Wanyan Mansion.

The mansion that had been desolate for many days was now brilliantly lit.

Wanyan Jun was under house arrest, waiting for the court’s decree of exile, but he hadn’t completely given up struggling. He kept sending people out to search for Xu Kouyue’s whereabouts, trying to make amends for his mistakes to reverse the situation.

At the same time, he was also watching Gusha—if he could find fault with Gusha and make him stumble, then he might still find a chance for a comeback.

Unfortunately, he found nothing. He even heard that Gusha was about to uncover the truth about the mountain explosion—that the Yucheng Army hadn’t been killed at all, and all the dead were his own people.

If this matter was indeed true, Wanyan Jun would be completely finished. Forget about a comeback—even with nine lives, it wouldn’t be enough to compensate when returning to court.

Wanyan Jun wished Gusha would die, so no one would keep harping on the Yucheng Army and Xu Kouyue matter. But to kill Gusha… was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Until tonight, when his spy suddenly came to tell him that Gusha was dead.

Wanyan Jun was greatly shocked—how did he die? Who was the killer?

Before he could figure it out, Xie Queshan arrived at his mansion with troops. Initially, Wanyan Jun thought he had come to investigate Gusha’s death. He had nothing to do with this matter and was terrified that Xie Queshan would pin another blame on him.

But Xie Queshan was quite polite, saying the assassin had already been caught, and he had come hoping Wanyan Jun would join him in the interrogation to set the record straight.

He was already a man who had lost power and influence—why would Xie Queshan give him such face? This olive branch came so suddenly that Wanyan Jun felt puzzled and inquired in detail about the scene.

“Song Muchuan was someone you personally promoted, Lord Wanyan, responsible for shipbuilding matters. Gusha had no evidence whatsoever, yet insisted he was a Bingzhu Division member. Tonight at the Bureau of Shipping, he forced me to kill him, or else I would be a traitor. Many Qi soldiers in the Bureau of Shipping witnessed this.”

Wanyan Jun’s expression became stern, unconsciously adopting a defensive posture: “What choice did you make, Young Master?”

“If I killed Song Muchuan, I would be framing you unjustly, my lord. If I didn’t kill him, I would be putting myself in a position of disloyalty. Just as I was struggling with this dilemma, an arrow suddenly came from nowhere and killed General Gusha.”

Listening to Xie Queshan’s tone, Wanyan Jun felt something was increasingly wrong. He could discern the situation when Gusha died—Xie Queshan had been suspected by Gusha of being a traitor, and then Gusha died. Xie Queshan was probably in a very passive position right now.

After all, the Black Crow Camp was still watching in the shadows. In this matter, whether Xie Queshan did much or little, he could easily leave some grounds for criticism.

And currently, in Li Du Mansion, no one was more suitable than Wanyan Jun to step forward at this time.

Understanding these stakes, Wanyan Jun immediately became energized—wasn’t this the best opportunity for him to regain power? Truly, after mountains and rivers block the way with no path in sight, willows and flowers bring another bright village.

Immediately, Wanyan Jun went with Xie Queshan to the prison.

The killer wasn’t some Bingzhu Division member, but actually a Qi soldier.

From the wound, Gusha had indeed been killed by a standard Qi army crossbow arrow.

The Qi soldier was named Adian, previously one of Gusha’s trusted subordinates, who should have died on the day of the mountain explosion, but unexpectedly had returned alive. Looking closely, he was lame in one leg.

When Xie Queshan saw that the captured killer was this person, he understood that his thinking was correct—this was a chess piece Zhang Yuehui had planted. He must have hidden some useful material here. Now it seemed Boss Zhang’s money had been well spent.

Next, he only needed to step back behind Wanyan Jun and be a spectator.

Adian’s mouth was tough. Even beaten half to death, he refused to say why he wanted to kill Gusha, single-mindedly seeking death.

Wanyan Jun was no pushover either. Before long, he had investigated Adian’s entire background, discovering he had an old mother and two brothers at home, then threatened him with his family’s lives.

At this point, the dying Adian suddenly said with grief and indignation: “My family members have all been killed anyway, so I have nothing left to fear! If you’re capable, just kill me directly!”

This made Wanyan Jun suspicious. How could his entire family have been killed for no reason?

He changed strategy, having people untie Adian and speaking gently: “Whatever grievances you have, tell me everything. I’ll seek justice for you.”

This tactic actually worked, breaking through Adian’s defenses. Wanyan Jun seized the opportunity to increase pressure, making several guarantees before getting him to tell the truth. He appeared to be Gusha’s trusted subordinate, but was actually helping Gusha with some shady, unspeakable deeds. He was unwilling in his heart, but Gusha threatened him with his family’s lives, so he could only endure in silence. By chance once, he learned that his family had long ago died at Gusha’s hands, so grief overwhelmed him and he wanted to kill Gusha for personal revenge.

