After Li Miao finished speaking, he immediately got up and set off for Shaolin Temple with Yongjie.
"My Lord!"
He heard a soft call from behind him. Li Miao turned his head and saw Yin Minjun walking towards him.
"Let me go with you."
Li Miao looked her up and down, then smiled, "Elder Yin, don't you need to look after the Miao people's affairs?"
Yin Minjun shook her head, "I have already explained everything clearly to my fellow disciples. With so many major sects handling the Miao people's matters, I am not indispensable."
"Furthermore, my Hengshan Sect is already your subordinate, My Lord. It would be a dereliction of duty to watch you go to Shaolin alone."
"My martial arts are not strong, but at least I can handle some miscellaneous tasks for you, My Lord."
Yin Minjun, after all, was the second-in-command of the Hengshan Sect. She was accustomed to receiving and seeing off guests, so her words were grand and righteous, not revealing her true desire to simply follow Li Miao.
Li Miao nodded, "Very well, then let us go together."
With that, he led Yin Minjun and Yongjie, took their horses, and set off.
The three of them were all masters with accomplished internal energy, and they traveled without stopping, reaching Shaolin Temple in just a few days.
Before the three of them even approached the Shaolin Temple mountain gate, they heard a distant greeting: "Thousand Households!"
Li Miao looked over and saw a person dressed in Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) official uniform, rapidly approaching with light footwork. It was none other than the Zhang Centurion, who had come with the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen in Tai'an City that day, and he was also Li Miao's subordinate.
That day, he had followed Cheng Yuanzhen up Mount Tai Sect, only to encounter Yun Zelin. His martial arts were not bad, so he also managed to escape with his life.
Li Miao went to meet him, sized him up, and asked, "Who came from the capital?"
After the events in Tai'an City, the imperial court was already preparing to deal with the Ming Cult. Bu Lei, the Lord Commissioner of the Northern Garrison Division, had already appeared in Huguang. It was only natural for the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) to send people over for such a major event as the Ming Cult breaking through the Shaolin mountain gate.
Zhang Centurion glanced at Yongjie and Yin Minjun beside him.
Li Miao waved his hand, signaling him to ignore the two and speak freely.
"Lord Commissioner Bu Lei sent back a message. Commander himself has come. Thousand Households, you've arrived at a good time. We just got here too, but the Shaolin mountain gate is tightly shut. The Commander fears an ambush by Ming Cult bandits inside, so he hasn't entered yet."
Li Miao nodded, "Take me to see the Commander."
Zhang Centurion accepted the order and led Li Miao towards the Shaolin mountain gate.
Outside the mountain gate now, people were densely packed, preparing themselves. There were even some muskets and cannons.
Li Miao's gaze swept across, and he saw that almost all the Thousand Households from the Northern Garrison Division were present, indicating that the imperial court had resolved to eliminate the Ming Cult.
From a distance, Li Miao saw Zhu Zai standing with his hands behind his back, speaking to Bu Lei. He was likely allocating personnel, preparing to forcefully attack the Shaolin mountain gate.
Li Miao was about to walk over.
Zhu Zai looked up and saw him, but he raised his hand and made a stopping gesture, his eyes clearly signaling Li Miao not to come over.
Li Miao stopped in his tracks, frowning as he looked at Zhu Zai.
They had been friends for over a decade. With a blink from Li Miao, Zhu Zai knew what he was thinking, and with a glare from Zhu Zai, Li Miao knew which bowl he was about to throw.
Without needing to speak, Li Miao could understand the emotions contained within Zhu Zai's single glance.
"Old man, are you... worried about me?"
"Why?"
Wang Hai had already informed Zhu Zai about the events in Tai'an City, so Zhu Zai already knew the extent of Li Miao's martial arts.
What in Shaolin Temple could threaten Li Miao?
Moreover, outside the mountain gate were all Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) personnel, all their own people. Why would Zhu Zai worry about Li Miao and not let him come over?
Li Miao felt strange, but he knew very well that Zhu Zai was not someone who acted without reason. He must have a sufficiently strong reason for doing this.
Li Miao turned around and gave Yin Minjun and Yongjie a few instructions, telling them to find a place to hide first.
After the two left, Li Miao gave Zhang Centurion a few instructions, telling him not to reveal that he had already arrived.
Then, Li Miao flashed into a dense forest, lightly touching his feet, and ascended to a treetop, stepping on a branch as thick as a finger, observing the situation outside the mountain gate from afar.
Seeing that Li Miao understood and hid, Zhu Zai seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and turned to say a few words to Bu Lei.
Bu Lei accepted the order and left. Zhu Zai turned to face the mountain gate, standing with his hands behind his back.
Li Miao clearly saw Zhu Zai gesture a "three" with his hand behind his back.
"Third watch."
This meant for Li Miao to wait until midnight, the third watch, to secretly meet him.
Li Miao waited a little longer and then saw a wooden carved sedan chair slowly approach Zhu Zai's side.
This sedan chair was painted with vermilion lacquer and gold, adorned with embroidered pieces, pearls, tassels, and colorful paintings, making it incredibly extravagant. It could be said that this single sedan chair was worth thousands of silver taels.
It should be known that the founding emperor of Great Shuo had issued an edict restricting the use of sedan chairs. Generally, only officials of the third rank or higher, or the elderly and disabled, were allowed to ride them. Although this rule gradually fell into disuse later, ordinary people riding sedan chairs would not over-decorate them to avoid overstepping their bounds.
Looking at the four sedan bearers, they were all second-rate masters!
The sedan chair stopped beside Zhu Zai, and a person who had been following alongside immediately stepped forward, actually flopping directly onto the ground in front of the sedan door with a thud. He was clearly acting as a "human sedan stool," allowing the person inside the sedan to step on him to get out.
Li Miao looked closely, and the person kneeling on the ground was none other than Cheng Yuanzhen, the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, who had led people to Mount Tai to snatch credit that day!
Who exactly was sitting in this sedan chair, that a top-tier fourth-rank eunuch would act as a human sedan stool?
Then, the sedan curtain slowly opened, and an old, withered arm extended from within.
A sedan bearer stepped forward and supported the arm, helping the person down.
The person appeared to be in extreme old age, with temples like frost, sparse hair, loose teeth, and a face covered in dense wrinkles. He walked shakily, like an old person on the verge of death.
Looking at his attire, he wore a narrow-sleeved yisa with a python pattern embroidered on his chest. He was actually wearing a bestowed robe of the same rank as Zhu Zai.
This person stepped on Cheng Yuanzhen to get out of the sedan, and was shakily supported as he walked to Zhu Zai's side.
Zhu Zai turned and bowed to him, "Elder Brother."
"Mm." The person calmly accepted the bow, showing no intention of returning the courtesy, as if it were only natural, and said, "Don't wait. Fire a few cannons first and see. If that bandit Ji Tianrui is still there, it's a good chance to capture him."
"Yes." Zhu Zai turned and instructed the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), apparently about to directly bombard this thousand-year-old ancient temple.
Li Miao was too far away to hear the conversation between the two. But with his eyesight, he had taken everything in.
He smiled, "Indeed."
"If there weren't such individuals in the imperial court, they wouldn't be able to hold onto this empire so steadily."
The person looked ancient, but he wasn't truly that old. From his bones, he was probably only in his fifties.
Li Miao was very familiar with this appearance. He had just seen it a month ago on Mount Tai Sect.
"Celestial Human Five Declines."
This person, surprisingly, was also a "Beyond the Zenith" master with more than two paths!