The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 11 The Second Straw

Imperial court!

Zhao Duan suddenly felt enlightened:
"If we remove me as the 'unexpected factor', what will happen then?"

"Three days ago, the informant at the imperial court received a clue that he had found the whereabouts of the rebels. At about the same time, Zhuang Xiaocheng began to destroy all traces of intelligence exchanges in preparation for evacuation."

"After the imperial court learned the intelligence, they chose to wait rather than arrest anyone rashly in order to lure him in. Zhuang Xiaocheng was not in a hurry to escape either."

"If I hadn't interfered, the next scenario would have been for the imperial court to wait until the time was right and arrest him.

Zhuang Xiaocheng, who had been prepared, would escape one step ahead of time, lure the pursuers from the imperial court to the bamboo forest in the southern suburbs, and use his sorcerer accomplices to perform the so-called "divine descent" to severely injure the leader of the pursuers! "

"In order to capture such an important figure, the chief sent by the Imperial Court must be no small figure. It is very likely that he is the empress's trusted confidant, the eunuch Ma Yan, who is also known as 'Ma Yanwang' and the supervisor of the Imperial Court."

"That makes sense now!"

Zhao Duan suddenly understood.

The identity of the supervisor of the imperial yamen was enough for the rebels to take risks.

Perhaps, Zhuang Xiaocheng's purpose of sneaking into the capital this time was to use himself as bait to lure out Ma Yan and eliminate him.

The address coordinates were also revealed by Mr. Zhuang.

In order to ensure the success of the plan, it is very likely that there is an insider of the "Kuangfu Society" hidden in the imperial court, and his official position is not low.

But it's so damn good.

An accident happened in the middle of the process, and the original owner, a young and inexperienced person, intervened and disrupted the other party's plan.

"This can explain why Zhuang Xiaocheng evacuated urgently after learning that the imperial guards were approaching, but did not leave any valuable information behind..."

"And because the imperial court also sent people to compete with me for the man, Zhuang Xiaocheng still hoped that Yi could complete the plan, so he went to the bamboo forest in the southern suburbs and waited patiently."

"As a result, I took advantage of the daytime ban and used my privileges to stop the imperial court... I got there first, so Zhuang Xiaocheng said those words after he saw me... I guess he was so angry at the time."

"They had no choice but to kill me... That blow indeed annihilated the original owner's soul."

Zhao Duan's face kept changing, and he felt sick as if he had been screwed.

So, it was I who warded off disaster for the imperial court?
Of course, all of the above are just his speculations. There is no substantial evidence and it can only be said to be suspicion.

Moreover, it came from a confession from a "rebel" whose truth or falsity is unknown.

Therefore, it was impossible for him to go to the empress to explain the situation, or to the supervisor Ma Yan, based on this imagination alone.

"But it's not without gain," Zhao Duan sorted out his thoughts:

"At least I am sure that there may be a rebellious party in the imperial court... Well, I will suppress this clue first. If in the end, I can't make a contribution to turn the tables and the empress really wants to execute me, then I will make this information public as the last straw..."

Very good, as of now, he finally has some capital to save himself.

Zhao Duan finished thinking, looked at the girl in prison clothes, with her eyes closed, her eyelashes trembling nervously, and her chest heaving, and smiled:
"Very good, today's hearing ends here."

Yunxi opened her eyes, extremely surprised:

Is this the end?
She immediately became nervous again. Based on her understanding of the treacherous people in the court, after talking about business, wouldn't it be time to get down to business?
If this bastard wants to defile me, how can I resist?

Should he look for an opportunity to commit suicide, or should he pretend to be nice and flattering, but actually look for an opportunity to die together with him?

While Yunxi was frantically imagining things, Zhao Duan had already turned around, walked out of the cell, called out to the jailer waiting in the distance, and said in a deep voice:

"This rebel group is still very useful. You must keep a close eye on them and don't let anyone get close to them. If even a hair is missing and the emperor's important affairs are delayed, you know the consequences."

The jailer was sweating profusely: "Don't worry, sir!"

Is it really over?
Yunxi was stunned. This was different from the tragic experience she had expected.

Soon, Zhao Duan turned around, looked at her meaningfully, and said:

"Think about it carefully. Is a teacher who keeps secrets from you really worth serving? If he really cares about you, why would he abandon you?"

Yunxi subconsciously argued:
"It takes a lot of mana for a warlock to save someone from thousands of miles away, so he should save the teacher first."

Zhao Duan chuckled and said:
"But Zhuang Xiaocheng refused to tell you that there were reinforcements. It seems that he didn't believe that you would be willing to stay behind to cover your retreat..."

