The First Lackey Under The Empress

“Brother?”

Qin Qiu looked towards that side in confusion, only vaguely seeing two people hidden in the alleyway beside the street, seemingly arguing.

“Shhh.” Zhao Du'an's expression was strange, holding the candied hawthorns, signaling his lackey to wait, and walking forward alone.

An old servant, about fifty years old, blocked a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, anxiously saying:

“Young master, you can't go forward!

Those are all constables from the Zhao Bureau, many with martial arts skills.

Master has already fallen, and the Zhao Bureau's lackeys have actually found this private residence.

You managed to escape with great difficulty, how can you reveal yourself?”

The young man wore a cloth robe and a bamboo hat.

At this moment, his eyes were filled with tears, like an angry little lion, trying to struggle forward, and said upon hearing this:

“Uncle Wen, but my mother is still inside.

Now that father is about to die, and my mother has fallen into the hands of the imperial court's hawks, how can she survive?

Although I am young, as a son, how can I witness my birth mother being captured without risking my life to save her?”

The old servant still held him, bitterly persuading:

“Madam is not master's legal wife, nor does she have any formal status, so she won't be implicated too heavily.

Perhaps she can avoid the punishment of exile, but you are different.

Although you are illegitimate, you are still master's bloodline, and the government will not let you go.

Since this old servant has received master's favor, staying here to guard the house, I should take you far away, to leave a bloodline for the Zhou family.”

The young man sighed to the heavens, tears falling uncontrollably, already resolved to die:

“Uncle Wen, my mind is made up, I will never abandon my mother and escape alone.

You should leave by yourself.”

The old servant was greatly moved, suddenly gritting his teeth, making a difficult decision:

“Young master, your martial arts are not yet complete, so stay here and watch.

I have received master's favor, and today I will sacrifice this life and forty years of martial arts, to rescue madam!

If successful, the three of us will meet at the South Pavilion Temple in the East City.

If it fails, then you should know that you cannot fight them head-on, and quickly flee for your life.”

The young man was greatly shocked, his lips trembling, and finally, he cupped his hands and bowed deeply:

“Uncle Wen, your righteousness is great, if things don't work out, I will escape out of the city, cultivate diligently, and when I achieve something, I will return to take Zhao Du'an's head, to avenge today's hatred!

If I can't defeat him, I will find an opportunity to kill the women in his family, if I don't avenge this, I swear I won't be human.”

The old servant revealed a gratified smile.

Drawing a short knife from his lower back, he soared away, like a suicide soldier, leaping over the courtyard wall of the private residence.

After the man left, the young man's expression turned cold, wiping away the tears on his face, his expression sarcastic and venomous, spitting and cursing:

“That old dog is easy to fool, hmph, does he think I don't know about his affair with that slut?

Wants to be my cheap old man?

Tch, what is he, it would be good if they all died.”

Suddenly, a voice of admiration was heard:

“Wonderful!

Truly wonderful, I didn't expect everyone in the Zhou family to be like dragons, Zhou Cheng is a bad one, and the illegitimate son he produced is also a vicious one.”

The young man was startled in horror.

Turning his head, he saw a handsome youth slowly jumping down from the eaves behind him, one hand pressing the sword hilt, the other hand holding a bright red candied hawthorn.

“You are……” The young man's pupils suddenly narrowed, reaching out to touch the dagger under his robe.

Zhao Du'an smiled and said:

“You want to kill my whole family, but you don't recognize this official?”

Without waiting for the other party to reply, Zhao Du'an drew his sword, and a splash of bright red suddenly splattered on the gray wall at the entrance of the alley.

The young man's head fell to the ground, slowly dyed red, and then covered with a layer of frost.

Like a huge, bright red candied hawthorn.

“Cutting grass without removing the roots, the spring breeze will blow again……”

Zhao Du'an remained silent, shaking off the blood on the sword's edge, and slowly sheathing the sword.

He deeply felt that this "Frost Sword" that he had seized last time matched his newly mastered Frost Qi.

“Ah—”

Qin Qiu, who came looking after hearing the commotion, witnessed this, and knelt on the ground with a thud, letting out a cry of surprise.

Zhao Du'an was annoyed, and stuffed the candied hawthorn into his mouth:

“Don't be noisy.”

