The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 36 Thinking too much

After Li Miao sat down, he also observed Zuo Lishan.

Just by looking at Zuo Lishan's appearance, Li Miao could roughly judge Zuo Lishan's character.

As the saying goes, appearance comes from the heart.

Judging people by appearance is considered a bad behavior, but in fact, in human society, judging people by appearance is a survival skill that everyone uses every day.

There are fortune tellers on the street who also believe in face reading. In fact, it cannot be said to be a superstition, but rather it is closer to an empirical theory that is derived through summary and induction.

Take Zuo Lishan for example: he is almost 40 years old, which can be said to be in his prime, but there are already some fine lines at the corners of his mouth. This means that he is always thinking with his mouth pursed, and he is worried.

Obvious vertical lines between the eyebrows indicate that the person is always frowning and has a serious personality.

He is dressed simply, and considering Zuo Lishan's status and position, he should not be short of money, which means that he does not care much about other people's opinions and is rather self-centered and conceited.

The wrinkle-free corners of his clothes, the neatly tucked-in lapels, and the neatly trimmed nails indicate that Zuo Lishan has a kind of old-fashioned mentality that is close to obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Zuo Lishan observed Li Miao, looking at his martial arts.

When Li Miao looked at Zuo Lishan, he was actually looking at his character - because Zuo Lishan's martial arts were not worth Li Miao's attention.

Zuo Lishan held up his sleeve with his left hand, picked up the wine jug with his right hand, and poured a glass of wine for Li Miao.

"Sir, what is your name?"

"Li Miao, commander of the Imperial Guards."

Zuo Lishan thought for a moment: "Four thousand households at a time?"

Li Miao smiled and said, "Left Sect Leader knows a lot. Even among the Jinyiwei, not everyone knows my nickname."

"Who told you?"

Zuo Lishan did not answer this question, and continued to speak: "Of the ten thousand households of the Jinyiwei, the other nine have been out of Beijing to some extent and have a reputation in the martial arts world. Only you have been in Shuntian Prefecture the whole time, so few people in the martial arts world know you."

"It was by chance that I heard of your name."

"Your Excellency is the commander's confidant."

"Is it Master Zhu, the commander of the Imperial Guard, who wanted to send us to Mount Tai?"

Li Miao replied calmly: "Almost."

Zuo Lishan got a positive answer and looked at Mei Qinghe standing next to him. Without trying to cover up, he said to Li Miao directly, "If the Jinyiwei needs the Huashan Sect, I can stay away from it."

"Zuo has no intention of competing with the court for profit."

"Zuo must integrate the Five Mountains Sword Sects. We do need a backup, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Huashan Sect."

"If the court is interested, I can find another one, Hengshan Sect is also fine."

"It just takes a little more effort."

From his tone, it seemed that he did not take the other four sects seriously. To suppress another major sect seemed to be just a small step back for him, a condition that he could easily pay.

Mei Qinghe was so angry when he heard this in the back that he involuntarily grasped the hilt of the sword, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

The Huashan Sect was indeed struggling under the suppression of the Taishan Sect, and in recent years it was indeed on the verge of extinction.

Li Miao had said these words to Mei Qinghe when they first met, but Mei Qinghe was unwilling to admit it at that time.

But now, Zuo Lishan, the leader of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, has laid this plan on the table nakedly, in front of Mei Qinghe, the direct disciple of Huashan Sword Sect, he used Huashan Sect as a bargaining chip in his hand and pushed it back and forth wantonly. This is an unacceptable insult to Mei Qinghe, who regards the inheritance of his master's sect more than his own life.

If Li Miao hadn't been sitting in front of her, Mei Qinghe would have drawn her sword and stabbed Zuo Lishan.

Zuo Lishan glanced at Mei Qinghe and didn't care.

He did not have much objection to the court's plan to plant a nail in the Five Mountains Sword Sect. Instead, he held a welcoming attitude.

All under heaven belongs to the king. The imperial court does not have the ability to eradicate every major sect, but proper surveillance and control are inevitable. Almost every major sect has spies planted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Such an obvious arrangement of a thorn in the side actually means that the court tacitly approves the establishment of the Five Mountains Sword Sect.

In Zuo Lishan's opinion, Mei Qinghe and Li Miao's coming together meant that Huashan Sect had already sided with the imperial court. From the perspective of the sect's survival, this was fine. But from the perspective of the rules of the martial arts world, Huashan Sect had already cut itself off from fellow martial artists.

With this handle, the Huashan Sect will never be able to compete with the Taishan Sect for dominance.

In this way, giving the Huashan Sect to the imperial court in exchange for the imperial court's tacit approval of the integration of the Five Mountains Sword Sects was a good deal in Zuo Lishan's view.

Li Miao understood what Zuo Lishan meant and smiled softly.

He raised his hand and stopped Mei Qinghe from slowly drawing her sword, signaling her to be patient. He turned to Zuo Lishan and said, "Master Zuo, you have a lot of ideas."

"Too much wisdom will lead to harm. People who think too much usually don't live long."

Zuo Lishan frowned and stared into Li Miao's eyes: "Sir...what do you mean?"

"I said you think too much." Li Miao said with a smile.

"What you are thinking makes some sense, but you have been thinking wrongly and biased from the beginning."

"You see, the Jinyiwei didn't attack Taishan Sect directly. Instead, I, a captain, came here alone. I brought you here. Do I want to discuss business with you?"

Zuo Lishan did not speak, but looked at Li Miao with a puzzled look, as if to say, "What else?"

You are a fifth-rank captain, and you bring a first-rate subordinate to see me. Doesn't it mean that you have no intention of taking action? You want to negotiate terms with me. What else can you do?
"Is there a possibility that the Jinyiwei wants to destroy the Taishan Sect?"

"But wouldn't it be easier if I just lure you down here and kill you, and then destroy your clan later?"

Li Miao said lightly.

Fei Junxuan, who was standing aside, changed his expression, walked out of the door quickly, and looked around.

He was afraid that there were already Jinyiwei outside with powerful bows and crossbows surrounding Zuo Lishan, who wanted to end his life here. If that was true, he would have led Zuo Lishan into the trap of Jinyiwei with his own hands, and he would be blamed for his death.

But he nervously leaned out to look outside. There was only a bustling crowd of people on the street. A few gangsters were peeking outside, and when they saw him, they quickly turned around and pretended to pass by.

No elite soldiers, no powerful crossbows, no ambushes.

Fei Junxuan was worried, so he walked to the street to look around, and even captured a few gangsters to ask them in detail. He also used his light skills to go up to the roof to observe, but he didn't find anything unusual.

Only then did he feel relieved, turned around and walked back into the house, nodding to Zuo Lishan.

Li Miao also said: "Don't worry, there are indeed only two of us here."

He looked at Zuo Lishan who had been sitting there as if nothing had happened: "Master Zuo should be thinking that even if there is an ambush, with your martial arts skills, it won't be difficult to escape unscathed."

Zuo Lishan did not answer and agreed with this statement.

(End of this chapter)