The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 250 Chain
Witch.

If one word is used to describe Ji Tianrui, the word "witch" would be the most appropriate.

There was always an unfathomable smile on her face. No matter when her body was cut into two pieces when she woke up Emperor Jianwen, or when she blocked the emperor's sword energy in front of Li Miao, she did not show the slightest bit of emotion.

Li Miao could hardly find any human emotion in Ji Tianrui.

Her life story was strange. From the moment she was born, she and her parents were mortal enemies. She gave her mother's life to Li Miao to kill her. She was born in the Ming Cult, but she personally pushed the entire Ming Cult into the abyss.

She didn't care about her subordinates, the people, or the world, and she didn't seem to be seeking fame or fortune. She didn't even seem to care about her own life.

She plotted against two emperors, from Qi and Lu to Miaojiang and then to Shuntian, costing thousands of lives and destroying the entire Ming Cult. Even she herself had narrowly escaped death several times.

Picture what?
There has to be a reason, right?
It was already the Yin hour, and there was only one and a half hours left before the end of Li Miao's "eight hours" today. Li Miao was not very confident of keeping Ji Tianrui.

But Li Miao couldn't let Ji Tianrui leave without clarifying this issue. Her ability to stir up trouble was more than ten times that of Li Miao, and who knew what kind of scene she would make next time.

Ji Tianrui smiled but did not answer.

"Let's deal with the emperor's mess first, Lord Li."

"Why, do you want to delay?"

Li Miao raised his eyebrows.

"Can't you?"

Ji Tianrui smiled.

"You care about Dashuo and the people, but I don't. If you fight me for life and death now, if the fight affects several important officials of the royal family or even the emperor, the whole world will be in turmoil."

"Don't worry, Master Li, I will tell you everything you want to know."

She put the soft sword back to her waist, put her hands behind her back, and smiled playfully.

"You would be so kind?"

Li Miao's tone was full of doubt.

Ji Tianrui chuckled in response.

"From Qilu to Miaojiang and then to Shuntian, have I ever lied to you?"

"The truth is that between you and me, you just can't stand my behavior and want to kill me. When have I ever done anything to harm you?"

"Tsk."

Li Miao snorted but did not refute.

Thinking about it carefully, Ji Tianrui's words were not lies. Apart from Ji Tianrui's attitude towards other people, just talking about Li Miao, there was really no malice in his words.

When Li Miao wanted to kill someone, she gave the person to him to kill; when Li Miao wanted to find out the truth, she put the clues in front of Li Miao; when Li Miao wanted to form an alliance, she agreed without hesitation; when the emperor wanted to stop Li Miao from breaking through, she stood in front of Li Miao without dodging.

But all this is not done out of good intentions.

There is no kindness without reason in the world, and pulling Li Miao in is just part of Ji Tianrui's plan. Li Miao will not have any good feelings towards her because of this.

However, the matter is not over yet, and now is definitely not the time to turn against each other.

So Li Miao nodded, and used his palm like a knife to cut off the flesh and blood that had grown on the emperor's wound, and then held his pulse and regenerated his limbs.

"Alright."

"Wait until the dust settles, then tell me."

--------

Outside the imperial mausoleum.

An Ziyang's plan was only half successful.

The simple and honest priests of Dashuo were confused by the capitalist iron fist that Li Miao taught An Ziyang, and things developed as he expected.

However, before the two groups of priests were provoked to fight, some priests who were not so greedy had already left with the collected mantras.

After all, Li Miao's accumulation was too shallow. Apart from his own extraordinary thing, the Jinyiwei had no means to restrict the priests and could only let them leave.

When Li Miao took Zhu Zai away, a few sharp-eyed priests saw him and immediately turned around and left without looking back. Among them was An Ziyang's good brother, Wang Gongfeng.

The rest who were confused or blinded by rage were slaughtered like pigs by Li Miao who had returned and Ji Tianrui who had followed.

The remaining imperial guards, eunuchs, and a few truly loyal officials had lost the power to resist the Xiaoling Guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Li Miao, and Ji Tianrui.

The situation calmed down quickly.

