The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 57 The Palace Rewards Are Delivered to Your Door
Take a bite of the minister's flesh?

Inside the car, Zhao Duan's expression changed slightly, and he was moved by the other party's proposal.

He finally realized the reason why Yuan Li was looking for him today.

"Is Minister Pei also a member of Li's party?" Although it was a question, it was spoken in a declarative tone.

"Yes." Yuan Li said calmly, "He is a very important person. Your Majesty has been thinking about replacing him recently."

Shocking news.

Zhao Duan took a deep breath:
"Mr. Yuan is in charge of the Censorate and supervises all officials. Your Majesty wants to deal with Minister Pei, but he cannot do it himself. He needs Mr. Yuan to do it."

Yuan Li nodded:

"Your Majesty and I are ready, but we need an opportunity and a legitimate reason."

See the picture poorly.

Zhao Duan was silent for a moment:
"Mr. Yuan, do you think I can make a dent in Minister Pei's gold and create an opportunity? You think too highly of me."

He gradually understood everything.

The empress continued to weaken the Li Party, but Li Yanfu was in a high position and could not be moved, so she started with Minister Pei, and Yuan Li took on this task.

It happened that Zhao Duan was reporting in the Imperial Garden, showing his talent for "climbing and biting", and Yuan Li tried to pull him into the group.

The series of conversations in the car before this was a test that left no trace.

The punishment of Lu Liang can be considered a benefit.

That makes sense.

"I've said before that I have a very good eye for people," Yuan Li smiled.

"At your age and status, you know how to defile yourself and deceive the whole world. This alone is extraordinary."

Ah, this... I said this is a beautiful misunderstanding, do you believe it... Zhao Duan hesitated, unable to explain.

He thought for a moment and said, "May I ask, is this what Your Majesty meant?"

"Your Majesty doesn't know," Yuan Li shook his head.

"I just made up my mind. So, you have to think it over carefully. If you are in trouble, don't be afraid to refuse for fear of offending me."

The more you say that, the more scared I am... Zhao Duan was too tired to complain.

But he was certainly not afraid.

As a loyal servant of Xu Zhenguan, he was promoted to a tribute just now and had just been rewarded by the empress. With Yuan Li's vision and temperament, it made no sense for her to target him.

On the contrary, if you think about it carefully, it might be a good thing for him.

Things like dealing with the Zhang brothers accidentally involving Prince Jing's Mansion are not normal after all.

If you want to achieve merit, it is better to take a big gamble than to waste your energy on minor officials similar to yourself.

Give it a try and turn your bicycle into a motorcycle.

If you fail, there's no loss.

Offended Minister Pei?
Haha... from the moment he planned to bite Li Yanfu, he was no longer afraid of offending anyone except the empress.

This kind of feast for a "minister" is too lavish. Given his status, if he had not been spotted by Yuan Li by chance, he would have had no chance to sit at the table!
Even if he could only get a very small share when it came to rewarding his merits, it was still enough to fill him up.

"What does Lord Yuan want me to do?" Zhao Duan asked thoughtfully.

The big blue-clothed girl shook her head:
"If you just need a foot soldier to carry a flag and charge, there are plenty of them in the Censorate. If you want to join, you have to figure it out on your own and find a way to catch Minister Pei's weakness."

After a pause, he added:

"It can't be a false accusation. It has to be solid evidence of a crime."

Zhao Duan smiled bitterly and said:

"The evidence of a minister's crime... With my status, I'm afraid I can't even get through the door."

Yuan Li smiled and said, "Life is short, why not give it a try?"

Zhao Duan was silent for a moment and said:

"What are the benefits? If I can do it, how much can I eat?"

Yuan Li smiled:

"You are the only one who has asked for favors in person in the past ten years."

Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"I am a villain. Everyone in the capital knows that villains don't care about face, they only want real benefits."

He was not worried and thus offended the Imperial Censor.

Because the higher the level of the game, the more reassuring it is to express your demands clearly.

As expected, after hearing this, the elegant and handsome Imperial Censor laughed and said:

"If you can accomplish this, I will personally recommend you to His Majesty. Not only that, I will also give you an additional benefit. How do you think?"

Zhao Duan didn't ask what the benefit was, as that would make him look too low-class. Hearing this, he said without hesitation:

"A word is settled!"

……

In order to avoid suspicion, Zhao Duan got off the car halfway and left on foot.

Watching him go away, the servant outside the carriage with ordinary features but a hidden aura asked curiously:

"Sir, do you think this person is really feasible? Minister Pei is very cautious. We haven't found any flaws. With just him..."

Yuan Li sat in the car in a relaxed manner, with smoke rising from the incense burner in front of her. She listened to the words calmly:

"Why not give it a try? Maybe you'll get a pleasant surprise."

From his words, it seemed that he didn't think Zhao Duan could really do it.

