The First Lackey Under The Empress

Colluding with Zhuang Xiaocheng? Leaking information?

Before Zhao Du'an said these words, Zhang Changji's muscles were tense, but after he said them, they relaxed.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

He seemed to have heard something ridiculous, and in a fit of anger, he pointed at Zhao Du'an and said:

"You say I colluded with the rebel Zhuang Xiaocheng?"

Zhao Du'an looked sincere:

"It's just a suspicion, you can go to the Imperial Prison to explain."

Zhang Changji was so angry that he laughed, his whole body trembling. He suddenly turned his head, stared at Zhou Cang, and said:

"Centurion Zhou! I don't know what nonsense he told you, but this matter has absolutely nothing to do with me!

I admit I have an old grudge with him, and a few days ago, we added a new one. Zhao Du'an wants to retaliate against me, so he's making up accusations. Brothers of the Imperial Prison, don't be fooled by this person!"

He felt he understood.

This dog thief Zhao Du'an is vindictive. It wasn't enough to injure him, he shamelessly tried to link him to the rebel party.

It was purely framing him.

Faced with Zhang Changji's accusations, Zhao Du'an wore an expression that said, "I'm just framing you," and "What can you do to me?"

He was practically writing the words "on purpose" on his face.

Beside him.

After a brief moment of astonishment and confusion, Zhou Cang turned to look at Zhao Du'an, and suddenly remembered what the latter had instructed him before entering the door.

The phrase "Listen to my orders in everything."

Suddenly enlightened, he said expressionlessly:

"Whether it's a frame-up or the truth, we'll only know after the trial."

He added:

"Our Director Ma already knows about this matter. It's useless to tell us."

Did Ma Yan send you?

Zhang Changji was stunned, his eyes widened, and the word "black幕" almost burst out.

He felt that Zhao Du'an had bribed Ma Yan, and the two were colluding, but he had no evidence.

"Alright, let's talk in the Imperial Prison," Zhao Du'an said lazily:

"Are you going to walk on your own, or do we have to tie you up and take you away?"

Zhang Changji's face changed drastically, as if he was hesitating. After a moment, he suddenly took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said:

"Envoy Zhao, can I have a word with you in private?"

As soon as the word "Envoy" came out, the expressions of everyone present became strange.

Zhao Du'an glanced at him with slight surprise, and sneered:

"You want to lure me into the house alone to attack me?"

Zhang Changji raised his right hand, which was still wrapped in gauze like a rice dumpling, and said:

"Is Envoy afraid?"

"Ha, a crude provocation," Zhao Du'an said with a contemptuous expression, then said:

"But I actually fall for this kind of thing."

He put his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent:

"Centurion Zhou, would you mind having your brothers wait outside for a while?"

Zhou Cang smiled and said: "Envoy, go ahead."

… …

… …

Backyard, inner hall.

As the maidservant served cool tea and fruits, she bowed and closed the door.

In the room, only the two people remained, seated as host and guest.

Well—the one sitting in the host's seat was Zhao Du'an.

"The weather is hot, Envoy, please try the cool tea to relieve the heat."

Zhang Changji took the opportunity to put on an outer robe. At this time, he restrained his violent aura and adopted a welcoming attitude.

It can be seen that although this military man has a fiery temper, he can also see the situation clearly and know when to advance and retreat.

"Haha, forget it, I dare not try it. Who knows if there is poison in the tea?"

Zhao Du'an smiled, then said:

"Now that it's just you and me here, say what you have to say directly."

"Very well." Zhang Changji was unwilling to be polite with him, and his expression turned cold. He said:

"You should know that this kind of inferior framing is meaningless. There is no real evidence, just relying on a mouth.

When my elder brother and my uncle know, they can naturally get me out. Even if it's reported to His Majesty, I'm not afraid."

Zhao Du'an said lazily:

"Whether it's meaningful or not, we'll only know after trying. Even if you go in today and get bailed out tomorrow, I'll be happy to make you suffer a little."

At this point, it was made clear.

Zhang Changji took a deep breath, stared at him, and said:

"You and I have a feud, that's true. But my elder brother was grounded and suffered a loss, and I went to your house to make trouble and got injured. Now you've even brought people to my door… No matter how you look at it, you haven't suffered a loss. Isn't that enough?"

Zhao Du'an's expression also sank, and he said:

"It seems you really don't understand. The fact that you brothers suffered a loss was your own fault. You did something wrong and provoked someone you shouldn't have provoked. It's the price you should pay. You think that's even? What a joke!

If we really want to settle the score, bring your wife over and let me tease her, and you can be the audience… If you can do that, then we'll be even, how about it?"

"Zhao!" Zhang Changji's anger flared up:

"Don't push me too far!"

Zhao Du'an coldly stood up:

"If that's the case, then there's nothing to talk about."

Saying that, he made a gesture to walk out.

"Wait!"

The veins on Zhang Changji's hand on his knee bulged, but he still called out to him.

The corners of Zhao Du'an's mouth curled up in a smile, and he leisurely sat down again:

"We can talk properly now?"

Zhang Changji was silent for a moment, his tone stiff:

"State your real demands."

In the end, he chose to compromise!

It wasn't because he was afraid of Zhao Du'an, or rather, afraid of the torture in the Imperial Prison.

In fact, he firmly believed that with the connections and power of the Zhang family, even if he was thrown into the Imperial Prison, he wouldn't suffer too much.