Although the several old clan members who were instigated by Zhu Zai to rebel did not have much real power, they had extremely high status. At this time, they also made a call from a high position and controlled the situation together with Zhu Zai.

It was only said that the emperor caught a cold while offering sacrifices to his ancestors and suddenly fell ill and fell into a coma, so the ceremony was suspended and the Emperor was escorted back to Beijing by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Xiaoling Guard.

He used the emperor to control the princes. When the loyal princes saw that the emperor was in Zhu Zai's hands, they had to stop their resistance; when the disloyal princes saw that the situation was hopeless, they immediately gave up resistance.

The matter is settled.

Zhu Zai placed the unconscious emperor in the carriage, left some men to guard the captives there, reorganized the troops, and prepared to return to the capital.

Before leaving, he looked at Li Miao.

"Aren't you going back to Beijing with me?"

"There's something else."

Li Miao raised his hand and pointed at Ji Tianrui, who was standing aside with his hands behind his back looking up at the sky.

“…Nothing will happen, right?”

"No, there's probably no chance of a fight today."

"That's good. Once the matter is settled, return to Beijing as soon as possible."

Zhu Zai didn't waste any words. He nodded to Li Miao, turned around and led the team away.

Although Li Miao made it sound easy to usurp the throne, it was extremely difficult to actually do it. There could not be any mistakes. He had to rush back to the capital to deal with the aftermath. The risk increased dramatically with every passing night.

Seeing Zhu Zai and his group disappear from sight, Li Miao turned around and found Ji Tianrui.

"Master Ji, sorry for the long wait."

"It's okay, nothing's wrong."

Ji Tianrui turned around and said with a chuckle.

"There should be a place inside the imperial mausoleum where the emperor stayed temporarily when he was worshipping his ancestors. It's a quiet place. After fighting all night, it's a good opportunity to get some snacks and tea to fill my stomach."

"It will also be convenient for me to have a long conversation with Lord Li."

"Alright."

Zhu Shoujing, as the only remaining expert on Li Miao's side, had already left with Zhu Zai. Fortunately, the Xiaoling Guard also left some people to guard the prisoners. Li Miao summoned one person and talked to him, and the soldier took Li Miao and the other two to the west side of the imperial mausoleum.

This soldier is usually responsible for welcoming and seeing off guests. He is good at reading people's expressions and knows what's going on.

He took the two of them to a spacious courtyard, spread a blanket in the middle of the yard, placed a futon, a backrest, and a low table, and got some tea and snacks. After everything was ready, he apologized to Li Miao and left.

Li Miao could still hear him shouting at people to leave the courtyard. After a while, there was no more voice around, and only Li Miao and Ji Tianrui were left in the one-mile area.

"please."

"please."

The two of them sat down, Li Miao took a sip of tea slowly, and put his other hand on his knee, rubbing his fingers slowly. Ji Tianrui sat cross-legged opposite him, stretched out her hand to pick up a piece of dessert and ate it, with an elegant posture.

But he didn't speak for a while.

After a while, Ji Tianrui suddenly laughed.

"Before we begin, Lord Li needs to answer a question for me."

"Oh?"

Li Miao raised his eyebrows.

"what is the problem?"

"Your background."

"Ah."

Li Miao sneered.

"What kind of background could I have?"

"An orphan without a father or a mother, he was picked by the Jinyiwei and joined the army for 27 years. He just practiced martial arts and did errands all day long. A few days ago, he was only a fifth-rank captain. He could finish his words in one sentence."

"I'm afraid that Master Ji has already looked into my life in detail. I have no clan or master, so I don't even know where to start when Master Ji asks me this question."

Ji Tianrui refilled Li Miao's cup of tea and chuckled.

"Perhaps I didn't explain it clearly enough, or perhaps Lord Li doesn't want to answer."

"After today, we will be enemies if we meet again. I'm afraid you and I will never have the opportunity to sit down and discuss things like this again. There are only you and me here, and I am willing to be frank with you."

Ji Tianrui poured herself tea slowly and leisurely.

"I can ask this in a different way. Sir Li, please consider it carefully and don't answer rashly."

Li Miao raised his eyebrows.

