The First Lackey Under The Empress

Above the dark clouds, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

Zhao Du'an, holding the Xuan Turtle Seal, stood in the air, his gaze sweeping across the area, the immense divine figure behind him responding to his commands like an extension of his own arm.

Under the heavy rain, the fire within the city gradually weakened and died out.

But it was not enough.

The burning area was not limited to the city; there were also scattered fields outside the city. Su Dan had clearly prepared in advance, dispatching soldiers to various farmlands, where only a few soldiers were needed to ignite entire fields.

"Not enough!" Zhao Du'an raised his hand and punched towards the sky, instantly creating a hole in the dark clouds.

The thick rain clouds rolled back in all directions, and the rain within the city began to weaken. The water stored within the Xuan Turtle Seal began to spread evenly across the surrounding dozens of miles.

This action consumed surprisingly little mana because, once the rain clouds had formed, simply pushing the cloud layer over would naturally cause rain to fall.

"As long as the farmland is soaked with a layer of rain, it can no longer be ignited," Zhao Du'an silently thinned the cloud layer to prevent the rain from being too heavy.

If the rain was too heavy, it would also damage the ripening crops.

"Pay attention... experience... yourself..." Suddenly, Zhao Du'an heard Pei Niannu's stuttering voice in his mind.

Experience himself? Zhao Du'an's heart stirred:

"Do you mean, let me experience the feeling of the Celestial-Human Realm?"

At this moment, although he was not a true Celestial-Human, he had already touched that threshold.

For him, this was a rare opportunity to experience the true meaning of the Celestial-Human Realm in advance, which would help him advance in the future.

"I remember, when chatting with Zhenbao in the capital, I mentioned the Celestial-Human Realm. Zhenbao said it was about resonating with heaven and earth, a communion between humans and the celestial realm, so that every move could stir the celestial phenomena..."

"And the way warlocks and martial artists commune is different. The former involves the spirit leaving the body, similar to astral projection..."

"The latter believes that the human body contains a small world, or rather, that humans are inherently part of heaven and earth..."

Many thoughts flashed through Zhao Du'an's mind. He handed over the task of summoning rain to Pei Niannu, and focused on sensing that profound and mysterious charm.

At that moment, Sun Xiaozhun, the Prefect of Taicang Prefecture City, also hurriedly stepped onto the city wall, staring in surprise at the large expanse of dark clouds stretching across the horizon in the distance.

Lightning flashed within the clouds, visible even from a great distance.

"Is that the work of Zhao Protector-General?" Sun Xiaozhun guessed almost instinctively.

Time passed slowly.

Finally, Zhao Du'an opened his eyes, feeling the control of his body beginning to return, and hearing Pei Niannu's voice in his ear:

"There's still, the last, bit."

The Scarlet Flame Holy Armor on his body had returned to red, and the Xuan Turtle Seal was dry and no longer rotating.

Zhao Du'an did not fall. He immediately realized that the remaining bit of mana could only allow him to maintain "half-step Celestial-Human" for a few dozen breaths at most before he would be completely exhausted.

"The last bit of time cannot be wasted."

Zhao Du'an's gaze swept around, locking onto the direction of the South Gate. He took a step and disappeared from the spot.

...

Below the city gate, a chaotic battle was erupting.

When the heavy rain fell, Xue Shence immediately led the main force to pursue the rebel army. Along the way, soldiers who had been dispatched to "put out fires" returned, gathering into a considerable force.

And successfully caught up with the enemy.

Su Dan was extremely decisive, leaving a team to hold the South Gate as a base to block the Jingying army, while he led the city's garrison to retreat first. The experts in the army led the soldiers to cover the rear.

And soon engaged in close combat with Xue Shence and others, almost a continuation of the siege battle just before.

Lang Shiba found the rebel general.

Tang Jinzhong was stopped by the monk Fanlong.

Xue Shence wielded his great halberd and took the lead, charging towards Lu Tong.

But this time, after entering ground combat, Lu Tong was quickly defeated, and Xue Shence pressed him back step by step.

