Chu Li sat in the main hall and listened to their report. He smiled. "This is a good thing. It's a hot potato. Mei Yi Courtyard can't be any better. Maybe this is Centurion Chen's kindness."
"Centurion Chen is that kind?" Qin Jin shook his head. "He believes in the Sirius Spirit. He must snatch everything and never let go of any merit. He suffered a setback last time. This time, he saw the impact of investigating the High Duke's Public House, so he snatched it."
Chu Li raised his eyebrows. "Is that so?"
Qin Jin and the others nodded.
Qin Jin said, "Centurion, we can't give in this time. We must snatch it back!"
"My identity is too sensitive. It's not appropriate for me to investigate this case." Chu Li shook his head.
"Then we have to do something else!" Qin Jin said. "The Ministry of War is going to conduct a purge."
Chu Li frowned.
"Everyone was anxious about the Minister Counsellor incident. If we investigate again, we'll become the public enemy of all the courtiers." Qin Jin sighed. "This is much more difficult than investigating the High Duke's Public House. We'll offend too many people."
Feng Jing scoffed. "Chen Donghai is probably afraid of doing this, so he snatched the task of investigating the High Duke's Public House."
Chu Li touched his chin and said thoughtfully, "The Ministry of War wants to investigate. This is not a small matter."
"This is too serious. I'm afraid the Commander won't let the Centurion go," Qin Jin said.
The Centurion had made a great contribution this time. The credit was shared with the entire Mei Er Courtyard. Even if he did not do anything this year, he would still be very generous.
After a few incidents, the Centurion stood out. His outstanding talent overshadowed the other centurions in the Secret Guardians Hall. The rest of the centurions were cautious and sought stability. They would rather not do anything than make a mistake.
This time, the two matters were exceptionally troublesome. If those lethargic centurions, who did not seek merit but only to avoid making mistakes, were to investigate them, who knew how long it would take. Moreover, these two matters required swift and decisive action, as well as outstanding talent.
Chen Donghai had both talent and ambition. It would not be difficult for him to snatch one of the cases. The other would probably fall on the Centurion.
Investigating the Ji Public House was a High Duke's Public House. The Great Ji Dynasty had twelve High Duke's Public Houses, but investigating the Ministry of War was one.
Chu Li pondered for a moment and said, "Let's go and take a look. We can't keep dragging this out."
He and the four others arrived at the Secret Guardians Hall.
Before he could enter the residence, he bumped into Chen Donghai and six secret guardians coming out of the main entrance. When Chen Donghai saw Chu Li, a smile instantly appeared on his face.
He stepped forward, cupped his fists, and smiled. "Centurion Chu."
Chu Li returned the gesture with a fist salute. "Where are you going, Centurion Chen?"
"Sigh …" Chen Donghai shook his head and said, "I was born to be a laborer. I need to make a trip to the Ji Public House."
Chu Li smiled. "Could it be that they're investigating the Ji Public House?"
"Exactly." Chen Donghai said, "I owe Centurion Chu a favor last time, so I'm just returning the favor. I know that you're from the High Duke's Public House, so it would be very awkward for me to investigate the Ji Public House. That's why I took the initiative to accept you."
Chu Li saw that his thoughts were completely different.
If he went to investigate the Ji Public House, not only would he gain military merit, but he would also not offend too many courtiers. After all, these courtiers had a lot of henchmen. If he did not know where they would stumble, he would suffer in silence.
Chu Li smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Centurion Chen, but it won't be that easy to investigate the Ji Public House. The High Duke's Public House has always been at odds with the Secret Guardians Hall. Centurion Chen, you should be prepared to suffer."
"Hehe …" Chen Donghai laughed. "No matter how arrogant the High Duke's Public House is, they can't do anything to the Secret Guardians Hall. I believe that we can investigate thoroughly and see if there's anything wrong with the Ji Public House!"
Chu Li cupped his fists and said, "Then I wish Centurion Chen all the best!"
