeding by a lucky stroke.
Still, the problem remained: Who was the true culprit behind Golden Token Seven’s death?
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