Chapter 394: Shh

After Yan Song finished speaking, he locked eyes with Zhu Zai and said nothing more.

Zhu Zai raised his teacup to drink, but his heart was a tempest.

"He is trying to... force the Emperor's hand!"

"This man is the Emperor's confidant, having always followed the Emperor's lead. If he hadn't learned something, he would never dare to do such a thing! Therefore, he has already colluded with the Eastern Depot!"

"I wondered why so many officials were willing to stake their reputations to allow the Eastern Depot to mobilize the Right Brave Cavalry Guard and the Flag-Hand Guard in Nanjing. So, it was because the leader is the Senior Grand Secretary!"

"Does he only want to interrupt the Emperor's progress in restoring his Wu Gong, or does he intend to use the public eye to conspire with the Eastern Depot to do something else?"

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Zhu Zai smiled, stood up, walked quickly to Yan Song, and grasped his hands.

"Lord Yan, what you said today is exactly what I have been thinking!"

"Commander Zhu, do you mean that? Would you be willing to submit a joint memorial with me tomorrow?"

"It is my heart's desire; I would not dare to ask otherwise!"

"Ah, ha ha ha ha—"

The two looked at each other and laughed, walking hand in hand to the door.

Yan Song bowed to Zhu Zai.

"In that case, I will see you tomorrow at the East Flowery Gate!"

"Certainly, certainly!"

The door slowly closed, and the moment their gazes were cut off from each other—

The smile vanished from Zhu Zai's face, replaced by deep, murderous intent.

"This man cannot be left alive! No matter what he intends to do tomorrow, he must not succeed!"

"Now is not the time to care about court stability. Tonight, I will have Great Li go and take this man's head! I must ensure a single strike succeeds!"

Outside the door, Yan Song descended the stairs with a normal expression and reached the inner room.

A moment later, Zhu Zai went downstairs and headed toward the Qianqing Palace. Behind him, a clerk glanced at his retreating back, turned, and walked quickly to the inner room, arriving at Yan Song's side to whisper.

"Lord Yan, he has gone."

"Mm."

Yan Song waved his hand, and the clerk turned and left.

He made a mark on the memorial before him, set it aside, and then, seemingly intentional or perhaps not, raised his gaze to glance toward the Qianqing Palace.

Just one glance.

He lowered his head again and picked up another memorial to review.

————————

That night.

Outside the East Flowery Gate, in the Xiaoyong Ward.

The Yan Residence.

If one were to ask which household in the capital was the easiest to find, it would undoubtedly be that of the current Senior Grand Secretary, Yan Song.

The vermilion-lacquered gate tower stood over thirty feet high, with copper bells hanging from the eaves that chimed like jade pendants when the wind blew. Inside, the paths were paved with bluestone, lined on both sides with Taihu stones. The residence had five courtyards, and the main hall featured nanmu beams and pillars painted with gold, floors covered in Persian carpets, and twelve sandalwood screens arranged in a row.

The back garden diverted living water from the Jade Spring to form a winding pond, with nine-turn covered bridges adorned with glazed pavilions. Whale-oil lamps hung from the walkways, walls, and pillars on all four sides, their yellowish-white light piercing through the branches and leaves, leaving streaks of shadows.

Footsteps approached from afar. Two lanterns illuminated two figures with straight backs and vigorous strides; one carried a long saber, the other a long sword, walking slowly along the corridor.

Although they were dressed as ordinary retainers, anyone who had spent a few years in the Jianghu could tell that these two were experts.

Second-rate experts who had made a name for themselves in a single prefecture.

The man with the saber was named "Frost on Snow."

The man with the sword was named "Iron Autumn Garment."

Both of them were figures who had made a name for themselves in the Jianghu, but in the middle of last year, they attended a banquet held by the leader of the capital's underworld, "Iron Palm Maitreya" Yan Xiaosheng, and ended up being arrested together by the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had come to make arrests.

Fortunately, although the two of them could not be considered good people, they were relatively law-abiding in their daily lives, and after spending several months in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's imperial prison, they finally managed to escape with their lives.

