The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 88 Zhao Duan: Anyone who steps out of this door will die!
Seeing Zhao Duan sitting upright, Zhou Cang had no choice but to walk over and stand beside him.

After a while, the sound of disorderly footsteps approached, and several people came in from outside the hall.

The leader was the female official who had just gone to call people. She clasped her hands and said in a serious tone:

"Reporting to Chief Zhao, Captain Zhou, all the investigations at Lihua Hall are in place."

It is worth mentioning that the hierarchy in the imperial yamen is strict, and the supervisor holds great power, commanding nine officials and the judicial department.

Under the Jisi, there are about ten "jishi officials", who are treated as the same as the military officers of Dayu, so they are usually called Jinyi Colonel.

Well, he is at the same level as the abandoned Zhang Jilang.

Further down the line, every investigator had several accompanying officials who also wore brocade clothes and were clerks.

If we include the clerks who were responsible for daily labor and clerical work, the number of people in the entire imperial yamen was between one thousand and three thousand.

Zhao Duan raised his eyelids and glanced at the people coming down the hall.

Following closely behind Qian Kerou was a young man with a sturdy build, thick eyebrows, big eyes, bronze skin, and an expressionless face.

There was a look of arrogance and impatience between his brows, and his calloused hands hung beside the scabbard. He must be a martial artist who had been practicing swordsmanship diligently.

His appearance and temperament are very similar to Li Yuanfang in "Detective Di Renjie".

Zhou Cang whispered:

"This man's surname is Hou, and his name is Meng. He used to work for the No. 1 Peony Hall. He is very capable, but he doesn't obey discipline and has had many armed conflicts with his colleagues, so he was ostracized."

Hou Renmeng...it would be perfect if his last name was Park...Zhao Duan labeled him a "monkey" in his heart.

Behind the young man, leisurely walking, was an old official in his fifties or sixties.

He was not tall, had slightly bald hair, held a large ceramic teacup in his hand, and had a roll of official newspaper tucked under his arm.

After entering the door, he smiled at Zhao Duan first, then found a chair and sat down familiarly.

"..."

Zhao Duan looked at Zhou Cang, as if asking: Are you sure you haven't retired at this age?
Zhou Cang looked embarrassed and whispered in his ear:
"This is an old man in the government office. His surname is Zheng. He will retire in one year. He has a lot of experience and is one of the few who took the initiative to apply to come to Lihua Hall."

Haha, just tell me directly that you are just a scoundrel who is here to take care of your parents... Zhao Duan had no expression on his face.

Behind the old officer, there was finally a young man in Jinyi, who was about a few years older than Qian Kerou, with noticeable dark circles under his eyes and a lazy look.

When walking, his steps are loose, in sharp contrast to "Hou Renmeng".

Zhou Cang explained:

"This person's name is Shen Juan. His family has some wealth and he has no worries about food and clothing. However, he is an idler and his performance is at the bottom."

I get it, the second generation of slackers who have done nothing in the workplace... Zhao Duan sighed, thinking that they are indeed talented.

Looking again, I saw a young man walking slowly into the hall.

Unlike others, he was not wearing a uniform, but a silk shirt. He had a good appearance and fair skin.

But his drooping eyelids and pursed mouth corners give him the feeling of a noble and superior man.

In his hand, he was holding a birdcage, which contained a precious shrike.

"Li Lang?" Zhao Duan guessed his identity.

Zhou Cang nodded and said:
"Lihua Hall is not yet fully staffed. Right now, there are only these five investigators."

Well, Zhao Duan sighed and formed a preliminary impression of the five people:
The princess's son is the playboy Li Lang.

The new female character Qian Kerou in brocade clothes.

Old man Zheng who is retired and enjoying his pension.

Hou Renmeng is a prickly and unruly man.

Shen Juan who is just wasting his time.

This team cannot be said to be full of talented people, it can only be said that it started off in a disastrous way. Yuan Li, you old thief... you are so cruel... Zhao Duan silently bears a grudge.

……

The five people sat down one after another. Zhou Cang coughed and announced:
"The relevant notice was issued by the Governor yesterday. I will not waste any more words. The person next to me is the new official appointed by His Majesty to temporarily take over the post of Lihua Hall's Jisi. He is also the White Horse Supervisor who has made many great contributions recently, Envoy Zhao."

The playboy kept by the empress as rumored?
He was impeached by all the civil and military officials in the court, but he managed to escape unscathed and defeated the Zhang brothers.

The person who recently replaced Yuan Gong to work for him is suspected to be the despicable, arrogant, conceited, and extravagant pretty boy who bit Pei Kaizhi in the "party struggle"?
Everyone had a different expression, but they were all familiar with the name "Zhao Duan".

I was shocked when I received the notice yesterday.

After seeing her true appearance today, I can only say that the empress has indeed good aesthetic taste.

But such a notorious lackey and scumbag was suddenly transformed into the boss?

Even the newbie Qian Kerou felt a little dissatisfied.

I guess, like Li Lang, he is here to take up a sinecure and gild his resume, right? The female official thought silently.

The other four people had similar ideas and had no respect for their new boss.

