The Great Seminary

Chapter 192 Who's the Dumbest?
Seeing the anxious and uneasy look on the eunuch delivering the imperial decree, Zhang Gui felt a little contempt for his composure.

A fifth-rank eunuch in the inner court could rival the head of a prefecture in the provinces. How could he be so short-sighted?

Even if Prince Zhen were to act arrogantly and do as he pleased on Xianrong Island, he would not be so presumptuous as to arbitrarily kill his father's eunuch.

I wouldn't harm him secretly, because it's not worth it.

Normally, even if Zhang Gui looked down on such a cowardly fool, he would not show it, like beating a dog to keep its owner in mind.

But now that he was being manipulated like a pawn by the Ming and Song emperors, he was unhappy and had less intention of hiding his true feelings.

Fresh Velvet Island, beneath dark clouds.

The chief eunuch, who was exchanging bewildered glances with Zhang Gui, noticed the unusual look in his expression, and his own expression grew even more bitter.

“Young Master Caiyang, don’t forget the lesson of Chief Wang Shitong of ‘Longmenbo’.”

"What are you talking about? Does Wang Dashou's situation back then have even the slightest resemblance to yours now?"

Is this eunuch really a fool?

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gui felt even more contempt for the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree, and said dryly:

"Why is the Grand Eunuch so anxious?"

First, times have changed.

Prince Zhen has now established a foothold overseas.

Secondly, your situation is completely different from that of Chief Wang.

He was blocking Prince Zhen's 'path' at that time.

After you finish announcing the decree, go and pay your respects to His Highness, then you can leave.

How could he possibly repeat the "Dragon Gate Lake" incident?

"Your Highness, besides the imperial decree I have for you, I also have an imperial decree from His Majesty to Prince Zhen."

"They want me, Gong, to serve as the military supervisor of the Dragon Tiger Shogunate, but in ordinary times, my authority rests with Prince Zhen's 'temporary residence'."

"It is ashen," said Eunuch Gong.

Zhang Gui was speechless for a moment, the contempt in his eyes turning into pity, and he murmured:

"Then you, Grand Eunuch Gong, should be stinking, no, stinking, stinking with worry."

"Then before I go to deliver the decree to Prince Zhen, I'll treat you to a meal of donkey meat..."

"So you want me to die a gluttonous ghost, huh!"
Young Master, please don't joke around. We are now a family united against a common enemy.

You are the Dragon Tiger General, and I am the military supervisor of the Dragon Tiger Shogunate.

"You dug up the radishes and pulled up the seedlings, I've suffered a disaster, do you think you can just run away?!"

"To be honest, sticking together for warmth now is a death sentence."

Even a fool knows that Fresh Velvet Island is now jointly owned by His Highness Prince Zhen and the Protectorate of Yuanshan.

His Majesty sent you to Fresh Velvet Island to reward and bestow honors upon me, but in reality, he wanted to use Prince Zhen to eliminate me.

This is to tarnish His Highness's reputation and honor.

And so it is with you, the military supervisor of the Dragon and Tiger Shogunate.

Except for the early years of the Ming-Song Empire, when barbarian military supervisors occasionally appeared.

In the last two hundred years, I haven't heard of anyone in your inner court holding this position again.

We are just pawns on the chessboard between the Emperor and Prince Zhen. If we stay put, we can live a little longer.

But if you insist on crossing the river recklessly, you're just asking for death.

Zhang Gui has already been so blunt; logically, if Supervisor Gong is of sound mind, he should shut up.

But he kept babbling on and on, insisting on teaming up with Zhang Gui to deal with the possible difficulties that Prince Zhen might cause in the future.

The result was the opposite, making Zhang Gui gradually realize that the eunuch Gong in front of him was not a cowardly and scheming eunuch at all.

Instead, he was a treacherous, troublemaking agent sent by the Ming-Song inner court to Prince Zhen's temporary residence.

In other words, he thought others were idiots, but in reality, he was being played by those people as idiots.

Zhang Gui's expression changed slightly, and he spoke clearly with a calm face.