If one were to say that the two of them still possessed a bit of the common temperament of Jianghu people—disdaining power and influence—after experiencing this ordeal with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they had seen through the underlying rules of how the Great Ming operated: the imperial court was the biggest fist, and power was the sharpest blade.

Thus, the two of them took advantage of the Yan residence's recruitment of guards to sneak in, relying on their own solid Wu Gong, thinking of using Yan Song's power to secure an official position.

Speaking of which, they had reached the present moment. The two of them could be considered to have shared hardships, and now that they were walking the same path, their relationship was naturally incomparably close. With no one around, they began to chat about some idle gossip that was inconvenient to mention during the day.

"Does Grand Secretary Yan have something major going on today?"

"How do you say that?"

"Usually, after he finishes his meal, he extinguishes the lamps and goes to sleep by the hour of the Dog (7-9 PM), but it is already the hour of the Ox (1-3 AM), and when we just passed by his door, the lamps were still lit."

"Sigh, your hearing is a bit poor, but I heard it clearly—Grand Secretary Yan is entertaining guests."

Tie Qiuyi stopped in his tracks.

"Entertaining guests? It's already the hour of the Ox, and he still has to handle government affairs tomorrow; what kind of guest is he entertaining?"

Xue Shangshuang spread his hands.

"How would I know? Perhaps it's a high official, perhaps an old friend; even if I could hear clearly what they were saying, I wouldn't dare to listen, would I?"

"That's true."

The two of them continued walking forward.

"By the way, have you felt that in the last few days, you've always felt a bit... terrified?"

"... How do you say that?"

"I can't say it well, you know, I love to drink, and sometimes I take money to trade with the kitchen maid for some of Grand Secretary Yan's good wine, but when I went to trade for wine yesterday... she acted as if she didn't know about this at all."

Tie Qiuyi said, shivering.

"You don't know, at that time she looked at me, just one look, and I felt a chill all over my body. That look, I'm afraid only that fierce person we met last year could compare!"

"That fierce!"

Xue Shangshuang was also struck dumb with fear.

He knew who Tie Qiuyi was comparing him to.

It was precisely the then-Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander, the current Commander of the Northern Secret Service, the peerless demon known in the Jianghu as the "Death-Dealing Commander"!

Speaking of which, the fact that the two of them could escape with their lives from his hands was simply a stroke of immense luck! If it weren't for the fear of him coming to their door, the story of "clashing with the Death-Dealing Commander and fortunately not dying" alone would be enough for the two of them to establish a foundation in the Jianghu!

Thinking of this, the two of them sighed in unison and continued the topic they had just been discussing.

"Speaking of which, I have this feeling too."

Xue Shangshuang said in a low voice.

"A few days ago, I was patrolling the courtyard with another person, and on the way, I met the maid who delivers wine to Grand Secretary Yan... you know, I'm usually a bit loose-lipped, and I happened to recognize her, so I went up to tease her a few times."

"But she looked at me, and I didn't dare to go up."

Tie Qiuyi, upon hearing this, asked in a low voice.

"Did you also feel that her gaze was cold?"

Xue Shangshuang shook his head.

"That's not it, it's just that I felt I couldn't go up... it was as if I were facing that person last year, my internal Qi congealed, unable to circulate, and my whole body became stiff."

"Sigh..."

The two of them sighed in unison again.

"Why do we keep mentioning that person today?"

"Which person?"

"Who else could it be, the Corpse-Tearing Battalion Commander, the Death-Dealing Commander, Li Miao."

Xue Shangshuang turned his head and looked at Tie Qiuyi strangely; it was clearly the other party who mentioned that person first, so why was he asking now?

Looking at this, he was stunned.

A chill shot straight from the soles of his feet to his crown.

Tie Qiuyi froze in place, his face deathly pale, trembling uncontrollably. A hand wearing black-gold gloves rested on his shoulder, and further up was a face with a playful smile.

A familiar face, a face that had appeared in their nightmares countless times.

Li Miao raised his hand and rested it on Xue Shangshuang's shoulder, his true energy drilling into his meridians, suppressing the scream that was about to escape.

He smiled and held up an index finger in front of his lips.

"Shh."

"I find you two a bit familiar, don't I?"

(End of chapter)