The First Lackey Under The Empress

The next day, early morning.

Inside the bedroom of the Zhao family.

The rising sun shone through the window paper, scattering onto Zhao Du'an's face as he slept soundly on the brocade bed, his handsome features gleaming.

"Hachoo..."

Zhao Du'an slowly woke up, staring at the window curtains, recalling the experiences of last night.

After going to the Zhao Yamen to meet Ma Yan, he presented the official letter and briefly described the ins and outs of the matter.

Ma Yan, who was criticized by the court officials for being "capricious," suddenly looked as pleased as if he had been bathed in spring rain, overjoyed, and discussed the subsequent details with him.

Zhao Du'an also made efforts to argue for his case.

In the end, perhaps out of consideration for Sun Lianying's sake, Ma Yan agreed to let him lead the case.

After all the tossing and turning, it was already late at night when he returned home.

Zhao Du'an was exhausted and didn't even do his daily meditation practice, sleeping until dawn.

At this moment, he got up, put on his clothes, pushed open the door, and walked towards the dining hall.

He wasn't worried about missing breakfast because of the Zhao family's rule:

The cook would prepare breakfast early, and the whole family could only eat after Zhao Du'an woke up.

If he didn't wake up, You Jinhua and Zhao Pan would have to wait.

"This is simply the life of a wicked landlord..."

Zhao Du'an was filled with emotion.

At this moment, he suddenly heard a slight sound of wind breaking.

He saw Zhao Pan, a young girl in a single garment, in the Zhao family's spacious courtyard practice field, wielding a dagger in a serious manner, attacking a standing scarecrow.

The morning sun shone on the young girl's budding figure and beautiful face, revealing a clear and natural beauty.

On the ground beside Zhao Pan, a yellowed booklet was spread out. Zhao Du'an glanced at it and remembered that it was a booklet that Zhao's father had given him when he was learning martial arts.

It was also one of the methods for entering the martial arts path, and it wasn't expensive.

After passing the novice stage, he casually discarded it, not knowing where it had fallen in the house.

The wind blew, and the "martial arts secret manual," which the girl had found from somewhere and regarded as a treasure, fluttered.

Zhao Pan was concentrating on imitating the movements of the little people in the booklet, breathing in and out while wielding the dagger.

She looked fierce and serious, and suddenly stabbed the scarecrow between its legs with a knife. Zhao Du'an felt a chill down below, suspecting that this crazy girl was treating the scarecrow as himself.

"Cough."

Zhao Du'an deliberately made a sound. Zhao Pan's crystal-clear, round ears twitched, but she ignored him, and her chopping movements became even more forceful.

"Oh ho, when did you learn martial arts? This posture is not standard at all, and the weapon is not good either. Looking at the world, which martial arts master uses a dagger?" Zhao Du'an mocked.

Zhao Pan gritted her teeth, pretending not to hear.

"Tsk tsk, are you deaf? Let your brother test the quality of your practice."

Zhao Du'an raised his hand and beckoned, his palm spewing out energy, and a green bamboo pole rolled up from under the corridor.

Peng... The bamboo stick landed in his hand, and his arm swept across.

With a "whoosh" sound, it broke through the wind and smashed towards the girl, its momentum astonishing.

Zhao Pan was startled and hurriedly dodged.

But without a master, she could only grope around on her own, and the girl, who had no resources to nourish her body, had no "quality" to speak of.

She couldn't even be considered a showy display, so how could she escape?

Soon, Zhao Du'an waved the bamboo pole, disrupting her rhythm, and the "martial arts moves" that she had memorized by rote in her mind were all forgotten.

She just flailed her hands and feet, waving the dagger like a wild flurry of fists, trying to resist, but there were leaks everywhere, and none of them were blocked. The bamboo pole slapped her all over her body, causing her pain.

The girl bit her lip tightly, never uttering a word of pain, and two lines of tears had already rolled down her fair cheeks.

Several servants in the house noticed, but they were all as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to step forward to stop him—it was not the first time that the young master had beaten the young lady.

At this time, You Jinhua, who had been informed by the servant, hurried along the corridor.

The beautiful woman caught a glimpse of this scene from afar, let out a mournful cry, and her eyes also turned red, filled with pain.

"Boring."

Zhao Du'an, having hit his fill, threw down the green bamboo pole with a lack of interest.

