At noon, in the Celestial Power Office.
Cold-Blooded Chasing Life leaned against a Grand Secretary Chair, his eyes sunken and lifeless, his spirits utterly crushed. A bottle of wine still sat on his desk.
Thud, thud, thud!
Heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor.
A man of about fifty walked in, dressed in a scarlet Flying Fish Uniform.
He stood nine feet tall, towering like a mountain, with a rugged face and eyes as sharp as an eagle's.
"Lord Yue!"
Cold-Blooded Chasing Life rose to greet him.
Seeing his dispirited state, Thousand-Household Commander Yue's expression turned icy as he rebuked him:
"I heard you ran wild in a brothel last night. A dignified Hundred-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard-would you have any face left if word got out?"
Cold-Blooded Chasing Life hung his head and laid bare his feelings:
"Lord Yue, your subordinate is furious. I cannot accept this."
He had suffered humiliation at the Martial Arts Practice Ground, then watched helplessly as Jia Huan went from the two Golden Threads of a Hundred-Household Commander to having a fourth sewn onto his uniform. Both opportunities should have belonged to him.
He was no saint. He could not simply let it go, and the resentment filling his chest had nowhere to escape!
Looking at the trusted subordinate he had painstakingly nurtured, Thousand-Household Commander Yue spoke in a chilling tone:
"Young, hotheaded, and ignorant of the rules. Rest assured, I have already punished him!"
At those words, light burst into Cold-Blooded Chasing Life's eyes.
"My lord, how did you punish him?" he asked urgently.
By rights, Lord Yue had no authority to order Jia Huan around. Neither was subordinate to the other.
Thousand-Household Commander Yue sat down and said unhurriedly:
"Something major happened in Tianjin last night. Of Eunuch Mei's two nephews,