Chapter 200: Chasing Ji Gang
Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao were playing chess. Zhu Di’s idea now was to let Xu Qin stand beside Zhu Gaochi, and then assist Zhu Gaochi in dealing with Zhu Gaoxu, or suppressing Zhu Gaoxu.

The two continued playing chess. After a while, Zhu Di felt like he was about to lose, so he stood up and walked to the door. When Yao Guangxiao saw Zhu Di like this, he knew that Zhu Di was going to cheat again, but Yao Guangxiao was used to it.

“Old monk, can we eat meat here? I’m worried that this kid will come here and eat meat, polluting the pure place of Buddhism.” Zhu Di said with a smile to Yao Guangxiao behind him.

“You can eat outside, but not inside the temple.” Yao Guangxiao said with his hands clasped together.

“You can’t stop this kid. He is very brave. I want to keep him here for a few days. When the time is right, I will go back to deal with the affairs of the East Palace. I need to kill a group of them and let the boss save a group.” Zhu Di said with a smile while looking outside.

“Well, but this time, those civil officials might fight back, right? Although the fire in the East Palace killed so many editors of the Ming Daily, if Your Majesty kills too many of them, they will probably do something.

Also, the cause of the fire in the Eastern Palace has not yet been investigated, which is a bit strange.” Yao Guangxiao stood behind and stroked his beard.

“It’s not that easy. No matter how deep they hide, the Jinyiwei will dig them out. It’s impossible not to leave clues.” Zhu Di said with a sneer.

Then Zhu Di returned to the room, sat on the cushion, picked up the memorials and began to read. When Zhu Di came to Jiming Temple, most of the memorials he brought were from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel. As for the memorials from other departments, Zhu Di was unwilling to take any of them and just left them to Zhu Gaochi to deal with.

Zhu Di has been thinking about going to war, so he started to adjust the army. Although the Ministry of Revenue has no money now, it does not owe much military pay, and the military equipment has already been delivered to the army. So it does not cost much money for Zhu Di to mobilize the army at this time. Therefore, Zhu Di has been mobilizing the army slowly.

Now I am just hoping that the Trade Bureau on Xu Qin’s side can bring me some money. Today, those big ships are supposed to set off. It is estimated that the big ships will come back in a month at most. I just need to hold on for a month.

Moreover, the local governments have to pay money every quarter, which is enough to maintain the normal expenses of the court.

Zhu Di had just been reading for a while when Ji Gang came over, saluted Zhu Di, and handed Zhu Di a memorial.

Zhu Di looked at the memorial, frowned, and said, “Don’t want to alert the enemy. Continue to investigate further to see how many other people are involved.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Ji Gang bowed to Zhu Di.

“Also, do you know what the boss talked about with Sakyabao?” Zhu Di continued to ask.

“Your Majesty, Sakya Bao is surrounded by maids, and servants basically have no access to him. Moreover, many of the maids around Sakya Bao were bought for him by the wife of the Duke of Wei. Some of them are also family-born children. Therefore, it is difficult to find out.” Ji Gang responded by bowing to Zhu Di.

“Forget it if you can’t find out. Don’t arrange anyone to go to Duke Wei’s Mansion. Otherwise, if this kid finds out, you’ll be in trouble.” Zhu Di said to Ji Gang with a smile.

Ji Gang bowed immediately. He was a little afraid of Xu Qin. He had been avoiding Xu Qin during this period. Of course, he did not dare to say bad things about Xu Qin in front of Zhu Di. He was just a dog of Zhu Di. Zhu Di obviously did not want him to bite Xu Qin. If he rushed forward, he would be seeking death.

By then, he would either be killed by Zhu Di or by Xu Qin. Knowing how much Zhu Di valued Xu Qin, he knew that if he was killed by Xu Qin, Xu Qin would be fine.

Moreover, last winter, if I had not followed the oral order and went to capture Sakya Bao, I would have probably been beaten to death by Sakya Bao.

“Sakyabao will be here soon. You should meet with him and talk it out. It’s no use hiding. If you are going to be beaten, let him hit you a few times. I don’t think he will really hit you, but he may scold you.

Don’t provoke this kid, even I don’t dare to provoke this kid.” Zhu Di said to Ji Gang.

Ji Gang immediately cupped his hands and said, “Yes, Your Majesty, it doesn’t matter if I get hit a few times. If he really gets on my mind, it will be troublesome. Now that Your Majesty is here, I guess Shakyabao won’t dare to be cruel to me.”

“Then you are wrong. If Shakya Bao really wants to beat you to death, you just run away. It’s not that I won’t save you, but I’m afraid that I won’t be able to save you in time and you will be beaten to death. This kid is really not afraid of me. There are some things you don’t know. When he comes, you will find out something.” Zhu Di looked up and said to Ji Gang.

“Ah!” Ji Gang looked at Zhu Di in surprise.

Yao Guangxiao smiled and said, “Your Majesty, it’s right. Shakyabao is very brave. I have suffered at the hands of this guy. If he hits you a few times, just bear with it and the matter will be over. If he wants to kill you, run away quickly. Don’t hesitate. If you hesitate, you will lose your life in his hands.”

