The First Lackey Under The Empress

“And then?” Zhao Du’an asked curiously.

Li Yanfu's eyes held a trace of reminiscence:

“Then, that elder pointed to the dog again, saying that it was a helper domesticated by farmers to help herd sheep. Although the flock was led by a bellwether, its numbers were large and cumbersome.

Sometimes, when passing by other people's farmland, many sheep would be attracted by the crops in the fields and would stray from the flock to eat. If they damaged the crops, the owners would come looking…

The shepherd could only drive the bellwether, but couldn't prevent the sheep from stealing food. Therefore, it was the dog's turn to play a role.”

“The dog runs fast and looks very much like a wolf. The sheep fear it. If any try to steal food, the dog can chase them away… Thus, the dog also has value and can avoid being killed and eaten.

The elder finally said to me that being those sheep is the most worthless thing. The more you eat, the closer you are to death. Only by being the bellwether or the dog, useful to the master, can you live a better life.”

After a pause, Li Yanfu said:

“I then asked, which is better, to be the bellwether or the dog?”

Zhao Du’an asked curiously, “What did that elder say?”

Li Yanfu said:

“He shook his head and said that neither was good. The best thing is to bind your own life and death to the life and death of the flock when you are the bellwether, sharing life and death, advancing and retreating together.

In this way, even if the bellwether is old and weak, the master will have to consider whether killing the old sheep will cause the flock to panic and flee.

And when being a dog, you must grasp the measure, neither being too lazy nor too diligent. If you are lazy, the master will replace you. If you are too diligent, the entire flock will listen to you…”

Speaking of this, Li Yanfu snapped out of his memories and stared at him meaningfully, saying:

“Then, why keep the dog?”

Swish… Outside the building, the lake rippled slightly.

The sound of waves lapping against the stones on the shore could be heard.

In the wine pot on the table, the green plums had almost dissolved, and the turbid wine was gradually turning into clear wine.

Zhao Du’an calmly listened to this short but profound story, and he understood the other party's meaning in his heart.

In his understanding, the shepherd is the Emperor, and the flock symbolizes the officials.

The bellwether is naturally Li Yanfu, Yuan Li, Dong Xuan, and these other ministers.

As for the sheepdog… it undoubtedly refers to himself, and Ma Yan could also be considered one.

Of course, people are far more complex than sheep.

This leads to the rules of factional strife and checks and balances between the ruler and his ministers in the imperial court.

Why can't the Empress depose Li Yanfu with a single word?

It is precisely because this old bellwether has tied together too many officials on the "Li Party" warship.

Forming a faction is not just talk. It is about holding each other's weaknesses through a series of means, because the power of a single minister is too weak to fight against the Emperor, so they band together.

This is why some powerful ministers often submit memorials requesting to resign and return to their hometowns.

The Emperor has no choice but to put on a false show of retaining them.

Sun Lianying said that Li Yinglong cannot be overthrown at this time, and this is also what she meant.

The Li Party can be weakened step by step, its power gradually dismantled, and its power gradually restricted. Gradually overthrowing Pei Kaizhi, Zhou Cheng… are all weakening from easy to difficult.

Including this "Performance Evaluation Law", it is also transferring power from the Ministry of Personnel to the Xiuwen Hall.

However, if a knife is drawn against the Li family and his son, it will inevitably lead to resistance from the officials on the entire "Li Party" warship.

If they collectively resign, the court will be paralyzed and unable to function.

Even worse, it will cause this group of people and the gentry behind them to lean towards the "Eight Kings".

Li Yanfu's words are a subtle reminder to him:

Don't think that you have won just because you have grasped Li Yinglong's weakness.

And the analogy of the sheepdog, in Zhao Du'an's ears, is nothing more than four words:

Nurturing bandits to command respect!

Li Yanfu is reminding him:

You, Zhao Du'an, can live so well because the enemy of the Li Party exists.

If the Li Party collapses, how much value will you, the Emperor's hunting dog, have left?

