The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 97 The Non-Existent "Rebel Party"

It was the sixth day since Zhao Duan took up his post at the imperial court.

In the early morning, the red sun of the East China Sea emerges from the clouds.

In the Imperial Garden, crystal clear water droplets rolled down the branches and leaves of rare plants and trees that had been moved from all over Dayu at great pains and expense of manpower and material resources over the past six hundred years.

In the pond, groups of golden koi carps scramble for food.

The empress in white stood by the lake beside the pavilion, holding a blue and white fish food pot in her bare hands. Light blue veins were faintly visible under her fair skin.

Scattered casually, the beauty is like a painting.

"Your Majesty, Lord Yuan has arrived." A female official came forward from behind to report.

Xu Zhenguan didn't even turn his head, and focused on teasing the fish:

"please."

After a while, a man in a blue robe with an open collar, led by a palace servant, walked along the winding blue brick path, passing through the rocks and flowing water surrounded by many waiters with their heads bowed.

He came to the pavilion that Zhao Duan had seen that day.

The elegant and handsome Imperial Censor with deep eyes smiled and said:

"Your Majesty seems to be in a good mood today, but what interesting thing happened?"

Xu Zhenguan poured half a bowl of fish food into the pond, turned around, and the graceful and noble female emperor smiled and joked:

"Why did Mr. Yuan ask even though he knew it?"

The king and his ministers smiled at each other.

It was clear to each other what they were referring to, which was the storm stirred up by Zhao Duan in the past two days.

Just now, the dust settled on this farce at the morning court.

Last night, when the Eighth Investigation Division was forced to surrender under the tyranny of Zhao, Zhao Duan finally gave in and mercifully released the remaining 57 people.

At the morning court today, Governor Ma Yan personally made a report, stating that the "misunderstanding" between the two sides had been resolved.

As for the officials, because of the huge bribe, they had no intention to investigate further and the dispute continued.

Both parties tacitly agreed to let it go, and the instigator, Zhao Duan, was only fined three months' salary. If he commits the same offense again, he will not be tolerated.

Almost nothing.

Won Ma.

From the beginning to the end, the empress and Yuan Li, who were sitting on a high place overlooking the mountain scenery and the situation, could not hide their pleasure when they saw the officials headed by the Li Party being humiliated.

They are two fun people.

The two of them walked into the pavilion and sat opposite each other at the table.

Yuan Li smiled and said:

"Zhao Duan has been in the imperial court for only five or six days, but he has already established himself and gained a firm foothold. If we talk about establishing his authority at the beginning, his subordinates were only afraid of him but not convinced. But after this incident, I believe that the situation has improved a lot."

Sometimes, the person watching the game of chess has the clearest view of the situation.

Before the people involved in the situation understood what was going on, Yuan Li had already roughly guessed Zhao Duan's true intention.

But even so, when everything developed as he expected, this first-rank official still stroked his beard and admired.

"It is easy to get thousands of soldiers, but it is hard to find a good general. Your Majesty is lucky that Zhao Duan has such ability to lead his subordinates."

Yuan Li offered a light flattery.

Xu Zhenguan felt relaxed and happy.

Sometimes, when people say they don’t like flattery, they don’t really mean that they don’t like it, or they just dislike that the method used to flatter is not sophisticated or wonderful enough.

It’s because the person who took the photo was of too low a status.

No one could resist the compliments from Yuan Li, a man with a great reputation in Dayu and admired by scholars all over the world.

Xu Zhenguan was as beautiful as a jade sculpture, and a faint smile appeared on his flawless face:
"Mr. Yuan, you are joking. I am just a police officer, and I only use some tricks that are not worthy of public display. If the little imperial guards hear it, I am afraid they will be so proud of it that they will be arrogant to the sky."

Openly criticize and secretly praise.

Although he said that he was just a small imperial guard, not in the spotlight and with insignificant means, he was actually very satisfied with it.

In five or six days, the Lihuatang that has troubled Ma Yan for a long time will be conquered.