"King Yama Ma" was cold-blooded, but he would still give his uncle some face.

If it were up to his temper, he would rather take a trip to the Imperial Prison, then swagger out, and even take the opportunity to make a big deal out of it and counter-attack Zhao Du'an, than bow his head to him.

But he had another concern, namely:

The case of the missing firearms craftsmen from the Beijing Garrison.

He knew very well that the Imperial Prison was investigating this case, and it would be very troublesome if he was caught at this juncture.

First, it would be easy to attract attention and expose suspicious points. Originally, no one was staring at him, but what if these people found some clues while framing him?

Secondly, if he was arrested, it would easily touch the sensitive nerves of some people who were in contact with him.

At that time, there might be some changes.

Zhang Changji didn't dare to gamble.

He didn't need to put himself, or even the entire family, at risk of being raided and beheaded just to get angry with Zhao Du'an.

At the same time, after he confirmed that Zhao Du'an was simply framing him.

He realized that the best solution was to temporarily swallow his anger.

Pay some price and reconcile with the Zhao fellow.

As for today's humiliation, he could always get his revenge later.

Although he wasn't smart, he wasn't stupid either.

That's why he asked to talk alone.

And when he heard these words, a bright smile also appeared on Zhao Du'an's face.

Hey, this fool took the bait!

"So, you want to negotiate with me?"

Zhao Du'an had a victorious smile on his face, almost crossing his legs.

Zhang Changji said expressionlessly:

"Yes. Name your price, how can we reconcile."

After a pause, he added: "Don't mention my wife's matter!"

"Hehe, don't worry, I'm not a Cao, I'm not interested in other people's wives."

Zhao Du'an smiled, thought for a moment, and said embarrassedly:

"I'm a little tight on money recently. I wonder if Brother Zhang is well-off and can lend me some silver. Last time you came to my door, didn't you say I owed you money? Let's just make it true."

What Cao… Zhang Changji automatically ignored the first half of the sentence that he didn't understand, and a look of contempt appeared in his eyes:

"Alright, name a price, how much do you want."

Sure enough, he's a greedy villain!

Zhao Du'an slowly raised a finger.

"One thousand taels?"

Zhang Changji frowned, although it hurt, he nodded:

"Alright, I'll order the accountant to get it for you."

"No, no, no," Zhao Du'an said slowly: "It's ten thousand taels of silver."

Zhang Changji was stunned when he heard this number, and then he couldn't help but stand up in anger:

"Don't go too far! Ten thousand taels, why don't you just rob the national treasury! If I sell everything in this mansion, I won't have ten thousand taels!"

In the capital of Great Yu, a good mansion in terms of location, area, and all aspects, is worth about five thousand taels.

How many people desperately work hard all their lives and can't even afford a thatched hut in a house in the capital.

Although the Zhang family has some wealth, that belongs to the entire family.

After Zhang Changji separated from the family, he, a low-ranking military officer in the Beijing Garrison, had only saved more than a thousand taels, a considerable part of which was given by his father when he separated from the family.

Of course, this doesn't include the black money he got from helping "people from the South."

"Why are you so excited," Zhao Du'an frowned, "Business is to be negotiated. We can talk, we can talk."

Zhang Changji was appeased, his expression slightly缓和: "At most one thousand taels!"

"Eight thousand taels."

"… … One thousand five hundred taels!"

"Five thousand taels."

… …

The two bargained fiercely for a long time.

In the end, with Zhao Du'an standing up again and about to push the door open as the end, they reached a "three thousand taels" transaction price.

Although he estimated that this shouldn't be Zhang Changji's limit, his purpose was to solve the case and make contributions, and just make money along the way.

There was no need to really push people into a corner and lose big because of small things.

"You wait here." Zhang Changji's face was already pale, and he used the last bit of reason to force himself to remain calm:

"I'll go get the money."

"Go ahead." Zhao Du'an smiled, Zhou Cang and others were outside, so he wasn't worried about him playing tricks.

He thought to himself:

"In this way, the financial hole in the family can be filled. Finally, there is money for You Jinhua and her daughter's living expenses.

Well, seeing them living so poorly, they can't even afford clothes, it's really not easy. With this money, I can improve their lives."

Before long, Zhang Changji returned, offering a large stack of silver notes, totaling three thousand taels.

His face was extremely ugly: "Now, is that okay?"

"Okay, okay." Zhao Du'an smiled and put the silver notes into his arms.

Zhang Changji said:

"Then please take Zhou Cang and his group away, I need to rest."

Zhao Du'an asked in surprise:

"Aren't you coming with us?"

Zhang Changji was stunned: "What? Where to?"

A bad feeling rose in his heart.

Zhao Du'an stood up leisurely:

"As a suspect, go to the Imperial Prison with this official, otherwise what?"

Zhang Changji couldn't believe it: "Didn't we agree…"

"Agree on what? Don't make wild accusations and slander people. What's there for this official to discuss with a suspect?" Zhao Du'an said unhappily.

Immediately, he said sarcastically:

"You wouldn't believe that a despicable villain like me would keep his word, would you? Naive!"

He said in a deep voice: "Come here!"

Bang!

Zhou Cang and others, holding knives, crashed open the door, looking fierce.

Zhao Du'an said righteously: "Arrest the suspect and bring him to justice!"

… …

Three thousand word chapter, increased quantity but no extra update.