Chapter 221

After Li Miao left, Zhu Zai did not sleep all night.

Since returning to Shuntian Prefecture with Li Miao, these things had come too fast and too heavily. Li Miao could look down on all this with a detached mindset, but Zhu Zai, this native clan member, could not do it.

Just the things that happened tonight—Li Miao admitting he was a god reincarnated, the Emperor and the Jianwen Emperor deciding life and death today—were enough to make Zhu Zai's old heart beat wildly.

So, until someone knocked on his door, Zhu Zai woke up abruptly.

He let out a long breath, downed the tea that had long since cooled in his hand, and stood up to push open the door.

The young eunuch bowed and presented a meal.

"Lord Zhu, His Majesty has an order: we will set off for Tianshou Mountain to worship the ancestors at noon today; you should eat some breakfast first."

"After you finish eating, let me know, and I will take you to bathe and change clothes. His Majesty attaches great importance to this matter; you must not miss the time."

Although the young eunuch's actions and tone were respectful, what he said was not very appropriate, and could even be said to be somewhat impolite. Words with a urging meaning like "don't miss the time" were not something a young eunuch was qualified to say to the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Zhu Zai scanned his surroundings with his peripheral vision.

Sure enough, in the corners everywhere, there were already many armored soldiers standing.

And in places he could not observe, there must also be Heaven-Man Realm attendants staring at him sinisterly; as long as he revealed the slightest abnormality, they would immediately take action.

"Understood."

Zhu Zai's face was as usual; he took the meal, closed the door, and held the bowl and chopsticks, tapping them lightly to make a sound, and then picked up a few chopsticks of vegetables to chew, making a sound.

The footsteps outside the door then slowly moved away.

"Ptooey."

Zhu Zai spat everything in his mouth into the bowl, turned around to find a floor tile in the corner, pried it open, poured all the food in, and then covered the tile, restoring it to its original state.

Since he already knew the Emperor had malicious intentions toward the imperial clan, Zhu Zai naturally would not swallow the food he sent. He circulated his Qi and checked his body carefully, and sure enough, he found a trace of oddity, and it was extremely stubborn.

Zhu Zai's face sank.

Knowing that this thing had only passed through his mouth, at most swallowing a trace with his saliva, it was difficult for him to dispel it for a while with his top-tier Wu Gong.

Zhu Zai focused all his attention on dispelling it for a long time, then tore a piece of the bed sheet, slowly opened his mouth, spat a mouthful of stagnant blood onto it, and held it before him to observe carefully.

After a while, the stagnant blood moved.

From inside, a few red threads as thick as hair slowly probed out, winding and crawling for an inch, and then there was no movement.

"Gu insect."

Zhu Zai frowned.

After the exchange with Li Miao last night, he had completely given up on his illusions about the Emperor. Whether the Emperor was himself or Ji Tianrui, he would not be soft-hearted.

But seeing the Emperor use Gu to secretly harm the clan members with his own eyes, he still couldn't help but feel a surge of sorrow from the bottom of his heart.

"Emperor, Son of Heaven, heh."

"Taizu, Chengzu... how did my Zhu family fall to this point..."

"Sigh..."

Letting out a long sigh, Zhu Zai sat for a while, picked up his chopsticks to wipe some oil on the corners of his mouth, and then stood up to open the door.

The young eunuch had long been waiting respectfully outside the door, presenting the clothes for ancestor worship.

"Lord Zhu, please change."

Handing over the clothes, the young eunuch went into the room to take the tray, and after Zhu Zai closed the door, his gaze turned cold instantly.

He first lowered his head to look carefully at the tray, then wiped the bottom of the bowl, twisted his fingers to feel the temperature, nodded, handed the tray to an imperial guard, and stood at the door waiting.

After Zhu Zai changed his clothes, the young eunuch took him to a side hall.

Just as Zhu Zai entered the door, Princess Gongyi walked over quickly holding her younger sister and said to Zhu Zai in a low voice.

"Lord Zhu."

Zhu Zai nodded and said in a low voice.

"Did you eat the meal His Majesty sent this morning?"

"No."

Princess Gongyi shook her head.

"Li Miao came last night and gave me a few instructions. Not just the meal, I didn't even drink a drop of water."

"That's good."

Zhu Zai looked around.

In this side hall, clan members were standing in groups of three or five, and more clan members were being led over by eunuchs.

Some young clan members had excited expressions, gesturing and talking loudly, clearly thinking that after last night, the Emperor was finally going to reuse the clan members, and they would be able to rise as well.

But the expressions of some older clan members were not so good.

After the Chengzu Emperor's "Jingnan," the Great Dashuo had extremely strict restrictions on close-branch clan members; only clan members with very distant relationships and no possibility of threatening the throne could be reused.

Zhu Zai was like this, and these few older clan members were also like this. Having power, seeing much, and having distant relationships, they could naturally detect that something was wrong from last night's situation.

But they did not have subordinates like Li Miao to tell them "your ancestral grave has exploded," and they fundamentally did not know that they had already stepped onto the Naihe Bridge with one foot.

Zhu Zai scanned the surroundings and said to Princess Gongyi in a low voice.

"Do you have anyone you are usually familiar with, and who can speak and do things?"

"Yes."

Princess Gongyi nodded.

"Go and remind them; no need to say too much, just leave a hook in their hearts. When we arrive at the Imperial Mausoleum, it might be useful."

"Good."

Princess Gongyi turned and left.

Zhu Zai also went to find a few older clan members and exchanged a few words vaguely.

After speaking, they all looked at each other.

"Brother, your words are too alarmist, right?"

A middle-aged clan member frowned and said.

"Although the situation last night was a bit odd, this place has most of the Great Dashuo's clan members; what could happen that is worth the Emperor being unfavorable to all the clan members?"

An old clan member stroked his beard and said slowly.

"Yes, it's not that we are stubborn, but you have been in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for more than twenty years and know some secret news, which is normal. But if you want us to stand over, you must give a reasonable reason."

"If there is no evidence, we dare not move."

Zhu Zai stepped back a few steps and shook his head.

"This matter, I can't explain it clearly now, and I have no way to say it."

"But, I have absolutely no half-sentence of falsehood."

"Brother."

Zhu Zai said to the old clan member.

"If you don't believe me, you can try to see if you can walk out of this side hall."

Once these words were spoken, they looked at each other, their expressions changing abruptly.

The old clan member's face turned cold, and he nodded, turning to walk toward the hall door.

Before he reached the door, the young eunuch monitoring Zhu Zai flashed in front of him and bowed: "Grand Master, the time for the Great Jial is near, please wait a moment, so as not to miss the auspicious time for departure."

The old clan member scanned him coldly.

"The old man has official business to explain; I will be back soon."

"Please wait a moment."

"Presumptuous!"

"I dare not."

"Get out of the way!"

The young eunuch bowed to the ground, then straightened up, looked at him coldly, and waved his hand.

The imperial guards guarding the door stepped forward and cupped their hands.

"Eunuch Liu."

"Persuade the Grand Master."

"Yes!"

(End of chapter)