Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world.

Chapter 633 Protecting the New Residence
After explaining everything, Liang Jin returned to the Southern Imperial Guard camp.

Soon, he followed the main force of the Imperial Guard into the palace to continue his guard duty.

During this time, Battalion Commander Liu Shuxun also came to inspect Liang Jin's place and asked Liang Jin if he needed to send more men or replenish supplies.
Liang Jin was naturally unwilling to send more people, but said that the weather would start to cool down after autumn, and that he could provide the Prince of Huaiyang with some more clothes and bedding.

Liu Shuxun readily agreed and left. After a while, someone actually brought him clothes and bedding.

Late at night.

No one was around.

The towering palace walls, like a lurking beast in the night, shut out the noise and bustle.

The iron cage cast distorted shadows in the torchlight, and Zhao Yu, the Prince of Huaiyang, wrapped in a new blanket, looked particularly desolate in the dim light.

After making his rounds, Liang Jin walked to the iron cage as usual and squatted down.

He took out a paper package containing several pieces of still-warm dried meat and flatbread, and slipped it through the gap in the iron bars.

"Liang Jin, thank you for your hard work."

Zhao Yu took the food, his voice carrying the coolness of the night breeze.

He didn't go to eat immediately, but instead looked up at Liang Jin, his sharp eyes, still keen despite the adversity, carrying a hint of barely perceptible urgency:

"The message I entrusted to you to deliver to the Crown Prince... did you deliver it?"

Liang Jin remained squatting, calmly and truthfully recounting the events:

"Your Highness, the message has not yet been delivered."

Zhao Yu's bite into the jerky suddenly froze. He looked up in astonishment, completely unaware of the grease stains on his beard.
"Why?"

Liang Jin did not hide anything:
"His Highness the Crown Prince has a rather... bad temper, and we had a bit of a disagreement."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu fell silent.

He slowly put down the food in his hand, his gaze fixed on the deep night sky outside the cage, as if piercing through the thick palace walls.

After a long silence, he finally let out a long sigh, filled with complex emotions:

"People... unless they fall to the bottom and experience the vicissitudes of life, their hearts... will never truly find peace."

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Liang Jin, his eyes showing no blame, only understanding:
“I know my good-for-nothing son's character perfectly well.”

“Liang Jin, you don’t need to say anything more. It must be his arrogance and domineering attitude that has offended you.”

"That brat has never suffered any hardship since he was a child, let alone experienced any difficulties. He doesn't know how to respect people at all."

He waved his hand, his tone a hint of weary compromise:

"Never mind... that storybook wasn't anything of great military importance, it was just some..."

"If it's really too difficult, then let's just drop it."

Zhao Yu clearly hoped that Liang Jin could convey his message, but Zhao Yu also knew that he needed Liang Jin's help and could not force him.

Liang Jin smiled:

"Since Your Highness has put it this way, it would seem disrespectful of me to refuse."

He met Zhao Yu's suddenly brightening gaze:

"How about this, if His Highness takes the initiative to come to me, I will certainly put aside past grievances and have a good talk with His Highness, and convey the Prince's instructions word for word."

Zhao Yu's eyes suddenly gleamed, as if they had been instantly injected with vitality.

He suddenly grabbed the cold iron bars, leaned forward, lowered his voice, and spoke with an almost solemn sense of entrustment.

"Good! Good!"

"Liang Jin! Although you are young, your magnanimity and composure far exceed my expectations! I was right about you!"

"I will write a secret letter right now and ask you to deliver it to Xue Feng. Once Xue Feng has read it, he will surely make the Crown Prince come and apologize to you."

Liang Jin then took out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Zhao Yu quickly wrote a secret letter and handed it to Liang Jin.

Without asking any further questions, Liang Jin took the light yet incredibly heavy oil paper package from Zhao Yu's trembling fingers and unhesitatingly stuffed it into the inside of his cold iron armor, right next to his heart.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty."

After doing all this, Zhao Yu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and leaned back against the cold iron cage wall.

