Chapter Twenty: Sudden Change

  All the way home, he walked with a gloomy face, looking very unhappy.

  Seeing him like this, all the Jin Yiwei didn't dare make a sound and quietly followed behind Mendan.

  Back in his own living room, Mendel slammed the door shut with a "bang" and smashed a vase, cursing: "This is not right, it's infuriating!"

  By now, everyone has already understood.

  A small flag with a usually stern expression stepped forward and asked in a soft voice, "Are you from the East Depot?"

  Menda glared and said, "Who else could it be? That clever guy, he must have been planted in the Yang mansion several years ago, just waiting for the right moment to strike. When Old Master Yang submitted that memorial, the people from the Eastern Depot gave him a hard time, huh? Using gunpowder to fake a thunderclap, now that's a ruthless move."

  Menda's face softened, and he looked at Zhang Jiamu with extremely gratified eyes. He said: "This matter was done by a group of useless people, but you handled it beautifully, Jiamu. Don't worry, your merits are not small, and the rewards that should be given to you will never be less."

  He paused for a moment, as if thinking about something, and then said: "Promoting you to General Flag seems a bit too hasty. But you've been making achievement after achievement, so it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with it either."

  Zhang Jiamu was overjoyed, almost to the point of cheering and jumping for joy. But he calmed himself down, steadied his nerves, and replied very calmly: "It's just a small effort, not worthy of such praise from you, sir."

  "Now that's what I call 'getting it'," Mendan said, truly admiring Zhang Jiamu. He thought for a moment and said, "Letting you be the commander-in-chief is not something I can decide on my own, all I can do is strongly recommend you to our superiors, so this is just an empty favor."

  While speaking, Mendan stood up and searched his room for half a day, finally finding an embroidered spring knife inlaid with green turquoise and red agate. He drew it out to examine it, and the cold light flashed, needless to say, this was a rare treasure knife.

  Menda also seemed a bit reluctant, but still handed it over to Zhang Jiamu, smiling and saying: "Giving people silver is a common thing, but giving people a precious sword, this is the first time for me too. Dalang, you take it!"

  "This..." Zhang Jiamu hesitated, Monda's fondness for this sword was very obvious, he wasn't sure if Monda really wanted to give it or just pretend: "It seems too valuable, I dare not accept such a generous gift."

  "Alright." Menda handed the knife to Zhang Jiamu and smiled: "Wear it for me to see."

  Such demeanor and behavior, really treated Zhang Jiamu as a confidant, with a kind of elder's feeling towards his younger generation. Not only Zhang Jiamu himself, but also the surrounding flag-bearers looked at him with extremely enviable eyes, this kid, his luck was really too good.

  Menda didn't care about others, he just smiled and watched Zhang Jiamu change his sword. After he finished changing, Menda looked him up and down a few times, nodded and said: "Not bad, famous horse precious sword, loved by heroes. Unfortunately, I only have the precious sword, no good horse, haha."

  He joked and everyone else followed along with a laugh. Looking at Zhang Jiamu, they all thought he was quite good.

  Tall and slender, with a strong and healthy body, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, with an air of modesty and warmth. Wearing a clean and spotless flying fish robe, and adorned with a beautiful and elegant treasure knife, he is indeed a talented and handsome young man.

  Menda was very satisfied, and laughed for a while. However, his face soon turned gloomy, and he said: "Today's matter, I'll go see Commander and Lord Bo later, and report it to them, we don't need to worry about it anymore. Also, regarding the Yang Mansion affair, you're not allowed to talk nonsense outside, did you all hear that?

  "Yes, I heard it!"

  Everyone is a violent promise, no one is foolish, and the East Factory and Neiting's affairs are involved, how can they be provoked!

  Zhang Jiamu also hastily agreed, but he had doubts in his heart. Although he knew it was none of his business, not asking would be too difficult for him to bear. He said: "Your Excellency, even if that Yang is a eunuch from the Eastern Depot, this matter was entrusted by the Emperor himself. Can we just let him go like this? How can we explain this to the Emperor? Moreover, with so many ministers watching, even if the Emperor doesn't like the memorial submitted by Lord Yang, it's unlikely that he would send a eunuch to blow up Lord Yang's house, is it?"

  He had something he didn't dare say: If it's really like this, then the Emperor is too despicable.

