The First Lackey Under The Empress

The Empress did not hold court today.

The location for the confrontation was chosen to be in a side hall.

When Zhao Du'an and Zhang Changshuo followed the palace attendant through the classical architecture with its Dougong brackets and flying eaves to their destination, they saw palace attendants standing with their hands clasped on either side of the door.

The hall door was wide open.

Inside, two figures were already standing, one on the left and one on the right, facing each other like two distinct rivers.

The person on the left was wearing a black flying fish robe, with a thin but sturdy build. The knuckles of his hands, which hung at his waist, were large and slightly red, probably due to years of holding a knife, resulting in thick calluses.

His long, narrow face was stern and beardless, and he was closing his eyes to rest.

Two slightly gray eyebrows grew diagonally above his slightly protruding brow bones, giving him a temperament of impatience and irritability.

The person on the right was completely opposite.

About forty or fifty years old, he wore an indigo official robe and a black gauze hat, with a goatee, holding his head high and chest out, radiating righteousness.

A typical censor official with a clear stream demeanor, his eyes were sharp.

"Ma Yan, Lü Liang!"

Zhao Du'an immediately guessed their identities.

The original owner had met Ma Yan, and the remaining memories showed that he was quite afraid of this Grand Eunuch in charge of the Imperial Edict Bureau.

Rumor had it that this person was from the Imperial Inner Guard, originally loyal to the late Emperor, and later followed the Crown Prince. During the "Profound Gate Coup", Ma Yan fought to the death with the rebel army.

His performance was outstanding.

After the Empress ascended the throne, she took over the old Emperor and the Crown Prince's subordinates. Ma Yan was highly valued and promoted to Director of the Imperial Edict Bureau.

A role similar to the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Responsible for monitoring the officials and also the main force in arresting rebels, he was a sharp knife in the Empress's hand.

He had the nickname "White-Browed Yama", and it was said that he was capricious. The original owner respected him from a distance, and the two did not have much interaction.

Zhao Du'an couldn't help but complain, thinking that the original owner was a coward, but he dared to steal his credit. It could only be said that he was incompetent but ambitious.

As for the censor named "Lü Liang", he was completely unfamiliar.

He only knew that he was from the Prime Minister's faction and also the main force in impeaching him this time.

"Please wait here for a moment, esteemed officials. I will go and inform Her Majesty."

The palace attendant who led the way left a sentence and turned to leave.

At the same time.

The two people in the hall also turned their heads to look over.

"Director Ma, you arrived early. I am ashamed that I am a step late."

Zhao Du'an took the lead in speaking, cupping his hands towards the "White-Browed Yama" with a look of shame:

"Regarding the matter of the rebels, I have offended you in the past. I wanted to apologize in person, but these past two days have been a sensitive time, and I couldn't find an opportunity."

Ma Yan, wearing a flying fish robe and with a stern expression, looked at Zhao Du'an's familiar appearance, and his eyes couldn't help but become strange.

He had imagined the scene of the two meeting today.

Based on his previous impression, Ma Yan thought that Zhao Du'an would be angry and roar at him, or cower and beg.

After all, the reason for this impeachment was that the Imperial Edict Bureau accused him of overstepping his authority to arrest people and leaking information about the rebels.

Zhao Du'an had reason to hate him.

But the scene before him greatly exceeded his expectations:

There was no anger, no begging, but rather a calm and breezy manner, as if they were just casual greetings between officials.

Was this still the pretty boy in the rumors?

"Lord Envoy is too polite. It is normal for officials in the same court to have friction."

Ma Yan said calmly, paused, and added:

"Today, when Her Majesty inquires, this official will report truthfully."

This sentence contained two hidden meanings:

First, I am not deliberately targeting you, but dealing with the matter as it is. The main force in impeaching you is not me.

Second, although you are very polite, don't think that I will help you cover up. I will say whatever Her Majesty asks.

Zhao Du'an said seriously: "It should be so!"

While speaking, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief… In this inquiry, Ma Yan's attitude was crucial.

Unlike Lü Liang, who represented the civil officials' forces, the Imperial Edict Bureau, as the knife in the Empress's hand, belonged to the Empress's faction together with Zhao Du'an, if divided by camp.

And there was no previous enmity.

That is to say, the Imperial Edict Bureau impeached him purely to shirk responsibility and prove to the Empress that losing the rebels was not our fault.

Perhaps there was also some annoyance at having their credit taken by Zhao Du'an.

But in Ma Yan's subsequent investigation, he would definitely know about the matter of the Taoist priest's divine descent in the bamboo forest.

Although he did not have complete information, he might not realize that Zhuang Xiaocheng was fishing.

But more or less, he would be glad—

If his own people had gone to arrest him, they might have failed as well.

At that time, he would have to bear the blame.

From this perspective, the resentment towards Zhao Du'an would naturally fade a lot:

Who would resent a colleague who took the blame for them?

After thinking about this, Zhao Du'an understood that his main enemy was the censor officials representing the civil officials' group.

And through the previous test, this point was basically confirmed.

"Cough," At this time, the censor Lü Liang, who was standing on the other side of the side hall and felt that he was being ignored, said coldly:

"This official will also report truthfully to Her Majesty, and will certainly not allow Her Majesty to be deceived by the hypocritical faces of treacherous people!"