Although it cannot be compared horizontally.

After all, Ma Yan's identity is there, and in order to balance and take care of other halls, he is subject to many restrictions, while Zhao Duan is a pure outsider and has no worries.

But it is also fast enough.

This was something the empress had never thought of before.

However, if Zhao Duan were here, he would definitely correct it with righteous words:
He would never lift his tail high. Even if he did, it wouldn’t be a tail…

"If we talk about his shortcomings, his style and methods are ultimately too hard and not gentle enough."

Xu Zhenguan pointed out the flaws calmly and objectively.

Yuan Li smiled and said:
"But since Your Majesty agreed to throw him over, you had already anticipated this."

Xu Zhenguan said helplessly:

"I did think that he would cause trouble after taking my 'Imperial Sword', but I didn't expect that he could do this much."

Yuan Li smiled, stroked his beard gently, and sighed:

"This guy knows it very well. He dares to drive away the prince consort because His Majesty is backing him up."

When mentioning Princess Yunyang, his "aunt", Xu Zhenguan also sighed and felt a little headache.

She has always been concerned about family ties. Although her relationship with this aunt is not very good, they are still blood relatives after all.

I can't help but stop him and sigh:
"Later, I will personally send someone to give an oral order to the imperial court to send Li Lang back. He has been suppressed for so many days, and my aunt keeps nagging me. I am so annoyed."

At this point in time, her order would not undermine Zhao Duan's dignity.

However, by doing so, Zhao Duan completely angered his aunt. He hoped that there would be no conflicts later.

Seeing that the empress's expression remained unchanged, Yuan Li changed the subject and said:
"As far as I know, Zhao Duan has asked the Eighth Hall for clues about the rebels. I'm afraid he is trying to find the traitor."

Obviously, as a staunch supporter of the empress, he also knew about Zhao Duan’s “hidden mission” in entering the imperial court.

When talking about serious matters, Xu Zhenguan's expression became a little serious, and his slender eyebrows frowned:
"Does Yuan Gong think he can do it?"

Yuan Li asked back:

"How much confidence does your Majesty have in him?"

Xu Zhenguan hesitated for a moment, his eyes darkened:

"If I was only 10% to 20% sure before, now I am 50% sure."

Yuan Li smiled:
"I think I should be more optimistic about him. Now I feel I have 60% confidence.

However... the waters in the imperial court are deep. Ma Yan has already tried to probe many times before. The traitor must have been alerted long ago. It would be too difficult for Zhao Duan to investigate now. I am afraid it will take a lot of time."

Xu Zhenguan asked curiously:
"How long does Yuan Gong think it will take for him to make a discovery?"

Yuan Li thought for a moment, then cautiously extended two fingers:
"At least two months."

It is not an underestimate, but an estimation based on objective facts.

Xu Zhenguan shook his head and said:

"I am not as confident as Mr. Yuan, but if he can really do it, I think it will be within two months, or even one month."

One month... Yuan Liqi asked, "Why does your Majesty make such a guess?"

Xu Zhenguan snorted and said:

"Because I ordered him to capture Zhuang Xiaocheng before the end of the year. So, he doesn't have enough patience to waste time. Besides, didn't Lord Yuan realize that he always works very quickly?"

Yuan Li was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter:
"Well, I will dare to make a bet with Your Majesty. Will it take Zhao Duan one month or two months to complete this task?"

Xu Zhenguan raised his lips slightly: "Yes."

Then he looked outside the palace, in the direction of the imperial court, and thought to himself, "Little imperial guard, please don't let me down."

……

……

"Ah!"

Zhao Duan sneezed, rubbed his nose, and muttered:

"Who scolded me again?"

Forget it. There are many people scolding him in the world, and I’m afraid there will be even more in the next few days.

"Speaking of which, if the people's faith and willpower can be condensed into a god, then if there are enough people who hate me, will a 'God Zhao' be condensed..."

