Young Master Gao? Call me Little Grand Secretary!

"Haha...My lord, I'm back!"

After finishing his shift, Gao Zhao strode confidently into Gao Qiu's study, pushed open the door, swaggered to the desk, plopped down, slammed something on the table with a "bang," and grinned widely:

"Hey, sir, I've come today to tell you something. The reason I asked you for help the other day wasn't because I couldn't do it, but because I wanted to see just how far you could go! I never expected this... tsk tsk..."

Gao Zhao shook his head with a regretful expression and sighed, "You've disappointed me so much!"

Gao Qiu remained silent, calmly observing Gao Zhao's smug and self-satisfied face. He looked Gao Zhao up and down, wondering what kind of trouble Gao Zhao was up to now. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he saw something on the table. His brows furrowed slightly; it was the Emperor's brush.

He didn't speak, but reached out and picked up the imperial brush. After just one glance, his expression turned serious.

"You persuaded the Emperor! He even granted you military power!" Gao Qiu's voice was devoid of emotion, but the shock in his eyes was unmistakable.

"Hmm!" Gao Zhaozhi leaned back in his chair with a smug look on his face, raising his chin as he said, "Sir, you must understand one thing: when I am bullied and choose to resort to the law, I am not asking the law for help, but giving the law a chance!"

"When the laws of the court, when you officials, cannot uphold justice for me, then I will seek justice in my own way!"

With that, Gao Zhao suddenly stood up, pointed to the sky, and shouted passionately, "Evil cannot prevail over good..."

"Bang!"

"Nonsense!"

Gao Qiu slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Who gave you the right to take on this task on your own initiative!"

Gao Zhao was stunned by the shout. He paused for a moment, his arrogance vanished, and he sat down gently, asking timidly, "My lord, are you truly the protector of Wuyou Cave?"

"You scoundrel!" Gao Qiu was momentarily speechless, then turned serious and reprimanded, "What do you take that Worry-Free Cave for? Something you can wipe out? You truly don't know your own limitations!"

"The Tokyo underground water system was originally built for flood control. It is a complex and interconnected network, allowing them to hide within it and appear and disappear unpredictably. Over the years, the government has repeatedly tried to suppress them, but all attempts have failed. Even when Bao Zheng was the prefect of Kaifeng, he couldn't do anything about them!"

"What use are your thousand men? They wouldn't even make a splash! Besides, the enemy knows the terrain well and can move freely. You could easily suffer a crushing defeat!"

Gao Zhao, seeing how serious he was being, curled his lip and said dismissively, "How can you boost the enemy's morale while diminishing your own? If they were really that powerful, the capital city of Bianjing wouldn't be under the Song Dynasty's control anymore; it would be theirs!"

"You..." Gao Qiu choked, raised his hand and pointed, too angry to speak.

Seeing this, Gao Zhao quickly said, "My lord, please calm down. Things have come to this point, and getting angry won't help. The most urgent thing is for you to help me gather some elite troops to lend a hand. That's the right thing to do!"

Gao Qiu looked at his fearless, youthful demeanor and sighed helplessly. Since the Emperor had given him the task of commanding the Imperial Guards, it meant that the Privy Council must have also received orders. Once the imperial decree to mobilize troops reached the Three Offices, he had no choice but to comply.

Just as Gao Zhao said, the most urgent task is to allocate manpower to him!

He sighed. Why would the emperor dare to let Gao Zhao, a greenhorn with no experience in commanding troops, lead the army? To put it bluntly, it was because he was in this position and knew that the emperor would definitely back him up.

This is not sending Gao Zhao to lead troops into battle; it is clearly sending the elite generals of the Imperial Guard to charge into battle!

He held the imperial brush, examining it several times over, sighed, and said in a deep voice, "You don't need to worry about the military matters; I have my own arrangements. Tell me, how did you persuade the Emperor?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Zhao revealed a mysterious smile. He instinctively wanted to boast, but after thinking about it, he realized there was probably some inside story. Since it concerned his own life, he decided to tell the truth honestly.

So he recounted the whole story, how he embellished the description of the threat from Wuyou Cave to the official, the changes in his expression when the official asked questions, and how he answered them.

As Gao Qiu listened, his face grew increasingly grim, and in the candlelight on the shore, his face was stretched into a long, donkey-like expression.

"What's wrong, sir? Did I say something wrong?" Gao Zhao asked cautiously, feeling uneasy.

Gao Qiu looked at him with a complicated expression and said coldly, "You've done more than just say the wrong thing; you're fabricating trouble, trying to intimidate the emperor, and deceiving him."

Gao Zhao was startled and quickly protested, "My lord, you can't wrong an innocent person! I've only told the truth, how is that deceiving the emperor!"

"Your embellishments are meant to portray Wuyou Cave as arrogant, domineering, and lawless, but to the officials, the wine has lost its flavor!"

Gao Zhao was stunned by these words and remained speechless for a long time. No wonder Zhao Ji's face turned so ugly after hearing his report, and he even went to great lengths to issue an imperial edict ordering him to lead troops to besiege Wuyou Cave.

If someone treated Shi Qian like that, I would be furious too!

What are they trying to do by coercing and bribing their own bodyguard captain?

Eliminate all allies and seize power through a coup?

Gao Zhao's mouth gaped open, and he couldn't close it for a long time. This matter seemed to be a bit serious!

The meaning behind Emperor Huizong ordering him to lead troops to besiege Wuyou Cave is far from simple!

This was not only to curb the other party's arrogance and intimidate them, but also to put himself and his son on the opposite side from the Wuyou Cave gang.

If I don't do a good enough job in the siege of Wuyou Cave, it's inevitable that Zhao Ji will become suspicious and wonder if I have any ulterior motives!

Holy crap! Emperor Huizong of Song was far too cunning!

He thought so much in just a few words!

That old scoundrel, no wonder his country was destroyed!

"I've figured it out!" Gao Qiu said coldly, observing the change in his expression. "There are rules in the imperial court; you can't act recklessly like that!"

"As the Tao Te Ching says: 'He who assists the ruler with the Tao does not use force to conquer the world; such actions will surely backfire!' If you disregard the rules and act recklessly based solely on your own desires, you will suffer the consequences!"

Gao Zhao lowered his head and remained silent, pondering his actions since arriving in the Song Dynasty.

Seeing his expression, Gao Qiu didn't want to be too harsh on him. He sighed and said, "The intrigue and backstabbing in officialdom, those seemingly outdated and useless rules, have their own reasons for existing. They are like warp threads, binding you while also protecting you. The so-called adherence to the rules means acting within the bounds of the regulations and not easily overstepping them. Exercising power may be exhilarating, but it will bring endless trouble! Do you understand?"

"My lord!" Gao Zhao slowly raised his head, looked directly at Gao Qiu, his eyes gleaming, and said, word by word, "I think what you said is wrong!"