The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 331 Who is here?
"town……"

Xue Zhongjing's lips moved, and his knees buckled as he was about to kneel down.

In terms of familiarity with Li Miao, besides the thousand-household unit that Li Miao originally led, it is the thousand-household unit under An Ziyang.

Xue Zhongjing still remembers that the first thing An Ziyang did after taking office was to call all of them, his subordinates, to the courtyard and solemnly set three rules.

"First of all, the Garrison Commander is the supreme authority! Even the Commander's orders or imperial edicts must be placed after the Garrison Commander's orders!"

"Secondly, the Garrison Commander is like a god or Buddha! Go home and put up his portrait, kneel and offer incense every day! Memorize every single word he says! I will check it at any time, and those who can't memorize it will be dead!"

"Third, the Garrison Commander is your ancestor! Be filial, be obedient, that is filial piety! Whatever the Garrison Commander does is right, and anyone who stands against him is wrong! Even the Heavenly King himself would be the same!"

"There's no one who can't do it... You all know I'm an elder of the Tang Clan, right?"

"I've recently started learning Li Xiaosi's witchcraft techniques... hehe..."

After An Ziyang's training, Xue Zhongjing had become intimately familiar with Li Miao's every word and action. An Ziyang's endless methods had deeply etched those three rules into his mind.

He couldn't be sure if it was Li Miao... but he didn't dare to gamble.

As soon as he bent his knees slightly, he saw the middle-aged man, who was being protected by the two young men, smile and raise a finger to his mouth, making a shushing gesture.

"It's over..."

Xue Zhongjing was utterly despondent, but An Ziyang's unconditional loyalty to Li Miao, ingrained in his very being, allowed him to hold on and not show any signs of distress.

"The Garrison Commander is still unwilling to reveal his identity... then I'll keep playing my part!"

Xue Zhongjing forced himself to calm down, turned to look at Hua Zhi Qiu, and said in a deep voice.

"These are the three thieves...the three of them?"

Hua Zhi Qiu nodded in agreement.

Xue Zhongjing pretended to think for a moment and then said.

"With the wooden plaque destroyed, we are both sinners who have broken the rules set by the Garrison Commander... There is no room for hesitation now!"

"Sect Leader Hua, I remember that the Prefect of Guangxin Prefecture is coming today, right? You and I, along with the elders of your sect and the accompanying guards, will surely be able to capture these three!"

"Make up for the mistake!"

Hua Zhi Qiu Yi Le.

"I think the same as Lord Xue! But there are some things that still need to be discussed. Lord Xue, please listen closely."

Xue Zhongjing pretended not to notice that he had already gripped the sword hilt and put his ear close to it.

puff!

A longsword pierced his chest, penetrating his heart and lungs!
Xue Zhongjing clutched his chest, staggered back several steps, blood gushing from his mouth, and pointed a trembling finger at Hua Zhi Qiu.

"you--"

He collapsed to the ground with a thud, oblivious to his impending death. His mind raced as he considered what his last words should be to help Li Miao continue the charade.

"The Kongming Faction... has rebelled!"

"Ahem... Hey young hero over there, listen up!"

He turned to look at Cao Hanyan.

"The Empty Mind Faction, murdering officials, rebellion, treason!"

"Spread the word...report it to the authorities..."

Blood rushed from his lungs into his trachea, choking him and choking him back down his throat. Xue Zhongjing collapsed to the ground, taking the opportunity to look at Li Miao before slowly closing his eyes.

"In this way... I should be able to make amends..."

Li Miao raised an eyebrow and pointed a finger at Xue Zhongjing's heart, a barely perceptible wisp of true energy that avoided everyone's sight, saving his life.

If you mess up a task, you'll be punished, no matter the reason—that's the ironclad rule of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Getting stabbed in the back is a good lesson, it's not like you'll die.

He could not hide anything from Hua Zhi Qiu and Elder Qi.

The Kongming Sect will surely be wiped out today. But they may not be the only ones to die.

He also wanted to see if the prefect of Guangxin Prefecture was also going to court death.

The major martial arts sects bypassed the Embroidered Uniform Guard and colluded with the local government officials... This is probably one of the reasons why those disciples dared to kill innocent people and claim credit for their crimes.

