"What?" Zu An was truly shocked. He never expected that the other party could be connected with the Prince of Yan.

He couldn't help but be shocked. Prince Yan was known for his crackdown on the Demonic Sect and its affiliated rebels over the years, and he had received countless rewards from the court for it. They were universally recognized as mortal enemies, and no one would associate them together.

"Surprised?" Yun Jianyue smiled. "That's precisely why I just wanted to confirm whether you are trustworthy."

Zu An frowned: "I remember when Hong Lei was captured by the Prince of Yan's mansion, I even tried to find a way to rescue her. When exactly did you two make contact?"

"Before that, there were some rumors circulating in the court, suspecting that the Prince of Yan was harboring bandits to enhance his own power. So we joined forces to stage a play, but we didn't expect that it would be you who came from the court at that time." Yun Jianyue seemed apologetic.

In an instant, Zu'an understood many things. The alliance between the Prince of Yan and the Demonic Sect was actually a logical thing. The Prince of Yan was extremely ambitious and would certainly not be content to be the court's henchman. In addition, he was already a vassal king, so there was nothing more he could be granted.

Even if we really wipe out the evil cult, what will we gain?

Could he possibly become the crown prince?

On the contrary, it would cause losses of soldiers and generals. Moreover, although he was a member of the royal family, he was not of the same lineage as Zhao Hao, and their blood relationship was relatively distant. He understood the principle of "when the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked; when the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away."

So, on the surface, he did his best to suppress the evil cult, but in reality, he nurtured bandits to enhance his own power. In this way, he could continuously obtain various military supplies, rewards, and policy advantages from the imperial court.

There's so much room for manipulation here, using this as an excuse to smuggle goods.

Therefore, raising a private army became a logical next step.

The Demonic Sect naturally didn't want a Prince of Yan who was constantly besieging them, so the two sides hit it off. Every year, the Demonic Sect would provide some sacrifices for the Prince of Yan to gain merits and fulfill their obligations, while the Demonic Sect would use the Prince of Yan's protection to strengthen themselves.

No wonder he said such strange things when he saved Qiu Honglei, and even said something inexplicable like whether he would forgive her if she did something wrong to him. So that's why.

At the time, Qiu Honglei was not in any danger. She knew the truth but could not tell herself, so she could only hint at it vaguely.

The words of the seventh-ranked Gold Medalist at that time are understandable. As a Gold Medalist sent by the Emperor to monitor the region, he probably already suspected the relationship between the Prince of Yan and the Demonic Sect.

Based on the various details he encountered during his involvement in rescuing Qiu Honglei, he probably already concluded at that time that the two sides were indeed conspiring.

The profound and enigmatic words he spoke to me back then, which seemed like his last words, were probably because he was worried that if I continued to investigate the Prince of Yan, my life would be in danger, so he left me with a backup plan.

As he had predicted, he died under mysterious circumstances not long afterward.

Yun Jianyue watched his expression shift from light to dark, and finally settle down before speaking, "I know you're a smart man, and you should have figured it out by now."

Zu'an nodded, then sighed softly, "You've kept the truth from everyone for so long. If the Prince of Yan hadn't been arrested, would you still have told me the truth?"

“Indeed, as you say, I wouldn’t be in this situation if the Prince of Yan hadn’t been arrested, but…” Yun Jianyue’s pair of majestic yet alluring phoenix eyes stared at her.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have told the truth; I would have used other tactics instead," Zu An said.

Zu An smiled and hugged her: "It seems that Sister Yun really considers me one of her own, otherwise she wouldn't have told me such a secret about the Demonic Sect."

"Don't be so disrespectful." Yun Jianyue moved aside, avoiding his touch. "I've already told you, you have to treat me with the same respect as your master from now on, otherwise Hong Lei will find out something is wrong sooner or later."

Zuan looked strange. Thinking back to how he had rampaged through her body, it was really hard for him to regard her as a master or elder.

"Ahem," he quickly composed himself, "but according to what you said, Prince Yan is still the prime suspect in killing the seventh-ranked gold medalist."

Yun Jianyue shook her head: "The Prince of Yan has mentioned several times that he wants to kill the Seventh Gold Medalist, but his identity makes it inconvenient to do so. So he has contacted the Holy Sect several times, but I thought that you are also a Gold Medalist Embroidered Robe, and I was afraid that the Seventh Gold Medalist might have some connection with you, so I did not agree."

Zu An's heart stirred, and he looked at her with some emotion: "Back then, we hadn't had an intimate relationship yet, but you were still so considerate of me. Sister Yun really cares about me."

Yun Jianyue spat out: "Pah, I only wanted to repay the favor you did for me in the palace back then, I didn't think so much about it."

Zuan didn't argue, he just watched with a smile.

"What are you looking at? Let's get down to business." Yun Jianyue was a little annoyed. She had finally come up with a way to get along with him, but she didn't expect this kid to be so shameless. She was having a hard time dealing with him.

Zu'an then stopped smiling: "Could it be that the Prince of Yan hired someone else to do it?"

Cloud

Yue shook her head: "Impossible. Not long after the incident with the seventh-ranked gold medalist, he contacted the Holy Church and asked us to help him investigate the truth of the matter. He has no reason to lie to me."

Zu'an nodded, agreeing with her. The Prince of Yan and she were partners, so there was no need for him to lie to her about this matter.

No wonder the Prince of Yan said in prison that he had found someone to investigate but was unwilling to say who it was. It was mainly because if his collusion with the Demonic Sect were exposed, he would also be killed without a burial place, so he dared not tell Jin Pai Eleven.

However, he never expected that the leader of the Demonic Cult would be so familiar with me.

"Did Sister Yun find anything?"

Yun Jianyue replied, "Originally, I thought that with the power of the Prince of Yan and the abilities of our Holy Sect, finding the real culprit would be a piece of cake. However, the clues often went cold during the investigation. After a while, we couldn't find any valuable clues. That's when I realized that there was a powerful force behind this, even more powerful than the Prince of Yan, hiding in the shadows."

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