He looked at Liang Jin, his eyes now carrying a hint of heartfelt sincerity:

“Liang Jin, you are a capable man. But the position of Banner Commander… is too low.”

He lowered his voice even further, almost as a whisper:

"This official position is not even worth a piece of driftwood in the face of the impending monstrous waves."

"However... I will not let you remain trapped in the shallows forever."

"A few days ago, I asked some old friends to help you with some things."

"I anticipate that... in the next few days, the burden on your shoulders may be able to be slightly heavier."

Zhao Yu was clearly continuing to curry favor.

Upon hearing this, Liang Jin couldn't help but recall what Liu Shuxun, the new battalion commander, had said a few days ago: he wanted to recommend him for the position of battalion lieutenant.

At the time, Liang Jin thought Liu Shuxun was just making empty promises, since such a series of promotions was very rare in the Imperial Guard.

But when Zhao Yu said it today, Liang Jin realized that it was Zhao Yu who had been pulling the strings behind the scenes.

With Zhao Yu's influence and connections, it wouldn't be difficult for him to promote himself to the rank of battalion commander.

at this time.

A series of hurried, deliberately low footsteps approached from afar.

The visitor was Wu Huan.

He shouted and waved to Liang Jin from a distance:

"Brother Liang, quick! Urgent military meeting!"

"All officers of the rank of banner commander and above, assemble immediately!"

Liang Jin nodded slightly to Zhao Yuwei and quickly stood up.

As Wu Huan walked, he called out to the flag commanders under his command who were scattered at various posts.

After the group had walked for a while, Liang Jin was surprised:

"Chief Wu, aren't we having a meeting in the duty room?"

Imperial Guard officers were required to take turns guarding key areas of the palace, so their guardhouses often had small side rooms or meeting rooms for officers to hand over duties and hold temporary consultations.

However, the direction the group is heading is clearly not towards their assigned duty station, but towards the Meridian Gate.

Wu Huan nodded in reply:

"We're going to the Imperial Guard Command Headquarters for a meeting."

These words surprised Liang Jin and the other banner leaders.

The Imperial Guard Command Office was the daily office and command institution of the Imperial Guard located within the palace, and was the residence of high-ranking officers of the Imperial Guard.

People like us, being minor officials, would generally not go to such places unless we needed to handle some business.

Wu Huan's words suddenly became serious:
"Everyone, pay attention! This meeting is being chaired by the First Commander-in-Chief."

Upon hearing this, the other flag leaders who had been summoned all gasped in shock, their steps unconsciously becoming heavier.

Since taking office several months ago, the supreme commander of the Southern Imperial Army has kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public. His daily military affairs are almost entirely handled by his deputy commander, Hong Wei.

His sudden appearance to personally preside over the military meeting, and the foreshadowing of the storm he brought, put these lower-ranking officers under suffocating pressure.

Soon, the group arrived at the Imperial Guard Command Office.

This location is close to the Meridian Gate, the main entrance to the palace, facilitating a rapid response to emergencies.

Huge stone lions guarded the gate, which was brightly lit and heavily guarded, with an invisible yet unsettling sense of tension permeating the air.

Liang Jin followed the others into the government office gate.

The interior furnishings are so simple they're almost cold and austere. A huge map of the palace's defenses occupies an entire wall, densely marked with troop deployments and sentry posts.

On the other side hung a list of officers of all ranks and a duty roster, while several large hardwood tables were piled with files and command tokens.

There are no superfluous decorations, only omnipresent iron will and order.

They were led into a spacious and solemn council chamber.

Dozens of officers in armor, ranging in rank from battalion commander to flag officer, had already gathered in the hall.

Liang Jin and the others stepped inside and waited patiently.

Time is passing slowly.

Finally, the side door of the council chamber was silently pushed open.

Five battalion commanders, clad in fine scale armor and exuding a composed aura, filed in one after another, like five moving iron towers.

They stood on either side, surrounding the two as they entered the heart of the hall.

