Chapter 206

"Eunuch Huang, long time no see! How have you been lately?"

Zhu Zai walked out quickly and said enthusiastically.

"All is well, all is well, Lord Zhu; I have been remiss in my greetings, I truly hope you will be magnanimous!"

Huang Jin greeted him with a smiling face.

Both were secretly on guard, yet on the surface, they were both full of the joy of a long-awaited reunion, exchanging enthusiastic pleasantries.

Although Huang Jin had ruled out the suspicion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he would not truly be indifferent even if there were only a sliver of possibility; he secretly observed Zhu Zai to see if he showed anything unusual.

And Zhu Zai was even more uneasy at this moment, fearing that Huang Jin had discovered Li Miao's identity and was here to claim his life; he swept his peripheral vision outside the door and, seeing that only a few young eunuchs had followed, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Eunuch Huang, since you are here, please sit for a while and drink some tea."

Zhu Zai said.

"Oh, Lord Zhu, there is no need for such courtesy; I am also acting under His Majesty's edict to invite all the imperial clan members to the banquet."

Huang Jin smiled.

"I still have to go to other imperial clan members later; it is getting late, so I truly have no leisure time. Another day, another day I will certainly visit your home."

"Oh?"

Zhu Zai probed.

"Why so hurried? The family banquet in previous years was held on New Year's Eve; why has it been moved forward this time, and why is it so rushed?"

"Sigh."

Huang Jin, a person as sharp as a human spirit, had a lie ready on his lips.

"His Majesty only said that in previous years, having the imperial clan members come to the palace for a banquet on New Year's Eve, and then having to go together for ancestor worship the next day, meant they couldn't spend the festival with their families, which seemed a bit heartless."

"This year, it was simply held in advance, so that the older imperial clan members can enjoy family happiness at home on New Year's Eve."

As soon as Zhu Zai heard this, he knew it was an excuse; the Emperor had been on the throne for over twenty years, when had he ever cared about this? He knew there must be something fishy.

But since the other party had provided an explanation, from his position, he had no way to continue asking. He had to exchange a few more pleasantries before seeing Huang Jin out the door.

Once Huang Jin disappeared from view, Zhu Zai waited for a moment, and seeing that there was indeed no situation, he went to Li Miao's door and knocked on the room door.

It was already afternoon, and Li Miao had woken up; he was currently lying on the bed, twisting his fingers and thinking about things with his legs crossed.

To be honest, he also hadn't expected that a mid-level task like the Five Mountains Sword Sect would reach this point today.

Although he spoke freely with Zhu Zai, handing the matter over to Zhu Zai was actually an indication that he was not willing to truly take things to the point of regicide.

It wasn't that he had any psychological barriers about this, he simply didn't want to bear the karmic consequences.

After all, what Li Miao seeks is "carefreeness". And this carefreeness must be realized in a world that is passable. If the world were truly in turmoil and filled with weapons everywhere, Li Miao wouldn't be able to be carefree no matter how thick-skinned he was.

Actually, thinking about it carefully, does it matter to Li Miao whether the Emperor is Ji Tianrui or not?

It doesn't matter at all.

Suppressing the Jianghu and hunting down Heaven-Man experts started from the Taizu. It's just that the Emperor changed from "killing" to "using"; the process is different, but the result is actually no different.

Even if another Emperor were to replace him, it would be the same.

And although the Emperor is a muddled monarch, he is not the "troublemaking" kind of muddled, but the "non-acting" kind of muddled.

If we really talk about harming people, among Emperors, he actually wouldn't even rank. The Great Ming reaching this point today isn't something that would be solved just by changing an Emperor.

And now that Li Miao has roughly grasped the bottom line of the imperial court, with his martial arts, even if the Emperor knew his identity, he would probably have to weigh whether he could defend against Li Miao's assassination.

So Li Miao is happy to hand the matter over to Zhu Zai, an imperial clan member, and absolutely will not carry the burden on himself.

Hearing the knock, Li Miao knew it was Zhu Zai, so he didn't get up and pulled the door open with a grab in the void.

Zhu Zai stepped in, and seeing Li Miao's leisurely appearance, he was suddenly furious.

"Lord Li is quite comfortable here!"

"Thanks to your blessing."

Li Miao said lazily.

"Get up!"

Zhu Zai was furious.

"I won't. I was beaten black and blue by your ancestor; not only do you, as a descendant, not compensate me, but you also want to drive me, a wounded person, up to talk."

"The way you Zhu family treat meritorious officials is truly, tsk tsk tsk, a family tradition."

Zhu Zai raised his hand as if to throw the jade pendant at his waist.

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll get up."

Li Miao made a few sarcastic remarks, flashed over to the table, sat down, and poured a cup of tea.

"So, Commander, have you decided whose life you want so quickly?"

"You give the word, give me a name, and tonight I will press him into a dung pit to die."

Li Miao rolled up his sleeves.

"It's not about this."

Zhu Zai sat down.

"Huang Jin came just now, inviting me to enter the palace for a banquet."

"A Hongmen Banquet?"

Li Miao thought of this first.

It can only be said that these two have worked together for over twenty years; although one is a strategist and the other is a fighter, their way of thinking had long since become the same.

"I don't know; I probed a bit, and it's not just me—all the imperial clan members in Shuntian Prefecture are going."

"So I came to ask you: is your identity definitely not exposed?"

Concerning Zhu Zai's safety, Li Miao also put away his casual attitude, thought carefully, and then said.

"If you mean directly, I can be sure it is not."

"But, there are actually quite a few clues."

"I have shown my face at the Mount Tai Sect, Tai'an City, Shaolin, and the Miao Frontier. If we talk about the deepest involvement with the Ming Sect recently, it has to be our Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"And there are the deaths of Wan Tianzong, Bu Lei, and Cheng Yuanzhen; although I did some covering up, I dare not say there are definitely no flaws."

"Actually, it just depends on whether the Emperor thinks of you and me; right now, it's just that no one has strung these things together—it's just dark under the lamp."

Li Miao thought for a moment and said.

"My advantage is that I have no background; the Emperor can only infer the process from the results."

"As long as I don't go all out in the open, the Emperor shouldn't be able to link it to us for a while. But as soon as I expose my martial arts, the Emperor will probably be able to string everything together in an instant."

"So... you should be safe for the time being."

Zhu Zai nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

"In that case, I was overthinking."

Li Miao shook his head.

"Not necessarily."

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures; it is definitely not without purpose, so we cannot fail to take precautions."

"Wait for me a moment, I'm going to create a martial art to use."

Having said that, ignoring Zhu Zai's shocked gaze, Li Miao flashed onto the bed, assumed a lotus position, closed his eyes, and said nothing.

After about an hour, Li Miao finally opened his eyes.

Zhu Zai noticed something unusual in an instant.

Li Miao's eyes were much dimmer, his face looked a bit haggard, and his whole person seemed to be covered in a layer of dust, no longer having his usual spirit.

"You are..."

"Oh, I created a martial art to restrain true energy and conceal one's realm; I haven't thought of a name yet."

Li Miao smiled.

"I'll go with you tonight; as long as I don't make a move, ordinary Heaven-Man experts won't be able to see through my martial arts."

"?"

Zhu Zai was silent for a while and said slowly.

"Are you... really not the reincarnation of Bodhidharma?"

(End of chapter)