As Zhao Duan was having strange thoughts, his ears moved slightly and he heard footsteps coming from far away outside the yard.

At this moment, he was in the backyard of the Governor's Hall in the Imperial Court, which was also the private residence of his cheap senior brother.

From the moment a eunuch entered the palace, he no longer had a "home".

Just as Sun Lianying lived in the back court of Baima Prison, Ma Yan also did not have his own courtyard - the empress had once offered him a courtyard, but it was rejected by the cold eunuch.

Therefore, he also regards the government office as his home.

Today, Zhao Duan relied on martial arts to avoid the sight of others, sneaked in, and waited for the other party.

The gate opened with a creak.

The eunuch Dugong, who was thin, with messy gray eyebrows like barbs, a long face and a serious expression, walked into the room.

His sharp gaze instantly locked onto Zhao Duan, who was sitting carefree on a stone bench in the center of the courtyard.

The powerful energy that was originally raised in the chest and abdomen because of sensing the presence of someone in the house was like the Hunhe River that had its floodgates opened, flowing towards all seven meridians and eight vessels.

The majestic momentum slowly slides down.

Ma Yan frowned: "Why are you here?"

Put your palms behind your back and push gently.

With a bang, the double doors of the courtyard slammed shut.

Zhao Duan pointed to the two boxes of "Zuiyueju" cakes on the table and said with a smile:

"If you have nothing to do, can't you come and visit me, Senior Brother? Speaking of which, I have been in the government for several days, but I have never met you once. Even if it is to avoid suspicion, it is a bit too much."

Ma Yan had a blank expression on his face, with his eyes twitching slightly.

I felt annoyed when he kept calling me "senior brother" left and right.

I opened my mouth and tried to correct it, but when I saw the smiling face of the person in front of me, I gave up and just let it go.

"Since you want to visit, you can't enter through the main gate. But I have never heard of any way to break into someone's house without permission."

Ma Yan walked to the stone table with a swift and steady step, and said coldly:
"How did Sun Lianying teach you?"

Zhao Duan said as a matter of course:
"When I was in Baima Prison, I often broke into the backyard of Supervisor Sun."

"..." Ma Yan's face turned wooden. He had underestimated the shamelessness of this boy.

Ma Dugong and Lao Sijian have completely different personalities. Neither of them is the type to waste time on small talk or be sentimental.

But Zhao Duan knew that his cheap senior brother was not a bad person.

According to Sun Lianying, Ma Yan was saved by the prince, and more than 20 years have passed since she entered the palace, during which time she had almost no contact with the prince.

But on the day of the coup, this little beggar who had been almost forgotten by the prince and whom he had rescued more than 20 years ago, walked out silently without saying a word and blocked dozens of knives for the prince.

Almost died of exhaustion.

Just with this grateful heart, it is impossible for you to be a cold-hearted person.

This is probably why the empress dared to use him after she ascended the throne.

It was also the reason why Zhao Duan dared to smile and get close to this cold-blooded eunuch who was known as the "King of Hell" and made all officials tremble in fear.

"… That's all."

Ma Yan took a deep breath, sat down in front of him, frowned and said:
"Whatever you have to say, just say it."

You are so straightforward. If you hadn't proven your loyalty, you wouldn't be able to get by in the officialdom... Zhao Duan commented with the attitude of a workplace senior, smiling:
"I do have something to ask for help."

"Speak." Ma Yan said briefly.

Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"It's actually very simple. Yesterday, Junior Brother, I got a lot of information about the rebels from the other eight gangs. I spent the whole night reading it last night and spent a long time reading it today. Combining the information from the various gangs, I actually made some discoveries."

Ma Yan's eyes lit up:
"Have you found any clues about the rebels?"

He couldn't hide his surprise, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was indeed possible.

The nine gangs are in competition with each other and are investigating cases independently.

Some important clues will only be handed over to the Supervisor when there is a breakthrough.

Many clues that have not yet made any progress are in the hands of the chief officers of each hall, who are strictly guarding against them and do not communicate with each other.

