The First Lackey Under The Empress

On the training field, the drums had ceased, and the army was silent.

Therefore, the applause and cheers seemed extremely abrupt and jarring.

Swish—

In an instant, all the officers and generals of all ranks belonging to the Divine Mechanism Camp turned their gazes towards the two Pear Blossom Hall constables who were expressing their praise with serious expressions and loud voices.

Even Mo Chou had a strange expression.

She wondered when the troublemakers of Pear Blossom Hall had been trained into such shameless and fawning people.

Could it be a case of the upper echelons influencing the lower ones?

"Hit the bullseye, wonderful and unparalleled."

This comment would have been appropriate if it had been directed at Tang Ping, who had been riding and shooting on horseback earlier.

But…

Zhao Du'an…

His arrow didn't even hit the target, at most barely grazing the edge.

Mo Chou really wanted to ask, "Are you blind?"

Where exactly did it hit the bullseye?

And what was so wonderful about it?

Even if you are Zhao Du'an's direct subordinates and want to support your superior and save his dignity… it shouldn't be to this extent.

However, Hou Renmeng and Qian Kerou remained as calm as usual, as if they didn't care about these strange gazes at all.

"Haha, not bad."

Zhao Du'an was still holding the iron-weighted bow, his indigo official robe making him look heroic and outstanding.

At this moment, a smile appeared on his face, and he actually accepted the praise calmly.

Then, he turned his head with a smile and looked at Shi Meng and the other officers of the Divine Mechanism Camp, asking once again:

"What about you? What do you think of my arrow?"

Hou Renmeng and Qian Kerou lowered their hands and quietly looked at everyone together.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Some of the generals had puzzled expressions on their faces, not knowing how to answer. Those who were perceptive had already tasted that the atmosphere was not right.

They tacitly looked at their commander.

Shi Meng, whose figure was as burly as a mountain and as dark as a fierce general on the battlefield, but whose mind was as meticulous as hair, twitched his eyelids slightly. Having reached this position, how could he lack the ability to observe people's expressions and words?

At this moment, meeting Zhao Du'an's seemingly smiling gaze, he felt a sudden thud in his heart for no reason.

After struggling in his heart for a moment, he finally squeezed out a smile and laughed loudly:

"Hahaha, Qian Shi Zhao's archery skills are like a god, just as these two said, right in the bullseye, wonderful and unparalleled!"

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the remaining people changed.

Zhao Du'an nodded in satisfaction, then moved his gaze to the second officer, who was silent for a moment before cupping his fist and saying:

"Your Excellency's archery skills are extraordinary. This subordinate saw clearly that it was indeed right in the bullseye!"

The third officer smiled brightly, with a face full of admiration:

"General Zhao is brave and mighty, indeed a bullseye!"

The fourth officer.

The fifth officer.

As Zhao Du'an's gaze swept over them one by one, this group of high-ranking officers, who were given the title of "General," either spoke against their will, or looked calm, or fawned and flattered, or remained silent and sighed.

But they all chose to turn a blind eye and offer their compliments.

This world does not have the idiom "calling a deer a horse," but a similar scene was being staged.

And as one superior after another fell, they expressed their submission to Zhao Du'an in this way.

The faces of a group of young officers led by "Little Duke" Tang Ping changed from blankness and astonishment to anger and shame.

Especially Tang Ping, his handsome face gradually turned pale, and then turned livid.

That was caused by anger.

More of it was disbelief.

The son of the Duke, who had been smooth sailing all his life since birth, had not experienced the filth of the court. The insidiousness, cunning, and dirt of the court had only existed in rumors in the past twenty years.

Or rather, he thought that only civil officials were like that. Even if there were such dregs among military generals, they would definitely not be under the feet of the capital.

But at this moment, some of his past concepts collapsed.

He realized the other face of these generals who got along day and night and always greeted him with a smile.