"A good chess player doesn't have to plan carefully at every step. Every move he makes has a clear purpose. Sometimes, it might be better to just randomly place one or two idle pieces." Yuan Li said, holding up the incense burner and closing his eyes.
"Go back."

To smoothly replace a third-rank official without paying too much price is definitely not something that can be done with just one word from the emperor.

It was a huge project that required a lot of preparation, which he had to arrange.

As for Zhao Duan?
Just a casual move.

……

……

After Zhao Du'an said goodbye to Yuan Li, he did not return home immediately, but instead touched his arms and found the three thousand taels of silver that he had extorted.

She went straight to the best rouge shop in the capital, and then to the place that sold medicine for warriors' injuries, and purchased a few items.

Prepare to take it back to Eugene Hua and Zhao Pan.

I didn't buy too much. After all, the character needs to be changed little by little, not to mention...

"By now, the silk and satin rewarded by the palace should have been delivered to my door." Zhao Duan thought, and suddenly looked forward to the expressions of the mother and daughter.

……

Zhao family, back house.

When Eugene Hua, wearing a dark green satin dress, held the medicine and gently pushed open her daughter's boudoir door.

At the table, she saw Zhao Pan, wearing only small clothes, flipping through the "Martial Arts Secret Book" that she treated like a treasure.

"Why did you get up so suddenly? Go back to bed and rest." Eugene Hua said in a reproachful tone, but in fact she was concerned.

Zhao Pan turned his head, his lips trembling, and he looked guilty:

"mother……"

The girl had an oval face, dishevelled hair, a high nose bridge, and clear eyes. She was more outstanding than her mother when she was young.

"Get down quickly and take off all your clothes so I can apply medicine to you."

Eugene Hua frowned and urged her daughter to lie on the bed:

"What will happen if a girl's body is left with scars?"

Zhao Pan lay down dejectedly. When Eugene Hua saw the red marks all over her snow-white and slender back, waist, buttocks, and legs, she couldn't help but feel sad.

"Does it hurt?"

One day has passed since Zhao Duan beat his sister with a bamboo pole...

Yes, even though so much has happened, the timeline has only advanced one day.

“It doesn’t hurt at all…”

Zhao Pan was full of energy and vitality. He was not just pretending to comfort her because he really didn't feel any pain.

It’s strange to say, but when I was whipped by Zhao Duan yesterday, my whole body was indeed in unbearable pain. After returning to the room and applying medicine on the wounds, I still felt weak all over.

But after a good night's sleep, Zhao Pan unexpectedly discovered that the pain was greatly relieved, and his body felt lighter and more comfortable.

It was as if the beating with a bamboo stick had opened up the Ren and Du meridians.

She had never felt so light.

"Mom, I suspect that I have mastered martial arts!" Zhao Pan said mysteriously and a little excitedly:
"Don't the stories in the book say that a warrior fights a big battle and breaks through after being injured?"

Of course, she would never have thought that the comfort of her body was the work of the "Zhongshan Wolf" who had bullied her and her mother since childhood.

I just thought that I had secretly practiced martial arts and achieved some success.

"What nonsense!"

Eugene Hua does not approve of her daughter learning martial arts.

What's more, this time he was beaten up by his stepson. When he glanced at the "secret book" on the table, he became angry and pretended to tear it up.

This caused Zhao Pan to rush to grab the book, holding it to his chest, and said stubbornly:
"Mom, men are the most unreliable. My daughter wants to learn martial arts. When she becomes powerful, the next time someone breaks into your house and bullies you, I will kill him!"

She stabbed the scarecrow with a dagger that day because she was provoked by Zhang Changji's breaking into the house.

Eugene Hua was both angry and moved:

"But how can a girl learn martial arts? If outsiders come, there is also your elder brother..."

"Him?" Zhao Pan didn't believe it. "He's lucky he didn't team up with outsiders to bully us."

Eugene was speechless.

After all, the stepson had just beaten his daughter yesterday.

At this time he fell silent, with red eyes, and applied medicine to her wound quietly and silently.

Because she had no money and couldn't afford good medicine for wounds, Eugene Hua could only apply thickly over and over again.

At the same time, she was planning to take out the last bit of jewelry she had hidden in the bottom of her box, exchange it for silver from the pawn shop, and buy her daughter some medicine specifically for warriors.

Well, if I can make extra money from the sales, I can buy Zhao Pan a decent piece of silk and make her a new dress.

A girl is at the age of blooming like a lotus, how can she not have a nice piece of clothing?

As for her...she can get by anyway.

inside the room.

Time flows quietly in the silence between mother and daughter.

Suddenly, there was a noisy noise outside, as if a large group of people were about to come in.

"What happened?"

Eugene Hua and Zhao Pan became nervous, fearing that it was Zhao Duan's enemy again.

(End of this chapter)