"Haha, thank you for your blessings, Centurion Chu!" Chen Donghai cupped his fists and laughed loudly before leading his men away.
Chu Li shook his head and smiled as he watched him leave.
This time, Chen Donghai had learned his lesson. He did not shed all pretenses of cordiality in front of everyone lest they say that he was ungrateful and played dirty tricks.
Chu Li laughed to himself. Dirty tricks were easier for him to deal with. Others often thought that he did not know, but he did. Moreover, in order to not let him know, his hands and feet were tied and he had to be scrupulous, giving him the upper hand.
Qin Jin scoffed. "This fellow is really shameless!"
Chu Li smiled. "Elder Qin, just wait and watch the show. It's not that easy to infiltrate the Ji Public House."
The High Duke's Public House disdained and hated the Secret Guardians Hall, so they would never allow the Secret Guardians Hall to investigate them. Instead, they would secretly attack them. Even if they did not kill them, they would not let them off easily. Beating them up would be considered a light punishment.
Qin Jin smiled. "Chen Donghai is quite capable. I guess the Ji Public House won't be able to handle him."
Chu Li shook his head and smiled.
When he arrived at the main hall of the Secret Guardians Hall, only Xu Huande was there.
Chu Li cupped his fists. "Commander Xu, Centurion Chen is going to investigate the Ji Public House. Will you leave the Ministry of War's matter to me?"
"You should rest first," Xu Huande said. "We'll leave this matter to the Ju I Courtyard."
Chu Li raised his eyebrows. "You don't need me?"
"It's not a good thing for you to be in the limelight. You should lay low for a while." Xu Huande said, "Go and cultivate in isolation. You almost lost your life this time. You haven't mastered your martial arts yet. Continue cultivating."
Chu Li was surprised and touched at the same time.
He could see that Xu Huande was sincere and was not trying to suppress him.
Xu Huande said, "Once a secret guardian, always a secret guardian. You still have a long way to go. With your skills, it would be a pity if you were harmed because your martial arts are not strong enough."
"Thank you for your concern, Commander Xu." Chu Li cupped his fists. "However, the Ministry of War's matter is very troublesome. If it drags on for too long, people will panic and complain. It's not a good thing for the Secret Guardians Hall."
"There's nothing we can do about it." Xu Huande sighed. "The Ministry of War has become a sieve. If we don't properly investigate it, it'll be troublesome when we use troops in the future."
"… Let me do it," Chu Li said.
Xu Huande frowned. "You still want to contribute?"
Chu Li said, "Yes, since I want to cultivate in isolation, it's better to earn more contributions so that the people from Mei Er Courtyard won't suffer with me."
"They're living a good life!" Xu Huande scoffed.
The contributions from Mei Yi Courtyard were distributed to more than a hundred people. Mei Er Courtyard only needed fourteen people. It was a difference of ten times.
He faintly understood that Chu Li wanted to share their worries. Such subordinates were really likable.
In fact, he and Fu Mengshan knew that it was appropriate to hand over the Ministry of War to Chu Li. Chu Li came from the Glory's Will Courtyard and was the best at eliminating traitors. In the past, when he eliminated the disciples of the Holy Church of Light, it was enough to prove his ability. No one in the Secret Guardians Hall could compare to him.
However, for the future, they still did not want Chu Li to be in danger.
Chu Li was now the trump card of the Secret Guardians Hall. His intelligence and talent were second to none. They were prepared to train him to be their successor.
With Chu Li in charge of the Secret Guardians Hall, the Secret Guardians Hall would prosper and they could enjoy their old age.
With this consideration, they were no longer in a hurry to exploit Chu Li's abilities. They wanted to use him slowly and focus on cultivating martial arts first. Investigating the Ministry of War was too eye-catching, so it was not appropriate for him to do it again.
Chu Li said, "After I'm done with this, I'm going to cultivate in isolation."
He was indeed planning to cultivate hard so that Fang Qingyang would not catch up to him.
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