The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 459 The Balance
Hearing Liu Jin's cryptic words, An Ziyang frowned.

If Zhu Zai hadn't been there, he would have killed Liu Jin directly.

As the saying goes, "My boss's boss is not my boss." Li Miao cares about Zhu Zai, and An Ziyang cares about Li Miao, but that doesn't mean that An Ziyang will necessarily care about Zhu Zai, let alone Zhu Yijing, who is just a layer away from him.

He really didn't care whether Zhu Yijing lived or died.

Rather, he felt that death was a good thing.

Zhu Zai is old and has only one son, Zhu Yijing. Once the situation stabilizes, Li Miao will definitely put Zhu Zai on the throne... But when Zhu Zai passes away, who will succeed him?
Li Miao would definitely not compete with Zhu Yijing. An Ziyang knew that Li Miao had no intention of becoming emperor. He would only be happy if someone took the blame for him.

But what if Zhu Yijing dies?

With this thought in mind, An Ziyang glanced behind him without making a sound, and his gaze met Zhu Zai's.

An Ziyang shivered.

"Yes, the old commander has been in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for decades and has interrogated more prisoners than the commander himself. He has already seen through my thoughts... Never mind, I am the commander's subordinate. This is his family matter, and I should not interfere."

"The old commander is not a muddle-headed person, and his feelings for the commander are genuine. He will not make a choice that is detrimental to the commander. Let him make the choice himself."

Having figured this out, An Ziyang threw Liu Jin in front of Zhu Zai.

Zhu Zai looked at Liu Jin for a while and said in a hoarse voice.

"Eunuch Liu, if you want to force me to make a choice, at least explain the options clearly before I can choose."

Liu Jin spoke calmly, though his words were somewhat indistinct.

"Yes, Lord Zhu."

Do you know the origins of Yingzhou's founding?

“In the beginning, An Qisheng founded Yingzhou not to prolong his life, but to force someone out so that he could meet that person. Today, he is colluding with me and trying to usurp the court for the same purpose.”

He wanted to see his master, the old man from the river.

Zhu Zai frowned.

"Founded Yingzhou and usurped the imperial court."

"What does this have to do with the old man on the river?"

Liu Jin is already dying. He only has two clones left. As the number of clones decreases, his life is also entering its final countdown. There is no time to keep him in suspense any longer.

So he spoke frankly.

"Everyone is like a dragon."

Zhu Zai was taken aback.

"What do you mean by 'everyone is like a dragon'?"

Liu Jin suddenly laughed; this was the first time he had ever laughed.

"Master Zhu, what is the fundamental essence of Yingzhou's heritage?"

“Innate talent can be inherited, and realm can be passed down, so the Zheng family can produce as many Celestial Beings as there are in the entire martial arts world.”

"The so-called Yingzhou is just an alchemy room built by An Qisheng to create more celestial beings. The so-called longevity and accumulation of sexual energy are just byproducts."

"As for why this is related to the old man on the river... Lord Zhu, do you still remember the cultivation method His Majesty practiced? That cultivation method that uses the help of the heavens and men of the world to cultivate one's nature, that cultivation method of unknown origin."

"The Jizhao method was lost a thousand years ago. How could it suddenly reappear at the founding of the nation? At that time, Master Sanfeng had already passed away, and there were no Celestials who had achieved the unity of the three paths in the martial arts world. Who could produce a copy of the Jizhao cultivation method?"

"For a thousand years, both Zhang Sanfeng and Bodhidharma have perfected their cultivation of sexual energy, but why did they not pass down the methods of sexual energy cultivation? And why did they suddenly disappear?"

Zhu Zai's mind raced.

Suddenly, he woke up with a start.

Everything is connected.

Ji Tianrui once told Li Miao that the person who gave the cultivation technique to Emperor Jianwen might also not want the celestial beings to appear in the world. Ji Tianrui's plot to disrupt the imperial tombs was to loosen the court's control over the martial arts world, allowing more celestial beings to emerge and forcing him to reveal himself.

An Qisheng's goals and methods were the same as hers.