"Grand Eunuch Gong, you are a high-ranking eunuch in the inner court who has long enjoyed the Emperor's favor and is eager to repay it with your life."

But I am a barbarian boy from the streets.

Since gaining momentum two or three years ago, he has risen rapidly through a series of fortuitous events.

But the official positions he held were either local militia commanders or barbarian generals; in reality, he had never received a single penny of salary from the imperial court. He wasn't even subject to the saying, "He who eats another's food is beholden to him; he who uses another's money is beholden to him," so please don't make things difficult for me.

“Your Highness, if the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject who does not die would be disloyal!”
Are you really going to argue with your sovereign about a mere few hundred or a few thousand taels of salary?

They completely forgot that the mere fiefdom of Zhihai Town, granted to you by the current emperor, could generate tens of thousands of taxes every day.

Moreover, the current emperor has now allocated all nine islands of Tiangong in the Eastern Inland Sea to you as a place for the shogunate to raise funds and station troops…”

"What's the use of that?"

I can also say that, according to ancient legends, the Stone Corpse Kingdom once crossed the sea and conquered the Yingri Island Kingdom.

I am now willing to offer the entire territory of Yingri to Your Majesty, but the court must seize it itself.

Does this make any sense?

Can I be considered to have contributed to expanding territory by 300,000 li?

"How dare you, you brat!"

Such sharp and sarcastic yet reasonable words finally left Supervisor Gong speechless, and he stopped pretending.

Then, anger flared up, and he slapped Zhang Gui across the face.

Zhang Gui was startled. With a thought, he activated several 'Ruyi' divine beads within his body and flashed behind Supervisor Gong with ghostly speed.

He kicked him hard in the butt.

"Grand Eunuch Gong, after you finish reading the imperial decree, you will only be left with the title of a mere fifth-rank chief eunuch of the inner court."

How could they possibly lay a hand on a prince from a foreign land of an empire like myself?

How dare you!

"It was because you spoke disrespectfully to His Majesty first that I took action."

Gong Dajian used slowness to counter speed, without even turning his head, only listening to the wind to determine the direction, and gently pushed with his right hand.

A strong gust of wind blew Zhang Gui away, carrying him out of most of the courtyard.

They fell onto the roof of the hall like willow catkins.

I felt that the eunuch's cultivation method was very similar to the Tai Chi I practiced in my previous life to maintain my health.

He blurted out:
"I've heard that there are countless top-tier cultivation techniques in the inner court, so I've developed a discerning palate and focused more on cultivating my primordial spirit."

I never expected that you, Grand Supervisor Gong, would practice Qi cultivation.

"I have also heard that Prince Tsuo inherited the bloodline of the ancient god Kuafu, and his divine essence is complete. When fighting with people, he loves to reveal his 'true form as a giant' and fight with force."

Unexpectedly, the technique they used when sparring with me was the 'Vertical and Horizontal Kung Fu' style.

This shows that most of the rumors are unfounded.

Upon hearing this, Supervisor Gong retorted sharply.

Zhang Gui sensed the eunuch's petty and narrow-minded nature and stopped wasting words.

He turned around and vanished without a trace.

"He's a coward who's afraid of death, trying to save his life by falling out with me."

He lacked the recklessness of a barbarian, the integrity of a military general, and the intelligence of a scholar.

Circumstances are beyond one's control; one can escape the first day of the month, but can one escape the fifteenth?

When two powerful forces clash, choosing to align oneself with one is certainly fraught with danger, but trying to remain unscathed is a recipe for certain death.

"Zhao Junpu, am I right?"

"Looking at the roof, Supervisor Gong said quietly."

"Your calculations are wrong, Chief Eunuch. Zhao Pujun did not come."

"It is I, Lü Ju, who has arrived."

As soon as the words were spoken, a gentle and harmless voice rang out.

"There's something else I need to tell you."

His Highness Prince Feng caught a cold and thought that a few doses of medicine would help him recover.

Unexpectedly, things didn't go as planned, and the illness worsened.

Unable to continue serving as an imperial envoy, he has requested that Prince Zhen act on his behalf to tour the Western Guangdong Province.

(End of this chapter)