The First Lackey Under The Empress

In the morning, a caravan from the north arrived in Fengcheng County.

The carriages traveled along the main road that ran north-south through the ancient city, wheels rolling, their monotonous sound echoing off the bluestone pavement.

Zhao Du'an sat in his own carriage, lifted the curtain, and scanned the ancient buildings lining the streets of Fengcheng—the architecture of Binhai Road, unlike that of the capital and Huaishui.

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Most were two-story buildings, with roof ridges steeper and larger than those in the north, and ditches dug along the sides of the streets to drain rainwater.

The "Dayu Geography" records that Binhai Road has a low terrain, close to the East Sea, and Fengcheng's terrain is particularly low-lying. Moreover, due to the proximity of a mountain range called "Yunling," it has a particularly rainy geographical pattern.

South of Yunling, it is said that it intermittently leads to "Luoshan" in Jiancheng Road, the place where emperors of past dynasties performed "Fengchan" sacrifices.

And east of Fengcheng, all the way to the end, is Daqingshan Mountain next to Wudi City, shrouded in sea fog all year round.

"Qingshan is located on the coast, so there are many Jianghu forces in Binhai Road. Green forest wanted criminals often cross this border. Zhuang Xiaocheng's hiding here is indeed well thought out."

Zhao Du'an withdrew his gaze, holding the quaint and mysterious "Fengyue Baojian" in his hand.

At this moment, the bronze mirror reflected his unremarkable face after being disguised with a mask.

"Zhuang Xiaocheng…"

Zhao Du'an stared at the mirror, recalling Zhuang Xiaocheng's appearance in his mind. Clouds of mist surged on the mirror surface, rolling endlessly, and vaguely visible in the mirror seemed to be a scene about to appear, but it was so blurred that it could not be seen clearly.

"As expected, although Zhuang Xiaocheng is a mortal, he must have means to avoid being tracked by spells. Fengyue Baojian cannot窥视 him…

However, Baojian's reaction indicates that this person is most likely indeed within the Fengcheng area. Otherwise, the spellcasting would only fail, and would not be like being 马赛克'd…"

Zhao Du'an was not surprised, which meant that the method of directly finding the headquarters location through Fengyue Baojian would not work.

Nor was he surprised. If it were so easy to find, the Kuangfu Society would have been destroyed long ago.

Feeling the caravan turn, Zhao Du'an flipped his wrist and put away the bronze mirror, waiting silently.

…

Before long, the carriage twisted and turned, stopping behind a relatively remote inn.

The Jinyi who were disguised as caravan members got out of the carriage one after another and knocked on the door, then led the carriages and goods into the backyard of the inn.

It looked like a normal business lodging.

Zhao Du'an got out of the carriage, looked at his colleagues who also came out, gave them a look, and the group entered the backyard, entering the main hall in the courtyard under the guidance of a waiter.

The main hall was not large, with tables and chairs on both sides, and cheap calligraphy and paintings on the walls.

"This is a stronghold of the imperial Shadow Guards. Heh, the inn is also real, run by peripheral Shadow Guards to pass on messages."

Haitang saw Gongshu Tianyuan and the listless Jin Jian looking curious and took the initiative to explain in a low voice.

The little fat priest nodded slowly, carrying his hands behind his back, proudly puffed out his chest, and surveyed the furnishings of the house:

"Our Tianshi Mansion disciples can also stay in any Taoist temple with the law, and even go to any government yamen as honored guests."

As a Zhu Dian priest, Gongshu Tianyuan joined the government team this time to repay a favor, but he always kept in mind to maintain the high-end image of the Tianshi Mansion.

"The Tianshi Mansion priest represents the face of the Taoist leader when he is outside, and cannot lose his status!"

Before leaving the city, Gongshu Tianyuan repeatedly told the confused Jin Jian.

At this moment, even on the girl priest's palm-sized face, she was full of sleepiness, her eyelids kept drooping, and when she heard her senior brother's words, she still stood up against her A, proudly saying:

"Yes…hiccup…"

No…Gongshu, this fat man, is only thinking about not losing his status all day long. You are so sleepy, why are you joining in the fun… Zhao Du'an muttered in his stomach, suddenly feeling a little headache.

