The First Lackey Under The Empress

"I'm not gambling anymore!"

Haitang crossed her arms and snorted coldly, her face still pouting like an anime character, tilting her head back at a forty-five-degree angle.

The tear mole at the corner of her eye became even more noticeable.

"Haha, then let's bet a month's salary, that should be fine," Zhao Du'an joked, knowing that joking with female colleagues requires knowing when to stop.

The journey was too arduous, with fighting and killing at every turn, so he deliberately made jokes to relieve the tension.

"It's a deal," Haitang sighed, "Compared to this, you should go out and check on your two weirdo guards. Do you even know what it means to win people's hearts? I can tell they're injured too."

"I understand," Zhao Du'an smiled, and strode back to the deck.

His gaze swept across the deck and locked onto a corner where the martial artist and the mage were sitting, recuperating.

Lang Shiyi's tiger's mouth was split, and he was pouring strong liquor from an earthenware bowl onto his wound, wincing in pain.

Beside him, Ji Yue, a social recluse, was squatting on the ground, hugging his knees, curled up in a ball, his dark hair cascading down, covering his entire face.

"How are the injuries?" Zhao Du'an walked over with a smile and squatted down on the ground.

Lang Shiyi was a little surprised, and a forced smile appeared on his gaunt face, covered in stubble:

"External injuries, I'll recover in a few days, it won't delay protecting the lord's journey."

Ji Yue slightly raised his head from his knee-hugging posture, revealing the faint eyebrows and eyes under his wet black hair, and said softly, "It's... nothing."

Such a social recluse.

"I prepared these for you," Zhao Du'an flipped his hand and took out a wooden box, containing two large pills, one red and one white.

He gave the red one to Lang Shiyi, and said, "For external injuries."

The Northern Land saber wielder, who was once a general of Jubei City but is now living in anonymity, accepted it calmly and put the pill into his green-skinned gourd, turning it into medicinal wine: "Thank you, Lord."

Zhao Du'an nodded and motioned for Ji Yue to take the white one: "For restoring the mage's mana."

"Thank... you..."

Ji Yue spit out two words like a mosquito, then cautiously stretched out his pale hand with scars on his wrist, but grabbed at empty air.

Zhao Du'an suddenly moved the box away, then handed it over again, smiling: "I'm curious, can you see clearly with your eyes without pupils?"

"...I can," Ji Yue replied dryly, then stretched out his scarred hand for the second time through the gap in his black hair, and grabbed at empty air again.

Ji Yue: "..."

Zhao Du'an, who had suddenly moved the box away for the second time, said with a smile: "One more question, your clothes are wet, don't you need to change? There are dry ones in the cabin."

Ji Yue: "No need."

Then, through the gap in his black hair, his two white eyes saw the young official in front of him say "Oh", and hand over the box containing the pills again.

Ji Yue had learned his lesson and didn't dare to reach out.

"Here you go, I won't tease you anymore," Zhao Du'an laughed, stuffed the box into his hand, patted his butt and left.

These two guards were both people with stories, different from ordinary soldiers, how could they be easily won over?

At this stage, it was nothing more than increasing familiarity.

Ji Yue blankly held the pill in both hands, and carefully looked at Zhao Du'an leaving several times.

After making sure he wasn't looking at him, he quickly swallowed it in one gulp, like a small animal afraid of having its food snatched away, but he ate too quickly and choked, rolling his eyes...

"Here," Lang Shiyi handed over a bowl of medicinal wine, looking as cold as a killer.

"..." Ji Yue held up the medicinal wine to wash down the pill, and handed it back: "Thank..."

But he saw that Lang Shiyi didn't pay any attention to him at all, and turned aside to drink alone in silence.

Ji Yue silently hugged his knees, his black hair covering his face.

...

...

Before long, the official ship smoothly sailed into the Huting Wharf.

When Zhao Du'an and his party stepped off the ship, they saw that the wharf had been cordoned off, and a group of civil officials in official robes were eagerly waiting.

Among them were no shortage of big figures like the Huai Shui Provincial Administration Commissioner.

However, what was surprising was that standing at the front of the official ranks was not a few officials in scarlet robes, but a green robe.

"Lord Zhao! This humble official has been waiting for many days, and finally, I have waited for you!"

The familiar middle-aged man at the head greeted him with a loud laugh.

"Feng Ju?" Zhao Du'an was slightly stunned, his expression surprised: "It's actually you, Feng Zhushi."

The middle-aged civil official in front of him was none other than Feng Ju, the old acquaintance from the Ministry of Personnel.

At the beginning of his transmigration, Zhao Du'an used his influence to deceive this Feng Zhushi into falsely accusing Li Yanfu, pulling him into the "Imperial Party" camp.

Afterwards, when Princess Yunyang colluded with Marquis Xiajiang to deal with Zhao Du'an, they had kidnapped Feng Ju's family to threaten him.

Zhao Du'an lent a helping hand, and the relationship between the two deepened. After that, there were fewer contacts in the following months, only during festivals Feng Ju would send gifts to the Zhao family.

On the way here, he looked through the list of officials in Huting, and when he saw Feng Ju's name, he thought it was just a coincidence.

"Haha, Lord Zhao is busy with matters of state, perhaps he hasn't paid attention to the Ministry of Personnel's transfer orders," Feng Ju said with a bright smile:

"The imperial court has specially set up a 'Merchant Division' yamen for the opening of the market. This humble official is fortunate to have received His Majesty's grace and has been promoted to this Merchant Division, serving as a fifth-rank Langzhong. This time, I am presiding over the opening of the market on behalf of the imperial court, and in the future, many affairs concerning the imperial merchants will also be handled by this humble official."

