Chapter 337

Zhu Zai had been moved to Wenyuan Pavilion for some time.

The longer it took, the more he wanted to slap Li Miao to death... or slap himself for bringing Li Miao back to the Embroidered Uniform Guard to death.

Even though Zhu Zai had a top-notch internal *Qi* foundation and Li Miao had cleared the hidden injuries in his body, he had still managed to grow two huge dark circles under his eyes in these few months.

Nothing else, it was just too tiring.

Stabilizing the court, cleaning up accumulated ills, purging dissidents.

These three things, even if Zhu Zai already had imperial power in his hands, were still restrictive to do. Not to mention that he had been a secret agent head for decades, he had plenty of killers under his command, but very few confidants who could handle political affairs.

If you really want to talk about it, Li Miao might count as one.

But he didn't dare to hand this Vermilion Brush to Li Miao.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Li Miao, or was reluctant to let go of power... he was just afraid that the day after handing the Vermilion Brush to Li Miao, Li Miao would build a *Jingguan* (monument of heads) at the vegetable market, then throw the Vermilion Brush back to him and walk away.

Li Miao could really do it, and in the month after the Imperial Mausoleum incident ended, he had already started preparing to do so.

It's not that Li Miao couldn't do it—using a sharp knife to cut through the mess and moistening things silently were both righteous paths, and the final result was the same, but Zhu Zai really didn't dare to let Li Miao do it.

After all, the foundation of Great Shuo had already been ruined.

It might not be able to withstand Li Miao's tossing.

Zhu Zai could only pinch his nose and drive Li Miao to Yin Minjun's side, out of sight, out of mind. Then he suffered every day, trying bit by bit to pull the riddled Great Shuo back from the edge of the cliff.

Let's get back to the present.

Zhu Zai picked up the brush and wrote a paragraph on the memorial, only to find that the tip of the brush had dried up.

An Ziyang hurriedly stepped forward, picked up the inkstone, and offered it to Zhu Zai's side.

Zhu Zai dipped it in cinnabar, wrote a paragraph on the memorial, closed it, and then sighed, rubbed his eyebrows, and looked at An Ziyang.

"What is it?"

An Ziyang took the stack of documents from his bosom.

"Commander, there is a matter related to Battalion Commander Zhu... I came to let you see it."

Zhu Zai's frown deepened.

He had been cursed by his son all his life, whether biological or godson.

Battalion Commander Zhu, that is, his only son, Zhu Yijing.

A famous piece of trash.

There was no major problem in morality, as Zhu Zai's family education was there. But in terms of ability, it was a comprehensive failure. Whether it was ambition, temperament, methods, or knowing and using people, there was nothing that could be taken out.

If Li Miao's ability was too strong, making Zhu Zai a bit unable to handle it; then this biological son's ability was too poor, making Zhu Zai worry about what to do.

"What trouble has he caused again?"

Zhu Zai hurriedly glanced at the document An Ziyang handed over. At this look, his face suddenly darkened.

"Liu Jinyi?"

"Born as a prostitute, no relatives, family died early, came to Shuntian alone, was redeemed by that unfilial son and taken as a book boy... Idiot!!!"

Zhu Zai's veins popped, and he raised his hand to throw it.

An Ziyang hurriedly blocked him: "Commander, you can't throw it! The Vermilion Brush, the Vermilion Brush, you can't throw it!"

His hands flashed, and he took the Vermilion Brush from Zhu Zai's hand and replaced it with the inkstone.

"You throw this, throw this!"

"Humph!"

Zhu Zai finally reacted. This was Wenyuan Pavilion, not the Embroidered Uniform Guard office. Under his feet were the Cabinet scholars discussing matters, so he had to put down the inkstone resentfully, but the anger on his face did not diminish at all.

"Family, relatives, old friends, all dead! Background, origin, nothing is clear! And with such a name, how dare he receive it into his home!"

"Idiot! Idiot!"

An Ziyang hurriedly poured a cup of tea.

"Calm down, calm down."

Zhu Zai didn't take the teacup and said angrily.

"And you! Li Miao is not here, you all have been grazing, right? This kind of thing should have been reported from the beginning, how did it drag on until now!"

"Yes, yes, the subordinate failed to handle it well, willing to be punished... Calm down, I will go and receive the family law later, don't ruin your body."