"What if I don't answer?"

"Then I won't tell you anything."

Ji Tianrui smiled.

"Depending on your answer, I might tell you everything, or I might just stand up and run away, or I might just draw my sword and fight you to the death."

"Everything depends on your answer."

"Ah."

Li Miao sneered.

"I knew that Master Ji would have conditions, so go ahead and ask. But even if you ask in a thousand different ways, I'm afraid it would be hard for me to give a different answer."

"Not necessarily."

Ji Tianrui placed her hands on her knees, rarely putting away her smile, and looked into Li Miao's eyes with a very serious look.

She spoke slowly.

"I can ask more directly. Please answer me seriously, Lord Li."

"Do you remember your past life?"

boom!
Ji Tianrui's question suddenly exploded in Li Miao's mind. He thought of many possibilities, but he never thought that Ji Tianrui would ask this.

Although he had confessed to Zhu Zai some days ago, he only said a few brief words at the time, and Zhu Zai had no intention of getting to the bottom of it.

Li Miao just felt that he had finally entrusted the secret hidden in his heart to others, and felt a little relieved, but suddenly he heard this question from the person who was least likely to know about it. How could he not be surprised?

But Li Miao was no longer a nagging teenager. He controlled his expression, kept a straight face, and slowly glanced at Ji Tianrui.

"What does Master Ji mean?"

"literal meaning."

"do not remember."

"Really?"

Ji Tianrui chuckled.

"Okay, since that's Lord Li's answer, I'll believe it."

"Does my answer meet the wishes of Master Ji?"

Li Miao pretended not to care, and kept an eye on Ji Tianrui's expression.

“Very consistent.”

Ji Tianrui smiled sweetly.

"This is the best answer to our conversation. Therefore, I will tell you everything I think and know."

"it is good."

Li Miao raised the teacup and saluted Ji Tianrui.

"Then I'm all ears."

--------

"Commander, I always feel that things can't be resolved so easily."

Wang Hai lifted the curtain and walked into the carriage.

The emperor lay on a wide seat with a furrowed brow. Sweat from his body soaked through his clothes, leaving a human figure on the cloth beneath him.

Zhu Shoujing and Zhu Zai sat on both sides, frowning.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Zai asked.

"Ming Cult."

Wang Hai replied.

"Before, outside the imperial mausoleum, several celestial beings from the Ming Cult suddenly left and their whereabouts are unknown. Could it be that they have returned to the capital in advance with the intention of causing chaos?"

Zhu Zai frowned and shook his head.

"I don't think so. With just a few of them, they can't cause any trouble in the capital. With Lord Zhu here, even if they come, we will just surround and strangle them."

"The Ming Cult is finished. They are the only assets left of Ji Tianrui. They should not be wasted like this."

Wang Hai nodded and continued.

"There is one more thing that I haven't figured out."

"What's the matter?"

"In the beginning, the Ming Cult sent people to distribute the incomplete copy of the 'Wedding Dress Magic' in the city, attracting many people from the martial arts world to gather in the capital. And when you and the pacification envoy entered the palace for a banquet the night before, they distributed the incomplete copy again, seemingly trying to dissuade the people from the martial arts world from leaving."

Wang Hai said slowly.

"At first I thought that this move was to muddy the waters and make it easier for the Ming Cult disciples to hide. But if that was really the case, their second act of distributing the incomplete copy seemed a little unnecessary."

"Most of the ordinary disciples of the Ming Cult have been captured. Ji Tianrui and the Ming Cult celestial beings also arrived at the imperial mausoleum the night before. What is the meaning of their actions? I don't understand."

Zhu Zai frowned.

"That being said, it is indeed a bit strange."

Zhu Shoujing on the side spoke up.

"Master Zhu, I don't think you need to think too much. After all, there is only one problem."

Zhu Shoujing stretched out his fist.

"Manpower and force."

"They gathered people from Jianghu, but they couldn't control them. They only have those two or three celestial beings left. In front of Jinyiwei and my Xiaolingwei, no matter what they want to do, they can't succeed."

"You and I just need to be more vigilant and not let them take advantage of us. As long as we send the emperor to the palace, everything will be settled. No matter what they plan, it will be in vain."

