The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 448 Dagger Encounter
An Qisheng and Liu Jin's scheme finally became clear.

They wanted to repeat the events of Nanjing. Just as Zheng Anqi used the people of Nanjing as resources to achieve the perfect "Xuanlan," Anqisheng could naturally use the officials as resources to restore his divided nature and return to a state of perfection!
The purpose of forcing someone to abdicate was not to seize power.

He summoned all the officials, and incidentally forced the emperor to appear. An Qisheng could then capture the emperor the moment he recovered, and then use the Yingzhou Celestials to cooperate with Liu Jin to wipe out the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Finally, he could have Ji Tianrui remove the Gu worm from the emperor... If Li Miao had been even a fraction later that day, everything would probably have proceeded as An Qisheng planned.

Fortunately, Li Miao rushed back overnight.

Fortunately, Li Miao is a murderer whose mind is only focused on killing!
Zhu Zai let out a long sigh.

If Li Miao hadn't indiscriminately slaughtered all the officials, forcing An Qisheng to reveal himself, and hadn't fought An Qisheng that very night, severely injuring him, the Yingzhou Celestials wouldn't have taken the opportunity to rebel...

Looking back now, Li Miao's brutal approach of killing anyone who showed their face had just left An Qisheng no time to catch his breath or adjust his plans, which is why he was forced into his current predicament.

Let’s get back to the present.

Zhu Zai had figured everything out and was about to get up and leave when he heard a gasp from behind him.

"Lord Zhu, it's moved!"

"Lord Li has made a move!"

Zhu Zai's pupils contracted sharply. He disregarded all decorum and leaped several feet to the coffin, leaning against it to look at Li Miao lying inside.

The moment I saw it, my heart ached.

There was still no breath or pulse, and his face had turned pale and bluish-white, making him look like a dead person... He had never seen Li Miao like this before, and his eyes welled up with tears.

But upon second glance, he was overjoyed.

Li Miao's fingers were shaking incessantly, and her eyeballs were moving beneath her eyelids, clearly as if she were about to wake up.

Zhu Zaiqiang suppressed his urge to jump for joy and was about to give the order: "Take Lord Li away, take him outside the city—"

Halfway through his sentence, a very familiar voice spoke up.

"Commander, I'm not dead yet."

“I don’t have the habit of letting old men and subordinates take the blame for me. If anyone’s going to flee for their life, it’s you who should go.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zai instinctively became angry.

"You unfilial son—"

Then he froze, and in the blink of an eye, tears streamed down his face.

"Da Li..."

He didn't even have time to wipe away his tears. He looked down, but he didn't see the scene he had imagined: Li Miao sitting up from the coffin with a smile and looking at him.

Li Miao remained lying in the coffin, his face still pale. Only the horrified worshippers beside him proved that he had not been hallucinating.

"Da Li..."

"Commander—oh no, I should say I'm the commander now, I'm used to calling you that. Just call me 'old man,' I've wanted to call you that for a long time."

Inside the coffin, Li Miao kept his eyes closed and murmured something.

Zhu Zai leaned down to look at Li Miao.

"Da Li, what's wrong with you...?"

Li Miao curled the corners of his mouth and smiled with his eyes closed.

"There are still some loose ends to clean up, but we've made some progress. My mind is half-awake; I can speak and hear, but I can't see, move, or feel anything. I heard you were so worried just now, so I rushed over to help you out."

"Old man, don't worry, I already have a plan."

But how could Zhu Zai be at ease?

Just by looking at the emperor's true intentions, one can tell that in his heart, Li Miao's position is even greater than the Zhu family's empire for which he is willing to die. Although Li Miao speaks lightly now, he is indeed unable to move or make a move, as any celestial being could easily take the opportunity to assassinate him... He is truly afraid, afraid of seeing Li Miao lying in the coffin.

He's getting old, and what he fears most is the elderly burying their children.

Li Miao seemed to have sensed his emotions, and her tone, unusually, lost its sarcasm.

"Alright, old man, I admit I was reckless this time. I'm sorry. I won't let you see me in such a sorry state again."

His one and only "I'm sorry" almost brought tears to Zhu Zai's eyes.

"Asshole."

This was the first time Zhu Zai had ever scolded Li Miao with such a lack of confidence. But then he saw Li Miao's expression turn serious.

"Alright, old man, time is of the essence and the task is heavy."

"Just listen to me."

"Prime Minister Zhuge, you know Sima Yi, right?"

Zhu Zai immediately understood.

"You mean-"

Li Miao smiled.

"That's right, I've wanted to try this classic tactic for a long time. Don't worry, although An Qisheng isn't afraid of me, I've forced him to use his full strength and lose all his cards, leaving him no choice but to fight back himself."

"He was probably afraid I would slap him in the face again, but this was the perfect way to deal with him."

--------

The emperor gritted his teeth and chased after An Qisheng.

With their combined mastery of four paths, they could traverse the palace in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. But the chase and escape took a full half hour.

An Qisheng is taking a detour.

He initially headed straight for the palace, but upon approaching it, he suddenly turned around, took the emperor on a round trip, and then returned and left again.

It's like... stalling for time.

It seems they are waiting for the right moment to enter the palace.

The emperor had already figured it out, but dared not let An Qisheng disappear from his sight, so he could only grit his teeth and follow behind.

This was the seventh time they had approached the palace.

This is the seventh time I've passed by the palace walls.

The emperor had already slowed down and was preparing to turn around, intending to use "Silent Illumination" to directly control An Qisheng and prevent him from escaping again.

But the next moment, his pupils shrank!
An Qisheng suddenly turned around and leaped into the palace!
He didn't turn around!
The time he'd been waiting for had finally arrived!

The emperor turned a fraction too late, gritted his teeth, and leaped over the palace wall, chasing after An Qisheng.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the Forbidden City, An Ziyang and Mei Qinghe followed the trail all the way there. They didn't even have time to go through the main gate, so they climbed over the wall and entered the palace, following the direction indicated by the Gu worm for dozens of feet.

The worms then all banged their heads on the ground.

"This is it!"

An Ziyang said in a low voice.

Without further ado, Mei Qinghe had already drawn her sword, "Sword Twenty-Three" was ready to be unleashed, and the four elders had also gathered their true energy, preparing to make their move.

After about ten breaths, the ground shook.

An Ziyang had already clutched dozens of packets of poison in his hand, ready to activate them at any time.

Just as An Ziyang was about to release the poison into a gap after the floor tiles had slightly lifted, a commotion of voices and footsteps suddenly came from not far away.

"That's it?"

"They've really entered the palace! But General Bai, what should we do next?"

"Should we go to the Qianqing Palace to remonstrate to the death, or hold a court meeting in the Fengtian Hall to commemorate the countless colleagues who died at the hands of that villain Tang Lanzhou?"

An Ziyang's pupils suddenly contracted.

"The civil officials have been sent over as well!"

"What exactly are they trying to do?!"

Before he could react, he heard Mei Qinghe suddenly shout sharply!
"Brother An, get out of the way!"

"An Qisheng!"

(End of this chapter)