The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 523 Departure
"?"

Qi Jiguang had anticipated many possible answers, but Li Miao's words were clearly beyond his comprehension. So he paused for a moment, then closed his eyes and carefully recalled what he had just heard.

Go to Japan...kill the Emperor, burn down shrines, destroy Kyoto?

one person!?
The absurdity of this statement is no less than that of the heavens and earth turning upside down or the sun and moon reversing. Japan is not some small Western Regions country that can be conquered by a few hundred cavalrymen. Having dealt with Japanese pirates for years, he knows all too well that Japan is a large country, though not unified, whose territory is nearly one-seventh the size of the Great Shu!
A single person, going to conquer a country?
Remembering that Wu Mingxiao had mentioned Li Miao's humorous and playful nature, he momentarily suspected that Li Miao was teasing him. But the next moment, several voices behind him overturned his guess.

"Commander, aren't you going home again?"

Wang Hai looked bitter.

"Before we left, the old commander told His Majesty to let us take you back, and he even made me sign a military pledge... If you leave, His Majesty might just cut off my head."

Xiao Si didn't follow his words. Instead, she pouted, widened her eyes, and tears welled up in her eyes. She sadly raised her sleeve to wipe them away.

"You're so carefree, only thinking about having fun outside, ignoring me here in this empty house. No one witnessed my wedding, and no one stood up for me when I suffered grievances from my in-laws. People who don't know better would think I'm an orphan, and I'm being gossiped about for no reason..."

Li Miao waved his hand.

"Alright, alright, you've been watching too much drama?"

“You’ve been bewitched Hai’er ever since he was eighteen. If you really want to kill him, it’s just a matter of rubbing your hands together. Do you need me to back you up? We’ve been father and son for so many years. You should use this trick on Hai’er instead.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Si wiped his face with his sleeve, put his hands on his hips, and his expression changed.

"I don't care! Who knows how many years you'll be gone if you run away? You might even settle down in Japan to escape the hustle and bustle. Who knows when I'll see you again! You're not allowed to leave!"

Gao Anyu, standing nearby, also joined in the commotion.

"Yes! Don't leave!"

An Ziyang smiled and fanned himself, Mei Qinghe closed her eyes and remained silent, and Cao Hanyan scratched the back of her head and chuckled, none of them saying a word.

He completely ignored the dumbfounded Qi Jiguang beside him.

No...you guys must be looking at the wrong place!

The kingdom is destroyed! The king is assassinated!

Gentlemen, can you please be serious? We're talking about serious business here. Why are you all talking like your parents are unreliable and have gone out to visit other people's homes and aren't coming home for dinner tonight? Did I just lose my mind, or are you all still asleep?
Or are you saying that the Embroidered Uniform Guard kills people outside during the day, and then practices their comedic skills and acting in the yamen at night once the doors are closed? You're not planning to send your superiors to their deaths so you can seize power and take over, are you?

The atmosphere inside the shed was relaxed, like a picnic, making it difficult for Qi Jiguang to take Li Miao's words seriously.

But the next moment, Li Miao suddenly lost his smile.

"Okay, I've made up my mind."

"Enough with the jokes—Imperial Guards, listen to my command!"

wow-

The sound of armor hitting the ground echoed, and the moment Li Miao finished speaking, the group of people who had been laughing and joking all knelt down on one knee, clasped their hands and bowed their heads.

“Here—!”

Qi Jiguang, who was narrating, suddenly realized what was happening and immediately knelt down on one knee, cupped his hands and bowed his head. He then heard Li Miao's calm voice coming from above him.

"I shouldn't be gone for too long this time. There are a few things you need to do before I get back. As for who will do them, what methods to use, and how many people will die, you can decide for yourselves."

"Firstly, send a message to the Manichaeans in the Western Regions, allowing them to enter the Central Plains, but all important figures who come must be infected with Gu poison. The Ming Cult is always dead but not dead, the root cause of which is that no one fills the vacant positions they leave behind. Rather than eliminating them wave after wave, we should take control of them ourselves first."

