The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 482

Jiang Ning shook his head and looked at the large number of Imperial Guards approaching, asking, "Why have you all come here?"

“Master Jiang, His Majesty has ordered Eunuch Gu to lead the Eastern Depot to arrest those officials who dare to plot against His Majesty. However, His Majesty is afraid that these villains are numerous and powerful, and is worried about Master Jiang’s safety. Therefore, he ordered me to lead the Embroidered Uniform Guard to assist Master Jiang.”

Yang Yu explained for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Master Jiang, what's inside here..."

Jiang Ning said, "It's all resolved."

Yang Yu was taken aback, then cupped his hands in greeting and sent several Imperial Guards in to check the situation. Not long after, the Imperial Guards returned and whispered a few words in Yang Yu's ear. Yang Yu's expression changed, and he looked at Jiang Ning with a more respectful expression.

"Master Jiang, now that things here have been resolved, please return to the palace. We brothers will handle the rest of the affairs here."

Jiang Ning nodded, then left and disappeared into the night, while the few Imperial Guards whispered among themselves.

"Who is this person? He's quite a formidable character."

"Yes, there are so many corpses inside, and they were all killed."

Hearing his subordinates' discussion, Yang Yu's face darkened, and he ordered, "Hurry up and deal with things here. What are you all standing around for?"

His subordinates chimed in.

"Yes."

By the time Jiang Ning returned to the palace, it was already getting light. Zhu Houzhao was still awake and clearly hadn't fallen asleep.

Zhu Houzhao sat in the chair, his brows furrowed and his eyes glazed over, clearly lost in thought. He only snapped out of it when Jiang Ning returned.

"What are you thinking?"

Zhu Houzhao, who was deep in thought, heard a voice from not far away. He subconsciously looked up and saw Jiang Ning. His expression softened, and he smiled and said, "Brother Jiang, you're finally back. How did things go?"

"Everything's been taken care of. What about yours?"

Jiangning Road.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Those officials who dared to plot against me with the Five Poisons Sect have all been arrested, but one escaped."

Zhu Houzhao looked rather grim.

"The one who escaped is not from the imperial court. He is very skilled in martial arts and killed many people from the Eastern Depot. He escaped while being surrounded by the Eastern Depot and is now being searched throughout the city."

Jiang Ning's expression shifted.

He recalled that the Miao man's confession mentioned that the leader of the Hundred Herbs Sect had come with them, and that among the people Jiang Ning had killed before, apart from Lan Fenghuang, there were no particularly powerful figures.

"It seems that the one who ran away was Zhu Shijin, the leader of the Hundred Herbs Sect."

After explaining his situation to Zhu Houzhao, Jiang Ning said...

Zhu Houzhao nodded solemnly and said, "The officials who were arrested have now been thrown into the Eastern Depot's prison for interrogation."

As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao sneered, "These people are only fourth or fifth-rank officials. We are already interrogating the mastermind behind them."

The arrested officials came from various departments, including the Censorate, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Court of Judicial Review, but none of them held the rank of consul in their respective departments. Zhu Houzhao did not believe that they could have orchestrated all of this, and they all still needed to be interrogated.

Jiang Ning nodded without saying much. He had never had any objections to this matter, as Zhu Houzhao was more skilled at handling such things than he was.

After a while, a senior eunuch came in.

"Your Majesty, Grand Secretaries Liu, Li, and Xie request an audience with Your Majesty."

Upon hearing about these three people, Zhu Houzhao frowned and said.

"If you refuse to see them, just say that I am still unwell and need to rest. Let the three Grand Secretaries go back."

"Yes."

Even after the chief eunuch left, Zhu Houzhao's expression remained much worse, clearly showing his dislike for the three Grand Secretaries.

Chapter 656: Brother Jiang of Wenyuan Pavilion Comes and Goes Freely

"Yes."

Gu Dayong withdrew, but returned shortly afterward.

"Your Majesty, the three Grand Secretaries said that since Your Majesty fell ill, the court officials have not seen Your Majesty for more than a month. They are all worried about Your Majesty's safety, and the court and the public are in a state of panic. If the three Grand Secretaries cannot be seen today, it will be difficult to explain to the court officials."

Gu Dayong said cautiously.

In fact, Gu Dayong had something else to say. The three Grand Secretaries also mentioned that the Eastern Depot had suddenly arrested several officials from the Six Ministries last night without any warning, and then launched a city-wide manhunt. The scale of their actions and their arrogant attitude shocked and angered the officials in the capital.