With Jin Jian's behavior, can we only fight at night later?

As soon as the group sat down in the hall, two figures walked in side by side from outside, namely:

A scholar's dress, a morbidly pale complexion, a sickly young man who seemed to fall when the wind blows.

A Jianghu female knight, with a long sword tied behind her back, and a woman with most of her face covered with a bronze mask.

At this moment, her empty mask revealed two sharp eyes.

As soon as the two stepped into the room, their eyes scanned around, locking on the strange man who was obviously sitting in the main seat, and bowed their hands in salute:

"Subordinates pay respects to Lord Zhao, I didn't know you were entering the city, sorry for not welcoming you."

The secret agents waiting at the Jinfu Inn were actually the two "gold medal Shadow Guards" who had arrested County Magistrate Wang Chusheng in Taicang.

The man's code name is "Scholar", and the woman's code name is "Hongye".

Because the latter was suspected to be a descendant of Pei Niannu, Zhao Du'an had consulted the files in the palace and was deeply impressed.

In addition to recognizing the abilities of the two, when planning the exchange of prisoners and planting spies, Zhao Du'an ordered the task of contacting the spies to be handed over to them.

This time, they came to Fengcheng and made arrangements in advance. The two Shadow Guards arrived a step earlier and stayed in the inn as "travelers" for several days.

"No need to be polite, sit down and talk," Zhao Du'an smiled and gestured, seeing the two Shadow Guards sit down somewhat restrainedly, he then asked:

"This official came here incognito this time, you should already know the purpose. Has there been any change in this place these days?"

Scholar and Hongye looked at each other, the former said seriously:

"Reporting to you, sir, according to your instructions, we have been maintaining secret contact with the spies headed by 'Actor' respectively. The many rebellious parties who were exchanged for prisoners are still placed in a manor ten miles outside the east of the city and have not been transferred.

The rebellious party had a gathering here during the New Year some time ago, and Zhuang Xiaocheng appeared… Unfortunately, there was no warning in advance, and people had already dispersed when the spies sent back the news."

"As for these days, I have not contacted them for prudence. However, we secretly investigated and learned something wrong."

"Oh?" Zhao Du'an raised his eyebrows.

The sickly scholar was about to speak when suddenly, Jin Jian, who was slumped in the chair and dozing off, opened his eyelids with a "snap", and looked out reflexively.

Then, Ji Yue, Lang Shiba, and Gongshu Tianyuan also looked out of the house with shocked expressions almost at the same time.

"Horseshoe sounds… and swords… many people… are coming this way, surrounding the inn."

The drunkard Lang Shiba suddenly spoke.

The former Canjun of Jubei City had sharp eyes, took a stride to the corner of the room, opened a crack in the window, and said in a deep voice.

Surrounding the inn? Swords? Zhao Du'an was stunned and looked at Scholar and Hongye in surprise.

The two gold medal Shadow Guards also looked blank and did not understand what had happened.

"Go out and take a look," Zhao Du'an said, getting up and walking outside first, and several people in the room followed him in a hurry.

As soon as they walked out of the room, they heard a noisy sound from the front door of the inn, accompanied by people's exclamations and loud shouts:

"The court is arresting rebellious thieves, everyone squat down quickly!"

At the same time, Zhao Du'an captured with his outstanding hearing that the entire inn was filled with footsteps.

He turned his head left and right, and saw archers jumping up on the roofs of the buildings outside the surrounding walls.

All holding military crossbow arrows, aiming at the patio of the inn, the sharp arrows shone coldly in the sunlight.

"Be careful, sir…"

The Jinyi who were originally cleaning the rooms in the inn also flocked out, Hou Renmeng drew his sword from his luggage and rushed out, glanced up at the archers in the surrounding "shooting points", and his face changed:

"It's a magic weapon crossbow arrow!"

"Protect the adults!"

A group of Jinyi school lieutenants drew their swords and surrounded Zhao Du'an and others, guarding against the arrow rain that might come at any time.