“Ugh……”

At this time, several people leaped out from inside the courtyard wall, the leader being the familiar Zhang Han.

The poker-faced workaholic Zhang Han glanced at the corpse in the alley and frowned:

“Dead?”

“He wanted to escape, but he didn't make it,” Zhao Du'an explained, curiously asking:

“What about the one who went in just now?”

After advancing to the high rank of Mortal Body, his hearing became even more enhanced, and he hadn't heard any fighting.

Zhang Han indifferently said:

“After that Zhou family servant entered the courtyard, he took the initiative to abandon his knife and surrender, saying that he had captured Zhou Cheng's illegitimate son, who was outside the courtyard, and was willing to use this person to atone for his crime.”

Zhao Du'an was dumbfounded.

Zhang Han's brows relaxed, taking out two heavy pearl-inlaid hairpins from his chest, and handing them to him:

“I was going to give these to you when we returned to the yamen.

It's an unwritten rule of the yamen to confiscate property, everyone gets a share, don't worry, these are clean items that weren't registered.

Hai Tang said that your two female family members don't have any good jewelry.”

Zhao Du'an was stunned for a moment, then gladly accepted them.

Conforming to the norm, killing and accepting bribes, it wasn't wrong for outsiders to scold him.

On the way back, reaching the intersection.

Zhao Du'an suddenly stopped, looking towards another direction at the street corner.

He saw another pair of master and servant, also quietly watching the Zhou family being raided.

Xue Xuan, full of scholarly air and with a slightly thin face, was reminded by his servant Fu Bo, turned his head and looked over, bit his lip, and suddenly very seriously, bowed towards this side from afar.

“Brother, do you know that young lady?

Do you want me to invite her over?”

Qin Qiu, with the candied hawthorn in his mouth, made a fierce expression.

Zhao Du'an glared at him, nodded remotely towards Xue Xuan, and turned to leave.

Also watching the Zhou family being raided, the two pairs of master and servant had two completely different attitudes towards him, as different as heaven and earth.

……

……

“Has Dalang encountered something?”

Beside the carriage.

After strolling around the jewelry shop and returning empty-handed, the mother and daughter saw him return, and You Jinhua keenly noticed that her stepson's expression was different.

“It's nothing, just… I ran into a few colleagues,” Zhao Du'an said with a smile.

“That's good,” You Jinhua said, relieved, then her face lit up with a smile:

“We've walked around, it's time to go back.”

Zhao Pan, as beautiful as a flower, with a pure and refined appearance, looked at the jewelry shop, her eyes filled with reluctance.

But she didn't say anything, and obediently said “En”.

“You guys go back first, I'll take a walk outside to relax,”

Zhao Du'an said, reaching into his chest, taking out two warm and valuable hairpins and handing them to them, saying lightly:

“A colleague gave them to me, you guys can wear them.”

Saying that, he strode straight into the crowd.

Leaving only You Jinhua and Zhao Pan stunned in place.

The mother and daughter, holding the pearl and jade hairpins in their hands, were in a daze.

The collection of the great corrupt official Zhou Cheng.

At a glance, they knew that they were more precious than all the jewelry in that shop just now combined.

… …

… …

Zhao Du'an, holding the black and red sword scabbard, walked through the market.

Because of the Qiqiao Festival, many young women on the street, seeing his appearance, stopped to watch, and some even blushed.

With the Empress ruling, the atmosphere was open.

Zhao Du'an walked out of the crowd, went to a secluded small stone bridge, and had more than a dozen women's silk handkerchiefs in his arms.

He sighed softly and threw the silk handkerchiefs into the bottom of the bridge.

Then he realized that this stone bridge was actually the one where Zhu Kui committed suicide.

Smiling self-deprecatingly, Zhao Du'an held onto the railing and suddenly said:

“Come out, you've been following me for a while, being sneaky, what kind of real person is that?”

Whoosh… A clear breeze blew, and the willows by the shore swayed.

Silently, a figure appeared beside Zhao Du'an.

It was a tall old priest in ordinary cloth clothes, with white eyebrows and a white beard, narrow eyes, and a ruddy face.

“Old Wang?” Zhao Du'an was stunned for a moment, his tense heartstrings suddenly relaxed, and he said speechlessly:

“Why is it you?”

