Bai Zhi spread her hands and said with a very normal expression, "Right. She definitely aims at us."
"Because she is part of the Commoner Faction, while I belong to the Noble Faction."
"If not against me, then against whom?"
"As for you, since I brought you in, she naturally considers you as part of my faction," she continued.
At that moment, Fang Ze realized: My god, am I actually the villain here? No, that's not right. I, a person from a poor district, am part of the Noble Faction?
Bai Zhi paused, then said, "Don't forget what I've told you. Each of the three major nobles has its own base of support."
"They have their traditional spheres of influence."
"And our Bai Family's base is the Security Bureau."
"My grandfather was the first Chairperson of the State Council of Xida State, and also the first head of the Security Bureau. That's why most of his former students and officials are in the Security Bureau."
"Like the current State Security Bureau, its director was personally promoted by my grandfather and among the four deputy directors, two are from our Bai Family."
"And in other major cities' security bureaus, there are many of our family members, or those affiliated with our family, as directors or deputy directors."
"Therefore, as a thorn in He Weidao's side, Qingping naturally dislikes us and creates various troubles," she explained.
"Even when we face Jiang Cheng, she would take his side."
"Because for her, Jiang Cheng's matters are not within her duties. Others handle them."
"And her primary enemy is... us," Bai Zhi stated.
"She wants to undermine the Bai Family's prestige within the Security Bureau, eliminate our influence, support Commoner Faction directors, and gradually devour the Security Bureau."
She continued, "This is also why it's been so difficult to appoint a director for the Emerald City Security Bureau. Because... the struggle at the top isn't over yet."
"So... taking advantage of the Jiang Family's power to suppress us, or to create some rifts between the two major nobles, is worth it for her," she added.
After listening quietly, Fang Ze suddenly felt everything become clear.
No wonder he always felt the relationships among some people were odd.
Is this... in politics, there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests?
He couldn't help but extrapolate, "So... actually, in this matter, the Bai Family and the Jiang Family, both nobles, are allies. Thus, after the Jiang Family explained themselves, the Bai Family didn't want to pursue it further."
"And although the Commoner Faction is unhappy, they have to accept it."
"The result? Who knew halfway through someone like me would appear? Thus the Commoner Faction instantly found the opportunity to further intensify the conflict?"
After analyzing, Fang Ze suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu: Am I... inadvertently messing with my own "accomplices" again?
But that's not right. My "accomplices", how come they're all bad people? And all targeting me?
Hearing Fang Ze's words, Bai Zhi nodded with a teachable look on her face.
However, she added, "That's about right."
"But there are still some differences."
"For example, actually my family doesn't care much about the alliance with the Jiang Family."
"My grandfather has dedicated his life to the public, only wishing for the good of Xida State and the Federation."
"If there really was a serious issue with the Jiang Family, he would definitely not agree to cover it up, but would instead insist on investigating it further."
"So, before we apprehended Jiang Cheng, I consulted the director, and she agreed to take action against Jiang Cheng."
Perplexed, Fang Ze asked, "Then?...."
Bai Zhi lightly said, "I'm not sure what happened."
"All I know is that last night, Jiang Cheng's father sought out my grandfather and He Weidao. After talking for over half an hour, the matter was settled," she explained.
"I can only say, from my understanding of my grandfather, the Jiang Family must have presented some very justifiable reasons that turned a major issue into a minor one."
"Thus my grandfather gave up on pursuing it."
Hearing Bai Zhi's words, Fang Ze paused momentarily, recalling the information he had obtained from Hua Jian and Qiu Yue.
'Could it be... the secret of the Flower Morning Festival?'
'Did the Jiang Family use the Flower Morning Festival's secret as a facade? Claiming their actions were to gain trust from those factions, to uncover the Flower Morning Festival's secret?'
The more Fang Ze thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
After all, if the secret of the Flower Morning Festival was significant enough, then that would indeed be a very legitimate reason.
'What a strategy... they even prepared an exit strategy in advance?'
Fang Ze cursed silently. Then he heard Bai Zhi say, "However, even though the three parties reached an agreement on this matter."
"It doesn't mean that the Commoner Faction, led by He Weidao, will give up on continuing to encroach upon the Jiang Family."
"So... if you want, you can totally 'borrow' their power," she suggested.
"I believe, they will be very interested, and willing to cooperate with you."
"And if you want to contact them, it's very simple, just directly find Gu Qing or Xun Yi if there's a problem," she advised.
Hearing Bai Zhi's words, Fang Ze's expression turned a bit strange.
He said, "Do you know why I was able to rush over so promptly today?"
As expected, hearing Fang Ze's words, Bai Zhi paused.
"Isn't it because you heard that big shots from the state were coming?"
At this, she paused again, then said, "No, that's not right. Although you could know about the big shots coming, you wouldn't know the content of the meeting, so you shouldn't have come to save the situation."