Chapter 115: An Unexpected Turn in the Plan

"A fuse? What fuse?" Teacher Guangxi was completely bewildered by Yan Jiu’s words.

Fourth Miss explained, "Elder, you and Third Miss actually applied to the system and got married a month ago. Very few people knew about this, but somehow, Boss Jin found out. He saw it as an opportunity and decided to host a grand, high-profile wedding for Third Miss."

Zhang He smiled. "That is a clever move. Third Miss would have no reason to refuse. Firstly, members of the sect would be more willing to serve a leader like him; secondly, he could forge an alliance with the Beggar Sect, boosting both his own reputation and that of the sect."

Yan Jiu said coldly, "But at that moment, someone sent me a letter via a scout, claiming that if we helped him, Jin Mailang would stumble over this matter, which would benefit both me and Fourth Miss."

"Wait!" Zhang He interrupted. "Who sent you the letter?"

Yan Jiu smiled bitterly. "I have no idea."

Zhang He asked, "Couldn't you just pay to bribe the scout?"

Yan Jiu’s bitter smile deepened. "Do you think I didn't try that? I spent quite a bit of gold, but every time the scout gave me a different name for the employer, along with specific descriptions of their appearance, height, and clothing."

Zhang He pressed, "And?"

Yan Jiu replied, "The names were always different, and they were always wearing basic beginner cloth garments."

Zhang He pondered. "So, this person was using different alternate accounts to deal with the scouts. No, it’s more like they created an alt account to send one message, deleted it, and then created a new one for the next time?"

"That must be it," Yan Jiu nodded. "And they hired different scouts every time, coming from different places like Jiangdu, Yangzhou, and Ezhou. This person is incredibly cautious and careful never to leave any trail."

Zhang He remarked, "They aren't just being cautious; they are doing it for your sake."

"Oh?" Yan Jiu was surprised.

Zhang He explained, "If you kept hiring the same scout to deliver messages, others in your manor would surely become suspicious."

Fourth Miss nodded in agreement. "That’s true!"

Zhang He asked, "Are these alt accounts from people in your manor?"

Yan Jiu shook his head. "No. I know the names of all the alt accounts belonging to Boss Jin, Baili Feng, and Ximen Jian."

Zhang He asked, "Then why did you trust this person?"

"I had no choice but to trust him," Yan Jiu said with a bitter smile. "Because this person seems a lot like you—they calculate everything with extreme precision. After a few times, I knew what they said would turn out to be true."

Teacher Chen Guangxi asked, "So what did they say?"

Yan Jiu replied, "They said they would help us take revenge, and as long as we followed their instructions, it would benefit us all."

Zhang He wore a pensive expression. "In that case, this person is indeed capable. Not only are they accurate in their calculations, but they are also very well-informed about the past between Miss He and you all back in Xinzhou. Could this be the work of someone from your old security firm?"

"Absolutely not," Fourth Miss quickly denied. "Our security firm back then was called Xinzhou No. 1. Aside from Nine and me, the other three brothers were our real-life friends, and the rest were NPCs we hired."

Zhang He looked puzzled. "That’s strange. Who could this person be?"

Yan Jiu continued, "Until yesterday afternoon, the person sent another letter containing a wrapped paper scroll. They told us that as long as we handed that scroll to you later that day, everything would be accomplished by the next day."

Zhang He probed, "So it seems you didn't know this was an assassination plot?"

Yan Jiu said, "We didn't know at first, but we also didn't believe things would be so easily accomplished."

Zhang He said, "So you secretly opened it to look, right? Because you weren't entirely sure about this strange person sending letters, were you?"

Fourth Miss blushed, but she couldn't deny it. Anyone would find it hard to trust such a situation one hundred percent.

Zhang He’s ability to analyze situations, understand human nature, and judge the state of affairs was always uniquely sharp and hit the nail on the head.

Yan Jiu said, "After we opened the scroll, we were shocked. It contained the plan to assassinate Third Miss."

Zhang He observed his expression. "Did you not want to see this come to pass?"

Yan Jiu sighed. "Of course we didn't want to see it happen."

Teacher Chen Guangxi couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

Yan Jiu glanced at Fourth Miss. "Third Miss was always very kind to Fourth. A lot of the equipment, elixirs, martial arts manuals, clothing, and jewelry Fourth wears were bought by Third Miss, or paid for with her own money."

Zhang He and Teacher Chen Guangxi nodded simultaneously. They understood; such friendships existed among many players in *Dynasty*, especially among female players.

Yan Jiu paused. "I've been in *Dynasty* for three years, and I’ve never cared for grand talk about 'jianghu morality.' But asking us to target Third Miss... we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. If the assassination succeeded, Third Miss losing her gear would be a minor issue, but what if her martial arts were crippled? Or her level dropped? She might spend months recovering, or perhaps never recover at all."