Who the hell are you calling a treacherous person? Clearly a lackey... No, a bootlicker... Zhao Du'an had a clear understanding of the original owner's position in his heart...

But on his face, he was expressionless, standing on Ma Yan's side.

He folded his hands in his sleeves and looked at the sky, with an attitude of indifference.

"…" Lü Liang was so angry that his goatee trembled.

This blatant neglect and differential treatment was unbearable for him as a scholar.

Seeing this, Zhang Changshuo took the initiative to exchange pleasantries, which eased Censor Lü's expression.

The two stood opposite each other, and for a moment, both sides waited in silence.

…

About a quarter of an hour later, footsteps finally came from outside the hall, accompanied by the palace attendants bowing and saluting in unison:

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Xu Zhenguan's figure appeared in front of Zhao Du'an again.

After two days, the Empress had not changed, still wearing a white, spotless casual dress, her black hair fixed with a jade hairpin.

Her plain white, exquisite face was breathtaking, and a pair of eyes containing majesty made people dare not look directly at them.

In a trance, it was almost impossible to tell whether the person who came was a monarch ruling a country or a pure and refined fairy.

"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"

Zhao Du'an and the others bowed and saluted. Xu Zhenguan glanced straight ahead, paused slightly when she saw Zhao Du'an and Ma Yan standing together, as if she was surprised.

But she did not stop for too long, but went straight to the point:

"Today, I have summoned you here. There is no need to elaborate on what it is for. Ma Yan, you speak first."

"Yes," Ma Yan stepped forward. This stern and ruthless Grand Eunuch was as docile as a cat in front of the Empress, bowing his head and saying:

"This servant impeaches Zhao Du'an, the envoy of the White Horse Supervisor, for overstepping his authority and disrupting my subordinates' plans, alarming the rebel Zhuang Xiaocheng..."

Then, he described the matter in detail.

Including how he hurriedly pursued after learning the news, and how he was blocked and delayed due to the "daytime curfew"...

Xu Zhenguan already knew this, just going through the motions. After he finished speaking, she looked at the censor:

"Lü Liang, you speak."

Censor Lü, who had been holding a bellyful of fire, perked up, like a squeaky chicken with its spring wound up.

He immediately said excitedly and eloquently:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this servant impeaches Zhao Du'an for colluding with rebels... Moreover, in the past year, he has done many evils in the capital, intending to ruin Your Majesty's reputation... His crimes are unforgivable!"

The censor was indeed a great sprinkler, with a strong desire to express himself, and he sprayed out all the prepared charges.

In his description, Zhao Du'an was simply a great villain that everyone should punish, harboring evil intentions, plotting for a long time, and a spy of the rebels planted by the Empress's side...

One big hat after another was thrown out, and the central idea was:

Such an evil wolf, if not killed, is not enough to appease the people's anger, and if not killed, the country is in danger!

Zhao Du'an was so excited listening that he was filled with righteous indignation.

He felt that if Lü Liang's speech was made into a video and posted on the Internet, Zhao Du'an would be wiped out by Weibo judges in minutes...

Xu Zhenguan waited for him to finish spraying, and looked calmly at Zhang Changshuo, saying lightly:

"Why have you come?"

Zhang Changshuo, who had been holding back for a long time, strode out, with a righteous and awe-inspiring face, and first bowed deeply to the Empress.

When he caught a glimpse of the latter's face and the outline of her figure hidden under the white clothes, a trace of greed flashed in his eyes, and he quickly restrained himself, saying loudly:

"This servant wants to impeach Zhao Du'an for accepting bribes and interfering with the Ministry of Justice's judiciary to exonerate criminal officials!"

Everyone was surprised.

Even the Empress frowned and said:

"What evidence do you have?"

This was a new charge that she did not know.

Zhang Changshuo immediately took out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to the female official next to him to present it, saying loudly:

"This is a picture of Zhao Du'an meeting with the Ning'an County Viscount in private. He even went to the Ministry of Justice yesterday to negotiate this matter. Your Majesty only needs to order someone to ask the Ministry of Justice, and you will know the truth!"

Xu Zhenguan slid a plain hand out of her sleeve, took the scroll and unfolded it. Suddenly, a ripple-like image rippled on the painting, accompanied by the sound in the painting:

"In the capital, you have to follow the rules. You took the money happily, but you are slow to save people..."

"Don't forget, I also have evidence that you took the benefits..."

"Lord Envoy... are you okay?"

"Don't worry, this official has been investigating the rebels these past few days and has no time to care about other things. Now that I have freed my hands, the matter you mentioned will be handled naturally."

Then there was the sound of the door of the private room breaking, and screams.

"Ugh... You dare... You dare to beat a noble?!"

"A dilapidated county viscount from a remote rural area dares to challenge me?"

…

The side hall was silent.

Only the conversation between Zhao Du'an and Wang Xian that day in the picture could be heard clearly.

During this period, Ma Yan and Lü Liang had different degrees of change in their expressions.

The former was surprised and contemptuous, and the latter was excited and agitated.

As for Zhang Changshuo, he had already looked at the "love rival" standing opposite him with a smile of confidence.

Finally, the light in the painting faded away.

The Great Yu Empress Xu Zhenguan raised her head calmly and threw the scroll directly at Zhao Du'an's feet. There was no expression on the Empress's face:

"How do you explain this?"