However, the strength of the two sides was not too different, and the rebel army left to cover the rear fought like trapped beasts, each with no way out, and a stalemate ensued in a short time.

"Fanlong! As a warrior monk of Shenlong Temple, you are actually interfering in secular struggles. This poor Daoist should act on behalf of heaven!"

Suddenly, a clear and cold voice rang out.

On the extinguished street, ripples spread out in circles in the air, and a virtual moon appeared.

Then, two figures slowly walked out of the moon. One wore a white-sleeved Daoist robe, his eyes overflowing with spiritual energy, and a cyan jade flying sword coiled around him.

The other had long hair draped over his waist, tiny stardust flowing between the strands, holding a staff with a golden single eye. He was slender, his legs suspended in the air, the "transformed" Jin Jian!

"Chase!" The Jade Sleeve's flying sword shot out.

The "transformed" Jin Jian raised his hand, grabbed his senior sister's arm, and turned into starlight with magic, heading towards the outside of the city. The girl seemed to have matured a lot, and her tone was confident:

"Don't worry, he won't escape."

Fanlong's departure immediately tilted the balance, and the rebel general holding the sword was besieged by Lang Shiba and Tang Jinzhong, and immediately fell, stabbed in the body by a knife and a sword, blood spurting from his mouth.

Lu Tong's pupils narrowed, and he said angrily: "Withdraw!"

At the same time, he suddenly turned around and shot an arrow towards the sky outside the city.

This arrow was very special, and it actually pulled out a virtual "rope", pulling Lu Tong's body out of the city wall and towards the southern sky.

He actually shot himself out!

"Not good—" Xue Shence's expression sank. He was a pure warrior, and his martial arts were only suitable for the battlefield, making it difficult to stop Lu Tong.

Once such an opponent escaped, it would be almost impossible to catch him again.

"He can't leave." Suddenly, a voice appeared abruptly in his ear.

Zhao Du'an appeared out of nowhere, as if teleporting. He did not waste time, and stepped towards the direction Lu Tong was escaping.

In full view, he flashed to the top of the city wall and drew his sword from its sheath with his right hand.

"Clang!"

The Town Sword suddenly drew its blade, and a bright flash of light reflected the dark sky.

Lu Tong, who was almost flying away in the distance, suddenly screamed miserably. The layer of Gang Qi around him was as easily pierced as window paper, and he was directly cut in two in mid-air!

With a look of astonishment, he tried his best to "turn his head" to look back, making eye contact with Zhao Du'an standing on the city wall. The light in his eyes quickly went out.

One blade.

It only took one blade.

Zhao Du'an exhausted his last bit of time, cutting the Floating Cloud Dao, the number one archer of the Mu King's Mansion, the high-ranked Lu Tong, in half, killing him on the spot.

Only the corpse and the bow and arrow on his body fell to the wet ground outside the city.

The next second, the clothes on Zhao Du'an's body returned to normal, and the silver color in his pupils disappeared. His mana and energy were almost exhausted.

He also fell back to the middle rank of the world.

...

Silence.

The world seemed to be in silence.

Only the patter of fine rain falling.

Zhao Du'an shook the raindrops off the blade, sheathed his sword, and stood on the city wall, overlooking the scene below alone.

Xue Shence and others quickly killed the rebel army who were covering the rear, and then led the Jingying army, whose morale was high, to chase and kill towards the outside of the city.

In the distance, the Five Armies Battalion led by Yuan Feng was also approaching.

Further south was Shi Meng's Divine Machine Battalion.

"There is no escape," Zhao Du'an murmured softly, looking at the fleeing rebel army in the distance:

"I have already seen the outcome of this battle."

He sat tiredly on the city wall, quietly blowing the wind, and only then did he feel a burst of weakness.

After an unknown amount of time, the fine rain gradually stopped, and sunlight poured down from the cracks in the dark clouds, illuminating Zhao Du'an on the city wall.

Yuxiu and Jin Jian carried a bloody corpse up the city wall, threw it on the ground, and said calmly:

"Fanlong of Shenlong Temple, a monk with solid martial arts."