Immediately, without looking back, he strode towards the gate, saying lightly:

"I have an appointment with someone outside today, so I won't eat at home."

Behind him, You Jinhua rushed to her daughter's side and hugged her tightly:

"Does it hurt? I'll get you some medicine."

Zhao Pan didn't say a word, staring fixedly at Zhao Du'an's distant back, her autumn-like eyes filled with tears.

...

Far away.

The moment Zhao Du'an turned around, his frivolous and carefree look disappeared.

Outsiders only thought that he was beating the young lady again, but if a real martial artist were present, they would see at a glance that Zhao Du'an's stick seemed terrifying, but it was actually just skimming the surface.

Moreover, it was not a random strike, but accurately poked all the main meridians of the girl's body.

"Stupid girl, can you just practice martial arts blindly? What's happened to the qi and blood in your whole body... If you don't use external force to dredge it, wait for paralysis..."

Zhao Du'an curled his lips.

He beat her fiercely for a while, and although Zhao Pan suffered some pain, all the meridians in her body were cleared.

The girl wouldn't be able to detect it right now, but when this sensation passed, she would naturally understand, and he was too lazy to explain.

Of course, the more important reason for not explaining was:

He needed to gradually reverse his persona, and he couldn't change too abruptly, otherwise it would easily arouse suspicion from his family.

After all, the original owner's signature line was:

"Why should I, Zhao Du'an, explain my actions to you!"

...

...

Leaving the house.

Zhao Du'an walked along the street, heading towards a commoner's teahouse three streets away.

It was early in the morning, and there weren't many people yet. Zhao Du'an went straight to the second floor, ordered a pot of good tea, a few plates of pastries, and a large plate of melon seeds, eating and waiting.

The sun rose higher, and the number of guests in the building gradually increased.

Just as the bored Zhao Du'an was using melon seed shells to create a simple drawing of the Empress on the table, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the street outside the window!

A large group of government officials dismounted outside the building and entered in single file.

The shopkeeper was discerning and recognized the famous Zhao Yamen "Yanluos" of the capital. His heart skipped a beat, and he greeted them with a flattering smile:

"Officials, would you like to have some tea?"

"Get out of the way!"

The leader, dressed in brocade, had a blank expression and no smile on his face. He swept the first floor with his sharp eyes and then ran up to the second floor.

This commotion had already frightened the guests into trembling, hiding in fear, and even daring not to drink their tea. They all stood up, wanting to escape but not daring to.

They were afraid of being targeted by this group of lawless Yama Kings.

Since its establishment, the Zhao Yamen had been known for its ferocity.

Even high-ranking officials in the court would tremble when they saw them, let alone ordinary people?

With any excuse, they could arrest people and throw them into prison. It was said that the children in the city would immediately stop crying as soon as the words "Zhao Yamen Yanluo" were mentioned, showing their deterrent power.

"Envoy! You're here!"

At this moment, a hundred-household military officer wearing a flying fish suit, holding a long knife, and wearing a "bronze badge" on his waist, his eyes lit up, and a warm smile appeared on his face.

He came to the window, clasped his fists and cupped his hands, and lowered his voice:

"This humble officer is Zhou Cang, a hundred-household officer. I met the Envoy last night. I am here under the command of my Supervisor to lead the crowd and await your orders!"

A group of ferocious-looking government officials behind him also put on humble smiles and bowed in unison:

"Greetings, Lord Envoy!"

The building was silent for a moment.

By the window.

Zhao Du'an, who had deliberately changed into a low-key and restrained robe and was sitting alone drinking tea, looked at this scene, raised his hand to wipe away the pattern on the table, and frowned.

He didn't like the way the officials of this era were feared like tigers by the common people, but he was even clearer in his heart that the limitations of the era would not be changed by personal preferences.

"I don't like being ostentatious," Zhao Du'an said calmly.

Zhou Cang was stunned for a moment, thinking, "Are you kidding me?"

Who in the entire capital doesn't know that Zhao Shi Jun of the White Horse Guard likes to show off the most?

Although he slandered in his heart, he immediately turned his head and ordered the large group of wolf-like government officials behind him to drive them out of the building to wait.

"Sit down," Zhao Du'an's brow relaxed, and he said lightly:

"How is the matter I asked you to investigate?"

Thank you to Cangshi for the 100 coin reward!