Evening time.

Li An arrived at the entrance of the Mo Rong Mansion. A young servant at the door saw him and greeted him warmly, saying:

"Steward Zuo, you've come."

Li An replied, "Yes, Xiaozhang, is the Deputy Mo at home today?"

Xiaozhang said:

"Yes, but tonight she's hosting a dinner for some of the important figures from the Pavilion. You might have to wait, or perhaps come tomorrow?"

"No need, I do have some urgent business, so I'll wait until Deputy Mo is finished with her dinner, and then go pay my respects."

Li An was not in a hurry.

"Are you in a hurry? Should I inform her for you?"

"No, that's not necessary. I'll just wait here and speak to Deputy Mo briefly after the dinner."

"Very well, Steward Zuo, please come in and take a seat—"

The young servant Xiaozhang invited Li An into a small side room within the mansion, where he and Xiaozhang began chatting idly.

Initially, when he was just a candidate for Artifact Evaluator, Mo Rong was rather cold towards him, but after he chose to accept a position in the treasury, Mo Rong's attitude towards him improved significantly, and he could often visit her at the mansion.

The reason behind this was simple. When he was a candidate for Artifact Evaluator, getting close to him would strain the relationships with Lu Hua and Zheng Xiaoxiao. However, once Li An voluntarily withdrew from the competition with them, Mo Rong no longer had that burden.

In contrast, considering that Li An held the position of chief in the treasury, which was a key position within the Pavilion, it was beneficial to have him as a close aide.

Li An also maintained excellent relationships with the mansion's servants and maids, especially Xiaozhang, who had received many of his favors and now engaged in lively conversation with him.

Li An listened with a smile.

From Xiaozhang, he learned that Mo Rong was hosting two elders from the Pavilion tonight, Han Fang and Zhao Zhong.

Apart from the Pavilion Master, the most prestigious positions in the Treasure Pavilion were held by the chief Artifact Evaluator and the three elders. The current chief Artifact Evaluator was nearing the end of his lifespan, with only about a decade left to live, and soon someone would replace him.

The three senior Artifact Evaluators were openly and secretly competing for the promotion.

Mo Rong naturally sought to win over the elders with enthusiasm.

Combining Xiaozhang's gossip, Li An repeatedly thought through the implications.

It wasn't until midnight that Mo Rong personally saw the two elders off at the door.

The three exchanged courtesies at the doorway before Han Fang and Zhao Zhong finally got into their carriages to leave.

Seeing an opportune moment, Xiaozhang quickly went out and whispered a few words to Mo Rong.

Mo Rong nodded.

Xiaozhang then ran back into the small side room, saying, "Steward Zuo, the master agreed to see you."

Finally, Li An stepped out and respectfully bowed.

"Follow me."

Mo Rong spoke calmly.

Entering her study.

Mo Rong had evidently drunk a lot, her clothes slightly opened, revealing a fair shoulder, with the smell of alcohol mingling with a faint fragrance. She asked:

"What is the urgent matter?"

Li An replied:

"Reporting to Deputy Mo, some issues have arisen in the treasury."

"It seems Master Lu Hua is being watched. Many flawed items he appraised might have been discovered by Xu Changkong's side—"

Hearing this, Mo Rong immediately raised an eyebrow!

In the current competition for the chief Artifact Evaluator, her strongest opponent was Xu Changkong.

The two had been disputing, both openly and secretly, for a long time.

And Lu Hua and Zheng Xiaoxiao were her confidants!

Could Xu Changkong be planning to target Lu Hua? If Lu Hua's weaknesses were seized upon by Xu Changkong, it indeed posed a troublesome problem.

"Explain in detail!"

Her expression turned serious.

Li An immediately recounted everything in detail:

"Reporting to Deputy Mo, recently I discovered that someone named Zhang Qingqing from the treasury side frequently interacted with people from Xu Changkong's side."

"My investigation revealed that she gave a complete list of items appraised by Master Lu Hua to Xu Changkong, with some items specially marked."

