The First Lackey Under The Empress

As the end of the year approached, the temperature in the capital dropped again, plunging it into the depths of winter.

Zhao Du'an's wake-up time was also further delayed as a result.

Early morning, inside the bedroom.

"Huff." Zhao Du'an crawled out of the warm blanket, exhaling a deep breath, raised his hand to condense a ball of clear water and covered his face with it to dispel the remaining drowsiness.

Then, with a flip, he sat cross-legged on the bed. He froze for two seconds, then his hands suddenly formed a hand seal at his chest.

A Buddhist "卍" symbol, surrounded by a faint glow, quietly emerged from the air.

Zhao Du'an opened his right hand, letting the "卍" symbol fall like a leaf into his palm. Feeling the green lotus in his mind dimming slightly, the corners of his mouth slowly rose, spreading into a smile:

"Success."

It had been more than half a month since the Western Region monks left. During this time, in addition to his daily practice, Zhao Du'an devoted a considerable amount of energy to figuring out the green lotus in his mind.

And finally, through constant experimentation, he learned his first Buddhist technique from it - the "Demon Sealing Mantra."

That is: he can use the green lotus in his mind to release Buddhist mantras, bypassing the differences in cultivation systems.

According to the book introducing Buddhist spells in his hand, the ability of the Demon Sealing Mantra, according to the degree of mastery from low to high, can impose different degrees of confinement on the enemy.

"My current mastery is still shallow, probably only able to bind the enemy. If I master it more deeply, or if my realm is higher, I can try to seal the opponent's mana, or even their five senses."

"Huff, I couldn't release it with 100% certainty yesterday, but I can this morning. Is this considered a proficiency upgrade? If I had a cultivation panel system on me, I'd probably hear a 'ding ding' sound for a new skill upgrade at this time..."

Zhao Du'an restrained the urge to make a "ding" sound with his mouth, and slowly released the maintenance of the "Demon Sealing Mantra", causing the spell to collapse and disappear in his palm.

...

Inner hall!

When Zhao Du'an entered, a rich breakfast was already laid out on the table.

"Good morning, Auntie, good morning, Sister, good morning, Dog."

Zhao Du'an greeted the two women and a dog at the table in a very unserious manner, then sat down and began to eat heartily.

You Jinhua spat softly, nagging as she served him rice:

"Da Lang, you are a big figure now, you should pay attention to your words and demeanor, why are you still like a child?"

Tsk, after nearly a year, the stepmother has successfully emerged from the shadow of being bullied by her stepson, and now she actually dares to nag.

But while saying "criticizing" words, she couldn't stop the smile on her lips.

It seemed that in her opinion, such a casual stepson was more endearing. If he really put on airs like those "masters" in the court, it would chill the family affection.

"Haa..." Zhao Pan yawned incessantly. She had long abandoned her initial ambition to learn martial arts, and looked sleepy at the moment:

"Big brother, why did you get up so early today..."

In the past, Zhao Du'an woke up late, so she also stayed in bed, claiming to accompany her big brother to eat together.

Today, Zhao Du'an got up early, so the girl was forced out of the warm blanket by her mother, without a shield to stay in bed.

Zhao Du'an held the bowl of porridge, his lips sucking a mouthful of thick, fragrant white porridge. After the heat flowed into his esophagus, he said:

"Today, the Duke of Zhenguo will return to the capital. A group of military generals are ordered to line up outside the city to welcome him. I can't avoid it."

You Jinhua was taken aback and said nervously:

"It's the one with the little Duke who has a grudge against you..."

"It's okay, the misunderstanding will be resolved with a word." Zhao Du'an smiled and comforted her, quickly finished his breakfast, changed his clothes, and stepped out the door.

...

The time for the Duke of Zhenguo, Tang Daren, to enter the city was scheduled for the morning.

Zhao Du'an first went to the yamen and, as agreed, went with Ma Yan to represent the Zhao Yamen to welcome him.

"Senior Brother, the Divine Machine Camp didn't even look for me. Why did our Zhao Yamen think of bringing me along? Isn't this against the rules?"

Zhao Du'an walked into the governor's hall and complained to Ma Yan, who was handling official documents.

Ma Yan sat upright in the main hall, his long, thin face expressionless.

As the end of the year approached, the capital's major yamen had a lot of affairs to deal with. The major halls of the Zhao Yamen had basically stopped all tasks and were rushing to make "reports" to be summarized in the governor's hall.

Ma Yan had dark circles under his eyes from being so busy these days.

"Refer to positions when working."