“This, is, is!” Ji Gang’s forehead was covered with sweat when he heard it. He knew that Sakyabao was highly valued by Zhu Di, and he also knew that Sakyabao was very courageous, but he did not expect that Sakyabao could be so courageous.

“Okay, go down. Wait a minute, you will meet Xu Qin outside. Don’t be too far away, otherwise I can’t save you.” Zhu Di instructed Ji Gang.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I will remember this.” Ji Gang nodded quickly, but he did not dare to go far to meet Sakya Bao, as he might be beaten to death.

Soon, Xu Qin rode on horseback, and Mu Feng and three other maids sat in a carriage, carrying a lot of things, and arrived at Jiming Temple.

After entering the gate of Jiming Temple, someone took Xu Qin to Zhu Di’s side. Ji Gang also received the news, so he took a few subordinates and waited for Xu Qin outside Zhu Di’s wing.

Zhu Di also hoped that he and Xu Qin could let go of previous events. If not, he would be in trouble.

Xu Qin followed the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the square where Zhu Di was, and saw Ji Gang standing there with an Embroidered Spring Sword slung over his shoulder.

When Xu Qin saw this, he started laughing. He didn’t rush over, but just smiled at Ji Gang. When Ji Gang saw Xu Qin smiling at him like that, he thought he was overthinking it. Xu Qin didn’t want to deal with him at all.

When the two were less than ten steps away from each other, Xu Qin drew out the Embroidered Spring Sword of the Jinyiwei captain in front of him and rushed towards Ji Gang: “Fuck you? I’ve been looking for you for months and I can’t find you. Die now!”

Ji Gang was a martial artist after all. When he saw Xu Qin draw out his long sword, he turned and ran without hesitation, shouting loudly, “Your Majesty, help!”

“No one can save you today!” Xu Qin shouted loudly from behind and chased after him quickly.

Zhu Di was originally chatting with Yao Guangxiao about court affairs inside. When he heard the noise outside, he immediately stood up and walked quickly outside. When he reached the door, he saw Xu Qin holding a long knife and chasing Ji Gang.

Zhu Di knew that Ji Gang was no match for Xu Qin and they had fought before. If Ji Gang ran slowly, he would definitely be hacked to death by Xu Qin.

Zhu Di then opened his throat and shouted loudly: “Sakyabao, stop it, come on, stop Sakyabao, but don’t hurt him, quickly.”

The other Jinyiwei rushed over and tried to hold Xu Qin back. Xu Qin shouted loudly, “I will chop anyone who dares to stop me to death.”

When the Jinyiwei heard this, they dared not move. They all knew Xu Qin. If Xu Qin said he would kill you, then he would kill you. You deserved it.

Ji Gang was running in front in fear, but fortunately he was very familiar with Jiming Temple. After running out of the square, Ji Gang went into the alleys and set up some obstacles so that Xu Qin could not catch up with him.

In about half a quarter of an hour, Xu Qin had chased to the gate of Jiming Temple. Ji Gang had already left the temple and mounted his horse. There was only one horse here.

Xu Qin stood at the door, pointed a knife at Ji Gang and said, “Ji Gang, you can run away. I will go back to find your family soon. Look, I set fire to your house!”

“Shakyabao, what happened last time really has nothing to do with me. I really confessed everything. That person is dead and I can’t do anything about it. I accept the beating you give me, but please don’t kill me!

Otherwise, tell me how much money you want and I’ll collect it for you?” Ji Gang said breathlessly, wanting to cry but without tears.

I really risked my life just now. If I wasn’t familiar with the terrain, I would have been hacked to death by Xu Qin.

At this time, Zhu Di also came over, snatched Xu Qin’s knife, and cursed: “You bastard, you turned my words into wind in your ears, didn’t you?”

“Uncle, if you kill him, I will give you one million taels.” Xu Qin shouted to Zhu Di.

When Ji Gang heard this, his scalp tingled. This kid was really rich. He offered one million taels of silver to buy his life.

Zhu Di heard this and was helpless. This guy really dared to make an offer. He was a little tempted. Ji Gang was still useful. He was good at dealing with those civil officials.

“Okay, Ji Gang, don’t you have two daughters in their twenties? Give them to Sakya Bao as concubines, and let’s forget about this!” Zhu Di stood there and said.

“Okay, okay, okay!” Ji Gang nodded immediately. It would be an advantage for his daughter to become Xu Qin’s concubine. Many people did not want to marry their daughters because of their bad reputation.

“Your Majesty, uncle, you just wait until my aunt comes to settle accounts with you. Humph, I, Shakya Bao, am short of women and I need the daughter of Ji Gang’s family. Isn’t he afraid that I will kill his daughter then?” Xu Qin said proudly while looking at Zhu Di.

Zhu Di had a headache at the moment, while Yao Guangxiao behind him shook his head, wondering what Zhu Di was thinking. He let Xu Qin take Ji Gang’s daughter as a concubine. If the queen knew about it, she would probably chase Zhu Di in the palace with a knife and chop him.

Zhu Di also felt that he was wrong just now, so he quickly said: “Then let him compensate you some money.”

“I’m short of money? I just said it, I’ll give you one million taels, kill him!” Xu Qin said, pointing at Ji Gang in the distance.

(End of this chapter)