An Ziyang bowed his head and kept admitting his mistakes.

After a long while, Zhu Zai calmed down a little.

"Forget it, no need for family law." Zhu Zai stood up and walked back and forth a few times.

No matter how much of a piece of trash Zhu Yijing was, he was still his biological son. Now that the opponent had been on his bed for months, who knows what methods had been buried.

You know, the Emperor could also be considered a direct disciple of the Miao King. These eunuchs who fled after the Imperial Mausoleum incident might not necessarily lack some evil *Gu* insects in their hands.

Zhu Zai was anxious and had lost his composure.

An Ziyang hurriedly said.

"Commander, right now only the name is a bit suspicious, it may not really be a problem. I have sent people to verify the origin of this Liu Jinyi, and there will be results tomorrow."

Zhu Zai said in a deep voice.

"What if it really is?"

An Ziyang held a cup of tea with both hands for Zhu Zai.

"You should smooth your breath first."

Zhu Zai took the tea, drank a few sips, suppressed his anger, and heard An Ziyang say.

"Actually, the people below didn't investigate Battalion Commander Zhu's inner residence before, which can be considered a good thing. If that Liu Jinyi is really Liu Jin, and he finds out we are investigating, he might jump over the wall in a hurry and hurt Battalion Commander Zhu."

"The current situation is actually not that critical."

Zhu Zai glanced at him and didn't speak, but his frown relaxed a little.

Li Miao is not here, Wang Hai is out, Zhu Zai has to handle political affairs. In the past half year, the one who makes the decisions in the Embroidered Uniform Guard is actually An Ziyang, and he has also proven his ability.

Zhu Zai still believes in his guarantee.

An Ziyang continued.

"Although I don't know how he deceived Battalion Commander Zhu... *cough cough*, but let's assume this Liu Jinyi is Liu Jin himself."

Zhu Zai's face turned black, and his veins began to pop again.

He hadn't thought of this just now... his biological son might have put a dead eunuch on his bed!

This damn!

Seeing Zhu Zai's face was wrong, An Ziyang hurriedly continued.

"First, he doesn't know we have noticed yet. Battalion Commander Zhu can go out as usual. We just need to find a time to stop Battalion Commander Zhu."

"As for whether Liu Jin will plant methods on Battalion Commander Zhu, you can rest assured about this."

An Ziyang patted his chest.

"*Gu*, I am a direct disciple of the Miao King; poison, I am the Deputy Sect Leader of the Tang Men. No matter what methods Battalion Commander Zhu has on him, I guarantee I will solve them all, and absolutely won't let Battalion Commander Zhu have any trouble."

Zhu Zai's face cleared slightly.

An Ziyang continued.

"Second, we were just worried about how to dig out this group of eunuchs, now he jumped to the front of the stage, which is a good thing."

"In the past half year, several offerings have surrendered, plus the Xiaolingwei, we can just make a final decision and sweep away the aftermath of the Imperial Mausoleum incident."

Zhu Zai's face relaxed again.

An Ziyang smiled.

"Third, the subordinate received news—the Regional Commander is about to return to the capital."

Zhu Zai's face completely relaxed.

He sat back in his chair and waved his hand.

"You go and arrange it, wait for Li Miao to come back before taking action."

"Yes."

An Ziyang cupped his hands with a smile, went downstairs, and headed toward the palace gate.

But he didn't see that after he left, a clerk in Wenyuan Pavilion walked quickly to the inner room, saluted the several Cabinet Grand Secretaries one by one, and walked to the side of the person sitting in the center of the inner room.

This person was thin and long, his face like cold iron, his cheekbones high, three strands of gray-white long beard hanging to his chest, his eyes long and narrow like slits, cold light appearing. A green shirt and python robe wrapped around his rugged shoulder bones, and he was frowning and writing quickly.

It was the Senior Grand Secretary of the current dynasty, Yan Song.

The clerk walked to his side, whispered a few words, and then cupped his hands and left.

Yan Song didn't seem to hear, still writing non-stop.

After finishing, he leisurely folded the memorial, put it on the side of the table, and glanced upward intentionally or unintentionally, as if piercing through the door panel and seeing Zhu Zai who was sighing non-stop.

His expression didn't change at all, as if he had really just glanced at it casually. Yan Song lowered his head again, opened another memorial, and began to write diligently and seriously.