Superintendent Ma put down the seal in his hand, picked up the blue and white tea cup, and moistened his throat before glaring at him:

"Why did I bring you along? Don't you know?"

Zhao Du'an smiled and pulled a chair to sit down: "It's not to make me show my presence in front of the Duke, is it?"

Ma Yan was no longer surprised by the novel expressions that occasionally popped out of his mouth, and said helplessly:

"You made a name for yourself in the Divine Machine Camp by severely humiliating Tang Ping. Even if he was later reinstated, this matter must be clarified with Duke Tang in person to resolve the misunderstanding. Otherwise, it would be unpleasant if Duke Tang heard some bad rumors."

Zhao Du'an didn't care much about this. After all, he was a person who had seen great storms this year. He grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the fruit plate on the table and wondered:

"No matter how slow the news from the border is, a dignified Duke should know about this, right?"

Ma Yan said seriously:

"Stop being so flippant. According to my understanding of that little Duke, with his character, he would never mention these things to the Duke. Duke Tang, as a border general, would avoid suspicion and would not actively inquire about the affairs of the Jing Camp. Even if he heard about your improving firearms and bringing down the inner thieves in the Privy Council, he would not know the details.

Moreover... His Majesty concealed a lot about the Divine Machine Camp incident to reduce the impact and avoid leaking secrets. Even in the capital's officialdom, those who are not high enough in status do not know how much you did in it. If the little Duke doesn't take the initiative to mention it, how would the Duke know?

On the other hand... Those who can't stand you, or people like the Prince of Hejian in Xipingdao, are likely to deliberately send news to the border, using the conflict between you and Tang Ping to make a fuss, and then provoke Duke Tang and His Majesty's trust in each other...

In short, I have already sent someone to send a letter saying that you will go to welcome him today. It's better to clarify things face-to-face than to ignore them. Do you think you don't have enough enemies?"

Zhao Du'an realized that his cheap senior brother was thinking of him, and said innocently:

"I didn't say I wouldn't go."

The two chatted for a while. Seeing that the time was almost up, Ma Yan and Zhao Du'an rode their horses straight to the outside of the west gate.

At this moment, a group of civil and military officials had already taken their positions.

A large group of people stood in the cold wind, chatting while waiting for the Duke's team.

However, the crowd waited anxiously for a long time. Until the sun rose higher and the time had passed the agreed time, they still couldn't see the shadow of the team on the official road.

"Could it be that there was an accident on the road that delayed the trip?" Someone wondered, "Or was the time on the note copied incorrectly?"

Ma Yan also frowned. At this moment, an official rode his horse from the city gate behind them, panting and dismounting, waving to the crowd:

"Don't wait any longer, the Duke's party has entered the city from the north gate and has now returned to the Duke's mansion!"

Many officials were stunned, not knowing why, and some were dissatisfied:

"The letter said to enter the city from the west gate, why did they suddenly change the route? Did they make us wait in the cold wind for nothing? Are they making fun of us?"

The official hesitated, carefully glanced at Zhao Du'an in the crowd, and explained:

"The Duke's side meant that, it seems, precisely because they knew in advance that General Zhao was coming to welcome him, that's why..."

The crowd fell silent for a moment, and the atmosphere became strange.

Zhao Du'an, in a salted-fish posture, was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "That's why what?"

The official's forehead was beaded with sweat, and he stammered: "That's why they changed the route."

Ma Yan's face suddenly turned ugly, and then he felt a headache. He felt the atmosphere suddenly become weird, coughed lightly, and said:

"In that case, follow this official back to the city and meet the Duke at the Duke's mansion."

A group of officials looked at each other and tacitly did not mention the conversation just now, and echoed:

"That's good."

Whether it was Zhao Du'an or Duke Tang, they did not want to provoke them for no reason.

Zhao Du'an glanced at Ma Yan and smiled:

"Governor, take the adults over there. I won't go, so as not to offend the Duke."

Ma Yan took a deep breath, pulled him aside, and said:

"It seems that the situation is more troublesome than expected. I will go and explain to Duke Tang for you later. You go back to the yamen first and wait for my news. Don't wander around."

Zhao Du'an smiled and said:

"Governor, what are you talking about? When have I ever been the kind of person who doesn't know the big picture? Don't worry, it's just a misunderstanding. I'll wait for the Governor at the yamen and won't go anywhere."

Ma Yan's stern, thin face twitched slightly, and he always felt that the smiling appearance of his subordinate in front of him was a bit creepy. He was silent for a moment, and said:

"There's no need to use official titles in private, it's too formal."

...

The unexpected interlude caught everyone off guard.

