Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Inside the Jin family mansion, after bathing and changing his clothes, Jin Zizai respectfully knelt before a tea table in the main hall, bowing repeatedly, with the servants behind him also bowing in worship.

After a long while, he stood up and shouted loudly, "This is a generous gift bestowed by the Great General of the superior nation. It is a rare and exquisite item and must not be taken lightly. Do you understand?"

On the coffee table was a bag of tea leaves.

When Kim Jae-jae shouted these words, he didn't feel embarrassed at all; on the contrary, he straightened his chest and was very proud.

He recalled the scene two hours earlier when he was groveling before Shen Lang in the filthy training ground, begging to be his dog.

Shen Lang did not immediately respond to Jin Zizai's claim that he wanted to be the most powerful person in Taiji Kingdom. Instead, he asked himself a seemingly ambiguous question.

"Then to what extent are you willing to be loyal to the Great Chu?"

"Your humble servant is willing to go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"In that case, I'm going to the Cloud Kingdom in a couple of days. Would you like to come with me?"

The question caused Jin Zizai to pause for a long time before giving an immediate answer. After all, in an abstract place like the Cloud Kingdom, you could never predict what would happen next.

Seeing this, Shen Lang's lips curled slightly: "I almost thought you were really willing to risk everything for power and become the dog of Great Chu? You think you're worthy?!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Zizai's mind went blank for a moment, and he immediately bowed and said, "Great General of the Upper Kingdom, I am willing to go with you to the Cloud Kingdom to help you solve your problems!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang chuckled and said, "I don't like to force others. If this makes things difficult for you, then forget it."

"No! It is a great honor for me to serve the Great General of the Kingdom!"

Shen Lang looked him over carefully, then raised his hand and said, "Alright, I'll give you a chance. Come to the King's Palace tonight for a meeting. I need to know everything about the Cloud Kingdom, the more detailed the better."

After saying that, he walked away from him.

"Respectfully seeing off the Great General of the Great Kingdom!"

Jin Zizai immediately changed his posture and knelt down in the direction where Shen Lang had disappeared.

Just then, an adjutant beside Shen Lang brought him a pound of Longjing tea wrapped in oil paper and handed it to him.

"This is a gift from the Duke of Zhenguo."

Jin Zizai excitedly shouted again, "Thank you for the Duke of Zhenguo's gift, Seomida!"

And that's how the opening scene came about.

Brewing a pot of Longjing tea, Jin Zizai sat leisurely in the courtyard, enjoying the warmth of spring that dispelled the winter chill.

Now that he has gained the favor of the Duke of Zhenguo, he can do whatever he wants in Taiji Kingdom, and in the future, even the king will only be able to look up to him.

"what."

The thought of himself wielding absolute power in the Taiji Kingdom made Jin Zizai burst into laughter.

At that moment, a servant came to report: "Master, Councilor Cui is outside the door requesting an audience."

"Invite him in."

"Yes."

Before long, Cui Mingji, led by a servant, arrived in front of Jin Zizai in the backyard.

"Minister Choi, please sit down and let's talk."

Jin Zizai seemed to have expected Cui Mingji to come and was not surprised at all. He warmly invited him to sit down.

After Cui Mingji sat down without saying a word, Jin Zizai carefully poured him a small cup of tea.

"This is a tea bestowed by the Great General of the Kingdom. It is a hundred times more fragrant than the tea grown in the royal palace. It is a rare and exquisite tea. Minister Cui, please have a taste."

"Is that so? Then I must savor this tea from the finest country."

A flash of jealousy crossed Cui Mingji's eyes. He picked up the small teacup and brought it to his nose for a light sniff.

Before even drinking it, he already had a blissful expression on his face.

"It is indeed the fragrance of tea from a superior country. Just smelling it makes me feel refreshed, as if all the fatigue of the past few days has been swept away."

When it comes to flattery, there is no highest level in Taiji Kingdom, from top to bottom; there is only higher.

Unlike Kim Jae-jae, who expresses himself directly through body language, Choi Myung-gil is the type to flatter subtly, always managing to satisfy you at the most crucial moment.

After taking a small sip, Cui Mingji carefully put down the teacup, leaving the tea in his mouth without swallowing it.

About fifteen minutes later, he closed his eyes and swallowed the tea, nodding repeatedly as he savored it: "Indeed, the aroma of the tea lingers on the lips and teeth, and the initial bitterness turns into sweetness. The gift from the superior nation is indeed extraordinary."

He opened his eyes and said to Jin Zizai, "Jin Yizheng, congratulations on gaining the appreciation of the Duke of Zhenguo. You're likely to rise rapidly in your career from now on."

Upon hearing this, Jin Zizai laughed and replied, "Not at all, it was just doing my instincts. It's not fair, it's not fair at all, hahaha."

Cui Mingji cupped his hands in greeting and replied, "I hope that Minister Kim will continue to guide and support me in the future."

God knows how upset he was when he said that.

This honor should really belong to him.

Why is it that now Kim Jae-suk, their arch-enemy, has benefited so much?

"Choi Yi-jong, what brings you here?"

Seemingly to provoke Cui Mingji, Jin Zizai suddenly asked another question.

Choi Myung-gil took a deep breath and said truthfully, "I heard that today, State Councilor Kim knelt in the training ground in full view of everyone. This is a breach of the etiquette of a subject of the Taeguk Kingdom."

I came here intending to inquire about the reason, but now it seems that it's not really a problem.

Jin Zizai laughed: "I understand, Councilor Cui is here to make fun of me, right? Hahaha, you must have heard me tell you that I told the Duke of Zhenguo that I wanted to be his dog?"

Cui Mingji was taken aback when he didn't expect Jin Zizai to reveal these shameful situations so frankly.

He tried to observe the other person's facial expression.

But Jin Zizai greeted him with a smile, showing no sign of feeling wronged, which truly broadened his horizons.

"What's wrong with being a dog?"

Jin Zizai picked up his teacup and drank the tea in one gulp.

After smacking his lips, he poured tea and said, "To be the dog of the Duke of Zhenguo, the dog of Great Chu, is an honor that one can only dream of in a lifetime."

Cui Mingji was speechless. He wanted to say something to refute such shameless remarks, but Jin Zi's next words silenced him.

“Choi Yi-jong, you don’t need to look at me like that. Actually, we’re the same kind of people.”

"They all stop at nothing to gain power."

"Now that the king is in custody, it is precisely the time when the Taiji Kingdom needs our help. As long as we set aside our prejudices and work together to protect the royal lineage of the Taiji Kingdom, why should we care about what others think? What do you say?"

Cui Mingji immediately understood another meaning in Jin Zizai's words, which was to use the Chu Kingdom as a backer to control the politics of the Taiji Kingdom.

Isn't this exactly what I've been thinking?

Since that's the case, there's no need to continue mocking and opposing each other. Wouldn't it be more perfect if the two of them cooperated to undermine the Taiji Kingdom?

Thinking of this, Cui Mingji smiled and picked up his teacup, swirling it gently.

So what if I'm a dog?

"Indeed, there's nothing wrong with being a dog of the State of Chu."

After speaking, he finished the tea in his cup in one gulp.

"Hahaha."

Coming to their senses, the two let out villainous laughter.

In the face of power, sometimes even being a dog is an honor and an opportunity.

Clearly, both of them were unwilling to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...

Just as Shen Lang was preparing to set off to "torture" the Yun Shang Kingdom, Empress Jiang Mengxuan in the Weiyang Palace also began her path of reform.

The day after Shen Lang left, she summoned Ye Mo and proposed reforms to the current bureaucratic recommendation system.