Zhao Du'an sized up the two women. They weren't injured, but Yu Xiu's face was pale, as if she had used up a lot of her magic power.

As for Jin Jian... well, the girl had already reverted to her "original form," her expression listless, sporting huge dark circles under her eyes, and yawning while clutching her staff.

"Never heard of it, but it's not important. It was expected that Xuan Yin would make some small moves."

Zhao Du'an said nonchalantly, staring at Jin Jian, speechless, "You haven't been lacking sleep lately, so why are you so sleepy?"

Jin Jian's face, the size of a palm, still had exquisite features, but her eyelids were drooping and her eye bags were heavy.

Hearing this, she glanced at him warily, adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose, and said seriously, "I've been patrolling at night. Sun Xiaozhun told me that patrolling one night is worth a hundred taels. This counts as protecting the territory and comforting the people, and doesn't violate the rules by interfering in battles."

Zhao Du'an: ?

Yu Xiu: ??

The little money-grubber Jin Jian looked at the two of them innocently, mustered her courage, stretched out her right hand towards Zhao Du'an, and said with a justified tone, "Give me the money!"

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"...When we get back, you can go ask Sun Xiaozhun for the money. It's not a business I'm doing!" Zhao Du'an sighed softly, feeling hopeless.

After sending away the money-grubbing Jin Jian, he called people to deal with the corpses on the ground and pack up the spoils of war.

Xue Shence wouldn't be back for a while, but a considerable portion of the garrison was left in the city, and Mo Chou also stayed in the city.

Zhao Du'an simply took over the command temporarily, summoned the military officers, ordered them to gather the soldiers in the city, and sent people to Taicang Prefecture City to bring back the "refugees" who had been driven away.

"Fortunately, the fire was extinguished in time, and the damage to the city was minimal, but it will still need a period of recuperation, which can be arranged for Sun Xiaozhun and his group of civil officials to do."

"There are still some small groups of rebel troops remaining nearby, which need to be cleared, but there's no rush. Besides, they should have fled to the Huai River by now."

After Zhao Du'an arranged for some people to maintain order and clean up the aftermath, he entered the county office to rest, temporarily using this place as a "temporary post-war command center."

He left the trivial matters to Mo Chou to worry about. He slapped his forehead and suddenly called someone, "Go to the north of the city and call those two people over."

...

...

Not long after, in the back hall of the county office.

Zhao Du'an, sitting down and eating melons and fruits, caught sight of the two people walking in from outside the hall.

"Congratulations, sir, for capturing Ning'an and achieving a great victory!" Song Jin greeted him first with a beaming smile.

Nie Yurong followed beside him, with her head lowered, also busy congratulating him, but she seemed a little absent-minded.

Zhao Du'an smiled and scrutinized this "Shadow Guard White Falcon."

He had to admit that this person's acting was really good.

He hadn't revealed any flaws in the prefecture office for many days.

"Does sir have any instructions?"

Nie Yurong felt the scrutiny of the treacherous minister Zhao Gou and gradually became uneasy, but she didn't show it on her face at all.

"Sit down, I suddenly remembered something I wanted to ask you." Zhao Du'an lazily raised his hand and pointed to the seat beside him.

Nie Yurong's eyes flickered, and she respectfully took a seat, the two of them separated by a narrow coffee table.

At this moment, Zhao Du'an had just undergone a spellcasting and was in an extremely weak state. He had the realm, but there wasn't much qi in his Qi Sea that could be used.

There were only three people here, and they were very close. Those experts beside Zhao Du'an had all gone to pursue and kill the rebel army, and most of them were not in the city.

Nie Yurong was eager to make a move for a moment, realizing that this might be the best assassination opportunity she had been waiting for these past few days.

Once she missed it, it would be difficult to have another chance.

It was just that she still had a trace of hesitation, and her instincts as an assassin were subtly conveying uneasy emotions to her.