Teacher Guangxi also let out a long sigh. "The thing I like most about Cuihua is her kindness. She really is a good girl."

Zhang He nodded. "So, good people will eventually be rewarded. Doing good deeds usually brings good karma. It’s just a pity that Third Miss was killed in the end. But I have a question: why did that paper scroll have the unique mark that He Yuejun Zailai used when wandering the jianghu back then?"

Fourth Miss shook her head. "I don't know. When it was delivered, that mark was already on it."

Teacher Chen Guangxi, who had been confused, suddenly had an epiphany. "I get it! The mysterious person must have known Brother Wu was aware of your past, or at least guessed that Fourth Miss admired Miss He. They deliberately stamped the mark on it so that once Brother Wu saw it, he would suspect you, thinking you were the mastermind! Damn, what a vicious scheme..."

Zhang He recalled the peach wood staff Fourth Miss had sent out at Tianxiang Pavilion. It was her most cherished possession; it was clear she had a fondness for He Yuejun Zailai.

However, was this mysterious person overestimating themselves? Zhang He had been so shocked that he hadn't even linked Fourth Miss to being the mastermind, yet the scheme was indeed sinister.

Hearing Chen Guangxi’s analysis, Fourth Miss and Yan Jiu broke into a cold sweat.

Zhang He questioned, "But you still gave me the scroll."

Yan Jiu said, "We thought that no matter how things changed, you were going to attempt an assassination anyway. If you launched a sneak attack on the road, it would surely cause chaos. The Beggar Sect would inevitably be offended, and the Famous Sword Manor would lose face. At the very least, we couldn't let the wedding ceremony proceed smoothly."

Teacher Chen Guangxi smiled bitterly. "You definitely didn't want things to go smoothly for me and Cuihua. If the wedding went off without a hitch, Boss Jin’s influence would grow even stronger, making it even harder for you to topple him."

Zhang He realized, "So Third Miss was swapped by you two. But how did you get Zhong Shuman to willingly impersonate the bride?"

Fourth Miss also smiled bitterly. "It was simple. I sent a letter to Lady Zhong’s room using the same method. I just told her to impersonate the bride, that an assassin would jump onto the carriage the next day, and that if she waited inside, we would help her capture the assassin. I told her Boss Jin would be grateful she captured the assassin and would be more willing to negotiate and compromise on the Xie Family Post issue."

Zhang He couldn't help but laugh, a bitter, astringent laugh. "She is a person of the 'knight-errant' path; naturally, she hopes for a peaceful resolution and dislikes senseless slaughter. It’s not hard to imagine why she would agree."

He finally understood why, when they parted that morning, the usually indifferent Zhong Shuman had such a complex look on her face. She thought he didn't know about her impersonation plan, and he thought she didn't know about his assassination plan. They were each harboring their own secrets. She told him to take care, and he told her to leave first. Was this a twist of fate, or was it destined?

Many things in this world are like this; many great mistakes are caused by such "assumptions."

"But why didn't you tell her there was a hidden compartment in the carriage?" Zhang He asked, puzzled.

Yan Jiu replied, "You should know best; the compartment is tiny. Do you think you had a high chance of success? If you made a move, Lady Zhong would have reacted immediately. The situation was too complex and urgent to explain the causes like we are doing now. You would have fought fiercely. With the wedding party facing the Beggar Sect escort, you can imagine Boss Jin’s reaction. That’s why we didn't mention it in the letter. But what we didn't expect was that you would actually kill her with one strike. I never imagined that, haha..."

He smiled bitterly, and Zhang He couldn't help but do the same. Were these all coincidences, or was it destiny?

If, when they parted, Zhong Shuman had dropped a hint, perhaps the tragedy wouldn't have happened. But without the hint, he would never have reached this point to uncover the truth.

If Zhong Shuman hadn't worn that red veil and phoenix crown, he would have seen her true face in the hidden compartment and wouldn't have attacked. But if she hadn't worn them, her name tag in sect mode would have exposed her brilliantly, and perhaps she would have fallen at Jin Mailang’s feet before she ever fell by his hand.

If... but can the blood and blades, the grudges and romance of this jianghu ever be treated with "ifs"?

Zhang He sighed long and hard. "Then, how did Zhong Shuman get onto the carriage?"

Fourth Miss said, "That’s simple, too. Do you remember if she was leading a horse when she left? Did she have a horse when you arrived? You didn't even stop to think where that horse came from."

Zhang He froze. He finally realized where he had gone wrong. He was always able to spot the most profound, difficult-to-crack aspects of the most complex schemes, yet he had overlooked the most obvious, simplest details.

No matter how capable a person is, there are limits. Zhang He was not a god, and he was prone to mistakes.

The difference was that his minor slip had led to a grave mistake, while for others, the exposure of a conspiracy would lead to a catastrophic collapse of everything.