The man on the left, around fifty years old, was tall and strong, with a dark face etched with the marks of time and authority. He was none other than Hong Wei, the deputy commander of the Southern Imperial Guard.

His gaze was sharp as he swept across the room, exuding his usual, unquestionable control.

The moment the person on the right appeared, the temperature in the entire council chamber seemed to drop several degrees!
He was an unusually tall old man, who at first glance appeared thin and bony, wrapped in a faded old-fashioned general's robe, looking as empty as if he were wearing a burlap sack.

However, as everyone's gazes focused, an invisible chill instantly gripped their hearts!
That wasn't because he was thin, but because he had compressed his extremely strong muscles and bones to the extreme!
A wasp waist and an ape's back, a crane's posture and a mantis's form!
What was particularly unsettling was his thick, gray-white beard, which almost covered his mouth and nose and reached down to his chest and abdomen. It was as fluffy and tangled as a lion's mane, making his aged face look as expressionless as a stone carving.

His eyes were calm and unwavering, as deep as an ancient well, as if even the collapse of Mount Tai could not move him.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Imperial Guard, the First Upright Official!

"Greetings, First Commander!"

"Greetings, Commander Hong!"

All the officers in the hall knelt on one knee in unison, the sound of their armor plates clashing echoing loudly, their voices filled with barely suppressed awe.

As Liang Jin bowed to the others, the moment his knee touched the ground, his gaze, though lowered, swept over the First Guardian.

Master!

Moreover, he is a peerless master who has truly crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and who makes no attempt to conceal his sharpness!

There is a big difference between the masters in the military and the masters in the martial arts world.

Martial artists in the martial arts world like to conceal their aura and try their best to hide their strength.

The experts in the military, on the other hand, made no attempt to conceal their aura, making it even more direct.

The First Guardian's aura, though not deliberately released, permeated every inch of the hall's air as if it were a tangible force, making it so heavy that it made breathing difficult.

Even so, other martial artists, if their level of skill and insight are insufficient, would find it difficult to discern the level of the First Guardian of Righteousness.

But Liang Jin saw it clearly!
This commander of the Southern Imperial Guard is actually a second-rank martial artist!
Its aura was so concentrated and powerful, and its imposing and murderous power was no less than that of the Demon-Slaying King he had encountered before!
First Shouzheng and Hongwei walked through the kneeling crowd, like rocks parting the water, and went straight to the main seat.

Hong Wei stood solemnly to his side. The First Guardian slowly turned around to face the mass of kneeling subordinates.

His eyes, hidden behind his thick beard and hair, calmly swept across the entire room.

"Everyone get up."

The voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, carrying an unquestionable sense of command.

Everyone stood up, hands at their sides, and the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Everyone!"

The first righteous man spoke in a loud voice:
"As the emperor's personal guards, we are deeply grateful for the emperor's favor. It is our duty to protect His Majesty's health and ensure the safety of the palace!"

He paused slightly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the roof of the hall, directed towards a direction outside the imperial city. His voice suddenly turned sharp, carrying the fury of a beast whose territory had been invaded:

"However! His Majesty has moved to his new residence to recuperate, and the responsibility of guarding him should rightfully fall on the shoulders of our Imperial Guards! This is a matter of course and cannot be disputed!"

"How despicable that the Imperial Guard dares to overstep its bounds under the guise of protecting the Emperor! They openly drive our Imperial Guards away from the new residence, obstructing us from fulfilling our sacred duty of protecting the Emperor!"

"Such actions are a desecration of imperial power and a trampling of the dignity of my Imperial Guards!"

"This commander will absolutely not allow it!"

These words were like throwing a huge rock into a calm lake!

A collective gasp and commotion erupted in the hall!

All the officers wore expressions of disbelief, shock, and anger!
The Imperial Guards and the Investigation Depot, both the emperor's henchmen and directly under his jurisdiction, have always maintained a delicate balance by keeping to themselves.