The person who did not wish for the celestial beings to appear in the world, the person who handed over the cultivation technique to Emperor Jianwen, and the person who handed over the Xuanlan cultivation technique to An Qisheng a thousand years ago, are all the same person.

The old man on the river.

The disappearances of Master Sanfeng and Venerable Bodhidharma, the reasons why they did not pass down the methods of cultivating sexual energy, and the root cause of the gradual disappearance of the three methods of sexual energy over the past thousand years... all seem to point to this person.

He did not wish for celestial beings to appear in the world, so the practice of cultivating one's nature was lost.

He did not want the celestial beings to appear in the world, so the most outstanding masters of Buddhism and Taoism over the past thousand years disappeared, leaving only the lineage and descendants, with no further transmission.

He did not want the celestial beings to appear in the world, so An Qisheng spent a thousand years harming dozens of his own descendants and colluded with Liu Jin to try to usurp the court... All of this was just to make more celestial beings appear so that he would have no choice but to show himself and meet An Qisheng.

In a daze, Zhu Zai seemed to see a colossal shadow standing in the sky, looking down upon all living beings. Everything was because of him.

The old man on the river.

"Old Commander."

An Ziyang called out.

Zhu Zai suddenly realized that these matters could be investigated later, and the most urgent task now was to resolve the troubles involving Zhu Yijing.

"What you're saying has nothing to do with Jing'er!"

Liu Jin slowly shook her head.

"The relationship is very simple. The gift I gave him was one of the results that An Qisheng had worked on over the past thousand years. He called it 'Substitute Life Bone'."

"By inserting the essence of a celestial being into the body, and through the influence of the interaction of life and death, slowly change his physical constitution, transforming him into a prodigy who can also cultivate to the celestial realm."

"Therefore, Lord Li and His Majesty naturally could not find any clues, because this was a harmless and beneficial method."

An Ziyang let out a cold laugh from the side.

"Ha, you'd be so kind?"

Liu Jin also shook her head frankly.

"Of course not."

"This method has a drawback."

"If the Celestial Being who is the source of the sex seed dies before the transformation is completed, then the person who was implanted with the sex seed will also die."

Zhu Zai suddenly realized what was happening and clenched his fists tightly.

He understood Liu Jin's plan.

The sex of Zhu Yijing is that of An Qisheng.

Therefore, if An Qisheng dies, Zhu Yijing will also die.

Even if Li Miao could defeat An Qisheng, he wouldn't hold back, much less deliberately leave any survivors. In a battle between beings of the same realm, the slightest hesitation could lead to defeat and death.

Liu Jin was pressuring him to choose.

Should we choose Li Miao or Zhu Yijing?

Should they force Li Miao to hold back, giving An Qisheng a greater chance of winning, or should they harden their hearts and watch Zhu Yijing perish alongside An Qisheng?

Choose.

On one side was Li Miao, and on the other side was Zhu Yijing.

On one side is an adopted son who is more important than the Zhu family's rule, and on the other side is their own flesh and blood.

Choose, choose.

In truth, if Li Miao were forced to hold back, he might not necessarily lose. But if Li Miao lost, none of them, including Zhu Yijing, would survive.

Making a choice isn't actually that difficult.

Zhu Zai knew which option to choose.

The cruelty of this matter lies in the fact that he has to verbally express his choice. To have an elderly father personally pronounce his son's death.

Zhu Zai's lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a word.

An Ziyang watched from the side and sighed.

He knew that Zhu Zai's silence was, in effect, a choice he had made.

But Zhu Zai couldn't bring himself to say it.

Thoughts are hidden beneath the skin, turning and twisting endlessly, unknown to anyone. But once spoken, they become something tangible. Some words are like sharp swords, capable of beheading others or carving lifelong, unhealable wounds into one's own heart.

This is too cruel for an elderly man.

An Ziyang stepped forward, his palm emitting true energy.

He wanted to smash Liu Jin's head.

Just then, someone suddenly called out in a low voice.

"Father, I want to die."

An Ziyang's hand stopped.

(End of this chapter)