The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 94: The First Day of Ruling the Ninth Hall of the Imperial Court

Juren Street.

In the hot summer, tea stalls are set up on both sides of the street.

At this moment, a group of ferocious-looking men in brocade clothes occupied a tea stall.

Everyone around them retreated, fearing that they would offend these "death kings".

Hou Renmeng placed the scabbard on the table. The knife in his hand was reflecting the sun's light and he was wiping it with a handkerchief.

"Boss, if the target resists arrest, do we really have to take him by force?" asked an officer.

Hou Ren, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, had a rebellious look and his eyes narrowed into crow's feet:

"if not?"

The attendant who had followed him out of the Peony Hall clenched his teeth and said:
"I just feel like I'm dreaming. We are going to arrest more than a dozen people today alone.

The first one is the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Literature, a sixth-rank official in Beijing. The key is that he is a member of the Li Party and has a lot of backers. Are you sure you are not mistaken?"

Hou Renmeng grinned and said:
"Speaking of backers, the backer of our new chief inspector is still a saint. Which backer is greater than a saint?

Don’t talk nonsense to me. Don’t I know what kind of people you guys are?
Have you ever been lenient in arresting people? What trap have you not dared to break? Or have you become as timid as mice after being imprisoned in Lihua Hall for half a year?"

A group of followers laughed.
There are far more than five troublemakers in Lihua Hall, and many of their followers are not good people.
People who don’t know much about it think that Lihuatang is the most useless hall, but the truth is quite the opposite.

Anyone who becomes a troublemaker but is not kicked out and is only sent to the "cold palace" must have some real ability, right?

This group of people is just a group of Monkey Kings. Without the Monkey King leading them, they were insignificant.

But when Zhao Duan gave the order, this group of unruly officers showed courage and ruthlessness that the weaklings in other gangs could never match.

"Stop talking nonsense, people are coming."

Hou Ren stood up suddenly, walked to the center of the long street with his arms folded, and saw a carriage approaching in front.

After a while, the carriage was forced to stop. The clerk lifted the curtain and saw a middle-aged man sitting inside. He frowned and said:

"Why are you blocking the way?"

But then they saw several men in brocade clothes laughing and surrounding the car from left and right.

Without saying a word, he rained down punches and kicks on the attendant of the Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Literature, making him wail in pain and run away in fear.

"Stop it!" The official with a shocking background was furious and shouted loudly.

However, when he saw the other person's gorgeous clothes, he felt some instinctive fear.

"Sir, Zhao Jisi of Lihua Hall invites you to come with us." The marquis grinned and shook out the arrest warrant.

"What crime have I committed? You and me..." The official tried to struggle.

Hou Ren suddenly turned his wrist and the knife in his hand whizzed out!

With a "whoosh" sound breaking through the air, and a "dunk" sound, it was thrown straight into the carriage.

He nailed the official's black hat to the carriage right at the scalp, and the handle of the knife was still shaking!
"what!!"

The middle-aged official was so frightened that he fell down, and the people who were watching from a distance scattered, shouting "Murder".

The marquis dragged the sixth-rank official out like a dead dog, threw him on the ground, spat a mouthful of phlegm, tilted his head and said:

"Tie them up."

Then he took the torn paper from his bosom:
"next."

……

……

the other side.

Old man Zheng pulled the reins, firmly controlled the fierce horse under him, and looked up at the seven yamen of the Ministry of Rites across the street.

Beside him, all the followers dismounted and waited for Old Man Zheng to come down, and immediately handed him the large teacup that he never let go of.

"Zheng Jishi, do you want to wait here?" an attendant asked:

"Wait until noon when the value is dispersed, and then catch them, so as to minimize the impact."

Old Zheng took the big teapot, took a sip, and said with a smile:

"Time is tight and the task is heavy, so I won't wait."

Seeing that his followers hesitated to speak, he said:

"If you have anything to say, just say it."

The young follower transferred from another hall said in confusion:
"You are old and almost retired, why do you have to do this?"

He was assigned to be Old Man Zheng's subordinate only after he entered Lihuatang.

In his impression, this old boss was always kind to others, which was very different from the stereotype of the King of Hell.

I also spent a lot of time in Lihua Hall.

No matter how you think about it, there's no need to create complications in the last year.

Before Old Man Zheng could say anything, another middle-aged man in fine clothes came over.

He smiled and patted his young colleague on the shoulder, saying:
"You are too young after all. You have been in the imperial court for quite some time, but you have never heard of the story of 'Plum Blossom Old Nine'?"

Old Man Zheng smiled and said with emotion:
"Things are different and people are different."

There has never been a shortage of legends in the history of Zhaoya.

Meihua Laojiu was a famous figure in the imperial court thirty years ago.

He was born in "Meihuatang" and was called Laojiu because his name contained the character "jiu". He was bold and careful, had great abilities, and had solved many major cases.

He was once promoted to Meihuatang's Chief of Investigation, and was also the youngest Chief of Investigation at that time.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to his youthful arrogance or his inherent justice, during a house raid, Meihua Laojiu could not stand the style of conduct of his colleague, another police officer, and refused to go along with him, so he drew his sword in anger.

Later, when faced with the then governor's request for him to review his mistakes, he angrily entered the governor's hall with a knife and chopped off the plaque with the knife, and was demoted all the way to the lowest level of attendant. After several disturbances, he was finally deprived of the right to go out to handle cases.

