The First Lackey Under The Empress

Just as Grand Secretary Xiao was being arrested, the entire floor of the Yunshui Pavilion in the capital was reserved, with only a solitary table occupied.

"Prime Minister Li, the situation at the Imperial Academy is largely settled," Chen Zhengru, dressed in a Grand Scholar's robe and looking every bit the Confucian scholar, said with a smile.

Sitting opposite him was none other than the current Prime Minister, the former "Grand Secretary", the leader of the "Li Faction", and the most powerful figure under the Empress, Li Yanfu.

Due to his advanced age, Li Yanfu appeared somewhat listless as he sat in the square chair, but his lowered eyes concealed a sharp glint:

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"Good, very good."

Li Yanfu said slowly:

"Now, the court is in turmoil. Dong Xuan is acting willfully, trying to implement what is called the Golden Policy, but is in reality three policies that harm the people.

The scholars of the world, full of youthful fervor, should speak out righteously. If the young scholars of the Imperial Academy jointly submit a memorial, His Majesty will surely recognize the advantages and disadvantages, and not be deceived by Dong Xuan."

In recent days, Chen Zhengru, after being released from prison, had not been idle, but had been working hard to make a breakthrough with the Imperial Academy as a starting point.

He gathered scholars and young officials of noble birth to discuss politics.

In this way, he incited public opinion.

The Imperial Academy was originally under the jurisdiction of Grand Preceptor Dong, but firstly, although the Grand Preceptor held the official position of Academician of Imperial Decrees, his control over the Imperial Academy had declined due to insufficient energy.

Secondly, and more importantly.

These days, most of those who are good at studying are still children of noble families, and in order to maintain their own interests, they naturally gather together to discuss politics.

Li Yanfu hinted to Chen Zhengru to mobilize this force in an attempt to shake the stalemate in the court.

To break the balance with external forces.

The Empress's acquisition of the throne was already "improper". If the scholars of the world spoke out, she would inevitably have to take their concerns into account. In this way, the west wind would prevail over the east wind.

The debate over the new policies would also come to a conclusion.

This was a trump card that Li Yanfu had prepared and was about to play.

While the Imperial Party was still thinking about how to win over one-third of the forces in the court, Li Yanfu was already preparing to launch a counterattack.

"Prime Minister Li is right, then I will act according to the plan…"

Chen Zhengru looked pleased, knowing that as long as he succeeded this time, not only would his status within the Li Faction be elevated, but he would also gain the friendship of the scholars of the world.

Originally, he had not yet decided to take action, but after offending the Empress because of Zhao Du'an's matter, Chen Zhengru finally made up his mind.

"Thump, thump, thump…"

Just then, footsteps suddenly approached from the staircase, it was actually two people.

The two who were secretly meeting and talking fell silent at the same time and looked over.

Only to see that the one in the lead was none other than Li Yanfu's personal guard left downstairs, and behind him was the fleeing guard of Li Yinglong.

The former respectfully said:

"Master, the young master's guard has come to find you, saying that he has important matters to report."

Li Yanfu frowned.

Beside him, Chen Zhengru stood up and said:

"Since the Prime Minister has family matters, I will take my leave first."

Li Yanfu hesitated slightly, but did not stop him.

After Chen Zhengru went downstairs, he said in a gentle tone:

"What did Yinglong call you here for?"

After the guard came upstairs, his expression was unusually strange, his demeanor anxious, and he tried to speak several times. At this time, he finally said:

"Reporting to Prime Minister Li, something bad has happened, the young master has fallen into a trap and has been captured by the people of the Imperial Prison!"

"What?" Li Yanfu was stunned for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "Explain clearly!"

The guard said quickly:

"This afternoon, Chen Zhengru's disciple, Xu Hanlin, came to the Ministry of Works to find the young master, claiming that Scholar Chen had important matters and invited the young master to discuss them.

The young master did not suspect anything and was escorted by this humble servant. After arriving at a restaurant, the young master went upstairs, and immediately, Imperial Prison officials rushed out from the shadows, surrounding the inn, blocking the front and back, and breaking into the building in the name of searching for rebellious parties…

This humble servant wanted to rescue the young master, and after going upstairs with light skills, was targeted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard… The other party came out in full force, and to avoid making mistakes, this humble servant had no choice but to escape and report…"

Li Yanfu listened quietly, his originally lazy sitting posture gradually straightened:

"Chen Zhengru's student invited him?"

The old fox's eyes flashed with cold light first, and then turned to doubt.

Has Chen Zhengru betrayed him?

No… The moment this thought arose, it was dismissed by him.

In that case, it was "Xu Hanlin" who used a false name… Imperial Prison officials…

As if guessing the Prime Minister's thoughts, the guard hurriedly said:

"Yes. That Xu Hanlin must be a ghost, I'm afraid he was bribed by the Imperial Prison. When searching for those few officials, this humble servant happened to recognize them, all subordinates of the Pear Blossom Hall, and did not see any Embroidered Uniform Guards from other halls."

In other words, the person who set the trap was undoubtedly Zhao Du'an.

"Do you know what trap Yinglong fell into? Could it be that he was falsely accused of colluding with rebellious parties?" Li Yanfu asked.

His first thought was that Zhao Du'an knew that a certain rebellious party was in the building and deliberately led Li Yinglong over.

But on second thought, he felt that this plan was too crude. If that was the case, it would not be a problem.

The guard shook his head:

"This humble servant was in a hurry and could not enter the building, so I don't know clearly, but… I vaguely heard a woman's scream when the young master escaped."

Woman? Getting this answer, even Li Yanfu, with his deep scheming, was stunned for a moment.