Before negotiations, you always have to lower the price. Li Yanfu cleverly lowered the price twice through a story, even if someone secretly "recorded" it, he is not afraid.

Just like when Zhao Du'an was talking with Feng Ju on the small boat, the other party only "understood implicitly" and did not "express it explicitly".

Li Yanfu has been floating in the official sea for many years, and his level of caution is much higher than that of Li Yinglong.

…

“Clap, clap, clap…”

Zhao Du’an clapped his hands gently and said with a smile, “So-called worldly wisdom is all learning. Prime Minister Li is knocking on me.”

Li Yanfu remained noncommittal.

But seeing Zhao Du’an finish laughing, he just shook his head and sighed:

“However, I have a slightly different view.”

“Oh?”

Zhao Du’an raised a finger:

“If the harvest is good, the master will indeed not kill the bellwether, but if it is a year of great famine, and the sheep have eaten all the crops, and people are about to die, how can they care about so much?”

The implication is:

The officials are eating too much, leaving too little for the Emperor. If you want to live, the key is not how many people are on the warship behind you, but to leave room for maneuver.

He raised a second finger:

“If the sheep are obedient internally, the sheepdog will not die either, because there are wolves outside.”

Want me to nurture bandits to command respect? Heh!

Not to mention that I never intended to mix in the officialdom with you guys.

Taking a step back, the problem now is that there are too many bandits.

Where is there still a need to nurture them?

Even if the imperial court is as solid as a rock internally, don't the Eight Kings and the rebellious parties outside exist?

Zhao Du’an hadn’t finished speaking, but instead took out a scroll from his sleeve, didn’t open it, just gently pressed it on the table, and slowly pushed it forward, while leaning back, folding his hands, and said:

“We might as well speak frankly. In fact, I don’t really like playing charades. I have never thought about hiding this matter from the Emperor. The reason I was talking in circles with Prime Minister Li just now is not because I am afraid that today's words will be leaked, but because you are afraid…”

He smiled.

This time, there was no pretense of respect on his face, but a bit of wanton arrogance, like peeling off the sheepskin of a wolf:

Originally, I thought that if Li Xiang showed enough sincerity, there would be no need to say some things too explicitly. We could leave each other some face, making it easier to meet in the future.

But Li Xiang didn't even listen to my conditions and immediately started lecturing and haggling over the price, which suggests a lack of sincerity. In that case, I might as well be more straightforward. The relationship between your son and Consort Yuan isn't that difficult to investigate. The relevant people who knew about it back then aren't all dead. They've simply tacitly agreed to keep their mouths shut and pretend to have forgotten.

I haven't been idle these past few days either. The evidence I've gathered is more extensive than Li Xiang imagines, including the commoner girl your son forcibly seized.

I was only lacking some conclusive evidence, but fortunately, I have it now.

Affairs with a noble consort, deceiving the late Emperor, defiling the imperial harem… Li Xiang should know that once this matter is made public, even if His Majesty is unwilling, he will have no choice but to kill people to uphold the imperial family's reputation.

Of course, you might say that His Majesty wouldn't… but he might not now, what about in the future?

Li Xiang is getting old. How many more years can you hold on?

If you're not considering your own interests, you should at least consider the future of your clan. Will you retire peacefully, or force the entire Huai River Li family to be disgraced? You say there's no choice, but I see there is.

Li Yanfu's expression changed, as if he hadn't expected Zhao Du'an to suddenly overturn the table.

He suddenly realized that he might have miscalculated some things and underestimated the other party's appetite.

He thought that Zhao Du'an was seeking personal gain, so he wouldn't want this transaction to be known to outsiders.

He also didn't believe that Zhao Du'an would possess any "concrete" ironclad evidence.

As long as there was room for maneuver, there was a possibility of making it work.

But at this moment, when Zhao Du'an tore off his veneer of gentleness and revealed his sharp claws beneath…

The aging head sheep suddenly felt the fear buried deep in its bloodline when facing a young shepherd dog.

