Chapter 384

Zhu Zai had been moved to the Wenyuan Pavilion for some time.

The longer it was, the more he wanted to slap Li Miao to death... or slap himself, who brought Li Miao back to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to death.

Even though Zhu Zai had a top-tier internal energy foundation, and Li Miao had cleared the hidden injuries in his body for him, he had still managed to grow two huge dark circles under his eyes over these few months.

Nothing else, just too tired.

Stabilizing the court, cleaning up accumulated ills, purging dissidents.

These three things, even though Zhu Zai already held imperial power in his hands, were still restrictive to do. Not to mention that he had been a secret service head for decades; he had plenty of killers under his command, but very few confidants who could handle political affairs.

If it really came down to it, Li Miao might count as one.

But he didn't dare to hand this Zhu Bi to Li Miao.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Li Miao, or was reluctant to give up power... he was just afraid that the day after he handed the Zhu Bi to Li Miao, Li Miao would directly build a "Jingguan" (a monument made of enemy heads) at the vegetable market, then throw the Zhu Bi back to him and walk away, patting his butt.

Li Miao could really do it, and in the month after the Imperial Mausoleum incident ended, he had already started preparing to do so.

It wasn't that Li Miao couldn't do it this way; a sharp knife cutting through a mess and moistening things silently were both the right path, and the final result was the same, but Zhu Zai really didn't dare to let go and let Li Miao do it.

After all, the foundation of the Great Ming had already been ruined beyond recognition.

It might not be able to withstand Li Miao's tossing.

Zhu Zai could only pinch his nose and chase Li Miao to Yin Minjun's side, out of sight and out of mind. Then he suffered bitterly every day, trying bit by bit to pull this riddled Great Ming back from the edge of the cliff.

And back to the present.

Zhu Zai picked up the brush and wrote a paragraph on the memorial, only to find that the tip of the brush had dried up.

An Ziyang hurriedly stepped forward, picked up the inkstone, and offered it to Zhu Zai's hand.

Zhu Zai dipped it in cinnabar, wrote a paragraph on the memorial, closed it, and then sighed, rubbed his eyebrows, and looked at An Ziyang.

"What is it?"

An Ziyang took the stack of documents out of his bosom.

"Commander, there is a matter related to Battalion Commander Zhu... I came to let you see it."

Zhu Zai's frown deepened even more.

He was cursed by his son in this life, whether biological or adopted.

Battalion Commander Zhu, that is, his only son Zhu Yijing.

A famous piece of trash.

There was no major problem morally; Zhu Zai's family education was there. But in terms of ability, it was a comprehensive failure. Whether it was ambition, temperament, methods, or knowing and using people, there was not a single point that could be brought out.

If Li Miao's ability was too strong, making Zhu Zai a bit unable to handle it, then this biological son's ability was too poor, making Zhu Zai worry about what to do.

"What kind of trouble has he caused again?"

Zhu Zai hurriedly scanned the document handed over by An Ziyang. At this look, his expression suddenly darkened.

"Liu Jinyi?"

"Born a prostitute, no relatives, family died early, came to Shuntian alone, and was redeemed by that unfilial son to be a book boy... Idiot!!!"

Zhu Zai's veins bulged, and he raised his hand to throw it.

An Ziyang hurriedly reached out to stop him: "Commander, you can't throw it! The Zhu Bi, the Zhu Bi, you can't throw it!"

His hands flashed, and he took the Zhu Bi from Zhu Zai's hand and replaced it with an inkstone.

"You throw this, throw this!"

"Hmph!"

Zhu Zai then reacted. This is the Wenyuan Pavilion, not the Embroidered Uniform Guard Yamen. Under his feet is the place where the Cabinet scholars discuss matters, so he had to put down the inkstone resentfully, but the anger on his face did not diminish in the slightest.

"Family, friends, old acquaintances, all dead! Origin, background, not a single root is clear! And he dared to name her like this, how dare he receive her into the house!"

"Idiot! Idiot!"

An Ziyang hurriedly poured a cup of tea.

"Calm down, calm down."

Zhu Zai did not take the teacup and said angrily.

"What about you! Li Miao is not here, you all have been grazing, right! This kind of thing should have been reported from the beginning, why did it drag on until now!"

"Yes, yes, the subordinate handled it poorly and is willing to be punished... Calm down, I will go and receive the family discipline later, don't get angry and hurt your body."

