The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 380 Inheritance
"Governor-General".

"Uncle Li."

"grown ups."

“…Brother.”

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Zheng Yi.

Huh? What did you just call out?
When did you two become so familiar?

Everyone else held back their words, but Gao Anyu jumped up, ready to applaud: "Uncle Li, Aunt Zheng, we're finally really family!"

Cao Hanyan tugged at his sleeve, stopping him from speaking.

Meanwhile, among the people kneeling in front, someone sneered: "I don't remember giving birth to a son. If you want to acknowledge your kinship, shouldn't you first ask what I, the birth mother, think?"

Zheng Yi did not reply, but walked to Li Miao's side with her sword.

“Brother, the houses have all been demolished. I walked around the palace wall again to make sure the fire would not affect the people.”

Li Miao nodded: "Thank you for your hard work."

He raised his hand and pointed at the person who snorted coldly.

"I spared her life for you, do you have anything to say?"

Zheng Yi shook her head expressionlessly, but her gaze involuntarily swept towards the woman kneeling on the ground—Zheng Qi.

Zheng Yi was nearly killed by her palm strike, shattering any hope of mother and daughter recognizing each other—that's one thing. But matters of the heart are inherently complicated and difficult to resolve; no matter how disappointed she was, she was still Zheng Yi's biological mother.

Even if Zheng Yi harbors no resentment after Li Miao killed her, it still planted a thorn in her heart. It would be difficult for Zheng Yi to call him "brother" again.

So Li Miao didn't kill her; he only crushed some of her temporarily non-lethal internal organs. After the fight ended, he took her to the Huagai Hall. Fortunately, Li Miao acted quickly, otherwise she would probably have been burned to death.

Zheng Yi stared for a long time before finally speaking slowly.

"Mother."

Zheng Qi snorted coldly: "No, I am a member of the Penglai Sect. I don't have a daughter who is a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. I am not worthy of such an honor."

Zheng Yi shook her head.

Whether you acknowledge me or not is no longer important.

“You gave me a life, and I will give you a life in return. The debts are settled. Whether you think it was worth it or not is no longer my concern... I will no longer follow the path you have laid out for me.”

"Right now, I just want to tell you that I will ask my brother to spare your life, and you should not hide anything from my brother. If you still care about the bond between mother and son, please don't put me in a difficult position."

Seeing that Zheng Qi was about to make a sarcastic remark, Zheng Yi interrupted her.

"Now that you have lost your martial arts skills and Zheng Anqi has already been beheaded, only your brother can avenge the grudge in Yingzhou. I hope you... will think it over carefully."

After saying that, he turned around and stood behind Li Miao, without saying another word.

Zheng Qi wanted to say something, but Li Miao waved her hand to interrupt her.

"Alright, so you think revenge is more important than your daughter? Why can't someone else think their mother is more important than revenge? You're about to kill her with one blow, why are you still putting on airs like an elder?"

“If you say any more nonsense, I’ll bury you and Zheng Anqi together, and I’ll even have him on top of you. When people dig you up in the future, they’ll all think you’re a loving couple—do you understand?”

Zheng Qi really shut her mouth.

Li Miao's words, backed by twenty years of experience as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, were something Zheng Qi couldn't withstand.

So Li Miao continued.

"Actually, I don't have many questions. I've already figured out most of the things about Yingzhou and Penglai. Why don't I tell you about them and see if there are any mistakes or omissions?"

Before Zheng Qi could speak, he began to speak on his own.

“A thousand years ago, An Qisheng founded Yingzhou. The foundation was Xuanlan, but it was not the Xuanlan technique, but his own Xuanlan realm.”

He clenched his fist, then opened it again, feeling the power surging within him, a power completely different from the three paths of fate.

“The essence of Xuanlan is mastery, a state of complete control over one’s life. An Qisheng went a step further on this level—he was able to split his own nature and then implant it into other people.”

"Yingzhou was born from this."

"To plant one's own nature in one's own bloodline, and through the connection between life and death, to create countless offspring who resemble oneself." "This practice will undoubtedly cause all his descendants to live in misery. Their faces, bodies, martial arts, and realms will all belong to others; they will have nothing of their own."

"Buddhism says, 'In heaven and on earth, I alone am supreme,' but Yingzhou and Penglai are a group of pitiful people who don't even have 'I'."

Li Miao walked slowly to Zheng Qi's side and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"I think the reason for the birth of Penglai, Zheng Anqi's defection, and my being taken out of Yingzhou is the same."

"Neither Yingzhou nor Penglai can bear this kind of life where even 'I' don't exist."

Zheng Qi remained silent, her face ashen, tacitly agreeing with Li Miao's statement.

Li Miao smiled, raised his hand, and held up three fingers, waving them in front of her.

"In that case, I have three questions. The better you answer them, the more likely I am to destroy Yingzhou."

“Zheng Anqi is dead, and you have killed most of your fellow disciples. Your martial arts are ruined. Only I can avenge Penglai. So you would be better off answering seriously.”

Zheng Qi remained silent.

Li Miao wasn't in a hurry and just waited on the side.

After a long while, Zheng Qi's shoulders slumped.

She lost, she lost all her chips, she even lost Zheng Yi, her successor.

No matter how unwilling she was, she could only hope that Li Miao could destroy Yingzhou. Because no one else could do it... or rather, Li Miao was more likely to succeed than she was.

So she said in a hoarse voice, "Ask away."

"The first question," Li Miao said, "is An Qisheng still alive?"

"Yes," Zheng Qi answered without hesitation.

With just that one word, everyone in the room except Li Miao stared wide-eyed and gaped, speechless for a long time.

A thousand years, spanning almost all the changes of unified dynasties, countless families and even surnames have been lost in the process... Can anyone span such a long period of time?
But then Zheng Qi continued, "No, not exactly."

Before Li Miao could even frown, she continued.

"The ranks in Yingzhou are divided into outer sect and main sect. The head of the main sect is named Zheng Anqi."

"When Zheng Anqi's Xuanlan cultivation reaches perfection, he will become Anqisheng."

Li Miao twirled his fingers in thought for a moment, then said.

"Therefore, Zheng Anqi and An Qisheng are both titles, not specific people."

"Therefore, the one with the best aptitude is Zheng Anqi. Once Zheng Anqi cultivates Xuanlan, he will become Anqisheng, and the lineage will be passed down from generation to generation."

"No wonder Zheng Anqi wanted to seize the ritual you prepared. This Xuanlan, who cultivated through evil means, is unclean and has cut off his own path. It's because he's about to become 'Anqisheng,' right?"

Zheng Qi nodded: "Yes."

“His Xuanlan is nearing perfection, just one step away. Even if he deliberately doesn’t practice it, with the feedback from his life force, his Xuanlan will soon be perfected.”

"He didn't want to lose even the last bit of what he could call 'me.' So he ran away."

Li Miao nodded and extended his second finger.

"second question."

"Over a thousand years and through dozens of generations, it's like a ship that's been constantly repaired. The An Qisheng of today is completely different from the An Qisheng of yesteryear."

"To survive for a thousand years using such a despicable method of wearing oneself down and watching oneself being replaced little by little, is it not just to be stuck in Yingzhou as a local tyrant?"

"If you transform all your descendants into vessels for yourself, changing bodies over and over, you probably won't even recognize who you are anymore."

Li Miao placed his hand on Zheng Qi's shoulder, monitoring her blood flow, heartbeat, and all other bodily functions.

"What exactly does he want to achieve by doing all these things?"

"Could you please explain this to me?"

(End of this chapter)