"Why?" Zuan pressed.

Mr. Huo replied, "The Prince of Yan's mansion is heavily guarded, and the Prince of Yan's study is the most important of all. Moreover, the Prince of Yan has recruited many martial arts masters, and the study itself is full of traps and mechanisms, so it is impossible for him to obtain that account book."

"What kind of mechanism is it?" Zu'an shouted.

Mr. Huo's expression changed: "You don't really want to steal the ledgers, do you? That's impossible."

"I ask, you answer; no need for any other nonsense," Zu An said coldly.

Mr. Huo swallowed hard: "The specific mechanism is highly classified, and I don't know it. However, I do know that the place where the ledger is hidden has a self-destruct device. It will destroy the ledger if there is any disturbance. This was accidentally revealed by the Prince of Yan when he was drunk."

Zu An thought to himself that the ledger was full of evidence of treason, so it was normal for the Prince of Yan to be so cautious.

He then asked some more questions until he could get nothing more out of Mr. Huo, at which point he knocked Mr. Huo unconscious.

He then tried to wake the other embroidered messengers, but after being under the illusion spell, ordinary shouts were ineffective. He had to use Bai Ming's ability to wake them up.

"Don't look into his eyes!" Upon waking, the group was like frightened birds, scattering in all directions to avoid him.

Upon seeing the scene inside the room, the group was instantly stunned. Zhang Zitong stared incredulously at Mr. Huo on the ground: "The Eleventh Lord has already subdued him?"

Zu An did not answer, while Xiao Jianren, who was standing to the side, began to flatter him: "Lord Eleven is truly unfathomable."

"Even someone as formidable as Mr. Huo was easily subdued."

...

Zhang Zitong had a complicated expression. She considered herself one of the best among the Embroidered-Robe Envoys in Yi County, but she was completely powerless to resist Mr. Huo.

Speaking of which, Mr. Huo hadn't fully unleashed his abilities at the Prince of Yan's residence last time. Just now, his life was in danger, and the other party held nothing back. He was instantly plunged into a nightmare from which he couldn't escape.

"I've asked you all the questions I needed to. You can keep an eye on this guy for now." Zuan shared the information he had just obtained with the others.

Xiao Jianren was shocked: "The Prince of Yan actually intends to rebel!"

Whether it was smuggling military supplies to the demon race or raising private soldiers, each of these actions was enough to constitute the crime of treason. Several silver-plated embroidered-clothes soldiers in the room turned ashen-faced, knowing what this meant.

"No wonder they took the risk and harmed the Seventh Master!" Zhang Zitong said through gritted teeth.

The people in the room nodded secretly. Before, they couldn't understand why someone would dare to kill the Golden Embroidered Robe. The risk and reward were completely disproportionate. Now they finally understood. The Prince of Yan knew that the Seventh Golden Robe was investigating him and had no choice but to kill him.

"Your Excellency, we will immediately report our discovery here to the imperial court," Zhang Zitong said with a look of hatred.

Zuan shook his head: "We don't have concrete evidence. The reason why the seventh-place gold medalist wasn't reported back then was obviously because of this."

“Isn’t there a witness?” Zhang Zitong pointed to Mr. Huo on the ground.

The usually imposing Mr. Huo now looked like a wretched old man, his pants half-pulled down, revealing half of his buttocks, looking like he had been brutally violated.

Her expression suddenly became somewhat strange. No wonder the Eleventh Lord had been indifferent to me all along; it turned out that this was his type.

Zuan was unaware that his image had already crumbled in the eyes of a young girl. He explained, "One witness is not enough to bring down the Prince of Yan. He can simply deny it. He can't really avenge the seventh-ranked gold medalist."

Xiao Jianren, standing nearby, had a sudden thought: "Could it be that Lord Eleven is planning to find that mysterious ledger?"

Zuan nodded. Finding the ledger wasn't the end of the matter; he also needed to verify and secure relevant evidence based on its contents.

"Could that be a trap?" Zhang Zitong asked with some concern.

"So you need to investigate these next few days and find out all the information about where the ledger is kept," Zu'an ordered.

"Yes!" Zhang Zitong, Xiao Jianren and the others bowed and accepted the order. Logically speaking, it would be impossible for outsiders to find out about such confidential matters, but as Embroidered Robe Envoys, they always had their own methods.

"By the way, this matter is of utmost importance. Remember not to leak a single word, otherwise you may very well follow in the footsteps of the Seventh Master," Zu An reminded him. If the Prince of Yan had been alerted, it wouldn't have been difficult to eliminate a few silver-ranked embroidered-clothes soldiers on his territory.

Zhang Zitong and the others felt a chill run down their spines, and their expressions became somewhat solemn.

Zu An nodded, and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. He turned back and instructed, "The Ruyi Fang business can't continue like this. Be careful when you handle things, and don't let the Prince of Yan find out anything."

"Don't worry, we're professionals at this, and we won't arouse any suspicion from the Prince of Yan," Zhang Zitong replied.

Zuan was relieved and quickly disappeared into the night.

Leaving aside the arduous journey, it was already past midnight when they returned to Zishan. Xie Daoyun was fast asleep on the couch in the outer room. When she was awake, she was a very quiet and demure lady, but her sleeping posture was not so well-behaved. Half of the quilt was almost on the ground, revealing her thin inner shirt and her fair and tender skin.

Zu An chuckled to himself. This silly girl really had no sense of self-preservation. He carefully walked over, pulled up the blanket, and was about to cover her with it.

"Who!" Xie Daoyun suddenly woke up.

Their eyes met, and Zu An, who was holding a blanket, didn't know whether to put it down or pick it up again. He said awkwardly, "Would you believe me if I said I was covering you with the blanket?"

Xie Daoyun's originally fair skin instantly turned red, and she pulled the quilt over herself, saying, "Thank you, Brother Zu!"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!