It should be noted that since Emperor Xianzong, the Eastern Depot, a secret service agency, had been in a state of semi-abuse. During Emperor Xiaozong's reign, it was suppressed by civil officials for eighteen years, yet now it dares to take action to arrest them.

Undoubtedly, the Eastern Depot's daring to take such drastic action against civil officials must have been at the behest of Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao had been refusing to attend court or meet with his officials for some time due to illness, which made the civil officials uneasy. They submitted memorials impeaching the Eastern Depot and then approached the three Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet, which led to the three Grand Secretaries entering the palace together before dawn today.

Zhu Houzhao was even more annoyed upon hearing this, but he finally calmed down and said, "Tell the three Grand Secretaries that I am fine now, but I need to recuperate and it is inconvenient for me to see people. I will personally attend the morning court session in three days to meet with the court officials."

"Yes."

Gu Dayong stepped down again.

But at this moment, Zhu Houzhao's expression became vexed.

Jiang Ning also did not interfere with matters of the imperial court.

After a while, Zhu Houzhao spoke first: "Brother Jiang, when will you leave the capital?"

Jiang Ning thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait a while."

He came to rescue Zhu Houzhao. Although he killed Lan Fenghuang, it didn't mean Zhu Houzhao was safe. If Zhu Houzhao was killed right after he left, then everything would have been in vain.

"Alright."

Zhu Houzhao nodded. To be honest, if Jiang Ning left now, he would be a little scared.

Although Jiang Ning had killed the Five Poisons Sect members who had poisoned him, and arrested the officials who had conspired with the Five Poisons Sect, the real mastermind was still at large. In addition, Jiang Ning said that the poison in his body had been administered to him before, which made Zhu Houzhao feel uneasy. Now that Jiang Ning would not leave the capital for the time being, it meant that his life was safe, which made Zhu Houzhao feel a little more at ease.

But Zhu Houzhao's heart skipped a beat again.

Although Jiang Ning is highly skilled in martial arts and can protect him, Jiang Ning cannot stay in the capital forever to protect him. A person like Jiang Ning cannot stay in the capital forever.

"Brother Jiang, do you have any fellow disciples in your sect whose martial arts are similar to yours and who are willing to come to the capital to protect me? I will grant them high-ranking official positions and salaries."

Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Ok?"

Jiang Ning was taken aback.

Seeing Zhu Houzhao's eager expression, Jiang Ning thought for a moment.

Besides him, the only other top masters in the Huashan Sect right now are Yue Buqun and Linghu Chong.

Jiang Ning automatically ruled out Yue Buqun, leaving only Linghu Chong as the option.

But Jiang Ning thought about Linghu Chong's personality and shook his head.

"He probably wouldn't want to."

Zhu Houzhao was disappointed, but he did not suspect that Jiang Ning was just giving him the runaround.

But after his initial disappointment, Zhu Houzhao rallied and asked, "Does your sect have any other experts? Anyone willing to enter the palace to protect me will be treated with great respect!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning did not immediately refuse. After a moment's thought, he said...

"Then I'll have to go back and ask."

Since there was no refusal, it meant that the matter could be discussed, and Zhu Houzhao's face lit up with joy.

He spoke too hastily just now. Even though he was the emperor and did not get involved in the martial arts world, he knew that Jiang Ning's martial arts skills must be top-notch. In Zhu Houzhao's mind, besides Jiang Ning, only Yue Buqun in the Huashan Sect was a top-notch master. However, Yue Buqun was the leader of a sect, and it was highly unlikely that he would abandon his sect to protect him.

Once Zhu Houzhao realized what was happening, he immediately lowered the requirements, saying that any top-tier expert would suffice.

After all, his capital city is different from other places. Few martial arts practitioners come to the capital city, and the palace is heavily guarded. Normally, there are no top masters to deal with him. Except for this time with the Five Poisons Sect, there are more than enough first-class masters to protect him.

If the Huashan Sect is willing to send experts to protect him, his safety will be greatly improved. Moreover, due to Jiang Ning's influence, Zhu Houzhao does not need to worry that the experts who come to protect him will have ulterior motives.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao said again, "Brother Jiang, I'll have to trouble you with this matter."