Fifth-rank Langzhong... If only looking at the official position, it is really not high.

But this is a true "small position with great power". Just looking at the fact that Feng Ju still has to stand in front of the Huai Shui Provincial Administration Commissioner, one can see a glimpse.

This is similar to the patrolling inspector leaving the capital, who is only a seventh-rank, but can act on behalf of the emperor. The actual power is extremely great and cannot be measured by rank.

"In that case, congratulations to Langzhong Feng on his promotion," Zhao Du'an smiled.

Feng Ju was ashamed and dared not to accept it, and was extremely humble, busy saying he dared not.

If one were to talk about factions, Feng Ju should be considered a member of the Imperial Party who was promoted by Zhao Du'an. Ninety percent of his current status is due to Zhao Du'an.

Feng Ju even secretly suspected that the Empress arranged him in this position because the core reason was his relationship with Zhao Du'an.

He secretly made up his mind that when Zhao Du'an arrived, everything here would follow Lord Zhao's lead.

"Lord, you have worked hard all the way, this humble official has prepared a place to stay."

Feng Ju warmly invited everyone onto the carriage, and they arrived at a private garden called "Humble Administrator's Garden".

According to him, it was the private residence of a local "imperial merchant" in Huting, who had specially vacated it for Zhao Du'an to stay.

The style of the private garden was extremely rich in the charm of Jiangnan, with small bridges and flowing water, white walls and black tiles, rockeries and flower ponds... Although it was late autumn, because this place was close to the south, there was still quite a bit of greenery.

Zhao Du'an, surrounded by a group of officials, entered the main hall in the garden, inevitably exchanging pleasantries.

He also learned about the current situation in Huting from Feng Ju.

...

"Lord, please hear me out,"

Inside the main hall, Feng Ju, who had been left alone, cupped his hands and said:

"The opening of the market is approaching, and almost all the forces invited from all sides have arrived. This is the list."

He presented a large book with both hands.

Zhao Du'an weighed the book, not in a hurry to flip through it, and put it casually on the coffee table, smiling:

"You can briefly tell this official about the general situation first."

"Yes," Feng Ju responded, pondered slightly, and said:

"Currently, Huting is roughly divided into three forces. One force is the imperial court, and the imperial merchants who have been confirmed. These are the ones who have joined us in the past few months. According to the requirements from above, half of the places have been reserved for small and medium-sized merchants, and the remaining half are some local aristocratic families who took the lead in joining the imperial court and actively accepting the new policies."

"The second force is the merchants and local families belonging to the seven kings.

Except for King Jing himself who came, the remaining seven kings did not come in person, but they all sent their confidants to secretly keep an eye on those under their jurisdiction, to prevent them from joining the imperial court."

Zhao Du'an raised his eyebrows and interrupted: "You said seven kings?"

Feng Ju nodded, and said seriously:

"King Huai'an is more special. Unlike the clear opposition of the seven kings, King Huai'an's attitude is ambiguous, swaying and undecided, belonging to the neutral faction. In fact, apart from King Huai'an, there are many neutral factions, and the number of local aristocratic families among them is the largest."

Zhao Du'an was not surprised, and said faintly:

"The new policy itself is to deal with these aristocratic families. They are resistant in their hearts, but they dare not openly oppose the imperial court and be close to those kings, so their attitude is wavering, which is to be expected."

Feng Ju nodded in agreement, and said hesitantly:

"This humble official has been watching these days and found that King Jing and others are secretly contacting these neutral factions, trying to win them over and unite to oppose the opening of the market. If this group of people really join forces, then even if the imperial court forcibly opens the market, I am afraid that the commodity trade will be difficult to carry out under the joint blockade of these people."

The implementation of any policy cannot bypass the local areas.

Even if the merchants have obtained the qualifications of imperial merchants, if they are blocked and squeezed out by the major forces in the process of doing business, then this business will be difficult to do.

Zhao Du'an said sternly: "So, the neutral faction is very important?"

"Yes," Feng Ju said solemnly:

"We cannot win over the aristocratic families who wholeheartedly follow King Jing, King Mu, and others, but we can strive for the neutral faction that is wavering in the middle. We don't need them to fall to our side, as long as we prevent this group of people from falling to the seven kings, it will be considered half done."

"Half done is not enough," Zhao Du'an frowned.

Through Feng Ju's narrative, he also realized the thorny situation in Huting, and was immediately grateful that he had come in person.

Otherwise, if no one was keeping an eye on this, and King Jing and others messed it up, the imperial court's finances would not be relieved, and there would be big trouble again next year.

"I know, I will find a way to deal with this."

Zhao Du'an said faintly:

"But before that, I need to meet the imperial merchants on our side first."

How to deal with the neutral faction is something for later, at least he needs to keep a close eye on the imperial merchants to prevent anyone from defecting at the last minute.

Only by personally examining this group of his own people, and also through his own reception, let this group of people publicly take a stand and express their position, can he feel at ease.

Feng Ju stood up, smiled and nodded:

"Okay, this humble official will arrange it. In fact, this group of people are eager to try, ready to visit you, and are waiting outside."

Zhao Du'an smiled. He did not have any official title this time in Huting.

But everyone knew that this Zhao Envoy from the capital was the real decision-maker and represented the Empress.

"By the way, where does King Jing live?"

Zhao Du'an suddenly stroked his chin, a smile showing in his eyes:

"Since we are going to receive them anyway, please help me pass on a message, saying that this official invites King Jing to come over for a chat."