Meng Zhao was certain that the Zhou Family alone would never have dared to plot against him.
And what the man before him had said inside the rockery earlier confirmed it.
Therefore, there had to be someone backing Zhou Gushan, someone who had given him the nerve to attempt an assassination. Yet that person had hidden himself away, borrowing the Zhou Family's death-sworn assassins while remaining concealed in the shadows—a figure as venomous as a snake. Meng Zhao had no choice but to be wary.
Compared to the utterly unremarkable Zhou Gushan, it was that person who truly stirred Meng Zhao's bone-deep killing intent. Treacherous, despicable scum who harbored designs on his life deserved nothing but death.
Startled, the young man hastily poured out everything he knew in one breath.
In truth, he did not know who had helped Zhou Gushan make up his mind back then. But according to his own guess, among the great and small families in the city, only a handful could have exerted such immense influence over Zhou Gushan.
Combined with the information the young man knew, he surmised that it was highly likely the Xun Family head had been pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
As one of the upper three families, the Xun Family had quite a few followers within the Aristocratic Family Alliance. The Zhou Family was one of them, existing as a Xun Family vassal alongside several other less powerful families.
This relationship had already begun to take shape in their grandfather's generation. The difference was that the expert who had studied under the Thirteen Ultimate Fierce Monks had maintained a close partnership with the Xun Family, with their status being relatively equal. Now, however, the Zhou Family's influence had steadily declined, leaving it no choice but to become a