Tiger Guards

Chapter 96: Hostility
"The emperor issued an edict appointing Zhao Ji, the Tiger Guards Lieutenant General, as Shizhong and in charge of the Tiger Guards Lieutenant General's duties."

"I will listen to your instructions."

Zhao Ji bowed deeply and took the imperial edict from the official who announced it.
After careful examination, I found that it was yellow silk of relatively high quality, not dyed, but made from silk of this color.

He quite liked this style of writing imperial edicts, which was very concise and clear, without so many embellished words.

Seeing him fold the edict, Pei Mao watched from the side. Worried that he might make a mistake, he took out a clean folded silk scarf.

Zhao Ji understood, wrapped the imperial edict in the silk scarf, and handed it to Han Shu.

As for the silver seals of the Shizhong and the Huben Zhonglang Jiang, there was no silver material and no time to cast or carve them.

But he was given a set of Shizhong crown and clothes. The Shizhong crown is also called Diaochan crown. It is made of hard black gauze, with a red tassel on the top and a golden cicada in front of the crown. The overall shape gave him a familiar feeling.

The more I look at it, the more it resembles the ones worn by the important officials of the Ming Dynasty in "The Kingdom of Wind and Rain", except that it does not have the exaggerated hairpin and golden cicada on the forehead.

I guess this must have been made in a hurry by a minister in the past two days, and he just got it for free.

These attendants are quite idle, doing nothing else but rushing to make crowns and robes, each one more anxious than the other.

Yang Qi and his men were all wearing brand new robes. As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and they looked well-dressed and looked like the real deal.

Unlike his previous tattered clothes, he has a sense of rural familiarity.

Zhao Ji took off his helmet and handed it to Pei Bao. He held the Diao Chan crown in both hands and put it on his head solemnly as if it were a golden hoop.

He tied the belt under his chin and spread his arms. Jing Chun and others came forward with a smile to help him take off his armor and put on a crimson robe.

After tying the belt decorated with gold pieces and hanging the sword on his waist, Zhao Ji tried to shake his wide sleeves.

He waved his sleeves and made a few gestures to his partner, then asked with a smile, "How is it?"

Jia Tong had some reservations in his heart, but when he saw Zhao Ji's handsome appearance in his official uniform and the Diao Chan crown, which shone brightly in the sunlight, he couldn't help but smile and said, "Zhonglang is so heroic and handsome, no one can compare to him!"

Qubei took out a bronze mirror and walked forward, saying with a smile, "Zhonglang, please take a look."

The bronze mirror was polished with superb skills. Zhao Ji carefully looked at himself in the mirror and gradually restrained his smile: "It's still a bit bad, it covers my cheeks. When I have time, I will make a beautiful and majestic costume and hat for Huben."

Influenced by film and television dramas, he has always felt that UFO hats are very distinctive, especially the Tianbao style.

People with strong physiques wear UFO helmets, looking in all directions, and have a strong deterrent effect.

The normal helmet somewhat affects his performance, but the UFO helmet with excellent visibility really suits him.

Thinking in his heart, he turned around, pressed his left hand on the hilt of the sword, stretched out his right arm, and asked where Yang Qi was: "Everyone, is Zhao discussing important matters of the court now?"

No one responded.

Pei Mao saw Zhao Ji pointing at the entrance to the secret passage and stepped forward to reply, "Minister Zhao, please go into the attic to discuss this matter."

"We are discussing important matters of the court, not doing anything sneaky. Why should we hide from the Tiger Guards and the Righteous Guards?"

Zhao Ji asked in return, and Pei Mao replied, "The officials and soldiers are making a lot of noise, which is bound to cause trouble."

"I'm here, who dares to make a noise?"

Zhao Ji turned to look at the Tiger Guard leaders. Wang Qi stepped forward and bowed, "You might as well hold a piece of wood in your mouth."

"Okay, let's show you how the ministers in the court discuss matters."

Zhao Ji agreed, ignored everyone, and walked alone towards the haystack near the entrance of the secret passage.

More than a hundred people slept here last night, and the straw piles were very spacious.

He walked to the middle and sat cross-legged.

Qubei followed him and asked as soon as he sat down, "Isn't the Minister afraid of Yang?"

"Four of my brothers died in the king's service, and the Hongnong Tiger Guards are almost extinct."

Zhao Ji said in a low voice, "Yang Qi's sons Yang Liang and Yang Guang are at home, as is Yang Biao's son Yang Xiu. The sons of Yang Zhong, the Chief Censor, died early. I don't care about these things. But Yang Qi despises me. Does he think I should kneel down to greet him?"

I lost my temper because I didn't feel respected by Yang Qi.

Now he's unwilling to even do the basic formalities. Do you expect me to kowtow to him three times and nine times in exchange for a smile and an above-average evaluation from him?

Just like at home, I have always wanted to go out and explore the world.

If his family had discussed the matter with him, explained the situation clearly, respected his right to choose, and given him some room for bargaining, he wouldn't have made such a fuss.

Of course, the horses and armor given by the family were very valuable, and Lao Zhao also spoke well of them to Hu Ban's father.

Almost everything that can be given is given, but there is just a lack of respect.

Yang Qi had extensive experience enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens. If they didn't respect him now, wouldn't they also respect the troops under his command? Behind this disrespect was hostility, and it was this hostility that Yang Qi refused to conceal.

Perhaps because he exposed his hostility, Yang Qi was also exposed.

At this moment, Yang Qi did not move, and the officials around him were unwilling to move.

Huan Dian stepped forward and persuaded Yang Qi gently, and only then did Yang Qi reluctantly walk towards the haystack.