Yes…

The dignified Prime Minister actually felt a trace, a barely perceptible trace, of…

Fear!

"What exactly do you want?"

Li Yanfu didn't look at the scroll, only stared at him, like a rock unmoved by the eight winds.

Zhao Du'an crossed his legs, adopting an uncouth posture, twisting the stem of the green plum with his fingers, and said words that shook the heavens in a light, dismissive tone:

"I want the Li faction to switch its stance and support the New Policies in the morning court session."

"Impossible!"

Li Yanfu blurted out, the white and thick beard covering both sides of his cheeks trembling, his hand gripping the armrest of the chair forcefully.

He hadn't expected Zhao Du'an to make such a request.

"Do you think the court is a child's play? Just relying on your…"

"Li Xiang!"

Zhao Du'an's voice suddenly became heavy, his expression turning cold, carrying indifference and sarcasm:

"There's no need to put on an act in front of me. I'm not negotiating with you, but informing you."

"Or, you can gamble, gamble on whether His Majesty will act against you. After obtaining this evidence, even if the time is ripe in the future, he won't use it as a knife to cut off the heads of your Li family members."

"Or, gamble on whether I have the guts to publicize this matter without going through His Majesty?"

Li Yanfu said: "You wouldn't dare…"

Zhao Du'an interrupted him, sneering:

"Why wouldn't I dare? I'm just a mere sixth-rank official, with no family burdens behind me. If Li Yinglong wants to kill me, I'll kill him. It's only reasonable, right?

It's you who should worry. If things blow up, do you really have the courage to drag the entire Li family into a war with His Majesty for the sake of Li Yinglong?

Heh, having an affair with the late Emperor's consort, even the Eighth Prince wouldn't tolerate it for the sake of the imperial family's reputation.

Moreover, why would I publicize it myself?

So many people saw this matter today. What if someone accidentally leaked it, like that Hanlin Scholar Xu? What does it have to do with me?"

Li Yanfu fell silent.

Zhao Du'an's tone suddenly softened.

He flicked his finger, throwing the green plum in his hand into the wine pot, splashing a puff of scalding turbid wine. He sighed softly:

"Li Xiang, does your Huai River Li family really care about the bit of tax revenue lost due to the New Policies?

Or do you really care about those parasites with bloated heads and greasy intestines under you?

Or in your opinion, can the New Policies really be stopped?

Or can they only be delayed for a while?

Sooner or later, they will fall into place? You're getting old, you should think about yourself.

As long as you nod, this matter today will be a misunderstanding.

If you're unwilling, I won't make things difficult for you."

He stood up.

He didn't even bother to take the scroll.

He straightened his clothes and looked regretfully at the wine pot that was almost boiled dry, shaking his head and saying:

"What a pity, it seems I don't have the good fortune to drink the Prime Minister's wine."

Saying that, he slowly turned around and walked downstairs for the second time.

But this time, he wasn't sure what kind of answer he would receive.

One, two, three…

Just when Zhao Du'an thought that this old fox was so ruthless and courageous as he had been in his youth…

Finally, a tired voice came from behind:

"Wait."

Zhao Du'an paused and turned his head, asking in confusion:

"Does Li Xiang have something else to say?"

Buried in his deep red official robe, he seemed to be closing his eyes.

At this time, the setting sun slowly sank, hanging right behind him, shrouding the entire person in shadow, making it impossible for Zhao Du'an to see clearly.

Li Yanfu scrutinized Zhao Du'an, who was standing against the light, and suddenly asked a strange question:

"What do you think, how do you compare to this Prime Minister?"

Zhao Du'an was slightly stunned, then suddenly smiled, shaking his head and saying:

"I'd rather be myself, even after long struggles."

Rather be myself…

Rather be myself…

Li Yanfu chewed on this famous line from another world, and seemed to smile slightly, closing his eyes.

His expression returned to its ancient well-like calmness.

The corner of the setting sun that had been exposed behind him was once again covered by dark clouds.

"Alright."

… …

Please help me catch any typos.