The Ming Dynasty's henchmen, working from nine to five

Chapter 90 Unbridled Arrogance

Two days later.

Qingxin Hall.

Emperor Jiajing sat cross-legged within a light gauze curtain, his face turned upwards.

Wisps of white mist rose from his crown chakra, swirling and hovering in mid-air like living things.

A short while later, the main hall suddenly shook.

The white mist gathering above Jia Jing's head seemed to be drawn together by some force, slowly coalescing and condensing into an illusion.

The illusory body's features were blurred, its face indistinct, only a rough human outline visible. It knelt on the ground, facing Jia Jing, performing the ritual of three kowtows and nine prostrations.

After the worship was completed, it crumbled inch by inch, turning into countless points of light, vanishing like a bursting bubble.

Then, a second, a third...

The process only ended when the white mist had completely dissipated.

"call."

Jiajing exhaled to finish her practice and slowly opened her eyes.

His eyes shone with golden light as they opened and closed.

"I have glimpsed the Great Dao; the immortal techniques offered by the Imperial Preceptor are indeed extraordinary."

"Such profound and mysterious things are definitely not from this world. Where did the Imperial Preceptor obtain them?"

Jiajing muttered to himself, his eyes flashing for a moment before suddenly darkening, becoming cold and gloomy, devoid of any light, which was quite frightening.

After sitting silently for a while, he slowly got up, stretched his limbs, and his whole body made crackling sounds.

Then, he bent his knees and leaped up, his whole body floating up like a willow catkin.

His head hit the roof, and then he slowly fell down.

This process was repeated over and over.

"To depart from the heavens and obey the will of Heaven—how can I bear this?"

"When I rule the four seas and grieve for the common people, my heart is broken."

"I was originally a carefree immortal in the heavens, living on the breath and seeking immortality, but now I have been banished to the mortal world and become a servant of all people."

"My life has been truly lonely and miserable. When will I be able to truly transcend this?"

A look of sadness appeared on Jiajing's face.

He stood still with his eyes closed for a moment, then raised his hand to wipe the moisture from the corner of his eye, and suddenly spoke: "Zhang Zuo."

"Your servant is here!"

Zhang Zuo rushed in and knelt down five zhang away from Jia Jing, using the momentum to slide to his front.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty!"

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, on achieving the Great Perfection of Immortality and attaining eternal life!"

Jiajing glanced at him sideways: "I seek immortality and enlightenment, pursuing my true self and my true nature. What does that have to do with eternal life?"

"You dog of a servant, you don't understand anything."

Zhang Zuo slapped himself twice, a fawning smile on his face, and said, "This servant is but a mortal, worlds apart from Your Majesty. My understanding is inevitably lacking. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

Jiajing was quite pleased with what he heard. He glanced at him and said, "You dog of a servant, you certainly have a sharp tongue."

"Stand up and speak."

"Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty!" Zhang Zuo bowed and rose.

Jiajing stroked his beard and asked, "How has the situation been at court during my seclusion these past few days?"

Zhang Zuo bowed and presented a memorial with both hands, saying, "Because of that Captain Shen Lang, a group of officials from the Six Ministries led by Lord Yan have officially broken ties with the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"The Ministry of Justice made things difficult for the Embroidered Uniform Guard in every way and arrested many people. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was not to be outdone and investigated many officials in Lord Yan's faction."

"Today, the two factions argued fiercely at the court assembly, and almost came to blows!"

"Oh?" Jiajing became interested. "Why didn't they actually fight?"

Zhang Zuo said, "Lord Chen from the Ministry of Personnel and Lord Zhou from the Ministry of Rites did their best to stop them, and their official robes were torn to shreds."

He paused, observed Jia Jing's expression, and then said, "This servant has discovered that Lord Yan and Lord Lu met privately."

"The two stayed in the secret room for more than an hour, and after talking about something, they parted on bad terms. When Lord Yan got into his carriage and left, he looked very unwell."

"Did Yan Shen and Lu Yu have a falling out?"

Jiajing laughed heartily: "Excellent, excellent!"

"Any other interesting stories?"

Zhang Zuo bowed and said, "The Qingliu faction also got involved in this matter. Lord Zou did not personally appear, but his faction's ministers all spoke out angrily against Lord Lu."

Jiajing smiled even more broadly: "What did they say?"

"They say that the Embroidered Uniform Guard wields too much power, disregards the law, and shows no respect for superiors, to the point where they must be punished. They have jointly submitted a petition requesting His Majesty to conduct a thorough investigation!"

Jia Jing said, "Interesting. They want me to strip Lu Yu of his power?"

Zhang Zuo said, "Memorials from various prefectures and counties are being sent to the capital like snowflakes, and the memorials impeaching Lord Lu are now piling up like a mountain."

.

Jia Jing narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of danger flashing between his brows.

"Zou Nanhuai always pretends to be aloof in front of me and threatens to kill himself by banging his head against a pillar to remonstrate with me, but in private he can mobilize so many officials to obey his orders."

"How can a subject like him have the audacity to call himself a paragon of virtue?"

Zhang Zuo lowered his head, not daring to speak.

Jiajing frowned for a moment, then suddenly said, "Are they so impatient because they don't know that I have already agreed to spare that captain's life?"

Zhang Zuo cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, I truly do not know."

"Lord Lu concealed this matter and even spread rumors that His Majesty was furious upon learning of Qi Yan's death and intended to personally settle accounts with him after he left the pass."

"Hahahaha..." Jiajing burst into laughter.

"This Lu Yu, I didn't even give him a feather, yet he dares to issue orders on his own."

"Is he deliberately showing me, letting me see the true colors of these two groups?"

"Hmph, on the surface they're like oil and water, always arguing and acting like they're locked in a life-or-death struggle, but when something really happens, they immediately stand together again."

"Zhang Zuo, do you think they were putting on an act for me before?"

A fine layer of sweat appeared on Zhang Zuo's forehead. He dared not respond to those words, and simply bent his waist even lower.

Fortunately, Jiajing wasn't looking for an answer from him, and continued on his own: "Since Lu Yu has handed me the knife, then I will take the opportunity to strike him down."

"These two groups haven't been disciplined for a while."

"Especially that Yan Shen, that bastard, he's been handing over less and less silver lately; it's probably all going into his own pocket!"

Jiajing's expression grew colder and colder as she spoke, and her eyes became extremely dangerous.

"Go on."

Zhang Zuo cautiously reported, "Your Majesty, last night at noon, Prefect Liu of Huai'an sent an urgent message, saying that a sudden flood had struck twelve counties in three prefectures north of the Yangtze River, requesting Your Majesty..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jia Jing impatiently interrupted him: "Such a trivial matter can be handled by the Six Ministries. Why bother me with it?"

"Yes, yes, this servant was too talkative!" Zhang Zuo quickly slapped himself several times, until half of his face swelled up.

Only after Jiajing's expression softened did he say again, "This servant has completed the task Your Majesty entrusted to me."

As he spoke, he took out a folded scroll from his robes and presented it with both hands: "This is Shen Lang's background information, Your Majesty, please take a look!"

He thought for a moment, then added, "Your Majesty, this boy is arrogant and unruly, utterly outrageous!"