Now that the emperor is seriously ill, all sorts of strange things are happening!
How dare the Imperial Guards directly interfere with and even expel the Imperial Guards protecting the Emperor?!

This is a blatant provocation and a blow to the very foundation of the Imperial Guard's existence!

First Shouzheng's gaze was like a cold searchlight, sweeping over every face flushed with anger.

He solemnly appointed his men:
"Xiliu Camp! Yafu Camp!"

Liu Shuxun and Ya Fu's entourage immediately stepped forward, clasped their hands in greeting, and acknowledged the order:

"The general is here!"

The First Guardian loudly gave the order:

"Your two battalions, each send five hundred elite soldiers! Prepare yourselves immediately! Follow me—"

His gaze was sharp as a knife, as if it had pierced the night and was pointing directly towards the new house:
"I'll personally go to the new residence! To escort you!"

The two battalion commanders responded with a resounding roar, their eyes burning with fighting spirit.

The First Guardian's gaze swept over the other officers:
"All other battalions! Remain at your posts, ready for battle!"

"Anyone who acts without orders will be executed!"

All the officers stood at attention:
"I will obey your orders!"

The roar made the beams and pillars of the hall vibrate.

Hong Wei stepped forward, about to wave his hand to give the order to proceed.

Sudden--

"Liang Jin!"

The cold, emotionless voice of the First Guardian, like a spell to freeze someone, rang out once more!

This time, he only called out one name.

In an instant, the air in the entire council hall seemed to be completely sucked out!
All eyes, filled with astonishment, doubt, and inquiry... were like countless tangible rays, instantly focusing on an inconspicuous figure in the queue—Liang Jin!
Hong Wei's raised hand froze in mid-air, and a clear look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Logically speaking, a minor official like a flag commander shouldn't even be on the ears of the commander-in-chief.

But everyone knows that Liang Jin is the number one troublemaker in the army.

Could it be... that the Commander is going to make an example of someone today?

Those officers who had grudges against Liang Jin or were jealous of him could not help but show mocking and amused expressions on their faces.

Liang Jin remained unfazed, stepped into the ranks, his armor clapping crisply, clasped his hands in a salute, and spoke in a calm and steady voice:

"My subordinate is here!"

The First Guardian's gaze, hidden behind his thick beard and hair, fell on Liang Jin as if it were a physical object, scrutinizing him from head to toe.

After a moment, the First Guardian nodded slightly, his voice still revealing no emotion:
"good."

"I've heard that you are quite skilled in martial arts. You once competed in the camp and defeated the magistrate, Fang Qianfeng."

His words echoed in the silent hall, each syllable crystal clear:
"What's even more commendable is that he remained humble despite his victory. Despite his achievements, he was content to remain in the position of flag commander, without a trace of resentment or impetuosity."

This assessment left everyone in the hall even more confused.

Is this a compliment?

Or is it a strategy of first praising and then criticizing?

Countless gazes lingered between Liang Jin and the First Guardian.

Liang Jin lowered his head:

"Commander, you flatter me. I am unworthy of such praise."

Everyone remained silent, waiting to see if the First Guardian intended to punish Liang Jin for killing Fang Qianfeng, or if he had other plans.

The first magistrate nodded slightly:

"Being neither arrogant nor impatient is truly rare."

Then he abruptly changed his tone, his voice suddenly hardening:

"Indeed! Our Imperial Guards are fair in their rewards and punishments, and promotions are based on merit!"

"Although you are brave and valiant, you have yet to achieve any merit on the battlefield!"

"Commander Liu Shuxun has recommended you for promotion to battalion lieutenant several times, but I have not approved them all!"

His gaze swept over Liu Shuxun, who looked slightly nervous to the side.

Wow——!
A low murmur rippled through the hall!

All eyes instantly focused on Liu Shuxun, filled with surprise, incomprehension, and even disdain.

Promote a troublemaker to battalion commander?

Has Liu Shuxun gone mad?
No wonder the commander has been keeping it under control!

