Chapter 459: The Scale

Hearing Liu Jin's cryptic words, An Ziyang's brow furrowed tightly.

If Zhu Zai were not present, he would have killed Liu Jin directly.

There is a saying that "a superior's superior is not my superior." Li Miao cared about Zhu Zai, and An Ziyang cared about Li Miao, but that did not mean An Ziyang necessarily cared about Zhu Zai, let alone Zhu Yijing, who was one step removed.

Whether Zhu Yijing lived or died, he truly did not care.

If anything, he felt it would be better if he were dead.

Zhu Zai was elderly and had only Zhu Yijing as his sole son. Once the situation stabilized, Li Miao would certainly push Zhu Zai to take the throne... then, when Zhu Zai passed away, who would succeed him?

Li Miao certainly wouldn't fight Zhu Yijing for it; An Ziyang knew that Li Miao had no desire to be Emperor. If someone else shouldered the burden for him, he would only feel happy.

But what if Zhu Yijing died?

At this thought, An Ziyang glanced behind him without changing his expression. This glance happened to intersect with Zhu Zai's gaze.

An Ziyang shuddered.

"That's right, the Old Guard Commander has managed the Embroidered Uniform Guard for decades and has interrogated more prisoners than the Guard Commander himself. He has already seen through my thoughts... Forget it, I am the Guard Commander's subordinate; this is his family matter, and I should not interfere."

"The Old Guard Commander is not a muddled person, and his feelings for the Guard Commander are genuine. He will not make a choice detrimental to the Guard Commander. Such matters should be left for him to choose."

Having figured this out, An Ziyang threw Liu Jin in front of Zhu Zai.

Zhu Zai looked at Liu Jin for a moment and said hoarsely.

"Eunuch Liu, if you want to force me to make a choice, you must at least explain the options clearly before I can choose."

Liu Jin said calmly and indistinctly.

"Yes, Lord Zhu."

"Do you know the root of Yingzhou's founding?"

"At the very beginning, Zheng Anqi Sheng did not found Yingzhou for the sake of longevity, but to force someone to come out so he could meet that person. Today, his collusion with me to usurp the imperial court was also for the same purpose."

"He wants to see his master—He Shang Zhangren."

Zhu Zai frowned.

"Founding Yingzhou, usurping the imperial court."

"What do these have to do with He Shang Zhangren?"

Liu Jin was already dying; he had only two clones left. As the number of clones decreased, his life entered a countdown, and he had no time to play games.

So he said frankly.

"Everyone is like a dragon."

Zhu Zai was stunned for a moment.

"What 'everyone is like a dragon'?"

Liu Jin suddenly laughed; this was the first time he had laughed.

"Lord Zhu, what is the foundation of Yingzhou's inheritance?"

"Bone structure can be inherited, and realms can be passed down, which is why the Zheng clan can produce as many Heaven-Man experts as the entire Jianghu combined."

"The so-called Yingzhou is merely an alchemy room established by Zheng Anqi Sheng to create more Heaven-Man experts. The so-called longevity and accumulation of nature-cultivation are merely byproducts."

"As for why this would be related to He Shang Zhangren... Lord Zhu, do you still remember the cultivation method His Majesty practices? That method which utilizes the nature-cultivation of all Heaven-Man experts in the world, that method of unknown origin."

"The Jizhao method was lost a thousand years ago; how could it suddenly appear at the founding of the dynasty? At that time, Zhang Sanfeng had long since passed away, and there were not even any Heaven-Man experts who had unified the three paths in the Jianghu. Who could produce a Jizhao cultivation method?"

"For a thousand years, Zhang Sanfeng and Bodhidharma have cultivated their nature-cultivation to perfection, but why did they not pass down the method, and why did they suddenly disappear?"

Zhu Zai's mind raced.

Suddenly, he was jolted awake.

Everything was connected.

Ji Tianrui had once told Li Miao that the person who gave the cultivation method to the Jianwen Emperor might also not want Heaven-Man experts to appear in the world. Ji Tianrui's plot regarding the imperial mausoleum was to break the court's constraints on the Jianghu, allowing more Heaven-Man experts to emerge and force him to show himself.

Zheng Anqi Sheng's purpose and methods were the same as hers.

The person who did not want Heaven-Man experts to appear, the person who gave the cultivation method to the Jianwen Emperor, the person who gave the Xuanlan method to Zheng Anqi Sheng a thousand years ago, was the same person.

He Shang Zhangren.

The disappearance of Zhang Sanfeng and Bodhidharma, the reason they did not pass down the nature-cultivation method, and the root cause of the gradual disappearance of the three nature-cultivation paths over the last thousand years... all faintly focused on this person.

He did not want Heaven-Man experts to appear, so the nature-cultivation method was lost.

He did not want Heaven-Man experts to appear, so the most outstanding masters of Buddhism and Daoism over the last thousand years disappeared, leaving only their traditions and descendants, but no inheritance.

He did not want Heaven-Man experts to appear, so Zheng Anqi Sheng spent a thousand years harming his own descendants for dozens of generations, colluding with Liu Jin to usurp the imperial court... all of this was just to force more Heaven-Man experts to appear, so that he would be forced to show himself and meet with Zheng Anqi Sheng.

In a daze, Zhu Zai seemed to see a massive shadow standing above the firmament, looking down on all living beings. ===== CHAPTER 460 =====