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

Chapter 462

One of the duties of the Southern Garrison Command is to supervise the Embroidered Uniform Guard. However, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had always been in a weak position in the past, and this authority of the Southern Garrison Command seemed dispensable. But now it's different. Without the supervision of the Southern Garrison Command, Zhou Chu knows very well that many Embroidered Uniform Guards would do things that disregard human life.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards have never been kind; each one is ruthless. If Zhou Chu doesn't put a shackle on them, his reputation as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards will soon resemble that of Liu Jin from the previous dynasty.

Even so, Zhou Chu is now viewed with mixed opinions by the people of the capital.

One reason for this was the deliberate propaganda by those civil officials. In their mouths, Zhou Chu and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were all treacherous officials who persecuted loyal and good people, just like Liu Jin of the previous dynasty. When Liu Jin was mentioned, many older people in the capital would turn pale.

When Liu Jin was the chief eunuch and Zhu Houzhao's right-hand man, he did a lot of things for Zhu Houzhao. However, Liu Jin also gathered a large group of people who abused their power for personal gain. For example, the assassination attempt on Wang Yangming by the Embroidered Uniform Guard was orchestrated by Liu Jin.

The world is never black and white. Just because the civil service group wanted to kill the emperor doesn't mean all civil officials are bad, nor does it mean Liu Jin was good just because he worked for Zhu Houzhao.

Just like the Lu family's imprisonment and Yan Song's forced resignation, both were inextricably linked to Liu Jin.

Although Zhou Chu had the Southern Garrison Command restrain the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in the eyes of many people in the capital, once Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was associated with someone like Liu Jin, or even equated with him, how could he be a good person?

Zhou Chu had no interest in changing other people's opinions of him, or in the many rumors circulating about him.

Zhou Chu always understood one principle: how others viewed him was always based on their own interests and demands, not on genuine fairness and morality.

Just like a large number of people in the capital who believe that Zhou Chu is a good official, and an unprecedentedly good official, some of these people are those who work in Yun Gui Fang or cloth shops, or their families. Zhou Chu treats them well, but they don't care how Zhou Chu treats others. In their eyes, Zhou Chu is an upright and just official.

A large part of the reason is that they were oppressed or persecuted by the officials that Zhou Chu had investigated before. Knowing that Zhou Chu had investigated these people is equivalent to indirectly redressing their grievances. In their eyes, Zhou Chu is naturally a good person.

Although the Lu family kept a low profile, they still gave Yang Ran the proper respect due to her. For example, they used an eight-bearer sedan chair, and Zhou Chu replaced all the sedan chair bearers with top-notch members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, just in case.

On their wedding day, Lu Wei rode a horse, followed by a sedan chair, and the wedding procession headed straight for the Yang family.

"Why are you so nervous about your wedding, Miss?"

Yang Ran's personal maid looked at Yang Ran's nervous appearance and asked with some confusion.

As Yang Ran's personal maid, she practically grew up alongside Yang Ran, so she knew Yang Ran extremely well. In fact, she was to be married into the Lu family as a roommate during the wedding.

As a close maid like her, especially one who had a very good relationship with Yang Ran, Yang Ran even asked for her opinion. If she didn't want to go to the Lu family with him, then he would return her indenture and set her free.

However, this maid had grown up in the Yang family since she was a child. She had no relatives before coming to the Yang family and was an orphan. Living in the Yang family since childhood made her very unfamiliar with the outside world. She even felt lost when she thought about leaving her young mistress. Therefore, she did not hesitate to choose to marry Yang Ran.

"It's a big wedding, how can I not be nervous?"

Yang Ran wiped the sweat from her palms, thinking about what her father had said to her. She understood that today's wedding was destined to be anything but peaceful. However, with Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Lu Bing, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in charge, she figured there shouldn't be any major problems.

However, knowing is one thing, but not being nervous is still very difficult for Yang Ran.

"Miss, don't be nervous, I will stay with you."

The maid helped Yang Ran straighten her dress.