You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 30: Tight on the inside, relaxed on the outside, ready to be deployed at any time.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhou Chen looked at the memorial in his hand and slammed it hard on the jade table.

"Damn it, what are they trying to do?"

Zhou Chen looked extremely uncomfortable.

Ever since the day he expelled all the officials from the Hall of Mental Cultivation, they have been submitting memorials non-stop.

The contents of the memorials were all the same as what the officials had said in the Hall of Mental Cultivation that day, and their purposes were largely the same.

The officials seemed determined to hold onto this matter and would not let it go.

Furthermore, because of this incident, officials even put aside their political affairs.

These days, Zhou Chen rarely sees any memorials concerning political affairs; almost all of them are about Empress Wu Ying being confined to her quarters and the death of Grand Tutor Yan Hua.

Clearly, this was the officials' counterattack against Emperor Zhou Chen.

Power struggles led to the neglect of official duties and government affairs.

Are these the important officials and ministers of his Great Zhou Dynasty?

Zhou Chen's face was gloomy, and his eyes flickered.

Zhou Chen knew that this matter was definitely related to the Empress's relatives and faction.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that those hiding in the shadows, hoping to reap the benefits, are fueling the flames.

However, whether it's related to the Empress's relatives or those who want to reap the benefits, this matter cannot continue like this.

This needs to be resolved as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if the officials continue like this, the court will really run into serious problems.

At this moment, a palace eunuch entered.

"Your Majesty, Chief Supervisor Cao requests an audience."

"Xuan!"

Zhou Chen snapped out of his daze, collected his thoughts, and regained his composure.

Ever since the day the problem with that cup of tea was discovered, Zhou Chen had Cao Zhengchun clean out the rats in the palace.

In recent days, many people have been purged from the palace; almost every day someone dies and someone is arrested.

So far, Zhou Chen dares not say that the palace has been completely cleaned up, but at least 80% or 90% of it has been cleaned up.

Because of the traitorous eunuch in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Zhou Chen no longer trusted the eunuchs in the palace and replaced all the eunuchs serving him with the eunuchs from the Imperial Guards who appeared through the system's sign-in system.

In this way, Zhou Chen would be absolutely safe.

It will be impossible for anyone else to target the people around Zhou Chen.

"Yes." The eunuch and guards immediately withdrew.

A moment later, Cao Zhengchun entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation, exuding a faint smell of blood that even Zhou Chen on the dragon throne could detect.

Clearly, Cao Zhengchun has killed quite a few people these days.

"This old servant greets Your Majesty."

After Cao Zhengchun entered, he immediately knelt down to pay his respects.

"Get up!"

Zhou Chen looked at the Yama King Supervisor who had been the subject of much discussion in the palace these past few days, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Cao Zhengchun is still the same ruthless Cao Zhengchun from "The Number One Under Heaven," and he certainly didn't disappoint.

After Cao Zhengchun's cleanup, things have indeed become much more peaceful in the palace these past few days.

"What brings you to see me today?" Zhou Chen asked directly.

"Your Majesty, I have investigated everything you asked me to investigate. Please take a look." Cao Zhengchun took out a small memorial and handed it to Zhou Chen.

"Oh!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen's face flashed with surprise. The matter he had asked Cao Zhengchun to investigate was simply who had poisoned Grand Tutor Yan Hua in the imperial prison, and who wanted to poison him, the emperor.

Zhou Chen initially thought that the other party was well hidden, and since Cao Zhengchun's Eastern Depot was newly established, it would be impossible for them to find out so quickly.

Unexpectedly, Cao Zhengchun gave him a surprise, finding out the truth so quickly and getting results.

Zhou Chen couldn't wait to pick up the small fold-out in front of him, open it, and start reading.

Zhou Chen wanted to see who had poisoned Grand Tutor Yan Hua in the imperial prison, who had plotted against him, the emperor, and who wanted to make him bedridden and then poison him.

As Zhou Chen read the contents of the folded booklet, his expression kept changing.

To be honest, the result in the report was both expected and unexpected for Zhou Chen.

Those who have doubts are not wrong, but those who want the emperor dead are not the ones who have doubts.

After reading the results in the folded booklet, Zhou Chen closed it expressionlessly, tapped his fingers, and remained silent.

In the past few days, besides the cup of tea that day, Zhou Chen has been poisoned four or five times in the same way, but in the end the other party did not succeed.

To be honest, Zhou Chen had already raised the butcher's knife in his heart.

Even without this outcome, he was prepared to take action.

Now that Cao Zhengchun has found out, he has nothing left to hesitate about.

"Cao Zhengchun, you've resolved the matter of the Imperial Guard, haven't you?" Zhou Chen looked at Cao Zhengchun.

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhengchun immediately replied, "Your Majesty, this old servant has taken care of the matter concerning the Imperial Guard. The reason this old servant was able to find out about these things so quickly is all thanks to the Imperial Guard."

indeed.

The Imperial Guards provided significant assistance in enabling Cao Zhengchun to investigate these matters so quickly.

Although the Inner Guard is now defunct in name only, it is still the Inner Guard, and it still has a lot of information circulating in the palace.

"In that case, then pass the notice down: from now on, your Eastern Depot should prepare to be tight internally but relaxed externally, and be ready to act at any time."

"Send someone to summon the Eighth Prince, the Minister of War, and the Marquis of Weiwu, and have them secretly enter the palace to see me immediately."

Zhou Chen said with a serious expression.

This matter cannot afford the slightest mistake. Once it begins, it will have far-reaching consequences, so we must make sure we have a foolproof plan.

Now that the Grand Tutor is gone, Zhou Chen only has the Eighth Prince, the Minister of War, and the Marquis of Weiwu to rely on outside the palace.

Zhou Xian, the Eighth Prince, was Zhou Chen's eighth uncle. He was a well-known wise prince in the royal family and was naturally loyal to the Great Zhou.

Both the Minister of War and the Marquis of Weiwu were loyal ministers and veteran generals of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and both followed in the footsteps of Grand Tutor Wen Zhong.

Especially Marquis Weiwu, with the Grand Tutor absent, the troops of the six guards of the Northern Camp of the Twelve Divine Martial Guards are temporarily under his command.

This shows that Grand Tutor Wen Zhong trusted Marquis Weiwu.

Upon hearing Zhou Chen's words, Cao Zhengchun's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he immediately bowed and said, "This old servant obeys the decree."

Cao Zhengchun knew that this time, the Eastern Depot would probably be the main culprit.

This was undoubtedly a great opportunity for the Eastern Depot to make a name for themselves.

These days, although the Eastern Depot has some reputation in the palace, it is not enough to make people tremble with fear at the mere mention of its name.

If the Eastern Depot can handle this matter well, then from now on, the Eastern Depot will have a foothold in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Go!"

"Make arrangements immediately, and while you're at it, summon Jinhe to me."

Zhou Chen waved his hand and said.

"Old slave, please retire."

After Cao Zhengchun left, Zhou Chen opened that small folded book again.

He truly never expected that the person who could scheme against both the emperor and Empress Wu Ying would be a eunuch.

It's true that you can't judge a book by its cover, and you can't measure the sea with a bucket.

If the Empress of Qingfeng Palace found out, I wonder what she would think.

(End of this chapter)