The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Hearing the sounds of fighting and killing outside, the steward of the Xia family felt a chill in his heart, but when he thought of his master as the Minister of Rites, a high-ranking official in the court, he immediately regained his confidence.

He wanted to see who had the audacity to do such a thing.

For safety reasons, he also summoned the servants and guards on duty, a dozen or so of them, to the main gate of the Xia residence.

"Go open the door."

The butler looked at one of the guards and said.

Hearing the terrifying noise outside, the guard glanced at the others and realized that no one wanted to go up at this moment, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go forward to open the door.

The moment the door opened, it was instantly pushed open by the Imperial Guards outside.

The sight of dozens of gleaming embroidered spring knives sent chills down the spine of the butler and the guards.

Arrest them all.

As a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Fang Hong was naturally very good at judging people. He could tell at a glance that these people were all servants of the Xia family, so he had no worries.

Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guards behind them became extremely excited, fearing that if they rushed too slowly, they wouldn't get a spot.

You have to understand that this is about helping the Commander vent his anger. Whoever can catch someone at this moment might be remembered by the Commander and have a chance to rise to prominence.

When the steward and guards of the Xia family saw a group of Imperial Guards rushing in, accompanied by embroidered spring knives, even the steward, who was very experienced, trembled in fear at the sight.

"How dare you! You Imperial Guards are utterly lawless! Do you even know who our master is?"

The butler forced himself to remain calm.

"I know, they're here for your master."

Fang Hong sneered.

As soon as Fang Hong finished speaking, the group of Imperial Guards, fearing they wouldn't get a chance to fight, didn't bother with any more words and rushed over.

Seeing this, the steward realized that reasoning with him was futile, so he turned to run away, but a member of the Imperial Guard grabbed him like a chick and pulled him back, making it impossible for him to run any further.

"Don't move, the knife in my hand doesn't have eyes."

These words from the Imperial Guard completely silenced him.

Soon, all of them, including the steward, were arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

By this time, everyone else in the Xia household had already been woken up, but no one dared to step forward. No one knew what was happening outside, so they all huddled in their rooms, too afraid to go out.

Xia Yan naturally heard the commotion outside. After realizing that the people who came were all members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was no longer afraid.

Xia Yan has always been a ruthless person, not only to others but also to himself. Without saying a word, he came to Fang Hong and the others alone.

"Do you Imperial Guards intend to rebel?"

Xia Yan looked at Fang Hong and rebuked him angrily.

"Lord Xia, you flatter us. How could we dare to rebel?"

Before Fang Hong could speak, Zhou Chu stepped out from behind the crowd.

Fang Hong and the others retreated behind Zhou Chu.

Xia Yan was somewhat surprised to see Zhou Chu arrive.

"Is Lord Xia wondering why I'm still alive?"

Zhou Chu joked.

"I don't know what Lord Zhou is talking about. You should release him immediately."

When Xia Yan saw Zhou Chu, he immediately understood that Zhou Chu had come to take revenge on him.

He just couldn't understand how Zhou Chu knew those people were sent out by him. They were all loyal bodyguards raised by his family, and Xia Yan never doubted their loyalty.

Although he didn't know which part went wrong, Xia Yan showed no sign of backing down.

"Lord Xia, several assassins came to kill me just now. They said they were sent by you, Lord Xia."

Zhou Chu looked at Xia Yan with a playful expression.

"Nonsense! Bring those assassins here so we can confront them face to face."

Xia Yan was not easily intimidated by Zhou Chu's few words.

"That's what I said too. I said, who are you all framing? Why do you have to frame Lord Xia? Lord Xia is the Minister of Rites, how could he do such a shameless thing?"

Zhou Chu used veiled insults to criticize others.

Xia Yan's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this. If a few words could break his guard, he wouldn't be Xia Yan, and he wouldn't have become the Minister of Rites before the age of forty.

"So I had my men continue interrogating them, and they said that it was your steward and guards who sent them, Lord Xia."

After saying this, Zhou Chu just looked at Xia Yan.

Xia Yan remained silent, neither admitting nor denying anything.

"Since Lord Xia hasn't refuted it, it seems to be true. What are you waiting for? Why aren't you making your move?"

Zhou Chu's second half of the sentence was addressed to Fang Hong and the others behind him.

As soon as these words were spoken, the Imperial Guards took action and killed the guards and stewards.

Xia Yan's face turned ashen with anger, but he was helpless. He knew very well that if he didn't give Zhou Chu an explanation tonight, he would probably die here.

He ultimately underestimated the ruthlessness of this commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Seeing the corpses all over the ground, Xia Yan regretted his recklessness for the first time.

"Lord Xia, I'm a very easy person to talk to. If you talk to me nicely, I'll talk to you nicely in return. But if you resort to underhanded tactics, I'll be even happier. When it comes to these kinds of things, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has never been afraid of anyone."

"I won't be so easy to talk to next time."

After saying this, Zhou Chu ignored Xia Yan and turned to leave.

Fang Hong and the others hurriedly followed.

At this moment, Fang Hong and the other Imperial Guards were all trembling with excitement.

Over the years, the status of the Embroidered Uniform Guard has declined steadily. Not to mention these civil officials, even the Eastern Depot has never taken the Embroidered Uniform Guard seriously.

Those senior eunuchs could order around the Imperial Guards around, which made the guards feel very aggrieved, but they were powerless to do anything about it.

Tonight, the Commander led them to kill so many of their servants in front of the Minister of Rites. How delightful!

The moment they recalled what the commander had said to Xia Yan, everyone felt their blood boil and became extremely excited.

Fang Hong, in particular, had never seen the Embroidered Uniform Guard so powerful, and her admiration for Zhou Chu grew even stronger.

"How can this be true? How can it be true?"

After Zhou Chu left, Xia Yan became extremely irritable.

"Are all the people dead? Aren't you going to come out and clean up?"

Xia Yan looked around and roared.

Upon hearing this, the guards and servants who had already woken up all lowered their heads and ran over. Seeing the corpses all over the courtyard, they were all startled and thankful that they hadn't acted rashly and rushed out.

If they were to come out, they would probably be no different from these corpses by now.

Didn't you see even the butler is lying there?

Neither Xia Yan nor Zhou Chu seemed to have any tacit agreement to make this matter public.

They all knew very well that making this a big deal would not benefit anyone.

Having witnessed Zhou Chu's ruthlessness, Xia Yan naturally wouldn't act the same way as before. In Xia Yan's eyes, Zhou Chu was a madman who would explode at the slightest provocation.

Unless absolutely necessary, Xia Yan will not provoke Zhou Chu again.

After everything was taken care of, it was almost dawn, and Xia Yan had no time to sleep. She washed up and prepared to attend the morning court session.

Originally, court sessions wouldn't be this frequent; they were usually held once every three days, but in reality, they didn't even reach the frequency of once every three days.

However, since the new emperor had just ascended the throne, in order to show the new dynasty and new atmosphere, according to the rules, he would hold morning court for ten days to half a month in a row.

On the other side, Zhu Houcong, who was still sleepy, yawned, washed his face, and quickly woke up.

"I want to see if Yang Yiqing and his ilk will make a choice."

Jiajing said with a face full of excitement.