"I found it strange, so I thoroughly checked the items handled by Master Lu Hua and found severe issues with his evaluations!"

Li An's expression was grave: "Four years ago, he appraised a Sub-Second Grade spirit medicine as a Second Grade one for acquisition. Three years ago, he appraised four Tier One artifact materials but accounted them as Tier Two materials for payments…"

Li An recounted each instance.

This was what he had done over these years in the treasury.

Check!

He focused on Zheng Xiaoxiao and Lu Hua, scrutinizing every item they handled, remembering everything in detail.

The Pavilion's Artifact Evaluators were inherently not clean, and with his patient observation, these matters naturally came into his grasp.

In fact, in Li An's view, Lu Hua was still relatively restrained, but Li An had even more dirt on Zheng Xiaoxiao.

However, the elderly in Zheng Xiaoxiao's family were still alive and deeply rooted within the Pavilion.

Lu Hua's grandfather had passed away first.

Thus, targeting Lu Hua presented the least resistance.

Listening to his account, Mo Rong became astonished.

The items Li An mentioned were ones that were extremely susceptible to manipulation, such as the Sub-Second Grade versus Second Grade spirit medicine Snow Lotus. Not only ordinary people, but even Artifact Evaluators found them hard to differentiate.

Unless they were experts in pill evaluation, they wouldn't possess such knowledge.

Yet Li An spoke pointedly, hitting every mark.

This proved...

Li An possessed vision rivaling that of genuine Artifact Evaluators.

She couldn't help but nod subtly. Li An's capabilities and knowledge had impressed her greatly before, and now she regarded Li An as extraordinary.

It seemed that, over all these years in the treasury, he never slackened his learning of artifact evaluation knowledge.

However, she also instantly considered the possibility that Li An deliberately took a position in the treasury back then, perhaps just for today?!

A strategic retreat for advancement, waiting for the right opportunity, like a stalking leopard, ready to spring forth when Lu Hua's vulnerabilities were fully exposed, to deliver a fatal blow?

If it truly was like this... then Li An was excessively patient!

Patient to a point that even she found frightening.

Was Li An reaching out to her in order to take down Lu Hua and create an opportunity for himself to rise through the ranks?

She couldn't help but hesitate inside; the issues Li An raised could be major or minor, all depending on whether she was willing to protect Lu Hua once.

Protecting Lu Hua would mean Li An has no future chances.

If not, then let Li An replace Lu Hua's position!

A binary choice?

Yet, did Li An possess such value?

"Above all, these weren't even the main problems..."

But Li An, with a solemn expression, said:

"The most concerning is that the recent batch of 'Fetal Soul Herbs' he received also had issues, with a one-third proportion being of inferior quality!"

Upon hearing this, Mo Rong's expression changed instantly, "He actually dared to tamper with the Fetal Soul Herbs!"

She was genuinely stunned.

Collecting Fetal Soul Herbs had been an important task for the Treasure Pavilion in the past six months.

Moreover, she knew that this batch of materials was... for the Prince's Mansion.

The success of gathering these resources was also a critical factor in determining whether she or Xu Changkong would move up.

If this batch of spirit medicines had issues and fell into Xu Changkong's hands… If Xu Changkong reported directly to the Prince's Mansion, or to the Pavilion Master, even Mo Rong herself would be implicated.

The Prince's rage would be something the Treasure Pavilion couldn't bear.

Because, the Celestial Yang Prince's Mansion was the greatest backing of the Treasure Pavilion!

But it was simple to think, if Xu Changkong knew about these issues, would he not seize such a good opportunity to deal a heavy blow to Mo Rong?

"Does Xu Changkong's side also know about the situation with this batch of spirit medicines?"

She couldn't help but feel somewhat anxious!

And Li An gravely nodded, "Yes."

"I blame myself; I found out too late. I never expected they had already extended their reach into the treasury, planting informants here…"

He sighed deeply, "Deputy Mo, this matter is extremely urgent, hence I hurriedly came after Zuo Wen's investigation, hoping Deputy Mo will deliberate on handling this!"

…

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