They seemed to have forgotten that compared to the four Shijian realm experts beside Zhao Du'an, it was they who really needed protection…

"Bang!"

Immediately, the front door of the inn was kicked open by a great force, and the entire door flew out horizontally, slamming heavily on the ground in the backyard, raising a cloud of dust.

Zhao Du'an looked coldly, and saw a group of fully armed, armored and sword-wielding elite officers and soldiers pouring into the courtyard like a flood, surrounding everyone in the courtyard in a semicircle.

The leader of this group of officers and soldiers had a dark complexion and sharp eyes. Unlike others who wore soft armor, he only wore a headhunter's robe, with dark red trim on the cuffs and collar, embroidered with silver thread. Zhao Du'an recognized at a glance that it was the standard outfit that only a prefectural yamen-level headhunter could wear.

Zhang Han, the Jisi of the Peony Hall, was obviously stunned for a moment. Zhao Du'an glanced at him and asked in a low voice:

"Recognize him?"

Zhang Han lowered his voice and said:

"Zhang Jian, the headhunter of the West Prefecture Yamen of Binhai Road, has the same surname as me, but he is not from the same family. He is a very powerful guy. I had a relationship with him once."

The headhunter of the West Prefecture Yamen? Luan Cheng's subordinate?

Why did he run to Fengcheng County? While Zhao Du'an was wondering, he saw a prefectural magistrate, Luan Cheng, walking in aggressively in a crimson official robe behind a large group of officers and soldiers.

Behind him was also a county magistrate with a restrained expression.

Prefect Luan Cheng, with a black gauze hat and the appearance of a middle-aged scholar, sternly shouted:

"Bold rebellious party, how dare you hide in the jurisdiction of this government and swagger through the city. Your sins are unforgivable. Quickly lay down your weapons and surrender, and this government may be lenient!"

Zhao Du'an's expression suddenly became extremely strange, and the Lihua Hall Jinyi around him also changed from being in a state of great alarm to being at a loss and stunned.

No…

We have become a rebellious party?

Jin Jian was no longer sleepy, took out her crystal grinding glasses from her pocket, put them on the bridge of her nose and watched the show seriously. If the scene was not appropriate, she would have wanted to grab a handful of melon seeds.

Tsk, it's really interesting to work with the government…

"You…" Beside him, Haitang raised her eyebrows, took a step with her long legs, and put her hand on the flying knife on her waist, about to speak.

But Zhao Du'an suddenly pulled her down and stopped her.

"Luan Cheng, the fourth-rank prefect of Fengcheng jurisdiction?" Zhao Du'an came out of the crowd, confirming with a strange expression.

Before his business trip, he had also done his homework seriously and read the information of the local officials.

He had a fresh memory of this Prefect Luan, who was a Jinshi in the ninth year of Jingyun and served as a judge in Dali Temple like Lu Zhi, and later served as a foreign county magistrate. Because his mother was guarding the funeral, he resigned for several years, and then returned to office… He has been working as the prefect of Binhai…

His resume is not special, but what really made him famous was his ability to handle cases. There is a folk saying that he is "the impartial Luan Qingtian".

He is one of the local officials who was particularly valued after the Empress ascended the throne.

It's said that beside him, there's also a former martial arts expert who now serves as his guard captain.

How should I put it…

It's like a Yuguo version of "Bao Qingtian and Zhan Zhao," except the one with the dark face isn't Luan Cheng but the captain, Zhang Jian, and he doesn't have a crescent moon on his forehead…

"It is I!"

The Yuguo Bao Qingtian's gaze pierced through, stern and imposing. His eyes swept over the group dressed as merchants, yet wielding sharp blades, clearly martial artists and rebels. He was both surprised and delighted.

Delighted because the intelligence was accurate. What kind of good people would react by drawing their swords to resist officials…

Surprised because the rebel force was large, numbering in the dozens, and he wasn't sure if they could be apprehended.

Luan Cheng said sternly, "Now that you know my name, surrender and be captured. It's better than dying for that traitor, Zhuang Xiaocheng!"

Zhao Doan seemed to smile, showing none of the fear one would expect from a rebel cornered in a desperate situation.