"Commander Shi… you… you…"

Tang Ping's lips were pale, his eyes were wide open, and his fists clenched little by little.

He wanted to question them loudly.

Where has the blood of you military men gone?

When was the spine of the martial officer drawn out?

It's just a favored minister, why be so flattering?

Don't you even want a shred of face?

However, he ultimately did not speak.

But Zhao Du'an was not prepared to let him go.

"Tang Ping, tell me, how was this arrow of this general? Did it hit, or did it not?"

Zhao Du'an looked at him with a smile.

Tang Ping, wearing white robes and silver armor, his waist as straight as a spear, stared coldly at him.

"Tang Ping…" Shi Meng's eyelids twitched wildly, and he spoke softly.

But he saw that this "Little Duke," who had great prestige among the middle and lower-level young officers, just snorted coldly, turned around directly, and strode away from the training field.

Shi Meng's face changed, and he was about to speak, but Zhao Du'an lightly stopped him, saying calmly:

"This general has just taken office, so it's not good to delay the training of the people below, why stop him?"

At this time, seeing Tang Ping leave.

Among the young officers who had been gathered behind the Little Duke, several immediately followed without hesitation.

Several others showed hesitation, seeming slightly hesitant.

In the end, they still followed and left the training field.

Zhao Du'an did not stop them, nor did he get angry from beginning to end.

There was even a warm smile on his face, as if he didn't mind.

After this group of people left, Shi Meng tried to smooth things over, forcing a smile and saying:

"Qian Shi Zhao, don't blame them, the young people below are ignorant, I will give you an explanation later."

In his words, he seemed to ignore the fact that Zhao Du'an was also a young man.

"Hehe, Commander Shi is too serious, how could I care?"

Zhao Du'an smiled, and before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he changed the subject and said lightly:

"By the way, please order someone to write down the names of these people who left, hehe, don't be nervous, I just admire the courage of these generals. Our Great Yu's military management should have this courage."

Shi Meng's expression froze.

The other officers beside him looked at each other, not knowing how to react.

His heart sank, realizing that Zhao Yanwang was probably going to make things difficult for someone.

Shi Meng wanted to say something, but on second thought, he was only holding a temporary position for a while.

Besides, Tang Ping was, after all, the son of the Duke of Zhenguo… At most, he would suffer a little, but it shouldn't be a big deal.

So he had to force a smile and echo a few words.

After this series of absurdities, the atmosphere in the field was extremely strange.

Especially the thousands of soldiers in the field, because they were far away, didn't hear this "calling a deer a horse" incident clearly, but they were also restless at this moment.

A general who couldn't even hit a hundred-step target was bound to be looked down upon.

Coupled with Zhao Du'an's experience of rising to power with just a pretty face, for a time, the scene was in an uproar.

Those thousands of gazes also became mocking and contemptuous.

"Commissioner Zhao, Miss Mo, let's go to the barracks first, haha, I'll set up a banquet in the camp at noon…"

Shi Meng's flesh twitched, suppressing the urge to reprimand him on the spot, intending to lead people away.

"Haha, good."

Zhao Du'an followed suit, still indifferent.

Seeing this, the generals of the Divine Machine Camp felt complicated, both despising and admiring him.

— Losing face in front of thousands of soldiers, he was still calm and composed. Just this skill of having a face as thick as a city wall was at least comparable to a "Heavenly Human Realm" expert.

They were, after all, martial men. Even if they feared Zhao Du'an's power and reluctantly obeyed, the contempt in their hearts could not be erased.

"Let's go."

Mo Chou only felt uncomfortable all over.

She sighed, thinking that it would be better to admit defeat and not put on any martial arts act at all.

It would also damage His Majesty's reputation.

However, just as everyone was about to leave, Zhao Du'an suddenly took two steps back, as if he was a little annoyed by the noise.

The iron-fetal bow that was about to be put down was suddenly picked up by him again.

However, the bow, which was more than half a person tall, was held upside down with one hand!

