White-Robed Chief

Once Zhe Liang arrived at Mei Er Courtyard, he saw Chu Li at the stone table. There were some dossiers on the table and he was drinking tea while reading them attentively. Yang Zongwen stood beside him to wait upon him.

The remaining people in the courtyard were practicing in the martial arts field, which was quite lively as laughter could be heard from time to time.

Generally acknowledged by the secret guardians, Mei Er Courtyard had the most grandmasters, and these grandmasters had unswerving loyalty toward Chu Li. This was because they were all saved by Chu Li, who did them a favor that amounted to giving them a new lease of life.

Zhe Liang sighed to himself and wondered, ‘He is truly someone that anyone would be envious of. If I had the support of so many grandmasters, I’ll be able to summon wind or rain too. Nobody will bother me, and I can do whatever I like.’

“Brother Zhe,” Yang Zongwen greeted with a fist salute.

Chu Li looked up at him.

“Greetings, centurion.” Zhe Liang smiled. “Long time no see. Centurion, you’re looking greater than before, congratulations!”

“What’s the matter?” Chu Li asked.

Zhe Liang replied, “Commander Gu requests the pleasure of seeing you.”

“Sit down, let’s have a talk.” Chu Li pointed at the stone stool opposite him.

Feeling helpless, Zhe Liang could only sit down but he settled down uncomfortably.

Chu Li’s eyes had a piercing gleam as if he was able to see through him.

“The people in Mei Er Courtyard are so idle.” Zhe Liang chuckled. “It makes me jealous!”

“You can come to Mei Er Courtyard too,” Chu Li simply commented.

Zhe Liang shook his head. “I’m not that blessed.”

Chu Li asked, “What does the new Commander Gu want?”

“He says that Mei Er Courtyard is too quiet.” Zhe Liang expressed straightforwardly, “He thinks that it’s a waste. Even with so many grandmasters here, they’re not doing any work so he’s unhappy with that!”

“Doesn’t he know the situation in Mei Er Courtyard?” Chu Li questioned.

Zhe Liang answered, “I told him, but a change of commander brings a change of his own favorites. Since he’s new, it’s natural that he wants to make changes to the rules, and wants everyone to obey him.”

“Hmm…” Chu Li pondered. “So he wants Mei Er Courtyard to do some work?”

“Yes.” Zhe Liang nodded.

Chu Li asked again, “Is there anything else?”

“He’s also very curious about you, Head Chief Chu, who’s well-known in Fairy’s Capital.” Zhe Liang smiled.

Chu Li nodded. “Alright, I’ll go pay him a visit.”

Zhe Liang did a fist salute before he exclaimed with a smile, “Please!”

He knew how powerful Chu Li was as he witnessed him turning from a discriminated secret guardian into a centurion in less than a year’s time. Therefore, regardless of who the commander and deputy commander were, nobody could suppress him.

Worried, Yang Zongwen looked at Chu Li.

Chu Li waved his hand. “It’s neither a dragon’s lair nor a tiger’s den, it’s just a normal meeting!”

“Be careful then, centurion,” Yang Zongwen reminded him.

Chu Li smiled, then followed Zhe Liang to the main hall.

In the main hall, Gu Yu was reading dossiers attentively.

The dossiers were all cases solved by Chu Li. His capabilities were kept so secretively that no trace was left behind, but through the descriptions of those cases, Gu Yu could tell that he was unordinary and tremendous.

After reading a few dossiers, Gu Yu found that he truly lived up to his reputation as nobody else could have solved those cases.

It was no wonder that Fu Mengshan and Xu Huande relied on him so heavily even when he was also the head chief of King An’s Imperial Residence.

“Commander Gu, Centurion Chu is here,” Zhe Liang reported from outside the hall.

“Come in!” Gu Yu responded with a low voice before he straightened his back, his gaze sharp as he lifted his head.

Once Chu Li entered the main hall, he greeted with a fist salute, “Greetings, Commander Gu!”

