Upon hearing this, Zu An's spirits lifted immediately; it seemed this trip had indeed been worthwhile.

Unfortunately, the person speaking had an extremely hoarse and somewhat strange voice, as if they were deliberately trying to conceal their true voice.

"If Zuo Su doesn't die, will everyone here feel at ease?" At this moment, the black-robed man sitting at the far end also spoke, his tone seemingly sarcastic.

Zuan frowned, unable to understand why these people would disguise themselves like this when they met in private, even changing their voices. Did they not know each other?

However, upon closer inspection, he noticed a difference: although everyone was wearing black robes, the patterns on the sleeves and collars were different.

The person at the farthest end has white patterns, the person to his left has orange patterns on their robe, and the person to his right has red patterns on their robe.

The other two have patterns in cyan and yellow, respectively.

"What do these colors represent?" Zuan pondered.

What made him even more solemn was the cultivation level of these people. Although it was difficult to make a specific judgment, there were at least two Grandmasters and two peak Ninth Rank cultivators. The weakest one was at least at the mid-Ninth Rank. Moreover, it could not be ruled out that these people were hiding their true strength.

Have all the masters from Yunzhong County come here?

Zuan complained endlessly, realizing that one shouldn't make rash promises; he might accidentally stumble here.

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

After a while, the man in the black robe with yellow stripes, who had his back to Zu'an, came out to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, nobody wants this to happen. The most urgent thing is to think about what to do after Zuo Su dies? What to do about the power vacancy in the prefectural governor's office?"

At this moment, the man in the red-patterned black robe spoke up: "Hmph, Xu Yu recently took over the prefectural governor's office, and the power vacancy has long been filled."

Zu An thought to himself that Xu Yu was not one of them, and finally there was someone in the entire Yunzhong County whom he could temporarily trust.

“It’s alright. Xu Yu isn’t good at socializing and doesn’t have the skills to build up his team. He’s not a big threat to us,” said the man in the blue-patterned black robe beside him. His voice was old, indicating that he was no longer young.

At this moment, the man in the orange-patterned black robe added, "Xu Yu comes from a poor family and has no powerful background, so he is not a threat."

Zuan was taken aback. The man was sitting upright, and there was a familiar feeling about him, but he couldn't remember who he was for the time being.

At this moment, the man in the white-striped black robe tapped the table: "Find an opportunity to win over Xu Yu and make him one of our people."

The old man with blue markings smiled bitterly and said, "That guy is arrogant and self-important. We've tried to win him over before, but unfortunately, he didn't know what was good for him."

"That means you chose the wrong direction. Everyone has weaknesses, and you should try to win people over by appealing to their preferences. Take Zuo Su, for example; he was completely unyielding before, but we still managed to win him over in the end." The white-striped man snorted.

“That makes sense. I’ll take a closer look,” the man in the black robe with yellow stripes replied in a deep voice.

"More than trying to win over Xu Yu, I'm concerned about another issue," the white-striped man slowly turned his head, seemingly scanning everyone present, "Why was Zuo Su arrested? And it's clear the imperial envoy didn't arrest him randomly; he also sent people to arrest some related officials at the same time. How did the imperial envoy know all this so clearly?"

At this moment, the man in the yellow-patterned black robe hesitated for a moment and said, "The Imperial Envoy Deputy Envoy Zu An visited Zhenyuan Bank before and took a box that someone else had left here. Not long after, Sang Hong started arresting people. I suspect that the box may have recorded something."

All eyes turned to him. The man in the red-patterned black robe said in a sinister tone, "So it turns out you guys leaked the secret?"

Unexpectedly, upon hearing them mention him, Zu An's heart stirred. It seemed that the identity of this man in the yellow-striped black robe could be confirmed; he was a member of the Zhenyuan Chamber of Commerce, but he didn't know who he was.

Judging from this, even if he's not the president, he's definitely one of the highest-ranking members of the chamber of commerce.

The man in the yellow-striped black robe hurriedly waved his hand: "Of course not. If we had really leaked the secret, why would I have said it? That box was stored in the bank long ago. The bank's rules are that they never peek at customers' belongings, which is why this accident happened."

"Who stored that box?" the man in the orange-patterned black robe asked.

“We sent people to investigate, and it was a little beggar who came here to deposit it…” The man in the yellow robe with yellow stripes was interrupted by the others before he could finish speaking.

"You didn't suspect anything when a little beggar went to the bank to deposit his valuables?" The men glared at him resentfully, clearly blaming him for ruining things.

The man in the yellow-striped black robe smiled bitterly and said, "Those who come to our place to store things usually have all sorts of shady reasons. It's common for them to ask beggars to help them store things, since we only recognize the keys, not the people."

"After several investigations over the past two days, we finally found the little beggar from back then. Based on his description, the person who stored the box should be Shen Zhou."

"Sinking Boat!" the others exclaimed in low voices, clearly all knowing this person.

For an ordinary guard to be remembered by so many top figures is truly unprecedented.

"I didn't expect him to have this trick up his sleeve!" The white-striped man slammed his hand on the table.

Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Yesterday, when the imperial envoy's men were arresting people, the other related individuals were dealt with promptly. Who among you arranged that?"

Just as the others were about to answer, a ray of light suddenly appeared on the round table.

Zuan cursed inwardly. It turned out that the dark clouds and dim lighting made it perfect for a nighttime infiltration.

Just then, without anyone noticing, the clouds dispersed, revealing the moon behind them.

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