The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

Zhu Shou was very angry.

He sat in the chair with a gloomy face, not saying a word.

The other eunuchs in the hall didn't dare to breathe.

They didn't know why Zhu Shou was angry. They only knew that Zhu Shou returned from Kunning Palace with a gloomy face and then remained silent, creating a very frightening atmosphere.

As servants, they dared not go up and ask what had happened, for fear of incurring Zhu Shou's wrath.

At this moment, Zhu Shou's breathing became somewhat heavy as he forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart.

Not long after he returned to the palace, the Empress Dowager sent someone to the Qianqing Palace again, asking him to go to the Kunning Palace. Zhu Shou went, but to his surprise, the Empress Dowager told him that she had informed Zhang Yanling's wife in his name to lift Zhang Yanling's confinement and to waive his salary penalty. She had not consulted him beforehand and was only telling him now.

Zhu Shou was furious and had a big argument with the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager angrily pointed at him and told him to leave Kunning Palace.

"I am the Empress Dowager, your mother. Even when the late emperor was alive, he never treated me like this. Do you intend to disobey me? Do you think that just because you've become emperor, you don't have to listen to me anymore?"

The Empress Dowager's words kept echoing in Zhu Shou's mind.

"Do you think I'm the emperor?"

Zhu Shou's face was cold, and the muscles beneath his skin twitched incessantly.

As an emperor, his authority was so severely challenged, and the one who challenged him was none other than his own mother.

Zhu Shou closed his eyes, his mind involuntarily recalling the time when the late emperor was still alive.

He recalled an incident that had occurred in the palace eight years ago.

At that time, his father was still alive and invited the Empress, who is now Empress Dowager Zhang's two younger brothers, Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling, to the palace for a banquet. During the banquet, his father went to the toilet, and Zhang Heling, Empress Dowager Zhang's younger brother, took advantage of his father's absence to put the emperor's winged crown on his own head. When a eunuch stopped him, he was beaten to death by Empress Dowager Zhang.

Apart from this incident, the following year, Empress Zhang's two brothers entered the palace and raped palace maids, but under Empress Zhang's protection, nothing happened.

Zhu Shou's eyelids twitched as he recalled these past events.

"Do you think I can be manipulated at will just because I'm the emperor?"

Zhu Shou was furious.

His relationship with the Empress Dowager was already somewhat cold, and after this argument, their relationship plummeted to its lowest point.

Zhu Shou wanted to deal with Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling, but because of Empress Dowager Zhang, he was unable to do so.

Moreover, as long as Empress Dowager Zhang lived, he could do nothing about the Zhang brothers, Yanling and Zhang Yanling.

Even an emperor has times when he is helpless.

Zhu Shou was both angry and helpless at this moment.

Just then, a eunuch rushed in from outside the hall, looking panicked, and knelt before Zhu Shou.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened."

Zhu Shou was in a fit of anger at the moment, and when he saw the eunuch so flustered, he couldn't help but frown.

"what's up?"

"The Marquis of Jianchang's residence is on fire!"

The eunuch hurriedly said.

The Marquis of Jianchang's residence?

That was Zhang Yanling's residence.

"Fire?"

Upon hearing this news, Zhu Shou was startled and asked, "What's the situation now? Has anyone been injured?"

The eunuch still looked panicked.

"It was the residence of one of the Marquis's concubines that caught fire. The Marquis happened to be there at the time. He was unable to escape when the fire broke out and unfortunately perished in the flames."

Upon hearing this news, Zhu Shou's eyes widened, and he immediately stood up.

You're saying the Marquis of Jianchang was burned to death?

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Marquis was found burned to a crisp."

The eunuch hurriedly replied.

Upon receiving confirmation, Zhu Shou was momentarily stunned.

At this point, he calmed down and asked, "Have you found out what caused the fire? Has anyone else died?"

The eunuch hurriedly replied, "The specific cause is still unclear and under investigation, but besides the Marquis, many other servants in the Marquis's residence have died mysteriously for unknown reasons."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shou narrowed his eyes slightly.

After a while.

"Someone, go and fetch Mu Bin."

……

"Don't kill me, don't kill me."

A man knelt before Jiang Ning, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

However, he was met only with a fleeting glint of sword light.