"Once the Gu worms are firmly planted and Ji Tianrui dies, the Manichaeism will become our financial repository for ruling the world."

"Secondly, in two years, the martial arts world should have recovered some of its vitality, and there are many more celestial beings. Four years have passed since the incident at the imperial tomb, and if that old man from the river is still alive, he should have started to make a move."

"Gather all the suspicious details and clues, and send people to verify them one by one. When I return to Shuntian Prefecture, I need to know where I'm going and who I'm going to kill."

"Thirdly, you killed a lot of people before me along the way. Although your intentions were good, it also exposed how many scoundrels have risen to the surface in the unruly world of martial arts in the past two years."

"Let's kill them roughly and have Shaolin and Wudang coordinate."

Everyone responded in unison.

“Yes!” Li Miao suddenly laughed.

"Oh, by the way, one more thing."

He walked slowly to Qi Jiguang's side, reached out and patted him on the shoulder, startling him.

"Send a note to His Majesty, and grant General Qi an official position. We'll leave the southern border between the Northern Tartars and the Southern Japanese to General Qi."

"The two years you mentioned earlier, does that count?"

Qi Jiguang quickly agreed.

"Thank you for your promotion, sir!"

"Your humble servant is deeply grateful and will henceforth serve you faithfully, Your Excellency. I will be ready to risk my life for you! Your humble servant—"

Before he could finish speaking his pledge of loyalty, he heard Li Miao say with a smile.

"You don't need to pledge allegiance to me; you earned it yourself."

"Nineteen years old, capable of charging, fighting, and training troops, but unfortunately I am a secret agent, and you are wasting your talents under my command. From now on, just be loyal to the court and serve the country."

"But let me make this clear: if Japanese pirates still kill or injure our people two years from now... you'll have to come to my office for a talk."

He spoke lightly and casually, but Qi Jiguang could tell he was serious. He quickly bowed and agreed.

"Alright, the Japanese pirates have been mostly killed off. The matters in Dengzhou and Laizhou still need to be settled. Go now. Once you're ready, head to the capital to take up your post."

Suddenly, Qi Jiguang's vision blurred.

Looking again, I found myself outside the shed.

He stood silently for a while, then felt a surge of joy at having his wish fulfilled. This joy was followed by a sudden sense of unease about shouldering a heavy responsibility and facing an uncertain future. Finally, he let out a long sigh.

"Sigh... He truly is a god reincarnated, a celestial being descended to earth... With just a few light words, he can casually take and place the affairs of the world and the martial arts world. Perhaps, his boast of single-handedly destroying a country might actually come true..."

"A man should be like this!"

At the age of nineteen, General Qi, in addition to his simple wish to inherit his father's will and defend his country, began to have a concrete aspiration for his future for the first time.

So he took the sword handed to him by the Imperial Guard and strode towards the cliff.

In the shed behind him, Li Miao watched his departing figure with a playful smile.

"I wonder if this young General Qi, with the full support of the imperial court and no more obstacles, can fully realize the ambitions of the previous General Qi... Let's wait and see."

He turned his head, glanced at his subordinates, and said with a smile.

"By the way, I don't speak Japanese."

"You also need to find me a translator who can speak Japanese. Martial arts skills are not important, as long as my lightness skill is sufficient."

An Ziyang suddenly looked up and smiled.

"I do have someone who would recommend me, and he happens to live nearby and I know him well."

Li Miao raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Who is it?"

An Ziyang said with a smile.

"Before I met you, my nickname in the martial arts world was 'Young Master Lingxu.' You have already met two of the other three young masters who were on par with me... This last one is just right for your use."

"Wine, women, wealth, and power; a rich young master."

“Young Master Cai Mi, Lu Wushuang.”

(End of this chapter)