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

Chapter 377

"What? Lord Zhou ordered the Northern Garrison to arrest a thousand officials in the capital at once?"

Zhao Zhenji was so shocked by these words that he almost jumped up.

"When I first heard about this, I had a similar reaction to you. I thought it was impossible. Who would dare to do such a thing? Without His Majesty's permission and without the Cabinet's approval, so many people were directly moved. Let alone Lord Zhou, who had only recently taken office as the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and whose power base was not yet deep, what about the former Grand Eunuch Liu Jin? At most, he could only move a dozen or so officials at the same time, and he was eventually purged."

Even though he already knew about this, Hu Zongxian was still shocked when it was brought up now.

"Yes, who would dare to do that? At that time, Lord Zhou was practically powerless, like a duckweed in the wind, which would be blown away by a strong gust of wind. But Lord Zhou dared to do it. He was using his position as commander, or even his life, to exchange for these thousand officials."

Hu Zongxian sighed.

"But there are only a little over two thousand officials in the capital. Isn't it persecuting loyal and virtuous people that Lord Zhou is arresting these thousand people?"

Zhao Zhenji hesitated for a moment.

"Loyal and virtuous? You're too naive. How many of those officials in the past were clean? All the people Lord Zhou arrested had problems. Otherwise, do you think things would have been resolved peacefully afterward?"

Hu Zongxian said dismissively.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhenji thought about the officials in his hometown and nodded in deep agreement.

"Even if these officials have problems, removing so many people at once will probably make the entire court reluctant to let it go."

Zhao Zhenji came from a well-off family and knew a lot about officialdom. He knew very well what kind of people these officials were. They were all powerless to cause trouble. If you tried to reason with them, they would just spout off classical Chinese phrases and talk about propriety, righteousness, and shame.

In short, they won't talk to you directly about the topics you want to discuss.

"Yes, Lord Zhou dealt with these officials directly, giving no one else time to react. His Majesty also cooperated with Lord Zhou, and did not see anyone for those few days."

"Afterwards at the court assembly, memorials impeaching Lord Zhou were as numerous as snowflakes. Lord Zhou had incurred the wrath of the masses and was impeached by the officials. Logically speaking, the best outcome for Lord Zhou would be to be dismissed from office and restored to his former status. However, if he made a wrong move, he would be utterly destroyed."

Hu Zongxian continued.

"Yes, this situation would be difficult for anyone to handle."

Zhao Zhenji wholeheartedly agreed.

"But who is Lord Zhou? Long before this matter was handled, Lord Zhou and Mr. Sheng'an were already close friends. I heard from the rumors that Mr. Sheng'an was enlightened by Lord Zhou and is no longer the same as before. Now Mr. Sheng'an is wholeheartedly for the Ming Dynasty and for the people."

"When everyone was impeaching Lord Zhou, Mr. Sheng'an stood up to speak for Lord Zhou, debating with the scholars and leaving all the officials speechless. However, Mr. Sheng'an was outnumbered and outmatched, and in the end, Lord Zhou was demoted to Suzhou Prefecture and became a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Hu Zongxian's mouth was dry from talking. After finishing his sentence, he took out his water bottle and took a sip of water.

"Mr. Sheng'an? Isn't his father Mr. Shizhai? Why would he help Lord Zhou?"

Zhao Zhenji asked, his face full of confusion.

"You don't understand. In officialdom, people are often not in control of their own positions. Mr. Shizhai was no exception. Once he reached his position, he could not do or say whatever he wanted."

"Moreover, as the leading figure in the literary world of the Ming Dynasty, Mr. Sheng'an is of noble character and must have suffered a lot in the past. After being awakened by His Majesty and Lord Zhou, he was freed from his shackles and naturally became fearless and devoted to the Ming Dynasty. Isn't that wonderful?"

Although Hu Zongxian was a few years younger than Zhao Zhenji, he sounded much more mature than Zhao Zhenji.

"Indeed, if I were to enter the court as an official in the future, I would certainly be like Lord Zhou and Mr. Sheng'an, serving the country and its people."

Zhao Zhenji said with a face full of excitement.

"Do you think that's the end of what Lord Zhou has done?"

Hu Zongxian glanced at Zhao Zhenji and said.

"What else did Lord Zhou do?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhenji immediately perked up. Since Hu Zongxian had said so, it meant that Lord Zhou's actions must have gone far beyond this.

"After Lord Zhou arrived in Suzhou Prefecture..."

As Hu Zongxian and his companion searched for Zhou Chu's whereabouts, they also discussed Zhou Chu's past.

After Hu Zongxian finished recounting Zhou Chu's deeds in great detail, Zhao Zhenji was utterly shocked.

"A renowned minister! Throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, one cannot find a minister as renowned as Lord Zhou."

Zhao Zhenji murmured.

"Even if we add Yuan Song, no one can compare to Lord Zhou."

As a fervent fan of Zhou Chu, Hu Zongxian elevated Zhou Chu to an even higher level.

This is understandable. Although the Song Dynasty had many famous ministers and generals, they were too far removed from Hu Zongxian. Zhou Chu, on the other hand, was a living, breathing person in front of them. This kind of filter made it impossible for them to objectively evaluate Zhou Chu.

"You? You dare to compare yourself to Lord Zhou?"

Hu Zongxian looked at Zhao Zhenji and sneered.

Zhao Zhenji blushed with embarrassment upon hearing this.

"Stop making fun of me. Didn't I know that Lord Zhou had done so much just now?"

In the capital, Lu Bing was worried every day after learning of Zhou Chu's accident. The news of Zhou Chu's accident could not be kept secret, after all, there were many students in the academy, and there must have been many spies planted there. Wang Yangming originally wanted to strictly order everyone not to spread the news, but it was just a thought. It was difficult to carry out in practice, so he just let it go.

When Lu Song and his wife learned of this news, their reaction was similar to that of Tang Bohu; they asked Lu Bing dozens of times every day if he had found the weighing instrument.

Lu Bing really didn't know how to face his parents. He was especially afraid of the disappointed and worried looks on his parents' faces every time he said he hadn't found it.

Yang went to the temple every day to burn incense and pray for Zhou Chu.

When Shen Qing heard the news, she almost collapsed. After barely managing to stand up, she touched her pregnant belly, her face full of worry.

"Please make sure nothing happens to you."

In the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) compound in Suzhou Prefecture, Li Xian was tortured by the Jinyiwei to the point where he couldn't die even if he wanted to. All his teeth were knocked out, and he couldn't even harm himself.

He never imagined that the Jinyiwei's interrogation methods would be so terrifying. He used to be dismissive when others talked about them, but now he wished he could die immediately, yet he couldn't.

"What exactly do you want to ask? Just ask."

Li Xian's face was contorted with bulging veins as he spoke.

"Relax, the orders are that you don't need to ask any questions. They'll just torture you. What did you do that you dared to assassinate Lord Zhou? I thought you were some tough nut to crack."

The interrogator patted Li Xian's face, his expression full of disdain.

Upon hearing this, Li Xian wanted to curse. Only then did he realize that this was just torturing him. Li Xian was filled with regret. Why did he have to assassinate Zhou Chu?

At this moment, Yun Jin had no time to care about Li Xian's life or death, because she had received news from her Xuanwu Army subordinates that Zhou Chu's whereabouts had been discovered.

Knowing Zhou Chu's whereabouts, Yun Jin couldn't stay in Suzhou any longer and took a boat straight to Shaoxing.