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

Chapter 285

"He's grown taller, gotten darker, and lost weight."

Yang held Yun Jin's hand, touching the calluses on Yun Jin's right hand caused by holding a knife for a long time, her face full of heartache.

"I think it's great, you've matured a lot. Come on, let me test how well you've practiced your kung fu."

Lu Song was eager to try.

Upon hearing this, Madam Yang turned and glared at Lu Song, who then scratched his head sheepishly and abandoned his idea of ​​testing his daughter's kung fu.

"My second brother definitely can't beat me."

Yun Jin raised an eyebrow, looked at Lu Wei beside her, and smiled.

The image of Yun Jin at this moment is very different from that in the military camp. In the military camp, Yun Jin is always serious and never smiles. The soldiers of Xuanwu Army are all afraid of Yun Jin, because they have been punished by Yun Jin a lot during training.

But once she returned home, Yun Jin reverted to her girlish ways, yet unlike typical young ladies from wealthy families, she exuded vitality and displayed a lively beauty.

Upon hearing this, Lu Wei immediately became indignant. He had never seen Yun Jin commanding troops and wreaking havoc in the field. In his opinion, he could accept that he was not as good as his eldest and second eldest brothers, since he had focused mainly on his studies in recent years. However, he would not admit that he was not as good as his younger sister.

After all, in his eyes, Yun Jin was a few years younger than him. Even if he wasn't that diligent in his training, how could Yun Jin, a girl, be his opponent?

"Don't talk big, you'll only know after you've tried."

Lu Wei went to get the wooden sword used for training, giving Yun Jin no chance to refuse.

After all, Lu Wei would never admit that he was inferior to his younger sister.

After a minute, Lu Wei stared blankly at the wooden sword broken in two in his hand, then looked at Yun Jin as if he were looking at a monster.

How did you train?

"That's perfectly normal. Even if your skills are worse than your sister's, you're still no match for her. Don't even mention that your skills are inferior to hers.

Lu Song, with his keen eye, immediately saw the problem.

"Why?"

Lu Wei asked, puzzled.

"Your sister has fought countless battles, how could you, a pretty face, compare? In a real battle, you wouldn't even last a single move against her."

Lu Song looked at Lu Wei with a disdainful expression.

Lu Song, a veteran of many battles, knew even better that, not to mention on the battlefield, even when the Imperial Guards were fighting each other, the situation was constantly changing. No one would follow a set pattern; they would basically pursue simple and efficient ways to kill the enemy, and victory or defeat often came down to a split second.

No one will engage in a full-on sparring match with you.

"That's right, your skills are only good for self-defense, but if you really run into a master, you'd better run."

Zhou Chu, who was standing to the side, laughed.

Hearing his father and second brother mocking him like that, Lu Wei blushed, but couldn't find any reason to refute them.

“You value literature and morality, so there’s no need to take this to heart.”

Zhou Chu comforted him.

Upon hearing this, Lu Wei's face turned even redder, showing no sign of being comforted.

“Our house is much bigger than before.”

Only now did Yun Jin have time to properly look at the Lu residence, which she had left a year ago.

Lu Bing's status speaks for itself: he was the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a third-rank official position, second only to the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Even though the Embroidered Uniform Guard was three ranks higher than the officials, Lu Bing was still considered one of the most powerful people. In addition, due to Lu Bing's relationship with Jiajing and the relationship between Yang Shi and Jiajing, the Lu family had undergone an expansion half a year ago, buying and opening up the houses behind the Lu family mansion.

In fact, it wasn't just the Lu family mansion; Zhou Chu's residence was also expanded under Lu Bing's direction. This was done by Lu Bing after Jiajing consulted Zhou Chu. Originally, Jiajing intended to bestow a larger residence upon Zhou Chu, but Zhou Chu was too lazy to move again.

After returning home, Yun Jin indulged in a hearty meal. The food in the army was nothing like what she ate at home; the taste was on a completely different level. However, Yun Jin had a lot of physical activity and ate mostly meat, so even though she ate a lot at every meal, she didn't gain any weight.

Zhou Chu resumed his leisurely days of listening to music in the mansion. After so many days of serving wine to Zhou Chu, Liu Sisi was no longer as afraid of him as she had been at the beginning, because she found that the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in front of her was not like the rumors at all, and was even the complete opposite of the rumors.

Yun Jin knew the reason behind Zhou Chu's actions. On the first day back in the capital, Lu Bing told her about the recent events in the capital. In Lu Bing's eyes, Yun Jin was no longer the ignorant little sister she once was.

After all, Lu Bing had personally witnessed Yun Jin's imposing presence in Annam. Even the King of Annam, Li Chun, was extremely respectful in front of his younger sister, not daring to breathe too loudly.

If anyone in the Lu family had the most complete understanding of Yun Jin, it would undoubtedly be Lu Bing. He wouldn't underestimate Yun Jin's strength like Lu Wei did.

On the other hand, seeing the emperor's strong support for him, Chen Wanyan became even more convinced that his actions were correct. The officials who had attached themselves to him went from impeaching one official at a time to impeaching two or three officials at a time.

As a result, the Northern Garrison Command became very busy, and the frequency of confiscating property increased.

After all, when an official is investigated, it's impossible for it to involve only him; at the very least, it will implicate four or five others.

Before long, both Yang Yiqing's and Xia Yan's factions suffered heavy losses, leaving Yang Yiqing and Xia Yan in a state of utter chaos.

They had expected Zhou Chu to cause them a lot of trouble, but they never imagined that a fool would leave them helpless and afraid to act against him.

This made them feel incredibly frustrated, as if they had no way to use their strength.

Ultimately, Xia Yan couldn't withstand the pressure and went to Yang Yiqing's residence to discuss countermeasures with him.

In officialdom, there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends. Yang Yiqing and Xia Yan now face a common enemy: Chen Wanyan.

To be more precise, it was Zhou Chu behind Chen Wanyan.

"Can the Grand Secretary still sit still?"

As soon as Xia Yan arrived at the main hall of the Yang residence, he saw Yang Yiqing sitting there calmly drinking tea and spoke up.

"What difference does it make whether you can sit still or not? Does Lord Xia have a good plan?"

Yang Yiqing glanced at Xia Yan slowly and deliberately.

"It is precisely because we have no good solutions that we have come to you, Grand Secretary, to discuss solutions."

Xia Yan said helplessly.

"There is a way, but it's not a good solution."

Yang Yiqing sighed.

"Your Excellency, please stop keeping me in suspense."

Xia Yan looked at Yang Yiqing, who was panting heavily, and said angrily.

"Let us petition His Majesty to allow Zhou Chu to stop resting."

Yang Yiqing gave Xia Yan a meaningful look.

"How can this be done?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Yan immediately stood up.