Yunxi was speechless.

Zhao Duan turned and left. After walking a dozen steps, he heard the girl cursing behind him.

……

……

Outside the government prison.

Zhao Duan went back into the carriage and suddenly asked:

"Zhu Kui, what do you think of this female thief?"

The ugly old official who was willing to be a rickshaw driver sneered and commented:

"He claims to be righteous, but he is actually a fool." "..." Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, then said:
"Old Zhu, do you know why I like to keep you by my side?"

Zhu Kui was startled, and a smile appeared on his ugly, dark old face:

"Is my subordinate capable of doing his job? Do I know what you are thinking and what you are anxious about?"

He believed that based on his understanding of the envoy, the comment just now definitely hit the nail on the head for Zhao Duan's heart. This was called catering to the envoy's wishes.

"No," Zhao Duan said faintly:
"It's mainly because you look rough. Having you by my side will only make me look more handsome."

Zhu Kui: “…”

"Just a joke," Zhao Duan laughed, exhaled, and said lazily:

"I've been tired all day. Please take me to the nearest inn. I won't be returning home tonight. You should also go back and rest. Don't forget the important things I told you to do."

"As ordered!"

……

The second floor of the inn.

After watching Zhu Kui leave, Zhao Duan closed the window, took off his clothes, and threw himself into the bathtub. The warm water seeped into his pores, and he felt extremely exhausted.

He leaned against the wall of the barrel, feeling the real difference of this body, and stared at the lampshade on the table in a daze.

During the whole day, he was always nervous, with one thing after another.

Until this moment, I finally got a brief respite.

"He has become another person now? That's unscientific... I haven't finished writing the report in my hand yet, but he suddenly died. The leader needs it for a meeting tomorrow..."

"Oh, this is the fate of a social animal. At this time, I am still thinking about reporting... Damn, I haven't paid off my mortgage yet, and the housing fund can't cover it now..."

"I don't know if it can be considered a work-related injury, and how many months the compensation can last... Never mind, after all these years of worrying about others, it's time to live for myself... After I die, who cares about the floods!"

Zhao Duan's mind was full of thoughts, as if countless comments were floating past him, and he just felt it was noisy.

"Snapped!"

He punched the water and looked at the handsome face reflected in the rippling water. He took a deep breath.
“Think of the bright side!”

In my previous life, I worked at a desk for a long time and had many minor ailments. I suffered from rheumatism at a young age and was in severe sub-health. Now this body is very different.

He had been practicing martial arts since childhood and had laid a solid foundation. Although the original owner's martial arts level was only at the "entry level", he barely entered the ranks of practitioners.

But in his previous life, Master Ma had no pressure at all to defeat an entire row of players with one hand.

With the subtle "energy" in his dantian qi sea and his good looks, he may be the next kung fu superstar.

"Unfortunately, in this world, even if I'm just a little Karami, any warlock can beat me to death from a thousand miles away."

In this world, there are two groups of practitioners: warriors and sorcerers. The former are pure, while the latter are diverse.

The original owner's family background could only support him to enter the "mortal" realm of warriors, which was the lowest "inferior grade", probably comparable to the level of passers-by in Jin Yong's martial arts novels.

If you want to get promoted, both money and qualifications are quite demanding.

The key is that there is no way to get promoted!
Even if you have money you may not be able to buy it!

In the original owner's memory, all knowledge about cultivation was highly closed and almost taboo.

Only by stepping into that circle will you be qualified to know something.

Although the original owner was the "Empress's Concubine" and had an unbridled authority in official circles, he still had only a vague understanding of spiritual practice.

I also tried to contact people from Tianshi Mansion.

But perhaps because his reputation is too bad, people who practice cultivation don't want to have anything to do with him at all.

However, he had vaguely heard that the Dayu royal family had mastered an extremely powerful and domineering spiritual practice. The original owner even fantasized about climbing onto the empress's bed and trying to ask for it.

"Oh, you're still thinking about practicing... Save your life first."

Zhao Duan laughed at himself, then fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up, it was already daybreak.

After a night, my whole body was covered with white bubbles and my fingertips were wrinkled.

Zhao Duan put on his robe and was about to go downstairs to find the waiter for some food when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps.

"Sir, I have something important to report!" Zhu Kui's voice came from outside the door.

Zhao Duan perked up: "Come in and talk."

Zhu Kui pushed open the door, exhausted from a sleepless night, and said excitedly:

"Sir, the people you sent out to follow Ning'an County Zi Wangxian have sent back news!"

(End of this chapter)