  Menda sighed and said: "After all, you're still young and haven't experienced many things. There are too many things going on here, it's really hard to explain in just a few words."

  "In short," he continued, "the Emperor can be placated, but the Eastern Depot is getting harder and harder to offend. This matter, the Emperor may not know about it, but the Factory Lord and the Imperial Censor are definitely aware of it. If we don't let Yingming go, we'll stir up a big trouble, and if the high-ranking officials get angry, it's even more frightening than the Emperor getting angry!"

  At this point, a small flag next to him was the first to get angry: "Your Excellency, why should we, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, be afraid of the Eastern Depot? In recent years, the officials have become more and more arrogant, if we retreat further, what will become of us, the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

  To put it bluntly, the prestige of the Embroidered Uniform Guard has greatly diminished over the years. During the Hongwu era, eunuchs had no power, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the only dominant special agency.

  Later in the Chengzu period, although the Eastern Depot was established, the emperor trusted Commander-in-Chief Ji Gang, and the prestige of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was stronger than that of the Hongwu period.

  It was during the Zhengtong period that, because the commander of the Imperial Guard, Ma Shun, was the adopted son of Wang Zhen, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Censorate, the power of the Imperial Guard still exceeded that of the Eastern Depot. The Eastern Depot had to follow behind the Imperial Guard's buttocks and mix with them.

  It's not the case now, as the eunuchs' power grows stronger. The Eastern Depot is an inner courtier and can directly report to the emperor in the inner court, which makes it much more convenient and closer. As for the Imperial Guards, they have to use formal memorials, and there is a clear distinction between near and far.

  Especially now that the eunuchs have military power, it's not necessary to mention the four guards under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Stables, but tens of thousands of elite imperial guards are directly under the control of the eunuchs. Moreover, powerful eunuchs like Cao Jixiang and Liu Yongcheng still hold the position of Commander-in-Chief in the Ten Battalions, which has led to a situation where the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been somewhat suppressed by the Eastern Depot in recent years.

  Those things, the superiors naturally understand, and the Jin Yiwei is also very dissatisfied with the gradual arrogance of the Dongchang. However, they are not in a position to do anything about it, so they can only secretly endure.

  The commanders were at a loss, what could be done with just one small hundred households?

  He stared at the small flag with wide eyes and said, "Great, you really have spirit. Honestly, if you go burn down the East Factory, the higher-ups will definitely be very pleased."

  "Ah," Little Flag trembled: "I wouldn't dare."

  "Don't dare to spout nonsense in front of me!" Menduo stamped his foot and shouted: "Everything is over, why are you still lingering around me? Get out, get out, leave me alone!"

  The hundred officials' mood was bad, and the small flag-bearing officers immediately knelt down and resigned, scattering like birds and beasts.

  Zhang Jiamu also bid farewell, and Menduo was naturally much more polite to him. He patted Zhang's waist on the back of the chair, smiled, and said: "You go ahead, I'll write a report to explain today's events to the higher-ups in a while. Don't worry, you won't be let down."

  That's all there is to it. Zhang Jiamu walked out with a wooden face, and people who didn't know him would have thought he had hit a big nail. In fact, he was extremely happy inside.

  When a man encounters joyful events, his spirit is refreshed. As soon as he stepped out of the gate, he saw Li Xiangzi and Xue Pangzi lurking at the corner of the street like ghosts. He walked up to them and gave one of them a kick, laughing and scolding: "You two rascals, waiting for me to give you a reward, eh? Don't worry, I won't leave you out."

  "Adults, petty people in your heart are so worthless," Li Xiangzi was kicked and smiled brightly on his face: "The future of petty people is in the hands of adults, whether to reward or not, it's up to the adults to decide, do petty people dare to argue?"

  "This is well said." Zhang Jiamu was very pleased: "I have used your days for a long time, and it's good to curry favor with you. When you make a fortune, I will too!"

  Zheng Xun scolded the two young rascals. Just then, another one ran over from the street corner and said to Zhang Jiamu: "Sir, something's gone wrong."

  Zhang Jiamu's expression turned stern and he shouted: "Slow down and say it clearly, what is going on?"

  "Sir, Ren Ye has just been taken away by someone!"

  "What?" Zhang Jiamu was shocked. As a member of the Imperial Guard, who dared to capture him?

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