He lost interest and seemed disappointed with the government, so he disappeared.

As a result, there was a new person in the yamen, Zheng Laojiu, who spent his days drinking tea, reading newspapers, fiddling with wood carvings, and fooling around.

"Haha, I thought I would stay in this cold palace of Lihua Hall until I retired, but who would have thought that at the last minute I would meet a junior boss who was willing to delegate power to me, Old Zheng, to arrest people and handle cases."

Zheng Laojiu smiled with wrinkles all over his face:
"Then I have to go through some more trouble and take off this brocade robe, so that it can be complete."

He stuffed the large teapot into the arms of the young attendant, put his hands behind his back, crossed the long street and walked to the other side, muttering:

"Minister of Rites? I've heard that this guy is not a good person. I never thought that he would fall into my hands one day."

Soon, the office of the Imperial Censorate was broken into.

Zheng Laojiu waved his hand, and the officers behind him rushed in like wolves and tigers.

Soon, an official in a green robe was tied up and dragged out.

"next."

……

……

For a whole day, the Jinyi guards of Lihuatang went everywhere and almost visited all the major government offices in the capital.

Whenever there was any obstruction, they would beat them with fists and kicks, smash them with scabbards, and beat a group of civil servants until they cried for their parents, and then tie them up and drag them out.

The process of sending people to the imperial prison never stopped.

As a result, everyone in the yamen was alarmed.

I was confused and thought that some shocking case had happened in the court, which led to the collective arrest of so many officials involved in the case.

By evening, the vacant cells in the imperial prison were almost full.

The four captains, exhausted but faintly excited, led their followers back to the Lihua Hall to exchange their gains.

"Sir, all 58 people on the list have been arrested and are waiting for your interrogation at any time."

Qian Kerou walked to the main seat, closed her eyes and rested, as if beside Zhao Duan who was asleep, and reported in a low voice.

Zhao Duan, who seemed to have slept for a day but was actually immersed in "visualization" and had been trekking in the desert with Emperor Taizu for a day, opened his eyes.

He saw his subordinates standing by the long table, looking at him eagerly.

Outside the lobby, the afterglow of the setting sun shines on the big pear tree.

The green pears seemed to be coated with warm light, as if they were ripe.

"I understand." Zhao Duan said.

He looked nonchalant, as if he didn't think the arrest of fifty-eight court officials in one go was anything to be surprised about.

Qian Kerou asked:
"Then, will you be interrogated tonight?"

"Interrogation?" Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows. "Why do you want to interrogate?"

……

……

Just when the entire capital was in turmoil due to Zhao Duan's big move.

Inside the Peony Hall, in the meeting room.

The law enforcement officers from the eight branches gathered here. They all came here spontaneously to discuss the matter after learning about the actions of the Lihua Hall.

At this moment, the eight people were scattered on both sides of the long table.

One of them spoke first:
"I'm sure you've all heard about what Zhao Duan did today. A total of 58 officials from all the major government offices were thrown into the imperial prison on suspicion of colluding with the rebels and cooperating with the investigation.

The prison is now overcrowded... The officials will be in an uproar by tomorrow morning at the latest... What on earth does this Zhao want to do?"

After that, the one sitting in the first seat on the left, the Pomegranate Hall Master, Tie Chi Guan, sneered and said:
"The Zhao guy is crazy about trying to steal the credit. He sent someone to my place this morning to ask for the case, saying he wanted a debt. I scolded him and he sent him away. Then at noon he started arresting people. Isn't his intention obvious? He's just trying to get the credit?"

He was of stocky build, with bulging muscles beneath his official robes and a beard as thick as steel needles.

His hands were covered with calluses, and the knotted blue veins almost broke through the skin.

next to.

Haitang, who was sitting opposite him in the first position on the lower right, said disdainfully:

"Can you use your brain? Do you really think that Zhao Duan is a fool? He doesn't know the consequences of your massive search?"

She has a slender figure, a heroic appearance, an oval face, thin lips, a teardrop mole at the corner of her eye, and long hair tied into a ponytail at the back of her head.

Tied around his waist was a weapon bag made of soft cowhide, which was filled with throwing knives.

At this moment, as the "Narcissus Hall Master", she frowned and analyzed:

"It's true that Zhao wants to take credit for something, but I think he would definitely not do it without a purpose."

Tie Chi Guan retorted:
"So? Do you really think he has evidence that these fifty-eight people are colluding with the rebels? That's just wishful thinking."

Other police officers also joined the discussion, and everyone expressed their own opinions and made different guesses.

All in all, I am full of confusion about Zhao Duan’s confusing behavior.

"Quiet."

After a while, there was a knock on the table. Everyone fell silent and looked towards the seat at the top.

He is also recognized as the number one, the Mudantang Jisi, the first person under the governor, the "King of Scrolls" Zhang Han.

Zhang Han was about thirty or forty years old, with an imposing appearance, fair complexion, and rarely smiled.

At this moment, he attracted everyone's attention and spoke slowly:
“Have you investigated the commonalities among the 58 people arrested?
As far as I know, it is a coincidence that these 58 people all wrote letters to impeach Zhao Duan in the case of Zhuang Xiaocheng's escape some time ago, and requested that he be executed as a warning to others."

(End of this chapter)