Everyone turned back into the city, and Ma Yan led a group of officials who harbored resentment in their hearts but didn't dare to show it, heading straight for the Duke of Zhen Country's residence.

Zhao Du'an returned to the Zhao Yamen alone on horseback, lost in thought on the way:

Although he was somewhat prepared, Duke Tang, who was always extremely protective of his own, might be unhappy with him because of the Little Duke's matter.

However, Zhao Du'an originally thought that with his current reputation and the Empress's favor, at least Duke Tang would not show too bad of an attitude on the surface.

But it seemed the situation was a little worse than expected.

However, unlike what outsiders worried about, Zhao Du'an himself knew that his and Tang Ping's bad relationship had been resolved as early as that night when he personally invited Tang Ping back to the Divine Machine Camp.

It's just that this kind of reconciliation was only known to the two parties involved, and outsiders had no way of knowing, including Ma Yan, who still thought that Zhao Du'an had finally restored Tang Ping to his original position because of the Empress.

And after that, Zhao Du'an rarely went to the Divine Machine Camp, which was also interpreted as him and the Little Duke disliking each other.

But Zhao Du'an wanted to say: you are overthinking it...

Therefore, in his opinion, this matter was not that complicated. As long as Duke Tang returned home and personally summoned Tang Ping, the father and son would clear up the matter, and that misunderstanding would be resolved.

Outsiders all thought that Zhao Yanwang was vindictive, but the real Lord Zhao was a broad-minded person.

Shaking his head, Zhao Du'an put the matter aside, not taking it to heart. However, just as he turned into the street where the Zhao Yamen was located, he saw a familiar figure hurriedly leading a horse out.

"Lord?! You're back!"

Hou Renmeng, who was leading the horse with an anxious expression, was stunned for a moment, "I was just about to go out of the city to find you."

Zhao Du'an looked surprised: "What's wrong?"

Hou Renmeng said very quickly:

"You should go back to the hall and take a look. A fierce-looking woman came just now, without reporting her name, but it can be seen that her strength is not low, and she has the air of a soldier. She wants to find you, Lord. Qian Kerou said you weren't there, but she insisted on waiting. Old Zheng saw that this person was ill-intentioned and asked me to come out to find you."

Zhao Du'an's expression was strange: "The other party didn't introduce herself? Then how did she enter the Yamen?"

The Zhao Yamen was not a place that could be entered casually.

Hou Renmeng said: "The other party has a military参将's waist牌."

"Take me over to take a look." Zhao Du'an jumped off his horse and followed Old Hou straight to the Pear Blossom Hall.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Zheng Lao Jiu and Shen Juan and a group of Jinyi gathered in the outer courtyard. They were all invigorated when they saw him arrive:

"Lord..."

Zhao Du'an said calmly: "Where is the person?"

"In the main hall, Kerou is with her."

Zhao Du'an nodded, pushed aside the crowd, and led them into the middle courtyard, bypassing the large pear tree that was already bare with only branches left. He saw that the hall doors were wide open.

On the main seat of the hall's long table, which was originally used as a conference room, the position that belonged exclusively to Zhao Du'an, a female general was sitting with her legs wide apart.

Her complexion was slightly red and black due to years of exposure to the sun, but she had a kind of murderous aura cultivated in the military. She was not wearing a military uniform, but simply a neutral outfit, and soft armor could be vaguely seen lining the inside.

At this moment, she was sitting with her legs crossed, her eyes slightly closed, and a long horse lance was placed horizontally on the table in front of her, the end of which flashed with cold light.

"Lord!"

Qian Kerou, who was standing aside, hurried over, her round face showing joy, and then explained:

"I wouldn't let her sit in your seat, but she wouldn't listen."

Tsk, only you, Xiao Rou, would do this. If it were any other troublemakers, they would have already taken action... Hmm, no wonder Old Zheng asked you to stay and entertain the guest, and asked the most brainless Hou Renmeng to come out to find me... Old Zheng still knows how to use people...

Zhao Du'an complained in his heart.

And Tang Zhao, who heard the voice, also opened her slightly closed eyelids with a snap. This rouge horse from the frontier actually had a pair of clear black and white eyes.

She made eye contact with Zhao Du'an, and when she saw his handsome appearance, Tang Zhao was slightly stunned, and a thought flashed in her mind:

Such a good-looking man should not be the one who bullied her younger brother.

"May I ask which army the general is from? What is the purpose of suddenly visiting Pear Blossom Hall to find this official?"

Zhao Du'an scrutinized this somewhat familiar but definitely unfamiliar face and asked in a deep voice.