With a calm and composed look, he met eyes with Gu Yu for a moment before looking away.

“Centurion Chu, I’ve heard about you since I was in the Imperial House!” Gu Yu reached his hand out with a smile. “I finally get to meet you today. Please, take a seat!”

Chu Li accepted his offer and sat down.

“Centurion Chu, as soon as you came out from isolated cultivation, you received the case of Consort Ping’s assassination. You investigated the case with Commander Xu, right?” Gu Yu put on a friendly smile, which made him look friendly instead of fierce.

Chu Li replied, “It was a coincidence, so I simply solved the case.”

“Ah…” Gu Yu shook his head. “It must’ve been an injustice for Commander Xu, nobody would’ve wanted something like that to happen. It’s sad that he had to leave his post to guard the Imperial Mausoleum instead!”

Chu Li nodded in agreement.

Gu Yu put the dossiers away, then said casually, “Commander Xu did a good deed by closing the case before he left, lest giving more trouble to the others. I heard that you helped him with that, Centurion Chu.”

Chu Li replied, “I was only responsible for catching the accomplice. As for other matters, I handed them over to Commander Xu as I needed to participate in the Hunting Ceremony. By the time I was back from the ceremony, Commander Xu had left Fairy’s Capital. It happened so quickly that I didn’t manage to follow-up on the case so I have no idea if he found the mastermind behind it.”

“Didn’t Commander Xu tell you?” Gu Yu was surprised.

Chu Li answered, “I’d love to ask him, but he was already gone when I returned to the city. It seemed to me that things didn’t go smoothly, otherwise Commander Xu wouldn’t have had to take the blame by resigning!”

Gu Yu lamented, “Commander Xu was unlucky, just like the accomplice whom you caught. He died so Commander Xu probably failed to get anything out of him and was forced to close the case!”

“He died?” Chu Li furrowed his brows. “He consumed a Spirit Blessing Pill, how is that possible?”

“He couldn’t last through the inquisition.” Gu Yu sighed. “Perhaps Commander Xu was too impatient so he was too ruthless on him!”

“That shouldn’t be…” Chu Li was still puzzled. “With the Spirit Blessing Pill, he couldn’t have died no matter how torturous the inquisition was!”

“This…” Gu Yu appeared to be confused as well. “Could there be another reason for this that someone wishes to hide?”

“Very likely.” Chu Li added, “Maybe Commander Xu found out about something that he shouldn’t have known? He realized that the situation was unfavorable so he decided to protect himself? …It couldn’t be someone from Ji Dynasty who did it, right?”

All of a sudden, Chu Li’s expression shifted and he looked towards Gu Yu.

Gu Yu’s expression changed as well but he quickly waved his hand dismissively. “You must not speak of something like that so casually!”

Chu Li continued, “It really is possible! …King Ping has brilliant achievements in war and has served the nation with valuable services, but he is also envied by many others. If someone who’s displeased harms Consort Ping, and King Ping finds out about it, what will happen? …It’ll cause chaos!”

“Centurion Chu!” Immediately, Gu Yu waved his hands frantically. “Stop it now!”

He went to the main hall’s entrance, looked around, then chased the people outside away. “Leave now!”

The two protectors outside the main hall quickly left as instructed.

When Gu Yu returned to his seat, he glared at Chu Li fiercely.

Chu Li returned Gu Yu’s glare with a dark gaze of his own.

It was as if he was furious for having guessed the truth.

Seeing as Chu Li seemed to feel deeply for Xu Huande who was wronged, Gu Yu sighed. “Whatever you said is going to get you killed, you mustn’t talk about it so casually!”

Chu Li sneered. “Commander Xu was truly unlucky! …Fortunately, I didn’t participate in the interrogation and was unaware of the situation otherwise I would need to guard the Imperial Mausoleum with Commander Xu!”

“You…” Gu Yu sighed as he pointed at Chu Li. “Don’t overthink. Now that Commander Xu has left, it’s the end of the case so don’t bring it up anymore!”