Once, I wanted to be a good person

The old man shook his head once again.

The aide continued to think, "Could it be, 'Don't trust others lightly? Even when you're in a position of strength, don't become too arrogant and forget yourself?'"

The old man continued to shake his head.

This time, however, he did provide his own explanation.

He slowly said, "What this incident tells us is that the Federation and the various states and cities are not the Investigation Bureau; they don't need to solve cases."

"On this bloodless battlefield, oftentimes, the truth is not important."

"What's important is what different factions want to achieve."

"Once there is a goal, there is a truth."

Having said that, his tone shifted, returning to the case of the Yang Transformation master's death.

He spoke lightly, "At first, I also wanted to investigate how this master of the Yang Transformation stage died."

"Who acted? Who killed? And to find out the real perpetrator and participants."

"But, the Jiang Family and the Bai Family clearly didn't see it as a case, but as a political incident."

"No matter who the murderer was, if their people were involved, it would likely provoke criticism from other forces."

"Investigating the case and clarifying it held no meaning for them."

"What they needed was to use interests to compromise with all parties on this matter, and to find a reasonable 'truth' to close the case and eliminate its impact as soon as possible."

"As for the real culprits, they could always be pursued and executed after the fact."

"That's why, after the incident occurred, they were always negative and uncooperative with us."

"Because they knew that in this matter, our stance didn't matter—the opinions of the governing factions in the major districts did."
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Saying this, he pointed upward and said, "Now, who knows, they might have already gone to the governing district, trying to smooth things over with the various factions."

Hearing this, the aide finally understood why for the past few days the old man had been inquiring about the movements of the Bai Family and the Jiang Family.

However, he couldn't help but wonder, "But what does this have to do with Fang Ze?"

"Why do you say that even if Fang Ze is innocent, he can't extricate himself?"

The old man sighed, then said, "Even if the matter is settled, a satisfactory and plausible truth is needed."

"Now, the people openly involved in this matter are three: Jin Luan, Jiang Cheng, and Fang Ze."

"Who do you think... the Jiang Family and Bai Family are running around for, to protect whom?"

"And who is most suitable to be the scapegoat?"

The aide was stunned on the spot.

After a moment, he couldn't help but glance at the surveillance screen.

And then, he suddenly noticed a "doubt" and looked at the old man with a question, "If that's the case, why did you still invite Master Fenda to investigate the truth of this matter?"

The old man, with his hands behind his back, then said, "This brings us to the second lesson taught by the Golden Sparrow Flower Incident."

"In political matters, do not trust any promise."

"For the sake of interests, your superiors will betray you, your allies will betray you. The only one you can trust is yourself."

He said, "If the authorities want a 'truth,' I'll give them any 'truth' they want."

"And if someday this case is overturned, who will be responsible for the misjudgment regarding this matter?"

"Clearly, it will be me."

"I would then be the next Jiang Family, after the wife of the Chairperson found the Golden Sparrow Flower."

His gaze filled with memories once again, "In those days, the Jiang Family was the royal family of Xida State, the faith of many in their hearts."

"In the end, after He Weidao used them, he easily threw them under the bus. During that time, the reputation of the Jiang Family plummeted."

"Others may not know the role He Weidao played in it; they only knew that the Jiang Family, as the royal family, framed and falsely accused the Si Family within the same camp."

"Thus, let alone extending their reach into the Federal Defense Team, even their basic foundation in various Governing Halls started to crumble and fall apart."

"Moreover, they became the targets of hostility from the Bai Family and other state nobles."

"If it hadn't been for the nonagenarian queen of the Jiang Family, who had not been seen for a long time, personally tremblingly stepping forward to apologize and severely punishing the involved Jiang clan members, the Jiang Family probably would have been finished."

The old man said, "So... I'll work on my case. They'll trade their interests."

"Any progress on my side will be reported truthfully to the top. If they want to change the outcome, that's their business; it has nothing to do with me."

"Although I'm not counted as one of the big shots in the Eastern District, I'm in charge of a military base, and my status is somewhat detached. They also dare not provoke me lightly."

Hearing the old man's words, the aide couldn't help but glance at Fang Ze, who was still being interrogated on the monitor.

For a moment, he suddenly felt a pang of sympathy, asking, "So Fang Ze is destined to be sacrificed?"

"He... he's innocent."

The old man fell silent for a while, then said, "Actually, he does have a glimmer of hope."

The aide's eyes lit up, "What hope?"

The old man said, "Right now, he has no place at the negotiation table because his value is too low."

"But if he has something in his hands that commands the attention of the Eastern District, or something that both the Jiang Family and Bai Family covet, then... the situation will immediately reverse."

"Whether it's the governing district or the Jiang and Bai Families, they will all have to make concessions for this."

"Even forcing the two families to hand over five Yang Transformation stage members, claiming they fought among themselves, and then sending them collectively to serve at Spirit Mountain is also possible."

Hearing the old man's words, the aide couldn't help but exclaim, "How could that be possible!"

"At the level of the governing district and the Jiang and Bai Families, even those of the Yang Transformation stage are just pawns, how could a mere Awakener like Fang Ze have the qualification to negotiate with them?"

The old man gazed at the monitor image of Fang Ze and said lightly, "He does. He has something."

The aide couldn't help but look at the old man in surprise.

The old man said, "The Flower Morning Festival..."

"If he can unravel the Flower Morning Festival and master a new path to Faith Ascension. Whether it's the governing district or the Jiang Bai Families, they will be forced to make concessions."

"He can completely use this secret to force the Jiang and Bai Families to pay the price. He could even be treated as a victim and receive compensation."

"At that point, everything will be resolved.".....

————

These past couple of days, there's been an issue at home, plus I need to merge the clues and stories of the "Flower Morning Festival" and "Death of a Yang Transformation stage" into one narrative. So, I've written comparatively less. I'll try to return to ten-thousand-word updates tomorrow.

This month I've updated with 250,000 words in 29 days, maintaining a daily rate of 8000-9000, which is fairly diligent. Therefore, for the last two days at the end of the month, I'm quietly asking for monthly tickets.