Seeing the silence, Zhou Cang was about to say something, but waved his hand to Zhao Duan:

"Okay, Captain Zhou, you can go and do your work. I will talk to them about the follow-up matters." "Well... okay, if you have anything to do, you can come to the Governor's Hall to find me." Zhou Cang reported directly to Ma Yan and was not part of the Nine Halls sequence.

……

After watching Zhou Cang leave, they were the only ones left in Lihua Hall.

The officers in brocade uniforms, who had just been sitting upright with difficulty, suddenly relaxed.

Li Lang, a member of the royal family, stood up first, picked up the bird cage, and said with a mocking look on his face and drooping eyelids:

"Let's go back and continue playing cards. Ha, it's such a small matter that you still have to go through all this trouble."

The bad king Shen Juan yawned, his butt felt heavy, glanced at the female official, and said with a smile:
"Sister Rou, please take my place. I'm really sleepy. I'll lie down for a while."

Newbie Qian Kerou let out an "ah" and sat up straight, waving her hands in panic, glancing at Zhao Duan, her meaning obvious:
The chief inspector is still here, it's inappropriate for you to do this!!

Beside him, the prickly Hou crossed his arms with a look of disdain.

He has always looked down on people like Zhao Duan who curry favor with the powerful, so he decided to leave as well.

Only Old Zheng was calm and collected. He blew the hot tea in the cup, squinting his eyes, as if watching how the new boss would respond.

However, Zhao Duan was sitting in the main seat with a calm expression, as if he was not surprised by his subordinates' behavior.

He was not angry, but said calmly:
"sit down."

Hou Ren, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped, as if he also wanted to see the quality of his new boss, and did not leave.

He did not avoid or evade the defiant look, as if he was not afraid of the power of the empress.

There are always some people in the world who are not afraid of these things, and he happens to be one of them.

As a result, the only one walking out was the domineering young man Li Lang in silk clothes.

Li Lang seemed to have not heard anything and continued to walk out.

"I said, sit down."

Zhao Duan folded his hands on his abdomen, his voice still calm, but his tone was a little heavier.

Li Lang finally stopped, turned around indifferently, drooped his eyebrows, and said with a hint of mockery:
"Zhao Duan, we are all here to spend our days and gild our reputations, there is no need to act in a pretentious manner and show off, right?
I've heard about you. It's said that you have an affair with my sister? Oh, you look good, no wonder you can be a male concubine... But you have to understand your own identity.

I heard that you relied on your favor to run rampant in the capital, and mixed in the Beijing circle, hanging out with that Qin Qiu. I don’t hang out in that circle, but I also know what kind of people you are..."

The "sister" he referred to was naturally the current empress, Xu Zhenguan.

It also emphasizes that his mother is Princess Yunyang.

The faces of several people in the hall were all strange. They didn't expect that Li Lang would not give any face to the New Investigation Division and was just pretending to do so.

But, who can blame them for being royal relatives?

Although a princess who is married off is like water spilled, she also took the surname of her husband's wife, and could not be included in the family tree of the Xu Dynasty in the future.

But... in the final analysis, we are still a family.

The royal family members and the outsiders are two different classes after all. Others are afraid of Zhao Duan, but Li Lang is not afraid at all:
“So, don’t think that just because you’ve become a favorite of His Majesty and got a lucrative position, that’s all that matters.

If you know the current situation, just be an invisible person in Lihua Hall, and everything will remain the same. I will not bother to go against you. If you are sensible, I may be able to take you to play and meet the real children of the rich and powerful. Do you understand?"

After saying this, the young man in gorgeous clothes turned around and continued to walk out the door in a swagger.

While teasing the bird in the cage, he meant something:
"Play cards, come out with me. Haha, birds are more obedient than people. They know not to sing when they shouldn't."

Swish—the four people in the hall looked at Zhao Duan in an instant.

The sun was shining brightly, but for some reason, the atmosphere was quietly tense.

In the almost frozen atmosphere, Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, as if he was a beast seeing its prey.

The next moment, a thin line of golden light flashed in the Lihua Hall.

Before everyone could come to their senses, there was a loud bang!
Inside the hall, two huge floor-to-ceiling vases were torn apart by the powerful energy and shattered in an instant, with porcelain fragments and water droplets flying everywhere.

At the door, the expensive bird cage that Li Lang was dragging was cut in half by some extremely sharp weapon, and the cut was as smooth as a mirror.

The bird in the cage was left with only a pool of hairy, bloody flesh.

His right foot was hanging over the threshold.

He was only one step away from taking a step forward, but he was forced to stop in mid-air, unable to move forward an inch!

Everyone stood up in shock, only to see that a palm-sized golden flying knife had been hovering between the brows of the domineering young master.

The flying knife hummed and vibrated, as if it had a soul and was eager to shed blood. The blade had penetrated a little into the center of the eyebrows, and a drop of bright red blood slowly slid down.

Quiet.

In silence.

I only heard the new police chief Zhao Duan, who sat in the main seat and did not move at all from beginning to end, said indifferently:
"Whoever steps out of this door will die."

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ps: The author has opened a public account. You can find it by searching [Shiwancaituan] on WeChat. Readers can follow it. If I have the chance, I will write something there that cannot be posted on Qidian.

(End of this chapter)