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

Chapter 139

"You are Shen Chunfu?"

Zhou Chu looked at the strange-looking man in front of him and said uncertainly.

The reason why it is strange is that Shen Lian in front of him gives Zhou Chu a very strange feeling. Judging from his appearance alone, he looks like a scholar, but his broad back and thick waist combined with his face look strange no matter how you look at him. In particular, the fierce temperament he exudes from the inside out would make ordinary people stay far away.

"Shen Lian greets Commander."

Shen Lian bowed respectfully.

“Chunfu, no need for formalities. From now on, you will stay by my side. Deng Yu, take him to complete the formalities.”

Zhou Chu glanced at Deng Yu, who was busy running around beside him, and said.

"My lord, what position should we assign to this official?"

Deng Yu said somewhat uncertainly.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard will do; we'll start from the bottom."

Zhou Chu said nonchalantly.

Zhou Chu planned to keep Shen Lian by his side. Shen Lian was a formidable general. At the time, Shen Lian was the same age as him, only fifteen years old. It would be useless to give him a high position; he should be trained first.

After Shen Lian left, Zhou Chu looked at Fang Hong and the others standing to the side.

From now on, Shen Lian will be under your command.

Emperor Jiajing ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to specially dispatch a team to be responsible for Zhou Chu's safety. The only people Zhou Chu recognized were Fang Hong and others, so he transferred them to his side.

Now we can add Shen Lian as well.

"Yes, my lord."

Although Fang Hong didn't understand why the commander valued Shen Lian so much, she never asked questions she shouldn't have, nor did she question her superiors.

The most important thing when serving in the Embroidered Uniform Guard is to obey orders, speak less, and never have any inappropriate curiosity.

Shen Lian returned quickly after completing the formalities.

Seeing Shen Lian return, Zhou Chu got up and walked towards the horse farm.

"Fang Hong and Shen Lian can follow me; the rest of you, stand by."

Seeing the dozen or so people following behind them, Zhou Chu stopped them, saying that it would be too conspicuous to have a dozen or so people following them everywhere.

Upon hearing this, the group that was about to follow immediately stopped in their tracks and did not move forward.

Zhou Chu rode his black horse, followed by Fang Hong and Shen Lian. The three of them rode at a leisurely pace through the streets of the capital.

When the Imperial Guards appeared, everyone would give way, fearing they might offend Zhou Chu. Many people even lowered their heads in fear upon seeing Zhou Chu's flying fish robe, afraid of being noticed by this living Yama.

Zhou Chu is now a well-known "living Yama" in the capital, his reputation so legendary that he can even stop children from crying.

"The common people have a very deep misunderstanding of the adults."

Fang Hong said somewhat indignantly.

"It's not their fault. What do ordinary people know? They just believe whatever others tell them. Very few ordinary people have the ability to discern the truth."

Zhou Chu smiled.

"But you, sir, have clearly sacrificed so much for His Majesty and for the Ming Dynasty, yet you are still misunderstood by others."

Fang Hong said angrily.

"So what? Do you know how Cao Cao evaluated Yuan Shao in Romance of the Three Kingdoms? He was greedy for small gains and afraid of losing his life when it came to great things. If you are hesitant and afraid of this and that when you do things, you will not be able to accomplish anything."

Zhou Chu had no concept of the Dao.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian was moved. At this moment, he understood why his teacher spoke so highly of the commander before him.

Zhou Chu led the two of them on a leisurely stroll, and soon they arrived at Yun Gui Fang.

Almost all the waiters in Yun Gui Fang knew Zhou Chu, and they all rushed out to help tie up the horse.

Shen Qing, who was busy at the moment, also noticed Zhou Chu and hurriedly put down the cloth in her hand, letting the others greet the guests first.

"What brings you here?"

Shen Qing really didn't know how to address Zhou Chu. She had always admired and respected Zhou Chu, and calling him "Commander" like everyone else would seem too formal, so she simply didn't address him at all.

Zhou Chu knew her personality and naturally wouldn't hold it against her.

“The county princess brought some paint and wants to make two sets of clothes, one for the princess and one for the county princess. You should have their sizes here. I was thinking of having you make them. In the entire capital, no one can compare to you in terms of design and style.”

Zhou Chu wasn't just flattering her. After Zhou Chu taught Shen Qing all the styles he knew, Shen Qing quickly became engrossed in it, specializing in the design of clothing styles. After four years of continuous learning and design, in terms of style design alone, Zhou Chu couldn't compare to her.

Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise, and Zhou Chu simply didn't have time to study this.

Hearing this, Shen Qing smiled. It was rare to hear Zhou Chu praise her, which made her feel that all her efforts over the years had not been in vain.

Shen Qing's smile stunned Fang Hong, who was standing behind Zhou Chu.

Although she was born a girl, she was raised as a boy from childhood. Deep down, she actually considered herself a man. So for so many years, she never thought about getting married, and even thought that if possible, she would marry a beautiful wife.

After all, whatever her reasons, she had to appear in public as a man.

However, she had not found a woman she liked, and she did not want to hold a girl back. After all, she was a woman and could not consummate her marriage. If she were to marry her, wouldn't she be making her live as a widow?

However, upon seeing Shen Qing's beaming smile, Fang Hong was momentarily lost in thought.

Shen Qing wasn't exactly stunningly beautiful, but she had a very pleasant appearance, and every word and action seemed to resonate deeply with Fang Hong.

Fang Hong knew about Shen Qing. Out of admiration for Zhou Chu, Fang Hong and his colleagues had inquired about the commander's past, including Shen Qing's background. This was not a secret in the capital, and many people knew about it.

Even Fang Hong's colleague lamented that the female owner of Yun Gui Fang had always been in love with the Commander, but unfortunately, her affections were unrequited, and the age gap between the two was indeed quite large, making them unsuitable.

In fact, it wasn't just Fang Hong's colleagues; many people felt sorry for Shen Qing, who was already so old and still unmarried.

Fang Hong initially thought this was perfectly normal; how could an ordinary woman be worthy of a commander of such great talent and ambition? But now, seeing Shen Qing, Fang Hong felt an immense pity for her.

When Zhou Chu took out several kinds of paint, Shen Qing's eyes lit up when she saw them.

"These pigments are too expensive; I'm afraid I won't be able to do a good job."

Shen Qing looked at Zhou Chu timidly.

In front of outsiders, Manager Shen was always an extremely capable and decisive woman, but in front of Zhou Chu, she was always like a student afraid of being punished by the teacher.

"Don't worry about it, I'll ask His Majesty for more paint if we don't have enough."

Zhou Chu smiled.

"it is good."

Hearing this, Shen Qing smiled even more happily.

After leaving Yun Gui Fang, Zhou Chu headed straight for Zui Xian Lou.

Soon, Zhou Chu met Chu Liu.

"How are things going with Zhang Ting?"

After dismissing Shen Lian and Fang Hong, Zhou Chu asked.

"After orchestrating this for half a month, we just got hold of the Zhang family's accountant yesterday. He has already made a copy of the Zhang family's important accounts."

On the sixth day of the lunar month, he took out two account books and placed them in front of Zhou Chu.

Zhou Chu casually flipped through the records and found them to be extremely detailed. Just a few entries would be enough to give Yang Tinghe's prized student a hard time.

"In that case, let's get to work."

Zhou Chu had been holding a grudge against Xiao Dao. After a few days of leisure, it was time to get back to work. This time, he was going to take action against more than just Zhang Ting.

The debate over the Great Rites Controversy is too slow; let me speed it up myself.