The Imperial Guard Army was a massive military system capable of defending the capital outside and protecting the Royal Family inside.
Because of the specificity and sense of honor associated with their duty, the guardians within the Phoenix Palace were also known as the Imperial Guard.
Chen Fenglei had just lifted his foot to step into the Guard House of the Imperial Guard when Li Baolin, the head of the Guard House, cheerfully came up to greet him, smiling as he asked, "Manager, what brings you here today?"
Chen Fenglei casually sat down on the office’s sofa, glanced at Li Baolin, and asked, "Everything’s been alright recently?"
"Nothing." Li Baolin personally poured tea for Chen Fenglei, ingratiatingly saying, "I’m keeping an eye on things here for you, Manager. Nothing can go wrong. If anything happens, you can splash my face with boiling water."
While speaking, he respectfully handed over the steaming hot tea.
Chen Fenglei was the Grand Steward of the Phoenix Palace, and all the major and minor affairs within the palace were his responsibility to manage.
Thus, the Imperial Guard was also under his jurisdiction.
The Imperial Guard was the Emperor’s personal army and was the core force protecting the King closely.
It could be said that if there were any problems with the Imperial Guard, then the Phoenix Palace would be exposed to risks, and the safety of the Royal Family Members would be jeopardized.
Including the King, who would face unknown dangers.
Therefore, every member of the Imperial Guard had to be carefully selected and thoroughly reviewed.
Tang Fei’s position of deputy captain of the Imperial Guard had been swiftly approved only after the Eldest Prince Zhong Tianque personally proposed it, and Zhong Daolong nodded in agreement.
Otherwise, there would probably be a lengthy process to go through.
Chen Fenglei took the teacup and sipped the tea, casually asking, "Really?"
"Really." Li Baolin walked over and sat down on the sofa in front of Chen Fenglei, saying, "I’m here 24 hours a day, even when I’m with the ladies for that bit of business... it’s in my own office."
"I don’t dare leave the Guard House for a moment, for fear that in the blink of an eye, I’ll let down the trust you have in me."
"Have Zhuang Zhongbing come over." Chen Fenglei, ignoring Li Baolin’s sycophantic attitude, said, "I have something to discuss with him."
"Right away. I’ll have him come over."
Li Baolin immediately made a call to Zhuang Zhongbing, but the phone was switched off, and nobody answered.
"How can he turn off his phone during work hours?"
Li Baolin muttered a few words to himself, then called Captain Bai Ye’s phone.
The call was quickly answered, and Li Baolin barked angrily, "Where’s Zhuang Zhongbing? Why isn’t that boy answering the phone? Turning it off during work hours is a breach of discipline, do you understand? What in the world does he think he’s doing?"
Bai Ye, with a smile plastered on his face, replied, "Director, I’ll reprimand him, how can he turn off his phone during work hours? I’ll make sure it never happens again."
"No more exceptions, if it happens again, I’ll skin him alive. Make it quick, have him come to my office."
"Director, do you need Zhuang Zhongbing for something?"
"Do I need to report to you what I need him for? Cut the crap and have him hurry over."
"What? Didn’t he come to work?"
"Captain Zhuang’s family had a bit of an issue... His wife is about to have a baby; she felt a bit unwell, so he took his wife to the hospital for a check-up today, and... he asked for leave," Bai Ye struggled to find an excuse that would sound plausible for his old comrade-in-arms.
"He asked for leave?" Li Baolin turned to look at Chen Fenglei, seeking his response with his gaze.
Seeing that he had no reaction, Li Baolin continued to press, "When did this happen? Call him right now and tell him to come back immediately... Manager Chen is waiting for him in my office."
"Yes, yes, I’m calling him now, I will have him come back right away," Bai Ye answered anxiously.
They weren’t afraid of Li Baolin; they were afraid of Chen Fenglei.
They were Li Baolin’s direct subordinates, and things were generally quite pleasant between them on a day-to-day basis.
Whatever issues arose, they were often overlooked with a blind eye.
But as for Chen Fenglei... He would dig out one of your eyes and then the other.
After hanging up, Li Baolin put on an anger act, "These damn kids, the moment you’re not careful, they’ll pull wool over your eyes. Constant vigilance isn’t enough."
He paused for a moment, then pleaded with Chen Fenglei, "Manager, Zhuang Zhongbing isn’t having an easy time either. With his wife pregnant, he has to take her for check-ups... These kind of things, we can’t really stop them can we?"
Chen Fenglei drank his tea without any expression and said, "Let’s wait and see."
Wait for whom? See what?
Li Baolin didn’t understand what these few words meant, but he could only accompany Chen Fenglei and ’wait and see’.
Chen Fenglei said nothing more, and as Li Baolin tried to initiate conversation but didn’t get a response, he had no choice but to lower his head to drink tea, too.
He could feel that the Grand Steward was in a bad mood, as if something had happened.
Soon, someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in," Li Baolin called out.
With Chen Fenglei’s mood unclear, it influenced Li Baolin’s emotions too, causing an anger that he wanted to vent.
Bai Ye walked in through the door, his expression panicked as he said, "Director, Zhuang Zhongbing has disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Li Baolin jumped up from the sofa, roaring loudly, "How could he just disappear? Where could a full-sized man have gone?"
"His phone is unreachable, and so is his wife’s... We contacted their prenatal clinic, and the hospital said they haven’t seen any records of their visits in the past few days."