Being by Gusha’s side, he knew Gusha’s actions and strategies like the back of his hand. He chose to act tonight at the Bureau of Shipping because tonight Gusha was setting a trap to harm Xie Queshan and Song Muchuan. His close guards had focused all their attention on those two, instead neglecting to protect Gusha.

At this point, Xie Queshan, who had been silent, asked: “You say Gusha wanted to harm Mr. Song and me—what’s this about?”

Adian replied: “General Gusha has been making a huge commotion in Li Du Mansion these days, but still couldn’t catch a single core Bingzhu Division figure. The intelligence he obtained was all trivial. But when he called for the Black Crow Camp, he made a military pledge to the court that he absolutely couldn’t return empty-handed. So he wanted to frame Mr. Song, the head of the Bureau of Shipping, as a Bingzhu Division member. Since Mr. Song and Young Master Queshan are old friends, this way he could take the opportunity to accuse them both of being accomplices, thus kicking out all those in Li Du Mansion who competed with him for merit.”

Wanyan Jun frowned, eyeing Adian suspiciously, not completely believing—this single testimony cleared Xie Queshan completely, which was too seamless.

He still felt that the conflict Adian described between himself and Gusha seemed somewhat strange. What kind of conflict, what kind of secret, could make master and trusted subordinate kill each other?

“What exactly were the matters you previously planned for Gusha?”

Adian’s gaze clearly showed retreat and hesitation, lowering his head and refusing to speak.

“For him to threaten you with your entire family’s lives, this matter must be extremely important—if you don’t speak, today you’ll be the traitor who killed a general, while Gusha will become a righteous man who died for the country. Your family’s grievances will never see the light of day!”

After a long silence, Adian gritted his teeth and said: “It’s about the Yucheng Army!”

Wanyan Jun was stunned, not expecting that after going in such a big circle, it would circle back to this matter he worried about most. This concerned his life and property, so he immediately became tense.

“That night, this humble one indeed saw the Yucheng Army in the tunnels and fought with them. Suddenly the wellhead exploded, but since this humble one was far from the explosion point, only I survived by luck… I returned to the city to find General Gusha, thinking the general would take pity on my disability and let me return home. I never expected the general to be very unwilling to accept defeat and insisted I stay in Li Du Mansion to give false testimony, saying there was no Yucheng Army at the bottom of the well at all, so all the blame could be pushed onto Lord Wanyan.”

This was Wanyan Jun’s inner demon.

All these days he had wanted to know—that night, had he actually killed the Yucheng Army or not? Was it Gusha spreading false information to harm him, or had the Bingzhu Division really played him?

Obviously, the former was Gusha’s fault, the latter was his fault. He naturally had a preferred answer in his heart—he desperately hoped this was one of Gusha’s schemes, so he would be innocent. Hearing such clear accusation now, the string that had been taut in him for so long suddenly loosened. He had to believe!

All his doubts instantly vanished into smoke, and he became furious.

To steal merit, Gusha really would stop at nothing.

“Continue!”

“General Gusha had this humble one forge false evidence that the Yucheng Army was still alive, only then could he request the Black Crow Camp from the royal court to help him succeed. After the Black Crow Camp arrived, they still found no leads about the Yucheng Army. Fearing this matter would be exposed, the general again bribed a prisoner to lie that he was the person who had coordinated between the Bingzhu Division and the Yucheng Army, and also said the Yucheng Army was hiding in the shady side of Tiger Kneel Mountain.”

At this point, the truth seemed very clear. The act of discarding someone after using them wasn’t new—all of this was caused by Gusha’s greed. He had brought disaster upon himself.

In his heart, Xie Queshan wanted to applaud Zhang Yuehui. He had only given him four characters, yet he had made everything so perfectly seamless. Just how much had Boss Zhang spent to make this soldier speak so logically and systematically, even performing the torture confession act with some authenticity, completely leading Wanyan Jun into the pit?

Presumably the family members the soldier mentioned as dead were now being well cared for after being relocated by Guilai Hall. As for Gusha—what harm was there in a dead man taking the blame for so much? He couldn’t lift his coffin lid to defend himself.

The most brilliant aspect of this confession was that regardless of whether Wanyan Jun completely believed it or not, if he wanted to clear himself in the Yucheng Army matter, he had to accept everything Adian said.

People like Zhang Yuehui weren’t friends but opponents—both terrifying and regrettable.

Wanyan Jun and Xie Queshan walked out of the prison. The moonlit night was cold, and both men slowly breathed sighs of relief.

