Chu Xisheng's brow remained tightly furrowed as he rode out through the gates of Xiushui Commandery City.
He had already sent Wu Meiniang a Message Talisman, but had yet to receive a reply.
Still, Chu Xisheng instinctively felt that Zuo Qingyun's situation was very bad.
The Zuo family was wealthy. Zuo Qingyun himself possessed several hundred thousand taels.
Nor were they vicious criminals. Even if the Imperial Court had dismissed them and called them to account, they were still members of the official gentry, yet they remained confined in the lowest level of the Commandery Office prison, where conditions were worst.
This showed that money really did little good. Even silver was useless, and the Zuo family's connections were of even less help.
There was something very wrong with those Embroidery Guards from the Heavenly Office, too.
Their attitude was excellent, and they greeted Chu Xisheng with smiling faces.
Yet Chu Xisheng could see no warmth at all in their eyes.
They were also guarding against the prison's jailers, handling everything concerning the Zuo family themselves.
While Chu Xisheng talked and drank with Zuo Qingyun, these men had watched them throughout, exceptionally vigilant.
Several times, Chu Xisheng had even caught the warning looks they directed at Zuo Qingyun.
But if these Embroidery Guards from the Heavenly Office clearly bore the Zuo family such ill will, why had they made an exception and allowed him to meet Zuo Qingyun?
"Xisheng!"
A familiar voice suddenly interrupted Chu Xisheng's thoughts.
He looked up and saw Ye Zhiqiu on horseback ahead of the city gates, waving at him.
Beside her were Jian Zangfeng and a Spellcaster in his thirties, a tall, slender man in a blue-green Daoist robe with stern features.
Those two were also watching him from a distance.
Chu Xisheng paused in