He couldn't figure it out for a while.

He did not get up immediately, but closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and reviewed the recent court situation.

Then, this veteran power minister opened his eyelids, and said with unusual calmness:

"Prepare the carriage…"

He originally wanted to say, go to the Imperial Prison.

But hurried footsteps came again from downstairs, and a personal attendant came upstairs and clasped his fist:

"Master, downstairs… Zhao Du'an, the Imperial Prison Investigator, says he wants to see you."

… …

… …

Step… Step… Step…

When Zhao Du'an, dressed in luxurious clothes, followed the address given by Xu Hanlin, arrived at the Yunshui Pavilion, and walked step by step to the empty third floor.

The view suddenly opened up, with endless blue waves in the distance. Outside the railings around the building, the sky was dim and unclear, and layers of dark clouds were like ink splashed on white paper, blurring into one after another.

It was like a huge ink wash painting.

The air was slightly cold today, especially with the lake wind blowing, which completely dispelled the heat.

Inside the pavilion, Li Yanfu was sitting at a table.

The old man, with temples like hedgehog bristles, eyebrows like amethyst, and messy stubble spreading along both cheeks, intersecting with the sideburns, had a calm expression.

He was wearing a bright red official robe, but the black gauze hat had been taken off and placed aside.

The bright red robe complemented the black and white landscape in the background, like a touch of cinnabar.

On the table in front of Li Yanfu, there were wine-warming utensils. The turbid wine was quietly being cooked in a jade pot, with the flames licking the bottom of the pot. Next to it were the utensils for drinking wine.

At this moment, Li Yanfu was focused, holding a small spoon, taking a few green plums from a porcelain bowl next to him, and throwing them into the wine pot, without even looking at him.

"Prime Minister Li has a good taste," Zhao Du'an smiled. He didn't mind the other party's casual attitude towards guests, strode straight to the opposite side, pulled out a chair, and sat down casually.

He glanced at the wine utensils left by Chen Zhengru in front of him, moved them aside, and took new ones:

"I thought that the Prime Minister would be difficult to meet because of his busy official duties, but I didn't expect to have the opportunity to sit with Prime Minister Li. Tsk, the plums are already past their ripest season, right? How can they still have such a color?"

Li Yanfu slowly put the jade spoon in his hand back into the bowl, and seeing him raise his hand to pick up a green plum, slowly said:

"They are transported from the south to the capital by water, and preserved in ice urns along the way. These few plums are already of considerable value, but fortunately, they are only used to flavor the wine, so I can still afford them."

Zhao Du'an smiled and said:

"Who in the Great Yu Dynasty does not know that Prime Minister Li's family is large and his business is prosperous? The Li family of Huai River is also a noble family of successive generations of high-ranking officials. In the Jianghu, there is even a saying that a first-rank official must be born in the Li family every hundred years, which is already a legend. How can they lack a few plums?"

As he spoke, he slowly twisted the stem of the green plum with two fingers, and examined the seemingly frail old man in front of him.

But he knew that the other party was indeed a remarkable figure.

Compared with Yuan Li's legendary story of youthful dissipation and rising up after the decline of his family, Li Yanfu's life experience can be described as unremarkable.

Born into the Li family, he was intelligent since childhood, and was low-key. Compared with the geniuses of the Li family of the same generation, he was not bad, but he was not outstanding.

Later, he entered the officialdom, and his starting point was not high. He was once not favored by the head of the Li family.

If there was anything special, the only special thing was that his position was moved quite frequently.

Moving referred not only to promotion, but also to lateral transfers.

While other Li family children were busy getting promoted, he quietly took on all the important positions in a county.

When he entered the prefectural city, it was still the same.

Even later, when he was transferred to the capital, he still did not change his style.

After going around and around, he had more or less experienced all the important yamen officials in the entire Great Yu Dynasty.

At this time, Li Yanfu was nearly fifty years old, and he was still not outstanding, only "mediocre."

However, in the next twenty years, he rose to the top, step by step, until he sent himself to the position of Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet.

The main thing was "stability".

It is said that the late Emperor once asked him why he had changed so many positions when he was young. Did he not know that this would be detrimental to promotion?

At that time, Grand Secretary Li only said calmly:

"This minister just wanted to understand the Great Yu Dynasty a little more."

The late Emperor laughed after hearing this, patted him on the shoulder, and left.

Li Yanfu sat in this position until the dissolution of the Inner Cabinet.

After Zhao Du'an understood these things, even though they were already enemies, he could not help but feel respect.

Especially, speaking of which, this current Prime Minister was the first important figure he saw after transmigrating.

At that time, Zhao Du'an had just entered the Great Yu Dynasty and entered the palace in a mess.

After waiting for a long time outside the Imperial Study, when Li Yanfu walked out, he did not even turn his eyes to him when he said "Prime Minister".

At that time, Zhao Du'an stood in the palace like a lackey.

Today, he is "sitting on an equal footing" with the other party.

Between them, it was only a few months.

"Under the whole world, there is no land that is not the King's land. Where does the Li family have any wealth? It's just managing it for His Majesty," Li Yanfu said lightly, raising his head, and in his deep eye sockets, his fierce hidden eyes calmly examined this young man.

Even as an enemy, he could not help but feel a little admiration for Zhao Du'an's calm demeanor:

"This Prime Minister did not expect a few months ago that a talent would emerge from His Majesty's side. In the future, the world may not have one more Zhao family."

Two people with different identities, different ages, but who had crossed into opposing positions from the first day of transmigration due to various wonderful coincidences, met formally for the first time.

There was no clash of swords.

There was only an invitation to dinner.