Chapter 8: Leaving the capital

"I, this Commander, won't be doing it for long."

Zhu Zai finally let out a long sigh and told the story.

It was mentioned earlier that this Dashuo is quite similar to the Ming Dynasty in Li Miao's previous life. And the situation Zhu Zai is facing now is actually similar to the situation in a certain period of the Ming Dynasty.

The current Emperor has been on the throne for over twenty years, old and frail, and has not attended to state affairs for many years. The court is now intertwined with three forces: eunuchs, civil officials, and imperial relatives, and the undercurrents are already surging.

A sensitive organization like the Embroidered Uniform Guard cannot escape this struggle.

Zhu Zai sensed this and wanted to promote his confidants before leaving. One is to leave some political legacy for his subordinates while he is still in power. The second is to leave some capital for himself, at least not to be completely kicked out of the center of power.

The successor he picked was Li Miao.

Li Miao had been under his command for over twenty years, and he knew him well. He had the heart, the brain, and the means.

In terms of Wu Gong, although he rarely made a move, in Zhu Zai's view, he had at least silently practiced his Wu Gong to the level of a supreme expert. It could be said that he was the successor he looked forward to the most.

The only thing was that he was a dead pig not afraid of boiling water, only moving when poked. It seemed like high official positions and noble titles were his enemies.

Zhu Zai looked at Li Miao and said: "Da Li, why don't you want to do something?"

"A great man cannot be without power for a day; without power is to be powerless, to be powerless is to be wrong, and to be slaughtered."

"I know your Wu Gong is practiced well, but if you don't practice yourself to be like a land immortal, how can you resist the elite soldiers and iron cavalry?"

Li Miao smiled.

Summer insects cannot talk about ice; Zhu Zai naturally doesn't understand his thoughts, because he has always looked at problems from the perspective of a fragile, short-lived, powerless ordinary person.

What's the point of power? What's the point of money?

Being born in a world where Wu Gong exists, treating Wu Gong as a means to exchange for power, in the eyes of Li Miao, who comes from a boring, materialistic world, is such a waste of heaven's gifts.

What is Wu Gong? It is idealism, it is transcendence.

Can power let people walk on the edge of the forest, stepping on blood-red maple leaves, to see the bright moon?

Can power let people open their chests, dance wildly in the snow, and drink hot, strong wine?

Can power let people take revenge, kill strong enemies, and have boiling blood?

Can power let people step on waves and chase the wind, walk all over the world, without worrying about dying on the road?

It cannot. But Wu Gong can.

Just like Yan Xiaosheng, Li Miao doesn't care what his life can be exchanged for.

He just poked a finger into this scumbag's chest, making him suffer for three days before committing suicide—he just wanted to be that straightforward! Without Wu Gong, could Li Miao do it?

He had already seen the road ahead, just hadn't thought about how to walk it for a while.

These words, Li Miao couldn't tell Zhu Zai; he couldn't understand.

Just like a person born healthy wouldn't know a blind person's longing for color, Zhu Zai couldn't understand the meaning of Wu Gong to Li Miao, nor could he understand how boring power was to Li Miao.

So Li Miao nodded and said: "Understood."

Zhu Zai turned his head sharply and looked at Li Miao in disbelief: "What did you say?"

"I understood, and I can't watch you lose power, right? If there's any big job leaving the capital, I'll go handle it." Li Miao said.

This sentence choked Zhu Zai so much that he couldn't speak for a long time.

After a long time, he looked Li Miao up and down and asked hesitantly: "Did you have a mishap in your cultivation? Deviation?"

This made Li Miao laugh. He said with a bitter smile: "You've been lecturing me for half a day, I understood, I'll do as you say, and you ask me if I'm sick. You, a dignified third-rank official, are you teasing your subordinate?"

Zhu Zai cursed angrily: "Stop acting crazy and stupid here. If you were this sensible, would I have been angered by you for twenty years? What exactly are you planning?"

"Hiss—no!"

Zhu Zai seemed to have suddenly figured something out and looked at Li Miao with squinted eyes.

"You wouldn't be planning to fake your death and escape during the job leaving the capital, intending to hide in some poor countryside and live your lazy life, would you?"

"How could that be?" Li Miao said earnestly: "It definitely won't be a poor countryside; I love to eat and play, I can't live a bitter life."

"Get out." Zhu Zai cursed: "Tell the truth!"

Li Miao knew that his eight-hour workday was simply a record of laziness in the feudal era. This impression had long been deeply engraved in Zhu Zai's mind, and without a reasonable reason, he couldn't get away with it.

He had to tell the truth: "My Wu Gong is practiced almost enough, and I'm tired of being still and want to go out and walk around and see, which is also good."

Li Miao is now thirty-five years old. Since entering the Embroidered Uniform Guard at fifteen, he has been staying in Yanjing without moving.

One reason is that Wu Gong is interesting enough for Li Miao, and he hasn't felt bored after practicing for twenty years.

The second reason is that this world is full of Jianghu vendettas, and the social atmosphere is much more violent than his previous life. Without practicing Wu Gong to a certain level, Li Miao is unwilling to easily step into the Jianghu. And the Embroidered Uniform Guard's environment is also suitable for his golden finger to play a role.

The third reason is Zhu Zai's reliance on him, always keeping him in Yanjing and putting him in front of his eyes.

Now his Wu Gong has reached a certain level, and there are few opponents in the world, so he is safe.

Zhu Zai has taken good care of him for many years, and now he needs him to do some things. And he himself is tired of being still and wants to go out and take a stroll, to see this Jianghu with his own eyes.

Zhu Zai nodded reluctantly after hearing this: "This sounds like something you would say."

He turned to the table, took a piece of paper, and handed it to Li Miao: "You go and handle this job. It takes about a year to go and come back, and doing it well is enough for me to operate for you."

Li Miao lowered his head to look at the paper, and it was written with a few big characters.

"Exterminate the Five Mountains Sword Sect."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 9 =====