After killing the man, Jiang Ning turned and left.

After leaving the capital, Jiangning did not go north, but instead headed south directly to Shandong.

After leaving Dengfeng, he had been searching for those unorthodox people who had fled from Songshan. Although he found quite a few along the way, he still missed some. In the end, he lost all trace of these people. Jiang Ning then went to the capital for a visit and then went south to Shandong.

He remembered that among the martial arts figures who surrounded Mount Hua last year, there were many forces. There were too many forces to know all of them, even with the intelligence provided by the Hengshan Sect. But Jiang Ning remembered that one of these forces was in Shandong, called the Black Wind Society.

Jiang Ning had wanted to eliminate the Black Wind Society when he last came to Shandong, but the organization was too secretive and difficult to investigate. In addition, time was tight last time, so Jiang Ning temporarily put it aside. Now that he has returned to Shandong, he is ready to investigate it thoroughly.

As for the man from earlier, it was quite a coincidence.

Jiang Ning passed through a village, which happened to be ravaged by this man. After capturing him, Jiang Ning discovered that he was one of the unorthodox people who had escaped from Mount Song.

Originally, Jiang Ning couldn't find these people anymore, but unexpectedly, he ran into one after leaving the capital. What a coincidence!

However, under Jiang Ning's interrogation, the man did not know the whereabouts of the other unorthodox people who had also fled down Mount Song, which Jiang Ning found quite regrettable. In the end, Jiang Ning still sent him on his way.

A few days later, Jiang Ning arrived in a county town in Shandong Province.

During this period, he had been traveling in the wilderness, passing through villages. This was the first county town he had seen.

Upon entering the county town, Jiang Ning arrived at an inn, intending to have a meal and rest for the night.

"Sir, the dishes are ready. Please enjoy your meal."

The waiter brought the food to the table and then left, glancing at Jiang Ning as he went.

Ok?

Jiang Ning was about to pick up his chopsticks to eat when he suddenly realized something was wrong. He sniffed the food and his expression changed slightly.

poisonous.

Jiang Ning immediately realized that the food was poisoned.

Jiang Ning narrowed his eyes, glanced around the inn, and then put down his chopsticks.

Upon seeing Jiang Ning's actions, the person hiding in the shadows realized that their plan had been exposed and immediately revealed themselves.

Bang!Bang!Bang!

More than twenty people barged into the inn.

These men were all armed and staring menacingly at Jiang Ning.

"You are Jiang Ning of the Huashan Sect?"

One of them spoke, holding a piece of paper with a drawing of Jiang Ning's appearance on it.

At this moment, a martial arts figure spoke up sternly.

"I heard you have the ancestral Evil-Repelling Sword Manual of the Fuwei Escort Agency? Hand it over, and we might spare your life."

Chapter 424: Latest News from the Martial World

After Jiang Ning announced in Luoyang that the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual was with him, these people finally couldn't hold back any longer.

Jiang Ning glanced at these people.

Their martial arts skills are not low; some are second-rate, and the rest are third-rate.

"Let me go?"

Jiang Ning smiled.

interesting.

"The name of King Ning is known throughout the martial world. We have no intention of being your enemy."

A scholar holding a judge's pen said to Jiang Ning, "We only want the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual. If King Ning would allow us to see it, we would be extremely grateful."

The scholar spoke politely, but everyone around him was eyeing Jiang Ning with predatory intent. If Jiang Ning were to say no, there was no doubt that they would swarm him.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning took a book from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"The Evil-Repelling Sword Manual is right here. Come and take it if you want it."

As soon as Jiang Ning finished speaking, the breathing around him became heavier.

All of them stared intently at the secret manual on the table.

The scholar and the other few second-rate people exchanged glances, quite surprised that the infamous King Yama Ning was so easy to talk to.

It seems that King Ning isn't as scary as the legends say; he's quite sensible.

The group was overjoyed and couldn't wait to go up and take a look at the manual, but they didn't go up to look at it immediately because of Jiang Ning's fearsome reputation.

"Ning Yanwang is indeed chivalrous; I admire him."

The scholar holding the judge's pen spoke in a loud voice.

"Rest assured, King Ning, we only ask to take a look. We will return the item in its original form later."