Chapter 217

Seeing the Emperor finally step into the front hall, the clan members who were talking in low voices stopped in unison, stood up, and bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty—"

"Alright."

The Emperor smiled gently, raised his hands, and supported them virtually.

"Today is a family banquet, no need to be restrained; such tedious etiquette is unavoidable for outside officials, but now we are all family, so let's skip it."

The clan members then stood up, but none dared to take their seats, standing in place waiting for the Emperor's next words.

Li Miao quietly raised his head to look at the Emperor.

Having arrived in the Great Dashuo for twenty-seven years, he, as a thousand-household officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had naturally served as an outer guard many times and had seen the Emperor from afar several times. But it was his first time observing him at such a close distance.

The Emperor had thin cheeks, a full forehead, eyes that were spirited, and three long whiskers hanging down from his chin; his face contained a smile, appearing both approachable and majestic. If only judging by appearance, this Emperor was truly a picture of a wise and enlightened monarch.

It would be even more like it if he weren't wearing a Daoist Thousand-Word True Scripture robe and letting his long hair hang down. Against the backdrop of this outfit, he looked more like a brilliant Daoist priest.

Li Miao sneered inwardly.

The Emperor's demeanor as an enlightened person, combined with the accumulated corpses of Heaven-Man Realm experts hanging in his tomb, appeared so ironic and so ridiculous.

Just as Li Miao was secretly slandering him, the Emperor standing at the head was about to speak to let the clan members take their seats, but his pupils shrank abruptly. He sniffed lightly twice, his gaze sharpened abruptly, and the smile on his face disappeared.

A pair of sharp gazes, like substance, scanned the crowd.

The clan members, who were all fawning, were startled abruptly and hurriedly lowered their bodies, trembling with fear.

"Oh, you can smell it too."

Li Miao laughed softly.

He had made a cut on the street to let the Jianwen Emperor know he was there, and a trace of that blood smell still hadn't dissipated from his body. The Jianwen Emperor could smell his blood, and since the Emperor practiced a cultivation method of the same origin, it was not strange that he could do it too.

Li Miao had anticipated this long ago.

It was just that Li Miao had already deliberately concealed it, and having stayed in this Qianqing Palace for a long time, that bit of blood smell had already dissipated and stained everyone present.

The Emperor knew he had come, but couldn't recognize which one was him.

This was Li Miao's goal.

Zhu Zai and Li Miao had not yet determined what attitude to hold toward the Emperor. Whether the Emperor was himself or Ji Tianrui, since he was sitting on the dragon throne now, any action taken against him had to be cautious and more cautious.

Not to mention rashly taking action against the Emperor; whether successful or not, it would likely slide the entire Great Dashuo into the abyss of a chaotic world. Zhu Zai and Li Miao could not bear the consequences of regicide alone.

No matter how muddled and cruel the current Emperor was, no one was willing to bear the crime of regicide. Because it meant you had become a target, and everyone in the world with ambitions would be very happy to use your head to establish their own legitimacy.

At that time, it would be the whole world as your enemy.

At the current stage, it was only the "pulling" stage. Li Miao would not jump out to be an enemy of the Emperor now, but he still had to do some secret limiting of his strength.

Li Miao deliberately let the Emperor know he had come, just to make the Emperor hesitate and make him more cautious about targeting the imperial clan. Then he would watch the actions of the Ming Sect and the Jianwen Emperor before making plans.

Sure enough, the Emperor scanned for a long time, but was fundamentally unable to distinguish which one was the expert who fought the Jianwen Emperor.

The Wu Gong created by Li Miao using "salary" was not easy to see through.

He was silent for a moment, but then laughed softly and returned to that gentle expression.

"I suddenly remembered the matter of the rebels harming several clan members on the way to the banquet, and I couldn't help but feel some pity, losing my focus for a moment."

The clan members were then relieved and hurriedly said some flattering words like "sorry to trouble Your Majesty's concern."

The Emperor waved his hand.

"Eunuch Huang's injuries are quite heavy, and I asked a few rough questions before letting him go to treat his wounds, but I didn't ask in detail which clan members were harmed and which were frightened."

"Stand out and let me see if there is any harm."

Zhu Zai secretly thought things were bad, but there was nowhere to hide, so he could only stand out with Li Miao, Princess Si Rou, and the few clan members who had been on the road, walking to the Emperor and saying in unison.

"Sorry to trouble Your Majesty's pity; we are fine."

The moment he saw Zhu Zai stand out, the Emperor's eyes instantly became deep, and he stepped forward to grab Zhu Zai's hand.

"The official is my confidant, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard is the imperial court's eyes and ears; nothing must go wrong!"

Zhu Zai was about to thank him, but suddenly felt a strand of true energy like a thread probe into his meridians.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhu Zai looked up at the Emperor abruptly.

"The official, I roughly understand some methods of health preservation, and I have some attainments in martial arts. I cannot rest easy without personally checking if the official has left any internal injuries."

The Emperor narrowed his eyes, looking at Zhu Zai, his mouth full of concern.

Zhu Zai did not find half a smile in those eyes.

Fortunately, he had been prepared after being reminded by Li Miao, and his own Wu Gong indeed had no oddities, so after pretending to be calm, he said as usual.

"Your Majesty's favor is such that the official is moved to tears and has no way to repay!"

"No matter, no matter..."

The Emperor held Zhu Zai's hand with a smile and checked him roughly, but in his heart, he went "Eh."

"Is it really not this old thing?"

"Having the deepest involvement with the Ming Sect some time ago, and happening to bump into the Jianwen Emperor tonight, and that person who fought the Jianwen Emperor is here... but Zhu Zai is really clean?"

"But this Wu Gong is indeed the Embroidered Uniform Guard's path, and the realm is just an ordinary top-tier..."

He did not know that Li Miao, behind Zhu Zai, had already quietly included him within his three-foot radius. As long as the Emperor had the slightest intention to take action against Zhu Zai, Li Miao would immediately take action.

In the eyes of the surrounding clan members, this was a harmonious scene of a sage monarch and a virtuous minister. But in the dark where they could not see, the three people at the center of this scene were already on the verge of a fight, with murderous intent rising.

As long as one side revealed the slightest unusual movement, it would immediately be blood splashed on the spot!

The scene was quiet for a moment.

After a while, the Emperor smiled and let go of Zhu Zai's hand.

"The official is fine, so I am relieved."

He was ultimately only suspicious, and his temperament was extremely arrogant; he did not doubt the results of his own investigation at all. After checking carefully and finding no clues, he temporarily excluded Zhu Zai from suspicion.

But, he would not stop there.

The Emperor turned to look at the other few clan members standing to the side, his eyes cold and smiling gently.

"Come, the remaining few, let me see too."

"!!!"

Zhu Zai's hair stood on end instantly; he endured and did not look back at Li Miao, a trace of cold sweat flowing down his back.

(End of chapter)