What remained was the matter between them. Wanyan Jun dismissed everyone and spoke directly to Xie Queshan.

“Speak then, Young Master Queshan, what exactly do you want?”

Someone as suspicious as Wanyan Jun, having just experienced such a low period, had very low trust in those around him.

Xie Queshan had performed too seamlessly in this affair. He hadn’t participated in any disputes between Gusha and Wanyan Jun, was clearly the biggest beneficiary, yet tonight he had actively sought out Wanyan Jun, equivalent to handing over tremendous wealth and honor to someone else.

Those whose desires couldn’t be seen were the most terrifying. Based on Wanyan Jun’s understanding of Xie Queshan, he was no lamb awaiting slaughter, much less a selfless person.

“Lord Wanyan, I have selfish motives.” Xie Queshan answered with complete honesty.

Wanyan Jun’s attitude relaxed—he instinctively felt this was Xie Queshan’s truth.

But lies were precisely told mixed in with truths.

Xie Queshan continued: “Although the Black Crow Camp was requested by Gusha, they don’t only listen to Gusha. Behind Yajiu is Princess Imperial Wanyan Puruuo, who must be watching every move in Li Du Mansion. The absurd things Gusha did previously are done—fortunately they didn’t cause too much loss. What the court truly cares about is who can accomplish things. But regardless of who, it cannot be me. I have no help or faction. Having merit but no foundation, my days might not be easy after returning to court.”

Wanyan Jun understood. Everyone thought Li Du Mansion was in the bag and was competing for credit for this city. But if this credit were taken by a Han person, where would the face of the new and old nobles in court be? Xie Queshan would only become a target for all.

But on the surface, he still had to politely deflect a few times: “You’re Prime Minister Han’s trusted aide—how could he not protect you? After all, in the matter of the Imperial Princess, I did make mistakes. The court may not trust me again.”

“Even Gusha could make a military pledge to offset merit against fault—why can’t you, my lord?”

Moreover, without Gusha, only Wanyan Jun could manage Li Du Mansion. The Black Crow Camp was just an intelligence organization. No matter how ambitious Wanyan Puruuo was, she couldn’t manage an army. On the surface, a leader was still needed.

“I seek no credit and can hand over all real power to you, my lord. I only ask one thing of you.” Xie Queshan was completely open.

Wanyan Jun’s expression became serious: “Oh?”

“Li Du Mansion is my hometown after all, and my family is all here. People aren’t plants or trees—in many matters, I’m hard-pressed to guarantee I have no selfish motives. But this might be exploited by those with ulterior motives, making it difficult for me to protect myself. Gusha’s affair is a cautionary tale. Only with you as the true decision-maker in Li Du Mansion can others be prevented from finding fault. I want to ask you, my lord—regardless of how the situation in Li Du Mansion develops, please keep my family and friends safe.”

Actively revealing his own weakness—this was Xie Queshan’s method of inducing Wanyan Jun’s trust.

What he wanted was for Wanyan Jun to explain tonight’s events to the Black Crow Camp. Adian was interrogated by Wanyan Jun, so his testimony was credible.

Xie Queshan knew his suspicions were already very difficult to completely clear, but he could use Wanyan Jun to delay for a while—if he could delay until after Song Muchuan succeeded, his mission would be perfectly complete.

“Good, I agree to this. However… Young Master, you must wait a bit longer. Tonight’s entire affair, the Bureau of Shipping, Song Muchuan—I’ll investigate everything myself, including these confessions just now. I’ll confirm them all again.”

“Then I’ll wait peacefully for your news, my lord.”

Xie Queshan completely relaxed.

It was nothing more than sending people to search Tiger Kneel Mountain’s shady side for traces of the Yucheng Army, then going through the Bureau of Shipping again.

But the Yucheng Army had long since left Tiger Kneel Mountain. Even if he searched inch by inch, he wouldn’t find anything.

As for Song Muchuan and the Bureau of Shipping… fortunately Song Muchuan had burned down the archives with a fire. All the manipulations he had made regarding shipbuilding wouldn’t leave any traces.

The clever part was that this matter could also be blamed on Gusha.

Just say that knowing he couldn’t find any evidence, he burned down the archives himself to create some suspicious points. After all, so many eyes had seen that Song Muchuan wasn’t present when the archives caught fire.

The evidence originally intended to incriminate Wanyan Jun had now, through a strange turn of events, all been used against Gusha. Although this was a desperate measure, it was better than complete collapse.

After a thrilling night, Xie Queshan now very much wanted to go home.

He wanted to see Nanyi.

But before the dust settled, he still had to wait a bit longer.