Zhu Zai sighed and nodded.

"That's all we have to do."

--------

"To make clear what I want to tell Lord Li, I must first state a premise."

Ji Tianrui stretched out a finger.

"The martial arts world today has been suppressed by successive dynasties. The inheritance of the gods has either been lost or hidden in the palace. As soon as a god appears in the martial arts world, he or she will be immediately taken in by the emperor before he or she even has time to become famous. That is why the most respected people in the martial arts world now are the top ones."

"At least in the previous dynasty, celestial beings were not uncommon in the martial arts world."

Li Miao rubbed his fingers and thought quietly.

Ji Tianrui continued.

"The root of today's fight lies in two sets of skills."

"The first one is a method created by our dynasty's founder, which uses heaven and man as resources to cultivate the power of the mind. I will start with this thing."

"Master Li, do you think that the role of heavenly beings in the world is good or bad?"

Li Miao thought for a moment and said.

"uncertain."

"Yes, not necessarily."

Ji Tianrui smiled and nodded.

"If the dynasty is in chaos, the gods will be the weapon for rebellion; if the world is peaceful, the gods will be the root of disaster and chaos."

"After all, a knight breaks the law with force."

"But fundamentally speaking, celestial beings are always a threat to rulers. Therefore, the imperial courts of all dynasties have been doing their best to avoid the emergence of celestial beings. The root cause of the loss of the three inheritances of nature lies in this.

"But our dynasty's Taizu felt that the celestial being should not appear at all."

Ji Tianrui took a sip of tea and continued.

"The Yang family's inheritance records what he said at that time."

"The power of a man of heaven alone can surpass the hearts of a thousand people. This is the source of disaster. If our descendants cannot win the support of the people and cannot maintain their stability, they should die at the hands of thousands of people, but not at the hands of a man of heaven!"

Ji Tianrui spoke briefly, but Li Miao understood Taizu's meaning instantly.

He felt that if his descendants were wise rulers, the gods would be a threat to the prosperous era; if they were incompetent rulers, the people would rise up in rebellion, and he would accept the death of Dashuo at the hands of the people, but there was no need for the gods to assassinate the emperor.

Li Miao did not comment, nor did he show any intention of approving or arguing, he just nodded.

"and then?"

“So he created this technique.”

Ji Tianrui smiled.

"In the beginning, this technique was not used to practice sexual skills, but was a method for worshippers to use."

"The Five Deteriorations of the Celestial Beings are the consequences of not practicing the Qigong. With this method, combined with the secret method, I can keep the worshippers firmly under my control."

"Yin Ruihua has been able to live until now and has not left the imperial mausoleum for a hundred years. In addition to his loyalty to Emperor Chengzu, it is because he will no longer have the support of the gods. He will soon die of the five signs of decay of the gods."

"Use the celestial beings in the martial arts world to support the imperial priests, and the celestial beings in the martial arts world will gradually disappear. When there are no more celestial beings in the martial arts world, the priests who are unable to prolong their lives will gradually die from the five decays of celestial beings."

"If this continues for a hundred years, more than two groups of celestial beings will gradually disappear. There will only be one group of celestial beings left in the world, and they will no longer pose much of a threat to the emperor."

Li Miao frowned when he heard this.

"wrong."

"Hasn't he thought that his descendants would use this technique to prolong their lives? If the emperor uses celestial beings to practice the technique, the number of worshippers will decrease without celestial beings to support them, and the celestial beings that the court has cultivated themselves will also be used by the emperor."

"In this way, the imperial court will become weaker and weaker."

Ji Tianrui put down the teacup, which made a light tapping sound on the low table.

“That’s the point.”

"When Dashuo was founded, the priests did not need to sleep."

"The technique created by Taizu is different from the technique used by the current emperor. The technique he created, combined with the secret technique, can allow the worshippers to move freely without falling into deep sleep, but it cannot allow people to achieve silent enlightenment.

“That is to say, the martial arts created by Taizu and the martial arts in the hands of the emperor, although they have the same origin, are not the same.”