Liu Shuxun himself kept his eyes on his nose, his nose on his mouth, and his mouth on his heart, ignoring all the gazes around him.

First Guardian's gaze refocused on Liang Jin, and deep within those calm, unwavering eyes, a whirlpool seemed to be churning:
"This commander has also heard..."

He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet carrying an invisible pressure:

"Zhao Bao, the newly appointed third-in-command of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, had quite a bit of contact with you before he rose to prominence?"

boom--!
These words struck like a second thunderbolt, exploding in everyone's hearts!

The third-in-command of the anti-crime factory?!
That Zhao Bao, who wielded immense power and whose name struck fear into the hearts of all officials?!

To think that he and this lowly flag commander in front of him are old acquaintances!
Countless gazes instantly became incredibly complex!
Shock, disbelief, fear, sudden realization... So that's how it is!
No wonder this kid is so arrogant, daring to talk back to his superior!

No wonder Liu Shuxun dared to recommend him!

It turns out that the person standing behind them is that newly emerging tycoon of the security industry!
Liang Jin understood.

Zhao Bao's rise to power will inevitably put everything about his past under a magnifying glass.

His relationship with Zhao Bao will eventually be exposed if others are willing to investigate.

Looking at it now, it is indeed the case.

Liang Jin originally did not want to get involved in this power struggle.

However, he also knew very well that ever since he took over the guard of Prince Zhao Yu of Huaiyang, it had become impossible for him to get rid of him.

Therefore, Liang Jin frankly admitted his relationship with Zhao Bao in front of the Empress.

He raised his head, meeting the First Guardian's gaze that seemed to see right through him, and said frankly:

"Reporting to the commander, I do indeed know Lord Zhao."

The hall was dead silent.

Only the crackling sound of the burning wick was particularly jarring.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden information.

First Shouzheng seemed quite pleased with Liang Jin's frankness.

He nodded slightly, finally revealing the true purpose of the roll call, his voice carrying an air of undeniable authority:
"In that case, today my Imperial Guards are negotiating with the Investigation Bureau, and you might be of some use..."

He paused, his gaze, cold as a weight, landing on Liang Jin's shoulder:
"If you can make a contribution in this matter, the position of battalion commander... will be yours."

These words put Liang Jin in the spotlight, but also gave him a stepping stone for promotion!
Liang Jin's eyes narrowed slightly.

He knew Zhao Yu was right; his lowly position made it difficult for him to play a role in the upcoming changes.

Now that he has decided to assist Zhao Yu in ascending to the throne, he can no longer continue to keep a low profile and bide his time. Instead, he must start to actively compete and fight for power.

The tiger, which has been lying in wait, is about to show its claws.

Without further hesitation, he clasped his hands in a salute, his voice resolute:
"I obey my orders!"

First, I will not elaborate further on upholding the correct principles.

He looked at the crowd and suddenly waved his hand, the movement swift and decisive, carrying the aura of a warrior on the battlefield:
"set off!"

Military orders are absolute!
The officers immediately turned and quickly left the council chamber.

The heavy footsteps, the clanging of armor plates, and the deep commands instantly shattered the silence of the palace.

Soon, torches filled the Meridian Gate Square, and armored soldiers stood like clouds!

A thousand elite Imperial Guards, handpicked from the best, had formed a formidable square formation, their swords and spears like a forest, exuding a murderous aura!
First, Shouzheng mounted his horse, followed closely by Hongwei.

Liang Jin was called to Liu Shuxun's side to follow him.

"Target—the new house! Protect them!"

The first, upright, aged yet powerful voice resounded through the night sky.

"Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!"

The deafening roar, like muffled thunder, rolled across the imperial city!
A torrent of iron surges forth!

The heavy footsteps shattered the midnight silence as a thousand elite Imperial Guards, clad in armor and armed with weapons, surged out of the Meridian Gate like a torrent of steel.

They roared off toward the new royal residence where the emperor was recuperating!

An atmosphere of grimness tore through the heavy night sky of the capital.

(End of this chapter)