The Huben and Xiongnu volunteers also chopped branches, peeled them, and put them in their mouths, sitting around the haystack.

They sat in small groups on the haystack, with the Huben leaders, palace attendants, and Xiongnu nobles sitting in the middle layer, and the outer layer was occupied by a larger number of Huben and Xiongnu volunteers.

Sitting in the core layer, it was no longer possible to use seating arrangements to indicate hierarchy, which made Yang Qi feel humiliated.

Ever since Zhao Ji appeared, he could feel this humiliation every time they met.

Even if Zhao Ji didn't say anything, just that scrutinizing look made Yang Qi feel ashamed and annoyed, as if Zhao Ji had been measuring and comparing them and wanted to challenge him.

The Yang family is famous for their bad temper, as if this temper, which can be called "upright", is a virtue of scholars.

They can use this kind of uprightness to confront the emperor, but it seems that they cannot tolerate others possessing or displaying the same good virtues in front of them.

Seeing that the noise had died down, Zhao Ji looked at Pei Mao. "Mr. Pei has been to the secret room. Are the walls intact? Are there any signs of coins being moved?"

"I didn't check every vault, but I only found five where the coins were neatly stacked. There were no signs of looting."

Pei Mao chose his words carefully; he just wanted to complete the vault transfer quickly. He added, "The walls of the secret room are intact."

Pei Mao then bowed solemnly and said, "When the country is in danger, Minister Zhao has made outstanding contributions and possesses a virtuous character. He is truly the pillar of the country and I admire him deeply."

Huan Dian also bowed, his expression solemn: "Your Majesty originally intended to grant the position of Minister of the Court to Zhao, and to have a long conversation with him, but the Minister of the Court was too busy to attend, so this was delayed."

Zhao Ji nodded and said, "No need to flatter me. If the court wants to take the treasury, they must meet my three requirements."

Huan Dian also restrained his expression and said, "Please speak."

"First, I must produce a document stating that the treasury has been fully delivered to the court. My family is poor, and it's inevitable that uninformed villains will use this to insult my innocence. Therefore, anyone who uses this matter to humiliate the reputation and integrity of me, the Tiger Guards, the Right Wise King, and my many loyal followers will be killed without guilt."

Do the Huns also have moral integrity?
Yang Qi subconsciously used his peripheral vision to look, and found that in front of him were the Hu Ben and the Xiongnu people superimposed and scattered, kneeling and listening, all very attentively.

Apparently, even the Huns straightened their backs, their faces beamed with glory, their expressions were rosy, and they wanted to point their chins to the sky, looking extremely arrogant.

Silence fell again. Zhao Ji looked around at the men and said, "I can wait. You all should investigate carefully. Capture the elders of the Wei clan and interrogate them carefully. You will know how much gold is hidden. You can also question the local warriors and loyal followers. We are all united. Without the written documents, you can't take a single penny."

Pei Mao said solemnly, "This is a matter that should be investigated thoroughly by the imperial court. We will do our utmost to protect the reputation of Minister Zhao, the Tiger Guards, and the loyal followers. However, future generations are inevitably ignorant. It would be unfair to kill people simply for questioning or commenting on them."

"What Minister Pei means is that lowly officials can question and discuss high-ranking officials without being severely punished or convicted?"

Zhao Ji smiled and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Yang Qi: "I am the Minister of the Interior today. Is it not a crime for me to question and discuss the mistakes of Minister Yang on an equal footing?"

Yang Qi's face was as gloomy as water and he did not respond. The officials sitting in the middle circle clenched their fists.

Zhao Ji's status is now very different. Anyone who dares to jump out and call him a "young boy" deserves to be hacked to death on the spot.

Huan Dian held back his smile with a tense face. As a former official of the Yuan family, he tried hard to maintain a calm and composed demeanor.

He had a premonition that the Zhao family was going to turn against the Yang family, but he didn't expect that Zhao Yan didn't show up, and Zhao Ji was so courageous that he turned against them directly.

Yang Qi still dares to speak?
If he couldn't suppress Zhao Ji, he would have already lost.

Let Zhao Ji really curse out loud... Is it true that the emperor has no feelings towards the Yang family?
Last June, the emperor and his officials moved eastward. What could a fourteen-year-old emperor know!
What big thing can you decide?
Not only the emperor, but also the old ministers around the emperor have survived hundreds of deaths. Who doesn't have resentment towards the three Yang brothers?

The young official didn’t understand the crux of the matter, but which experienced old official wouldn’t understand it?

Just because we've suffered together doesn't mean we can resolve these grievances.

Originally, he could still endure it, because the Baibo generals were by his side and were all hungry, so he had to rely on the Three Yangs to go out and beg for food.

Now that all the Baibo generals have been eliminated, not only can they have enough to eat, but huge amounts of wealth are about to be deposited into the warehouse. Who would continue to restrain themselves?
What is missing is a heavyweight figure to stand up, summarize the gains and losses, and settle accounts with those who have misled the country.

Fude, who was also sitting in the core circle, lowered his head and pinched his thighs tightly with both hands, probably to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

Since Zhao Ji enlisted as a Tiger Guard, he has been killing people all the time. He gave the court the impression that he was irritable and would explode at the slightest provocation.

Putting Zhao Ji, Huben and the Huns together was more than just a goodwill gesture.

As it turned out, after spending two days together, they fell in love with each other and became friends.

In fact, Yang Qi had been trying to please Zhao Ji from the beginning, but Zhao Ji didn't understand at all. He was too independent and refused to cooperate.

(End of this chapter)