This time, Zhao Duan forced the eight people to hand over.

Although Ma Yan was sure that the eight people were definitely hiding something, what they handed over was most likely a relatively unimportant part.

But when many clues that were originally isolated and unrelated to each other gathered in Zhao Duan's hands at the same time.

Cross-verify each other and build connections.

It is really possible to connect the different clues together and get a breakthrough.

"Yes. I did find the place where the rebels are suspected to be hiding, but please forgive me for not telling you right now." Zhao Duan said.

"..."

Ma Yan's chest rose and fell again. He took a deep breath and said coldly:
"so?"

If the person in front of him was one of his subordinates, Ma Yan would have been furious, but considering that His Majesty was standing behind the other person, he chose to endure it.

Zhao Duan said sincerely:

"I am going to lead the Lihua Hall to raid tomorrow to capture people, but I have only been practicing for a short time and I am afraid that I will not be able to defeat a strong enemy, so I would like to ask you to accompany me tomorrow."

That's it? Ma Yan readily agreed:
"can."

His messy brows relaxed, thinking that although this boy was smooth-talking and good at making connections, he was still sensible and knew what was important and was not greedy for success or reckless actions.

Well, I guess the Zhuang Xiaocheng case taught him a lesson.

However, Zhao Duan did not stop and continued:
"In addition, please give an order to the eight halls today, requiring the eight officers to stay at home tomorrow and not go out. All the officers and servants are stationed at the entrances of the halls and are not allowed to move without permission."

A gleam of light suddenly flashed across Ma Yan's eyes:

"Are you worried..."

Zhao Duan smiled and said:

"Brother, don't ask too much. We will know the answer tomorrow."

Ma Yan was silent.

He didn't know how Zhao Duan knew that there was a traitor in the government office, whether it was the emperor who told him or something else.

But requiring all halls to be under house arrest is undoubtedly to eliminate risks and ensure that there are no accidents in the arrest operation in Lihua Hall.

"can."

Ma Yan nodded solemnly and looked at him deeply:
"However, if Lihuatang is short of manpower and the rebel escapes..."

Zhao Duan smiled with an ambiguous tone:

"Brother, don't worry. The thief is in the capital. As long as he shows his head, he won't be able to escape."

After saying that, he turned and walked away.

Ma Yan shouted, "The gate is this way."

"I know, but there is a back door. Who goes through the front door these days?" Zhao Duan climbed over the wall with extremely familiar movements.

Ma Yan was left alone sitting in the yard.

After a long time, he lowered his eyes to look at the cakes on the table. Suddenly, he raised his calloused fingers, picked up a piece of mung bean cake, put it into his mouth, and chewed it gently.

Brat...it's pretty delicious.

……

……

at the same time.

After Zhao Duan found the "Governor's Hall", he went straight back to the "Pear Blossom Hall".

He summoned his four men, gave them some instructions, and gave each of them a lucky bag, asking them to open it after returning home tonight.

After hearing the content, the four subordinates looked at each other in bewilderment.

But now, they were quite convinced of Zhao Duan. Although they were doubtful, they still responded and carried out the order.

Before he knew it, Zhao Duan already had his own team.

There is no need to do many small things personally, or you have to rely entirely on Zhu Kui.

Then, he took off his official robes, changed into his casual clothes, and got on the carriage:

"Go to the White Horse Prison, quickly."

inside the carriage.

Zhao Duan looked through the curtain at the ten halls of the imperial yamen outside, a complex of buildings connected together, and slowly narrowed his eyes.

Only he knew that he had not obtained any information about the rebel party from those scattered clues.

He was just taking a gamble, betting on whether the traitor would surface tomorrow.

However, the knife that "kills ghosts" is only held by Ma Yan, and it is not safe. Before the dust settles, he remains suspicious of everyone.

Of course, this also includes Ma Yan.

Thanks: godess-moom for the 5000 points reward support!

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(End of this chapter)