Zhu Houzhao was the emperor, the ruler of the world. Normally, the world belonged to him alone, and he could take whatever he wanted. He would not treat others in this way. However, Zhu Houzhao's situation was different. Now, the only person willing and able to protect him was Jiang Ning. Not to mention that he had recently experienced the Five Poisons Sect's poisoning of him. Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but cling to Jiang Ning as a lifeline, and his tone unconsciously lowered.

"It's not that much trouble, I'll do my best to help you."

Jiang Ning smiled.

He was willing to travel thousands of miles to protect Zhu Houzhao not because of Zhu Houzhao's status, but because of Zhu Houzhao's ambition.

Zhu Houzhao's path was different from his, but roughly the same, so they could be considered fellow travelers. Moreover, Zhu Houzhao was one of the few people in Jiangning who could truly be called a friend.

Emperors are different from ordinary people. Jiang Ning has read many stories about "the cunning rabbit dies and the hunting dog is cooked, and the birds are gone and the good bow is put away." He knows that when emperors are young or powerless, they are full of gratitude and dependence on those who can help them. However, once an emperor has the power of life and death, he will often kill those who once helped him.

Nevertheless, Jiang Ning was still willing to help Zhu Houzhao, not only because he wanted to see the great harmony that Zhu Houzhao spoke of, but also because of the...friendship he had with Zhu Houzhao?

Having received Jiang Ning's promise, Zhu Houzhao felt relieved, but the conversation with Jiang Ning did give him pause for thought.

The Wudang Sect is a major sect in the martial arts world with many experts. If we ask the experts from the Chongxu Sect and the Wudang Sect to protect him, Chongxu will surely not refuse.

“Brother Jiang, you haven’t slept all night and have killed quite a few bandits. You must be exhausted. I’ll have Gu Daban take you down to rest.”

Zhu Houzhao stood up and said.

Having been in a coma for so long, and then pretending to be in a coma for several more days, Zhu Houzhao still had a lot of things to do.

"Does the palace have a collection of books?"

Jiang Ning asked a question.

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening.

"Have."

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said to Gu Dayong, "Gu Dayong, take Brother Jiang to the Wenyuan Pavilion. From now on, Brother Jiang will be free to come and go from the Wenyuan Pavilion."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gu Dayong responded, then looked at Jiang Ning, bowed slightly and said, "Hero Jiang, please follow me."

Now that Gu Dayong knew Jiang Ning's status, his tone became even more respectful.

"Thank you."

Jiang Ning nodded slightly.

"Brother Jiang, what book would you like to read?"

Zhu Houzhao asked curiously.

"The Yongle Encyclopedia".

Chapter 657: The Yongle Encyclopedia

"You want to see the Yongle Encyclopedia?"

Zhu Houzhao was taken aback.

"Ah."

Jiang Ning nodded.

The Yongle Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive encyclopedia in history, containing classics, history, philosophy, and literature, covering all aspects from astronomy to geography, yin and yang, medicine, Buddhist and Taoist scriptures, and so on. Its scale and content are unparalleled, and Jiang Ning is very interested in it.

Unfortunately, the Yongle Encyclopedia was damaged and lost during wars and dynastic changes, leaving only a fragmentary copy. Jiangning had no chance to see it, so now that there is an opportunity to see the original copy, Jiangning will naturally not miss it.

"Brother Jiang, what aspect do you want to see?"

Zhu Houzhao became interested.

"The Yongle Encyclopedia, commissioned by Emperor Taizong and written by Xie Jin and Yao Guangxiao, comprises more than 20,000 volumes and covers various fields. Without a specific goal, it would be impossible to finish reading the Yongle Encyclopedia in a day or two."

Zhu Houzhao also enjoyed reading the Yongle Encyclopedia, but he only read about military strategy and rarely touched on other areas. It wasn't that he didn't want to read it, but the Yongle Encyclopedia was simply too large, with more than 20,000 volumes, and he could never finish reading it in his lifetime.

"Um……"

Jiang Ning pondered for a moment and said, "Let's look at the Daoist Canon first."

The Daoist Canon is not a single book, but a collection of Daoist scriptures, such as the Tao Te Ching and the Lingbao Wuliang Duren Shangpin Miaojing, which are often read in Jiangning.

Although the Huashan School is a Taoist sect and has a considerable number of Taoist books, the imperial court certainly has more Taoist books in its collection than the Huashan School.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and gave Gu Dayong a wink.