Zhong Chen remained silent. Only after a very long while did he finally say, “That little booklet I gave you back then, it was written by Empress Shenying.”
Feng Zhi Wei smiled, unsurprised, “I knew that long ago.”
Other than that legendary, unconventional woman who seemed so out of place in her time, who else could it be? Other than the founding emperor of Dacheng, who inherited the power and wisdom of the Evergreen Divine Realm, who else could have glimpsed events six hundred years into the future? And who else could have, seemingly while laughing and teasing, brought about the making of an unparalleled statesman six hundred years later?
The answers to the first two questions on the Zhuoying Examination, which was written down personally by the founding empress of Dacheng back then, could be found clearly written in the little booklet. So, other than the empress herself, who else could have known them?
She really was not a woman of this world… The Dowager Empress Peony, however, bore some resemblance to her.
Six hundred years ago, that unrivaled imperial couple, what exactly was the ending they foresaw in the future? And what arrangements did they make because of it? Whenever Feng Zhi Wei thought about it now, she felt a chill run through her. It made her feel as though she was merely a chess piece in someone else’s hands, unable to escape the world that others had arranged with the mere movement of their fingers.
“Don’t overthink it.” Zong Chen said, “The empress’s intention back then was simply to be prepared. These valuables and money were used once before. There were four keys total. Apart from the direct descendants of the Dacheng imperial family, the Tianzhan clan, the Zong family, and the Yan family each possessed one. All four keys had to be brought together before the secret vault could be opened. After the Yan family relinquished the throne, they had no desire to involve themselves in politics, so they eventually returned their key to the imperial family. The imperial family therefore held two keys. When Dacheng collapsed, they opened the secret vault once while fleeing and took some of the valuables. After that…some problems arose, and now one key is missing.”
“What happened?”
“There was a fallout between Tianzhan clan and us.” Zong Chen hesitated a bit before continuing, “It was an old matter from back then. At that time, I had not yet taken charge of Bloody Pagoda and was still with the Zong Clan. The leader of Bloody Pagoda came to me with the imperial golden register and demanded the key, so I gave it to him. Later, I heard that during the final escape, the Bloody Pagoda was betrayed and was almost completely wiped out. The problem lies in the word ‘almost’. At the time, Zhan Xuyou, the only heir of the Tianzhan Clan, who lived three thousand miles away, volunteered to stay behind and cover the retreat. He was said to have died as well. The Zhan Clan gave no objection after the fact, and adopted a child from a side branch to continue the family line. But not long after, someone claimed that Xuyou was not dead. You have to understand, in that situation, being the survivor is equivalent to being the traitor. The leader of the organization, Nan Yi’s uncle, searched for him high and low, across the world. I don’t know if he ever found him. But from that point onward, the Bloody Pagoda and the Tianzhan clan became enemies and had no more contact.”
“Bloody Pagoda….” This was the first time Feng Zhi Wei had heard Zong Chen explicitly say the name of his organization from his own lips. Before, when her attitude was ambiguous, Zong Chen had always remained tight-lipped. But now that he was certain of her attitude, it seemed he had decided to be completely open and honest with her.
She remembered Gu Nan Yi’s jade sword. On the sword’s hilt, there was a tower, stained blood-red, carved into it. She remembered how, when she was little, her adoptive father was often gone from home. So it was all because he was searching for that traitor.
From her mother, she knew that her adoptive father was an exceptionally fierce and stubborn man. With his temperament, it’s entirely possible that he would pursue a traitor relentlessly, not stopping until death. However, for some reason, it seemed that even until the moment of his death, he had apparently never been able to determine who the traitor really was.
In the end, the few people who remained in Bloody Pagoda were all who knew the Dacheng imperial family’s deepest secrets. Until this traitor was found, the matter would remain like a fish bone lodged in the throat, a threat that you never knew when it might suddenly pierce the windpipe. Yet, so many years had already passed. If even her adoptive father had been unable to find the traitor, then where could they possibly look now?
She also remembered that year at the abandoned temple on Jiyang Mountain, when they were on the verge of death. The Tianzhan clan had clearly come to their aid, yet in the end they withdrew because Zong Chen arrived. The relationship between the Tianzhan clan and Bloody Pagoda was truly a complicated one.
“We don’t interfere with each other now.” Zong Chen knew what she had remembered and explained, “After Nan Yi inherited the Bloody Pagoda, neither he nor I are the sort of people who are willing to fight the Tianzhan clan to the death. In the early days, the Zhan, Yan, and Zong ancestors all swore to support one another. But after so many generations, and after the clans were subsequently absorbed and weakened by others, you can’t expect every clan to continue honoring those oaths. It’s only human nature that people remember grudges but forget favors. The Yan clan withdrew early on. Our relationship with the Zhan clan soured. That only leaves the Zong clan now. Don’t worry, the heads of the three great clans swore a solemn oath when they inherited their clan’s legacy that even if they cannot help each other, they must not kill one another. The Zhan family should most likely remain neutral.”
Feng Zhi Wei was silent for a long while before asking, “Back when Bloody Pagoda was being hunted and killed, who were the ones who survived in the end?”
“Gu Heng, Gu Yan, Old Shi, Sanhu, and Xiao Liu.” Zong Chen replied, “Gu Heng was the previous Bloody Pagoda’s sect master. Gu Yan was his younger brother, Nan Yi’s biological father, and Bloody Pagoda’s best fighter. Old Shi was ranked seventh in Bloody Pagoda. He was skilled with the saber and normally oversaw the martial training of the Bloody Pagoda’s men. Sanhu was one of the Bloody Pagoda’s most senior veterans. He was in charge of the transmission of information within the organization. Xiao Liu, who is Zhan Xuyou, joined the Bloody Pagoda to train himself. According to the rules, members of the three great clans generally did not directly join the Bloody Pagoda, but since he joined, he naturally received special treatment within the organization. He had not been in the Bloody Pagoda for very long when Da Cheng collapsed.”
Feng Zhi Wei closed her eyes, seeming deep in thought. Based on this information, Zhan Xuyou was indeed the most suspicious. But she had always understood that when it came to certain matters, appearances could be the furthest thing from the truth. If they could not find the people who were actually involved back then, speculation alone would get them nowhere.
She sighed and temporarily set the matter aside. She asked, “Then what about the key held by the Tianzhan clan? Would we be able to get it?”
“The problem is, the key was with Zhan Xuyao back then. The Zhan family said Zhan Xuyao was dead, and the key had not been returned to the Zhan family. Which meant we could only find the key if we found Zhan Xuyao, but who knows where he is?”
Feng Zhi Wei was lost in thought for a bit, then smiled, “When the winds and clouds shift, the sediment at the bottom will naturally be stirred up. Some matters, and some people, will appear when the time is right…” She did not ask any more questions. Instead, she casually pulled a map toward her and said to Zong Chen, “Even if nothing surfaced on this side, we cannot let our affairs on the other side be delayed because of it. Send some reliable people to transport a batch of supplies we have been slowly purchasing across the empire all these years to this place.” She pointed to a certain location. There, a long stretch of deep blue-green shading represented a continuous mountain range, the hundred thousand mountains of Minnan.
“Alright…” Zong Chen had barely finished answering when he suddenly looked up.
At the same moment, Feng Zhi Wei shouted sharply, “Who’s there?!” With a flick of her wrist, the writing brush she held shot through the window like a flying arrow.
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