The hall was very quiet. Zhao Du'an didn't seem to be in a hurry to speak, but was seriously chewing on the yellow pear in his hand.

No one spoke, and the atmosphere was eerily quiet.

Finally, Zhao Du'an put the pear core in the fruit plate and said lightly, "Aren't you going to make a move yet? If you miss this opportunity, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to strike again."

Nie Yurong's pupils shook and suddenly shrank into two small dots!

Her identity was exposed! Or...was he bluffing me?

But the next second, she suddenly groaned, feeling a sharp, needle-like pain in the back of her neck! A burst of intense paralysis swept through her body! Making it difficult for her to move!

No!

It wasn't an illusion!

A thin needle had really been pierced into the acupoint on the back of her neck!

Song Jinxi slowly retracted his hand holding the needle, and smiled at Nie Yurong's unbelievable eyes, "You want to ask, with your alertness, why didn't you notice our attack? Heh, haven't you noticed that since you stepped into this courtyard, you have smelled a faint floral fragrance?"

Nie Yurong suddenly reacted, "It's a hypnotic fragrance! When did you plot against me?!"

Song Jinxi folded his sleeves, with an arrogant and indifferent smile on his face, "The name of the Embroidered Uniform Direct Envoy sounds intimidating, but in the end, they are just third-rate assassins privately raised by the Mu Prince's Mansion who can't be seen in the light. They didn't even notice our methods, that's all."

Nie Yurong was silent.

Of course, she wasn't a third-rate assassin. As an Embroidered Uniform Envoy, her assassination ability ranked at the top in the Jianghu world.

But Song Jinxi was secretly cultivated by the Great Yu Imperial Family, the most specialized offering in the Martial Arts Hall for assassination.

There was a natural gap between the two.

Zhao Du'an smiled and explained, "You are not wronged to lose to a Great Interior Offering."

From beginning to end, she had a calm expression, as if everything was under control.

Nie Yurong's body was paralyzed, making it difficult to move. The only thing she could do was turn her head. Although her tongue was slightly numb, she could still speak.

Hearing this, she smiled miserably, and looked at Zhao Du'an calmly, "Did you discover from the beginning that I wasn't Bai Falcon?"

Zhao Du'an picked up a fruit knife and slowly peeled an apple, the apple peel connected into a string, and said casually, "No, I didn't discover it before today. Your disguise has no flaws.

I was just being duly vigilant and was a little wary of you. Then I left you in the prefecture office for a few days, and I also had the intention of testing you, to see if you could resist the urge to make a move when facing easily available military intelligence."

Nie Yurong stared at him with her rebellious eyes and said coldly, "Aren't you afraid that I will assassinate those ministers? Such as Sun Xiaozhun?"

Zhao Du'an shook his head, "Since you came for me from the beginning, you naturally wouldn't be so impatient. I was more worried about Mo Chou, so I arranged for Jiyue to guard her."

Nie Yurong was expressionless, "And then?"

Zhao Du'an said lightly, "I sent someone to contact the local Shadow Guards to check, that's all.

The situation is chaotic and the Shadow Guard system has been severely damaged. Perhaps this is why you were given the confidence to create an 'information gap,' disguise yourself as a Shadow Guard, approach me, deceive me, and try to assassinate me.

However, you are too greedy, and you haven't left for a long time."

He put the long apple peel on the plate and handed the peeled apple to the female assassin's mouth with a smile, "Want to take a bite?"

"Oh, I forgot you can't move now, so you can watch me eat."

Nie Yurong took a deep breath, straightened her fair neck, and said unusually calmly, "Kill me, I have received the most cruel training from the Prince's Mansion. Torture is meaningless to me. You can't get any information out of me."

She resigned herself to her fate. This was the fate of an assassin. It was just a pity that she hadn't had time to find her sister who had been missing since she was young.

Zhao Du'an nodded while gnawing on the apple, "Okay, but before that, I want to see what your real face looks like."

Song Jinxi got up and quickly removed Nie Yurong's disguise, and as her true face was revealed in front of the two.

Zhao Du'an was stunned.