An Ziyang bowed his head and kept admitting his mistakes.

After a long while, Zhu Zai calmed down a little.

"Forget it, no need for family discipline." Zhu Zai stood up and walked back and forth a few steps.

No matter how much of a piece of trash Zhu Yijing is, he is still his biological son. Now that the opponent has been touching his bed for months, who knows what methods have been buried.

You must know that the Emperor can also be considered a direct disciple of the Miao King. These eunuchs who fled after the Imperial Mausoleum incident may not necessarily lack some evil Gu insects in their hands.

Zhu Zai was anxious and had already lost his composure.

An Ziyang hurriedly said.

"Commander, at present, only the name is a bit suspicious, it may not really be a problem. I have already sent someone to verify the background of this Liu Jinyi, and there will be results tomorrow."

Zhu Zai said in a deep voice.

"What if it really is?"

An Ziyang held a cup of tea with both hands and gave it to Zhu Zai.

"You should smooth your breath first."

Zhu Zai took the tea, drank a few sips, suppressed the fire, and heard An Ziyang say.

"Actually, the people below didn't investigate Battalion Commander Zhu's inner house before, which can be considered a good thing. If that Liu Jinyi is really Liu Jin, and finds out we are investigating, he might jump over the wall in a hurry and hurt Battalion Commander Zhu."

"The current situation is actually not that critical."

Zhu Zai glanced at him and didn't speak, but his frown also relaxed a little.

Li Miao is not here, Wang Hai is out, Zhu Zai has to handle political affairs. Over the past half year, the one who calls the shots in the Embroidered Uniform Guard is actually An Ziyang, and he has also proven his ability.

Zhu Zai still believes in his guarantee.

An Ziyang continued.

"Although I don't know how he deceived Battalion Commander Zhu... cough cough, but let's assume that this Liu Jinyi is Liu Jin himself."

Zhu Zai's face turned black, and his veins began to bulge again.

He didn't think of this just now... his biological son might have put a dead eunuch on his bed!

This damn thing!

Seeing Zhu Zai's expression was wrong, An Ziyang hurriedly continued.

"First, he doesn't know that we have already noticed, Battalion Commander Zhu can go out as usual, we just need to find a time to intercept Battalion Commander Zhu."

"As for whether Liu Jin will plant methods on Battalion Commander Zhu, you can rest assured about this."

An Ziyang patted his chest.

"Gu, the subordinate is a direct disciple of the Miao King; poison, the subordinate is the Deputy Sect Leader of the Tang Men. No matter what methods are on Battalion Commander Zhu, the subordinate guarantees to solve them for him, absolutely not letting Battalion Commander Zhu have any trouble."

Zhu Zai's face cleared slightly.

An Ziyang then continued.

"Second, we were only worried about how to dig out this group of eunuchs before, but now that he jumped to the front of the stage himself, it is a good thing instead."

"Over the past half year, several offerings have surrendered, plus the Xiaolingwei, we can just make a final decision and sweep away the aftermath of these Imperial Mausoleum incidents."

Zhu Zai's face relaxed again.

An Ziyang smiled.

"Third, the subordinate received news—the Chief of the Guard is about to return to the capital."

Zhu Zai's face relaxed completely.

He sat back in his chair, leaned back, and waved his hand.

"You go and arrange it, wait for Li Miao to come back before taking action."

"Yes."

An Ziyang arched his hand with a smile, went downstairs, and headed toward the palace gate.

But what he didn't see was that after he left, a clerk in the Wenyuan Pavilion walked quickly to the inner room, bowed to several Cabinet Grand Secretaries one by one, and walked to the side of the person sitting in the middle of the inner room.

This person was thin and long, his face like cold iron, his cheekbones high, three strands of gray-white long beard hanging to his chest, his eyes narrow like slits, cold light appearing. A green shirt and python robe wrapped around his gaunt shoulders, and he was frowning and writing quickly with a brush.

It was the current Senior Grand Secretary, Yan Song.

The clerk walked to his side, whispered a few words, and then arched his hand and left.

Yan Song seemed not to hear, still writing non-stop.

After finishing writing, he leisurely folded the memorial, put it on the edge of the table, and glanced upward intentionally or unintentionally, as if piercing through the door panel and seeing Zhu Zai who was sighing non-stop.

His expression did not change in the slightest, as if he really just glanced at it casually. Yan Song lowered his head again, opened another memorial, and began to write diligently and seriously.

(End of chapter)