This Kongming Sect is truly on a reckless path to self-destruction, to the point that Li Miao is reluctant to interrupt them, wanting to see just how far they can go in their pursuit of death.

Cao Hanyan couldn't help but sigh. Gao Anyu, unaware of the inside story, was now truly anxious as the blame he was being placed on grew heavier. In the past, others always called him crazy, but now it seemed like he was the one with the best sense of propriety!

"Brother Cao, what should we do!"

After killing for so long, the disciples of the Kongming Sect were already somewhat afraid, and some of them were only going through the motions. He no longer needed to focus all his attention on the enemy, so he turned to Cao Hanyan and shouted.

"This is terrible! Since Long Haifeng is dead, there's no point in us staying any longer. Let's just leave!"

"The most untouchable person in the martial arts world of Da Shuo is that Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Now that the wooden plaque has been smashed and his subordinate is dead, we've got two big culprits pinned on us. We're afraid we'll provoke him!"

"From what they said, more guards will be coming later. Uncle Li and Aunt Zheng don't know martial arts, so let's protect them and get out of here first!"

"This is too big of a deal, we can't handle it! We can investigate my background later, it's the same!"

Although he really wanted to find out his origins, Gao Anyu chose to take care of the people in front of him first, rather than these vague and uncertain things.

Hua Zhi Qiu shook the blood off his sword and led the elders of the Kongming Sect down the steps.

"Want to go?"

he sneered.

"You've killed so many of my Kongming Sect members, destroyed the wooden plaque, and killed Lord Xue, and you still think you can leave?"

"It's not impossible."

Hua Zhi Qiu stopped and spoke to Gao An Yu.

"Hand over your inheritance, and I'll let you go. How about it? This is your only chance to escape."

“Killing you all is not a sure thing for my Kongming Sect. But keeping you alive and holding you off until the prefect arrives with his troops is not difficult. Once this opportunity is gone, it will be gone forever.”

Gao Anyu naturally didn't believe his nonsense, but anxiously shouted to Cao Hanyan.

"Brother Cao! We can't wait any longer!"

"Let's follow that Imperial Guard's suggestion and leave this place immediately to report to the authorities! Let's clarify things!"

Before the words were finished, a voice came from the mountain gate.

"Who wants to report this to the authorities?"

swish swish—

The sound of armor plates rubbing together was incessant as soldiers in armor poured in from outside the door like a tide, standing on both sides.

A man in an official's hat walked in from outside, stood with his hands behind his back, and squinted at the people who were fighting.

This person wore a scarlet silk robe embroidered with subtle patterns. On the square patch on the front of the robe, a wild goose with outstretched wings seemed ready to take flight. At his waist was a gold lychee belt and a silver fish-shaped tally, and on his feet were a pair of black satin boots. He had a full forehead and three long strands of beard hanging down to his chest.

It was none other than the chief official of Guangxin Prefecture, a fourth-rank official in charge of the people's livelihood and the killings and killings in this area, the Prefect of Guangxin Prefecture—Lord Luo Mincheng!
Lord Luo squinted and looked around, glancing at Hua Zhi Qiu who was bowing respectfully to him. He nodded, then looked at Xue Zhong Jing lying on the ground, paused, and pondered for a moment.

Finally, their gazes turned to Li Miao and the other two.

"Fighting with weapons and causing death."

"Rebellion against the imperial court, killing officials and plotting rebellion."

"Are you three going to surrender?"

Before Gao Anyu could refute him, he let out a cold laugh.

"It seems you don't want to... Then Sect Leader Hua, your Kongming Sect should cooperate with the imperial court to capture the traitors and lessen your guilt for failing in your duty of protection."

"Yes!"

Hua Zhi Qiu cupped his hands in agreement.

"You corrupt official! You're all in cahoots with us!"

Gao Anyu roared angrily.

"Insulting an official of the imperial court is an even more serious crime."

Lord Luo said calmly.

"Just now, wasn't it you who said you would report it to the authorities? I, the official, have come down from the court to judge this case out of concern for the people. Shouldn't you, a mere outlaw, be grateful?"

He flicked his sleeves, spread his arms, and looked calmly at Gao Anyu.

"Who goes there to file a complaint against me?"

(End of this chapter)