Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

It's finally here!

This Inspector Zhang wasn't too slow.

Sun Dexiu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the arrival of the patrol inspectors.

Since entering the palace at the age of seven, he has been following Eunuch Huang Jin.

Two years ago, after Huang Gonggong was promoted by the old master to become the chief executioner of the Eastern Depot, I naturally followed him to the Eastern Depot.

As one of the most important special departments in the Ming Dynasty, the Eastern Depot recruited many martial arts masters.

As a trusted confidant of the Commander of the Thousand Households, it was naturally not difficult for Sun Dexiu to find someone to teach him martial arts.

The instructors who guided his martial arts were all top-ranked masters in the Eastern Depot.

In the path of martial arts, having a renowned teacher or not makes a world of difference.

Although he had only been practicing martial arts for two years, he was far more skilled than a country bumpkin like a casino thug.

However, Sun Dexiu's status meant he had almost no opportunity to personally participate in actual combat.

A real life-or-death struggle is, after all, different from what happens on the training ground.

What is the most important thing that we have to do this time?

Protect this member of the royal family before you!

Nothing else matters.

When faced with an attack by five casino thugs, Sun Dexiu's response was very conservative; he sought no merit but only to avoid making mistakes.

Even when given several opportunities to inflict damage on their opponents, they deliberately gave them up.

He was afraid of revealing a weakness, allowing the opponent to take the opportunity to bypass his blockade and harm Lu Chen behind him.

Sun Dexiu had considered revealing his identity as a member of the Eastern Depot when he stepped forward.

But he was all alone, and the casino owner was already in a killing frenzy.

He could simply insist that he was impersonating someone from the Eastern Depot, and most of his subordinates would not suspect him.

There was absolutely no reason for the people from the Eastern Depot to appear in this small-town gambling den.

Moreover, Eunuch Huang's order was to secretly investigate what Lu Bing had sent that Jinyiwei captain south to do, without letting the other party find out.

If their identity as members of the Eastern Depot were publicly revealed, it would be impossible to hide it from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Moreover, he still hasn't figured out the true identity of this young master Lu Chen.

Whether letting him know that he is a member of the Eastern Depot is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen.

Sun Dexiu had witnessed the entire altercation between the burly man surnamed Ma and the casino thugs.

These people are no match for him if they fight one-on-one.

Even if you are outnumbered, you have a better chance of winning.

Moreover, I don't need to actually defeat the opponent; I just need to hold out until the patrol officers arrive.

Sun Dexiu was very confident about this.

Before coming to the casino, he had already gone to the patrol office and asked Inspector Zhang to send a trusted confidant to accompany him in plain clothes to search for Lu Chen's whereabouts in Wadian Town.

Zhang Xunjian knew that Lu Chen and he were both in the gambling den.

Once they hear someone report to the authorities that a murder and brawl have occurred in the gambling den, they will rush there as quickly as possible.

Once the inspectors arrive, we'll just dump this mess on them.

Unexpectedly, this inspector turned out to be the gambling den owner's backer.

He also took the other man's sister as a concubine.

Heh, the gambling den owner is probably still thinking that his cheap brother-in-law will order the archers to deal with him and Lu Chen.

Thinking of this, Sun Dexiu turned his gaze to Inspector Zhang.

At that moment, the other person was also looking in their direction, and their eyes met.

In Inspector Zhang's eyes, Sun Dexiu saw a hint of fear, and a hint of determination.

. . .

Just as Lu Chen was fully focused on watching Inspector Zhang's every move, preparing to take action at any moment, an unexpected situation occurred.

Snapped!

A slap landed hard on the face of Yan Jingang, the gambling den owner.

"Who is your brother-in-law! How dare you impersonate an official's relative!"

The one who made the move was none other than Inspector Zhang, who was dressed in official robes.

"My third concubine was clearly a 'skinny horse' bought from Yangzhou, and she unfortunately died suddenly yesterday. What does that have to do with you!"

After slapping him, Inspector Zhang quickly stepped back two paces, distancing himself from Yan Jingang, and loudly gave the order.

"Take down this scoundrel!"

"You heartless wretch!"

After a brief moment of shock, Yan Jingang finally came to his senses, his eyes bloodshot as he drew his sword and charged at Inspector Zhang.

He had only taken one step when he froze.

An arrow pierced his chest and exited through his back.

Immediately afterwards, several archers drew their swords and stepped forward. With white blades going in and red blades coming out, in the blink of an eye, they had stabbed several bloody holes in the gambling den owner's body.

"Yan Jingang's gathering of a crowd to besiege the Emperor's personal guards is tantamount to treason!"

Inspector Zhang glanced at the fallen gambling den owner, then turned and pointed at the five thugs who were still confused about the situation.

"Execute all of this scoundrel's henchmen on the spot!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than more than a dozen fully armed archers from the patrol office stepped forward and killed the five gambling den thugs who had just attacked Sun Dexiu on the spot.

. . .

What on earth is going on?!

Lu Chen was taken aback by Inspector Zhang's actions!

The gambling den owner was quite confident when he reminded his men that his sister was the third concubine of Inspector Zhang.

None of his henchmen raised any questions.

Lu Chen felt that what he said must be true!

In Wadian Town, Inspector Zhang is the highest-ranking security official, so the gambling den owner shouldn't dare to lie about this matter.

Just now, Lu Chen had even prepared himself for the possibility that Inspector Zhang and his brother-in-law were in cahoots, ordering archers to attack him and the swordsman surnamed Sun.

Even if Inspector Zhang hadn't acted so lawlessly, the best outcome would have been a hasty conclusion with Ma San-kui and the gambling den's thugs fighting each other and both dying.

Lu Chen had never expected that Inspector Zhang would turn on him so suddenly and kill the gambling den owner and his men.

What exactly caused this security chief of Wadian Town to make such a decision?

Lu Chen was the first to disbelieve that Inspector Zhang was an incorruptible official who would not hesitate to put aside his own family to uphold the law.

The words of Inspector Zhang just now actually revealed some information.

What did he say to his third aunt, who was the sister of Yan Jingang, the gambling den owner?

Not only did they directly deny her blood relation with Yan Jingang, but they also claimed that this concubine was a "thin horse" bought from Yangzhou.

And there's another sentence that follows: She died suddenly yesterday!

What does this mean?!

Fearing being implicated by Yan Jingang, Inspector Zhang not only denied any familial relationship with him, but also, to ensure everything went smoothly, even tried to silence his own concubine!

In Lu Chen's view, if this case were to enter the judicial process, even if the presiding judge were completely biased towards him, it would just be a murder case, with only Ma San Kui as the victim.

Even if Yan Jingang is sentenced to the maximum penalty, at most he will be executed immediately, and his relatives will not be implicated.

Moreover, Inspector Zhang had only taken Yan Jingang's sister as a concubine. Although he might have tacitly accepted that she called him "brother-in-law," their relationship was not actually that close.

Unless it's a heinous crime that would implicate nine generations of one's family, he wouldn't be implicated.

Is this case really that serious that Inspector Zhang is willing to go to such lengths to clear himself of wrongdoing?

What else did he just say?

To gather a crowd and besiege the emperor's personal guards is tantamount to treason!

If that's true, then it's indeed a heinous crime that would implicate nine generations of one's family.

But where did these imperial guards come from?

Lu Chen's father, Lu Kun, is of course Lu Chen, but Lu Chen himself is just a commoner.

Inspector Zhang's words couldn't have been said casually!

If the "emperor's personal guard" he mentioned wasn't referring to himself.

Then it can only be?!