"Master." The Man in Black silently appeared once more, breaking the stillness. His voice was low, as if he feared disturbing the fish in the water. "The people from Prince Yan's Mansion have hit a wall in Jiangnan."
Gu Shen did not even lift an eyelid, but the corners of his lips curled slightly.
"What kind of wall?"
"Our people followed your orders and deliberately leaked some misleading clues, luring them into investigating several abandoned safehouses. The people from Prince Yan's Mansion came up empty-handed and even alerted the local authorities. They were mistaken for bandits and hunted for days, leaving them in a sorry state."
"Mm." Gu Shen gave a soft hum through his nose, his feelings impossible to discern. "What about Liu Yan?"
"His Highness Prince Yan... seems to trust you even more." A peculiar note of admiration crept into the Man in Black's voice. "He thinks Zhang Jing's forces are deliberately obstructing his investigation in Jiangnan to frame you. He believes your influence in Jiangnan is even... cleaner than he imagined."
"Ha."
Gu Shen finally couldn't help laughing aloud.
He lifted his fishing rod, and the empty hook came up trailing a string of water droplets.
"Clean?" He shook his head and cast the hook back into the lake, sending out a small ripple. "The 'cleanest' things in this world often conceal the deepest filth."
Liu Yan, Liu Yan... You were still too young.
Did you think what you saw was the truth?
No.
What you saw was only what I wanted you to see.
You couldn't uncover my background not because I was clean, but because my roots had long since spread through the darkness beyond your sight. The less you could find, the more you would use your imagination to fill in the blanks. And