Li Miao paused while rubbing his fingers, he looked up at Ji Tianrui and said slowly.

"go on."

"This brings us to the second set of skills, which is the method that Emperor Jianwen used to practice sexual skills with the blood of the royal family."

Ji Tianrui raised a finger.

"Master Li, Emperor Jianwen did not cultivate into 'Jie Zi'. He was able to combine the four paths into one and fight the emperor, all thanks to the poisonous insect I gave him."

"That is to say, his comprehension is not good."

"It's impossible for him to create this technique."

"And the celestial masters left by Taizu at that time would not have been able to help him create this technique that used royal family members as resources. This would have undermined Dashuo's foundation."

"The source of today's fight is these two unique methods of practicing sexual skills in the world—"

"All of them, their origins are unknown."

--------

"Commander, we are almost at the city gate."

Wang Hai walked to the side of the carriage and spoke to Zhu Zai inside.

"Did you find anything?"

Zhu Zai asked.

"No, I sent some people out, and apart from the fact that there were a lot of people attracted by the Wedding Dress Magic, I didn't find anything unusual."

Wang Hai replied.

"strangeness."

Zhu Zai frowned.

If the Ming Cult wants to take action, it would be best to do it halfway.

Once they enter the city, the Jinyiwei personnel left in the city will also gather there, and together with the city’s defenders, the Ming Cult will have even less chance.

Could it be that those few celestial beings of the Ming Cult just left early to preserve their strength and had no intention of taking action? Then what was their purpose in distributing the incomplete copy of the Wedding Clothes Divine Art and attracting people from the martial arts world to come here?
"Send your men from home to guard the entire route from the city gate to the palace."

Zhu Zai said.

"Yes."

Wang Hai took the order and left.

--------

"Do you know the origins of these two sets of skills?"

Li Miao said with a frown.

"do not know."

Ji Tianrui smiled and shook her head.

"I am young, and although I have the support of the Ming Cult and the Yang Family, I know more than Lord Li. But I have no way of knowing this kind of secret."

"But one thing is clear."

Ji Tianrui looked into Li Miao's eyes.

"Sir Li, you have been dormant in the Jinyiwei for 27 years, and only came out to travel the world after you mastered the three routes and united them. You realized something was wrong very early. If you had come out earlier, you would have died at the hands of the emperor and become food for him to practice his skills."

"The imperial court is a shackle on the heads of all celestial beings. Today, you and I have joined forces to break this shackle. But you and I may be shackled with more than just this chain."

"The person who gave the technique to Emperor Jianwen probably also didn't want the celestial being to appear in the world."

--------

Zhu Zai walked out of the carriage, holding the hilt of the sword, his eyes darting around.

The group had already entered the city gate. There were many people from the martial arts world wearing swords and knives on both sides of the street. They were looking at the group curiously, but when they saw the embroidered spring knife on Zhu Zai's waist, they hurriedly looked away.

But he did not notice that among the group of people from the martial arts world, there was a figure that was much taller than an ordinary person, who was glancing at the emperor's carriage with his peripheral vision.

His arms were exceptionally long, reaching past his knees.

Someone leaned over to him and whispered.

"Senior Yang, we have fulfilled the agreement between the leader and you. Later, we will distribute the remaining copies of the Wedding Dress Magic Skill for the last time to attract all the nearby martial arts masters."

"What happens next has nothing to do with us."

Yang Lizhang nodded, stared at the carriage, and said nothing.

The man turned and left.

Yang Lizhang hid in the crowd and slowly followed the carriage.

After a while, the team entered the next street.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from the front.

"A fragment! It's a fragment of the Wedding Dress Magic Skill!"

"Mine! I found this!"

"Get lost! You dare to compete with me!"

The place was bustling with noise and noise, and gangsters from several surrounding streets immediately gathered there, crowding the street and blocking the way for Zhu Zai and his party.

Yang Lizhang looked at the carriage.

He had fought with Yin Ruihua that day and was severely injured. He had to use Ji Tianrui's poisonous insect to prolong his life. He only had three days to live, and today was his last day.

"enough."

he thought.

"I am a member of the Yang family and I don't ask for life."

(End of this chapter)