"Are you Zhao Du'an?" Tang Zhao raised her eyebrows.

He nodded.

Tang Zhao suddenly felt that this person's face was hateful. She snorted and stood up, saying:

"If you don't know my identity, you should know that Tang Ping has a second sister."

The Little Duke's second sister? That female general from the Duke's mansion who has practiced martial arts since childhood and served in the frontier army? Tang Zhao?

Zhao Du'an was slightly stunned, and the corresponding information appeared in his mind. When he investigated Tang Ping, he naturally checked the personnel of the Duke of Zhen Country's mansion.

He suddenly understood!

No wonder he always felt that this person looked familiar. This face was clearly somewhat similar to Tang Ping, that white-robed young general.

Wait... Shouldn't Tang's second sister have entered the city with Duke Tang today? Why did she come directly? According to the time, she wouldn't have gone home and came directly to find me after entering the city, right...

Of course, he didn't know that Tang Zhao's intention was to help her younger brother vent his anger first, and then go back to the mansion to see her brother.

This way, she would be glorious, elated, and able to avoid her family members from stopping her from taking action.

"So it's the Duke's mansion's daughter, Miss Tang Zhao." Zhao Du'an smiled after realizing the other party's identity, revealing her origin.

Duke's daughter?

The group of Jinyi behind him were stunned, looking at each other, and were momentarily grateful - fortunately, they didn't let their blood rush to their heads and fight with the other party, causing trouble for the Lord.

Daughter? Miss? Tang Zhao's expression became unkind after hearing these two titles, and she said coldly:

"Then you should know why I'm here."

Zhao Du'an pretended to be ignorant, smiled, and said:

"Miss Tang and I have never met before, and we have no grudges in the past, and no enmity recently, but I can't figure out why."

Tang Zhao was furious when she saw his frivolous appearance:

"I'm too lazy to talk nonsense with you. I'll only ask you one question. When you went to the Divine Machine Camp, did you strip my younger brother of his official robe and drive him out of the camp? Did you do it?"

Zhao Du'an raised his eyebrows and said lightly:

"So what if I did? As a fourth-rank 佥事, it shouldn't be up to others to point fingers at me for dealing with my subordinates."

Tang Zhao was laughed at. She, who had always been short-tempered and protective of her own, suddenly pulled out a waist牌 from her waist and threw it forward:

"Okay, it's good that you admit it. The country has national laws, and the military also has its own rules. I really can't manage the affairs of your Divine Machine Camp. So the reason why I came to find you today is to compete with you in martial arts according to the rules of the military. Do you dare to accept the challenge?!"

"Pa." Zhao Du'an raised his hand and grabbed the flying waist牌, glanced at the words on the copper plate, and the shaking穗子 below, and said slowly:

"What if I don't accept? What if I do accept?"

Tang Zhao took it for granted and said: "If you accept, then fight. If you don't accept, I'll leave immediately."

So simple? Zhao Du'an knew that it was definitely not that simple.

Now he was no longer the novice he was when he first transmigrated. He knew that in the Yu Country's army, there were rules for martial arts competitions between military generals.

As long as the ranks of both parties were equal, they could invite a battle, or they could not accept the battle, but if this spread, it would become a laughing stock, and the military has always been ashamed of those who dare not accept the battle.

Tang Zhao was in the border pass, and the rank of the border army was somewhat different from the military government in the inland areas of the capital, and it was a little higher, so Tang Zhao was of the same rank as him.

"Don't worry, I won't bully the weak. I heard that you entered the Divine Chapter Realm a few months ago. I am also in the Divine Chapter Realm, so it's not considered bullying you." Tang Zhao had a condescending posture.

But her tone was extremely confident.

After Zhao Du'an advanced to the Divine Chapter, the only public record he had was the Buddhist and Taoist competition.

But that time he used the Tai'a Sword to "cheat", so it didn't count as a real result. In everyone's eyes, he was just a newcomer who had entered the Divine Chapter for a few months.

Even very few people knew that he was already in the middle stage of the Divine Chapter.

And Tang Zhao was a genuine Divine Chapter High Stage, honed in the army. Regardless of the solidity of her martial arts foundation, or her martial arts skills and consciousness, she was among the strongest in the Divine Chapter.

Almost everyone thought that as long as he didn't cheat, this would be a battle with a huge disparity in strength, and the outcome was almost without suspense.

"Lord..." A group of Jinyi looked a little anxious and wanted to speak.

But Zhao Du'an raised his hand to stop them, glanced at Tang Zhao with a strange expression, and smiled: "Okay."