Han Fengqiu hesitated for a moment, but Zu An's sword had already pressed down.

The Tai'a sword was so sharp that his fingers were immediately torn open, and blood gushed out.

"No, no, no, I'll tell you!" Han Fengqiu hurriedly said, this guy really did cut vertically.

Sensing the other party's cold attitude, he dared not hold back any longer and explained, "Prince Qi originally cooperated with Jian Yanyou, but that guy Jian Yanyou was cowardly and afraid of trouble. We realized that his younger brother Jian Taiding had great ambitions, so we supported him to take the throne."

"As a result, Jian Taiding rose to power very quickly, so we naturally cooperated with him."

"As a result, after this guy became the acting governor, he got too big for his britches and started to be wary of the prince. He was unwilling to put all his chips on our side, so he secretly tried to win over the Prince of Yan and use the Prince of Yan's power to counterbalance us."

"The prince would naturally not allow such a thing to happen, so he sent his son to bring people over to handle the situation here."

“We cleverly let you discover the revised ledgers, and then, with the help of the imperial envoy, we investigated Zuo Su and Jian Taiding, and successfully eliminated these two biggest obstacles.”

...

Zu An frowned: "Does Zhao Zhi have such abilities?"

Their series of actions in Yunzhong County were simply masterful. If I hadn't stumbled upon the truth by chance, I probably would have been completely fooled.

Zhao Zhi does have some talent in cultivation, but he's arrogant and doesn't seem like the type to devise such a grand scheme.

If that's the case, then I'll have to be more vigilant towards him in the future.

"These are plans discussed by the staff of the Prince's mansion, and the Prince made the final decision. The only reason the Heir Apparent is here is because of his status, which allows him to mobilize the forces from all sides more efficiently." Han Fengqiu stared intently at the sword tip, afraid that the other party might actually chop his finger off in anger.

Zu An pressed on, "You eliminated Jian Taiding and Zuo Su, but now Jian Yanyou is back. Doesn't that mean everything is back to square one?"

Although he knew Jian Yanyou was dead, outsiders didn't.

Han Fengqiu replied, "Jian Yanyou has been missing for two years, and his confidants have been mostly purged. Now that he has returned, he is just a lone wolf. Moreover, he seems to have been seriously injured, and his cultivation is far from its peak, so he is even less of a threat."

"However, he is still a duke after all, and too many things have happened in Yunzhong County recently, so we let him live a few more days."

"Once you imperial envoys leave Yunzhong County and the storm has passed, we will quietly eliminate him and then announce to the outside world that he died from his serious injuries, which will not cause too much of a stir."

Zu An's expression was incredibly interesting after hearing this. He thought to himself that Yu Yanluo had also planned to let him escape in the same way. It was truly remarkable how consistent the thinking of those who had been in positions of power for so long was.

Thinking of this, he casually swung his sword down.

"ah!"

A bloodcurdling scream rang out. Han Fengqiu looked at her finger, which had been cut vertically in half, and cried out in pain and fear, "What are you doing!"

Anger from Han Fengqiu: +777 +777 +777...

Zuan said calmly, "Who told you to be so dishonest? I always have to ask you questions before you answer. I don't have that much patience to play this question-and-answer game with you. Just tell me what you know. My sword can cut through iron like mud, so it wasn't that painful when I cut you just now. I'll find a dull knife to cut you slowly later."

"You're a devil!" Han Fengqiu wanted to curse again, but after meeting the other party's eyes, she immediately backed down and hurriedly said, "After taking down Jian Taiding and Zuo Su, our people took over here. The leader is naturally Pei Shao, the city garrison commander. The Pei family has a deep connection with the royal family. A big reason why the young master came here this time is to form a marriage alliance with their family."

"The prince didn't want to sacrifice the young master's happiness, so he agreed to let him see for himself and decide whether or not to form a marriage alliance with the Pei family. The young master was initially reluctant, but when he saw Miss Pei, he was immediately captivated. Unfortunately, Miss Pei seemed to ignore him. The young master thought it was because Miss Pei was shy since the marriage hadn't been finalized yet. So the reason he left in such a hurry was that he wanted to go back as soon as possible to finalize the marriage so that he could get close to Miss Pei."

Zu An's face was ashen; Zhao Zhi was dreaming.

Seeing his unfriendly expression, fearing that he might have to perform another vertical cut on her other finger, Han Fengqiu hurriedly continued, "Besides Pei Shao, the Governor's Office Sima Yu Xuansu is also one of our people. Over the years, he and Yu Xuanqing have been fighting fiercely within their families. Yu Xuanqing is out of touch with reality and has completely sided with Jian Taiding. Your Highness can just support Yu Xuansu to take his place."

With two heavyweight figures in the local government and the governor's office, plus many middle and lower-level officials who are also protégés of the royal family, it will not be difficult to control Yunzhong County next.

...

Zu An recalled that when he first visited the Pei family, Manman seemed to have mentioned that her stepmother was from the Yu family. Yu Xuansu had even appeared at the Pei residence several times, but at the time he only thought he was visiting his daughter and didn't pay much attention. In fact, they had already colluded together.

His gaze fell on Hu Xin beside him: "What's going on with those tigers?"

Previously, he had dealt more with Kong Qing, and this guy had never appeared around Kong Qing before.

Han Fengqiu was startled, fearing the other party would turn on him again, and hurriedly replied, "Because we previously did business with the demon race through the Jian family. The Jian family has a good relationship with the Peacock Royal Family. In order to completely control the channels, Your Highness wanted to bypass the Peacock Royal Family. It just so happens that the demon race is not a monolithic entity. The Tiger Clan has always been unwilling to be subordinate to the Peacock Royal Family and wants to replace them. Your Highness made full use of this, and the two sides hit it off immediately. The Tiger Clan helped Your Highness establish a new trading network with the demon race, and Your Highness helped the Tiger Clan rise to power."

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