Zhang Yan, the Real Person of the Celestial Master's Mansion who was called “Old Wang”, one of the current four “Celestial Human Realm” cultivators, and a god-like figure in the eyes of the people, smiled and said:

“Why can't it be this old man?”

Zhao Du'an sighed:

“I thought an enemy had come to my door, and I've had a sense of being watched that I couldn't get rid of.”

“Oh? You advanced to High Grade? Heh, your perception has become a bit stronger.” Zhang Yan feigned surprise.

With his cultivation level, if he deliberately hid, it would naturally be impossible for Zhao Du'an to sense him, he had deliberately revealed himself just now.

“That's natural, His Majesty personally helped me advance.”

Zhao Du'an said smugly:

“Give me two more years, and maybe I'll be stronger than you. Hey, let's go over there and sit down to talk.”

Stronger than me… Zhang Yan smiled without saying a word:

“Alright.”

… …

… …

At the tea stall.

“Here's your white tea.”

The tea seller, holding a long-spouted tin teapot, shouted and turned to leave.

Zhao Du'an and Zhang Yan met for the third time.

Compared to the previous two times, there was less defensiveness and vigilance.

First, they exchanged greetings, Zhao Du'an praised the effectiveness of the "Imperial God Talisman" and asked if the words he had Jin Jian bring last time had been delivered.

Zhang Yan nodded with a smile and asked about his recent situation.

“… …That's roughly it.” Zhao Du'an picked up the teacup, took a sip, and smiled:

“Don't talk about me, Old Wang, you came here today, it's not a coincidence, right?”

Zhang Yan smiled and said:

“Last time, my young friend discussed the ruthlessness of the Heavenly Dao, and also put forward the high theory of 'Dao follows nature', which was quite profound. After the old man went back, I pondered it every time, but I couldn't add or subtract even half a word, and I deeply admire it. Today, I've come again to ask for advice.”

Zhao Du'an smiled and rubbed his fingers:

“Easy to say, but the price…”

Zhang Yan couldn't help but laugh:

“The old man is just copying a few words from you, why are you so mercenary?”

Zhao Du'an said seriously:

“Old Wang, what you said is wrong. Since you are cultivating the Heavenly Dao, have you forgotten that I told you before that the Dao of Heaven diminishes what is in excess and replenishes what is insufficient. You are in excess, and I am very insufficient.”

The old Celestial Master was speechless, shook his head, and scolded with a smile:

“How can the Heavenly Dao be interpreted like this? The discussion of Dao by cultivators is a matter of elegance, but here with you, it is like a transaction between merchants.”

Zhao Du'an said solemnly:

“Don't think that the way of merchants is lowly, this is a great knowledge.”

The old Celestial Master smiled and said:

“Alright, alright, the old man won't argue with you. These days, the old man has been writing books for his disciples, and I am worried about some words and sentences. If you can give the old man some inspiration, you will definitely get some benefits.”

Okay… Zhao Du'an reluctantly said, very unwillingly:

“What do you want to ask?”

If the people of the world knew about this attitude, it would definitely make countless people beat their chests and stomp their feet.

Being able to sit down and discuss Dao with Celestial Master Zhang, such an opportunity, I don't know how many strong people would seek it.

Even the Empress rarely has such treatment.

But Zhao Du'an not only did not cherish it in fear, but also looked like a miser who was worried about being taken advantage of.

The old Celestial Master was not annoyed either, and said with a smile:

“It's not a new problem, it's just that the young disciples below, although they understand cultivation, they always fail to grasp the essentials of cultivating the Dao.

Like your last explanation of the word 'Dao', although the old man can understand it, the young disciples mostly can't distinguish the difference between cultivation and cultivating the Dao.

They think that cultivating the Dao is to worship the 'Heavenly Dao' and the gods, and cultivation is to use oneself as a vessel to accommodate the power of heaven and earth, what do you think of this explanation, my young friend?”

“Can't distinguish between Dao and vessel?”

Zhao Du'an thought for a while, and suddenly remembered a sentence in the 《Zhou Yi》, which was somewhat suitable. After a slight contemplation, he slowly recited:

“That which is above form is called Dao, that which is below form is called vessel.”

“Just as one yin and one yang is Dao, this is my humble opinion.”