His right hand opened, and at some point, his palm was clasping the bowstring, pressing the bowstring against the bow arm with one hand.

He was actually "drawing the bow" backwards with one hand!

Even if ordinary people used both hands to pull and exert force with their waist and arms, it would be difficult to pull the heavy armor-piercing iron-fetal bow in the army.

At this moment, it seemed as light as a feather in his hand.

"Creak… Creak…"

A sharp and piercing sound rang out, and the iron-fetal bow twisted and deformed in the blink of an eye, as if struggling and screaming due to the terrifying force.

Zhao Du'an raised the iron bow with one arm, his aura surging, and strands of pure white electric snakes suddenly窜 from his fingertips on the taut bowstring, emitting a roar like an electric motor exploding.

The generals suddenly turned their heads.

Thousands of soldiers looked over in surprise.

Zhao Du'an looked calm and released his hand.

"Buzz!"

In an instant, a huge, ten-foot-long "light blade" like a crescent moon, surrounded by electric light, roared out with terrifying momentum.

Wherever it passed, scorched pits exploded on the solid ground of the drill ground.

"Boom!!!!!"

The light blade swept past and disappeared at the end of the drill ground, cutting a knife mark on the wall.

The smoke and dust dissipated, and all the archery targets in front of him had been shattered into dust.

Shi Meng's eyes narrowed.

Mo Chou's eyes widened.

The officers stood there in a daze.

The thousands of restless soldiers were silent in an instant.

"Heh, let's go."

Zhao Du'an casually threw away the ruined iron-fetal bow, smiled, greeted his two direct followers, and strode out.

Archery? He really wasn't very good at it.

But… who said you can only use arrows to shoot targets?

…

In the distance, in front of a barracks.

Tang Ping was expressionless, and suddenly stopped with a group of low-level generals following him.

At the same time, they turned their heads to look at the drill ground that had been blocked by the building, and vaguely saw smoke and dust rising.

"What happened? What's with this commotion?" someone asked doubtfully.

Tang Ping also frowned.

…

…

After leaving the drill ground, Zhao Du'an ignored the subsequent impact.

The subsequent inspections of the various barracks of the Divine Machine Camp went smoothly, without any more twists and turns.

It was just that throughout the entire process, the way a group of officers looked at him was always strange.

The power of that "arrow" in the drill ground, in the eyes of these martial men, already had the power of the Divine Manifestation Realm.

Of course, it was just the power.

The specific details were still unclear based on this alone.

The true strength of a cultivator can only be determined by a real fight.

However…

Just the pure and condensed aura that Zhao Du'an casually revealed, even in Shi Meng's opinion, was really a bit frighteningly thick.

But… wasn't it said that he was at most a mortal of middle grade?

But, where could a mortal realm have such power?

For a time, the officers of the Divine Machine Camp were surprised and uncertain, and suddenly felt that this new superior was a bit mysterious and unpredictable.

After inspecting the barracks, Mo Chou said that she wanted to leave and return to the palace.

Zhao Du'an sent her off and said that he wanted to talk to her alone, that he had something to say.

…

"What do you want to do?"

Outside the gate of the Divine Machine Camp, next to the carriage.

Mo Chou looked at him warily:

"Don't forget, His Majesty asked you to come here this time to find out the internal spies who have defected to Prince Jing's mansion, you…"

She always felt that Zhao Du'an's actions in the drill ground before seemed intentional.

"Don't worry, I know when to do what."

Zhao Du'an looked calm and handed her a piece of paper, saying:

"When you return to the palace, present this list to His Majesty for review, and say that you are asking His Majesty to abide by the agreement."

What agreement do you and His Majesty have?

Mo Chou was surprised and uncertain, glanced at it, and found that the paper contained the names of the officers who didn't give Zhao Du'an face.

The first one was actually "Young Lord" Tang Ping.

…

Help me catch bugs.