Chapter 334: Seventy-nine

Li Miao considered his brain to be quite active, not an outstandingly smart person, but good enough. If his martial arts were added, it was quite enough.

But facing Ji Tianrui, even Officer Li would feel a toothache.

If there was any opponent in the Great Ming now that Li Miao had to be fully prepared for and give his all, it was this Ming Sect leader, the Miao demoness.

Li Miao had to admit that from the moment he stepped into the Jianghu, he had always been calculated to death by Ji Tianrui. In the Imperial Mausoleum affair, the Emperor, the Jianwen Emperor, and even Li Miao himself were just supporting roles; the only true protagonist was Ji Tianrui.

And she had indeed achieved all her calculations and retreated unscathed.

People like her, every move, every smile, was a calculation; Li Miao would not believe she left that secret room unintentionally.

It was estimated that from the beginning, this handbook was left for Li Miao. It was just that there was a mistake in the middle; first, someone in the Embroidered Uniform Guard stole it and gave it to Prefect Luo as a gift; now it had gone around and was delivered to Li Miao again.

"Zheng Anqi."

Li Miao twisted his fingers and thought to himself.

"Although Leader Ji speaks in riddles, she doesn't like to lie, she just likes to hide things... so this information should be credible."

"This legendary figure who appeared in official history from the Qin and Han periods and had dealings with the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han is the founder of Yingzhou... and also the source of the bloodline of Yingzhou and Penglai."

Both Yingzhou and Penglai are bloodline inheritances, and both have the surname Zheng. So An Qi Sheng is not only the founder of both sides but also the ancestor.

The answer to the question Xue Bangzhu was exploring had come to light.

"But if it were just 'An Qi Sheng founded Yingzhou,' would it really be worth Xue Bangzhu spending effort to investigate after his sect was wiped out? Is it worth Leader Ji specifically leaving a handbook to remind me?"

Li Miao's twisting fingers stopped.

He thought of the Jianwen Emperor and Yin Ruihua.

Although he was living in a near-living-dead state, the Jianwen Emperor had indeed lived until now; by the time he was killed by Li Miao, he was already one hundred and sixty-seven years old. Yin Ruihua was nearly two hundred years old.

Life Cultivation combined, even if one practices the evil path of the Jianwen Emperor, can greatly extend life.

An Qi Sheng has many titles, the more famous ones being "Zheng Xian," "Ancestor of Qin and Han Alchemists," "North Pole True Man," etc.

Also, "Thousand-Year Old Man."

Li Miao lowered his hands.

As far as the four Heaven-Man realms he had come into contact with, he didn't think anyone could live for a thousand years. Even the mysterious "Jizhao" could not change the essence of the human body.

But now, what exactly "Intent Realm"—"Xuan Lan" was, he had no clues yet and dared not make a rash judgment.

"More clues are needed, at least I must investigate the handbook left by Leader Ji and the relics of Zheng Huaijin clearly before I can deduce more conclusions... the only speculation I can make now is this much."

Li Miao stopped thinking and looked up.

During the time he was thinking, Gao Anyu was still fighting Hua Zhiqiu. But after the garrison troops surrounding him turned to protect Prefect Luo, he wouldn't be in any danger in the short term.

And seeing Li Miao finally look up, Prefect Luo said hurriedly.

"How about it, have you considered it clearly?"

Li Miao looked at him, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

"Hmm... almost."

Li Miao waved at Cao Hanyan, and Cao Hanyan sighed and turned to walk to Li Miao's side without hesitation.

Prefect Luo looked happy.

"Good, you are indeed straightforward! That secret room is in—"

"No rush."

Li Miao raised his finger and pointed at Cao Hanyan's chest, smiling at Prefect Luo.

"I have a few more questions, Prefect, why don't you answer them."

Prefect Luo frowned, but he really didn't want to cause more trouble. He thought to himself that there would be plenty of opportunities to deal with these ruffians in the future, so he flicked his sleeves: "Go ahead!"

Li Miao's finger was still poking at Cao Hanyan's chest, smiling and saying.

"First, Prefect, you were a Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel, a noble office in the Ministry of Personnel, but you were kicked to this Guangxin Prefecture with a promotion in name but a demotion in reality. Have you thought about why?"

Prefect Luo frowned, anger rising in his heart, and was about to scold him, but heard Li Miao continue.

"Because you stood on the wrong side."

"!!!"

Prefect Luo's eyelids widened slightly.

"Second, the current Embroidered Uniform Guard is different from before last year. Prefect, since you came from the capital, you should know... then the question comes."

Li Miao put down the hand poking at Cao Hanyan's chest.

"Who gave you the courage to first collude with the beast in the Embroidered Uniform Guard who eats inside and out, and pocket the things related to the Ming Sect? And then collude with a local major sect to try to cover up the cause of death of a Embroidered Uniform Guard Platoon Leader?"

Li Miao smiled grimly.

"Is it your teacher, Minister of Personnel Qiu, or your fellow townsman, Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Gan?"

"Or is it those friends of yours in the Six Ministries who secretly submitted memorials to create momentum and wanted to suppress the rise of the imperial clan?"

*Deng deng deng. *

Prefect Luo's knees went weak, and he almost fell. He barely stabilized his figure but retreated several steps, pointing a trembling hand at Li Miao.

"You, you, why do you know—"

"I am the one asking you questions now."

Li Miao interrupted him with a smile, and Prefect Luo's face turned white, and he closed his mouth, stammering.

Only then did Li Miao continue unhurriedly.

"Look, Prefect, you are not sincere."

"I asked you two questions, and you didn't answer either. With such an attitude, how can we talk about cooperation?"

"How about this, as long as you can answer my third question, the previous matters will be forgotten, how about that?"

How could Prefect Luo answer now?

His official uniform was trembling, and the subordinate official who had been supporting him just now had quietly let go and retreated several steps, distancing himself from him.

After a long while, he said in a trembling voice.

"You say."

Li Miao patted Cao Hanyan on the shoulder.

Since being poked by him, Cao Hanyan had been closing his eyes and hanging his head, his face flushed, as if he had lost his mind. Now, patted by him, he opened his eyes suddenly, but the first thing he did was reach out and touch himself all over, then looked at Li Miao in astonishment.

Li Miao didn't look at him but continued to say to Prefect Luo.

"Actually, the third question is very simple. I think Prefect should be able to answer it."

"This question is... how many people are in your family?"

Prefect Luo instinctively wanted to answer.

"Seve—"

Halfway through, he suddenly realized something, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

He, who came from the capital and had experienced the bloody struggles between the imperial clan, the eunuchs, and the civil official group in the first half of this year, knew exactly what this question represented.

But Li Miao would not let him go.

"Correct, Prefect finally got it right once."

Li Miao laughed playfully.

"That's right... it is indeed seventy-nine people."

Prefect Luo widened his eyes! His wife and young children, plus his concubines, were clearly only seven people!

Cao Hanyan turned around, feeling the surging, far-exceeding-his-own majestic true energy in his body, drew his saber, and sighed long.

Sure enough, he still couldn't stop it.

These people were too good at courting death; he had tried his best to turn things around within the range Li Miao could accept, but he still couldn't change the result.

Prefect Luo was confused by being in the situation, but Cao Hanyan was a bystander who saw clearly, and he looked at Prefect Luo with pity.

The names Li Miao mentioned just now... teachers, fellow townsmen, friends, those names who worked for the civil official group with Prefect Luo and tried to stop the rise of the imperial clan.

Added together with Prefect Luo's family, it should be exactly seventy-nine people.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 335 =====