He looked down at Luan Cheng and asked, "How did you know we were coming? And when did you enter Fengcheng?"

Luan Cheng was stunned, and all the officers were dumbfounded. They thought, 'Are all rebels this tough nowadays?'

Why does he seem to be interrogating us instead?

"Bold!" Luan Cheng said, his face flushed with anger. He sneered:

"What a rebel! So arrogant! You dare to question me? Very well, very well. Do you think you can resist the government just because you have so many men? Zhang Jian!"

At his command,

the black-faced, stern-looking captain, wearing a short iron-plated uniform with trimmed edges, stepped forward. His shoes crunched on the brick floor, leaving a spiderweb-like crack.

Unlike the ordinary body of Governor Luan,

Zhang Jian, who had spent half his life wandering the martial world and was once a martial arts expert himself, felt a faint pressure as he entered the inn.

The pressure didn't come from the men in brocade wielding knives,

but from the few obviously strange individuals beside the rebel leader:

The fatty who tried hard to keep his hands behind his back, puffing out his chest and pointing his nostrils to the sky.

The young girl wearing strange lenses, using her fingers to try and pry open her eyelids, looking dazed.

The man carrying a wine gourd and holding the hilt of a curved saber.

The woman huddled in the corner, head lowered, burying her face in her messy black hair…

The sickly scholar, the woman with a bronze mask covering her face.

This group practically had the word "weird" branded on their faces.

They radiated twelve parts strangeness out of ten.

Even the most "normal" looking man and woman gave him a faint sense of threat.

Zhang Jian cursed inwardly, thinking, 'My lord, you shouldn't have said that. It seems we've kicked an iron plate this time.'

But now that things had come to this, he knew from his years in the martial world that the brave win when paths cross. In the current situation, a safe retreat was impossible. Rather than passively defend, it was better to capture the leader first, or there might be a chance.

So, when the governor uttered the word "Zhang," he had already moved. As he took a step, he simultaneously drew the two sabers from his waist.

One long and one short, the long one heavy and narrow, named Thunderclap.

The short one thin as a cicada's wing, named Autumn Leaf.

At that moment, the long saber Thunderclap hummed and vibrated. The energy, in a burning state, transformed into strands of illusory flames, erupting from his pores and coiling towards the narrow saber similar in style to those of the Eastern Sea Ronin, flowing down the blade and dripping onto the ground, scorching the bricks into mottled black marks.

The short saber Autumn Leaf was suddenly thrown, spinning like a wheel in mid-air, attacking Zhao Doan, who was standing at the front, from another angle with lightning speed.

"Excellent saber technique!"

Zhao Doan's eyes lit up. With his current vision, few martial arts in the martial world could amaze him.

But this saber technique, learned from who knows where, with its two sabers, one overt and one hidden, one taking the unorthodox path and the other the righteous path, complementing each other.

The timing and decisiveness of the attack were also remarkable, worthy of the Iron Captain, whom Zhang Han had only met once but remembered.

Well, apart from other things, this man's solid martial arts alone were on par with Zhang Han, the arresting officer of the Peony Hall.

Even in the capital, he could earn a position. It was truly a waste to have him as a governor's guard in this place.

Many thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. The spinning Autumn Leaf saber had already reached his face.

Zhao Doan's hair was slightly blown back. Just as he was about to try out his newly mastered "Buddhist Golden Bell Shield," Lang Shishi Ba had already dashed out from behind him.

The weathered face of the Northern Blood Saber, carrying a wine gourd, was covered with green stubble. His pupils reflected the spinning Autumn Leaf saber like a revolving wheel.

His thumb, covered in scars, moved up his waist, flicking out the bright Western Region curved saber.

It seemed as if a pool of moonlight had lit up the courtyard.

Lang Shishi Ba flicked his finger lightly, and the curved saber flew out joyfully, guiding his hand, and with a "ding" sound, it collided with the spinning Autumn Leaf saber that was producing afterimages.

The Autumn Leaf saber, which seemed as thin as a cicada's wing but could actually cut an adult man in half, offered no resistance and was knocked away by the curved saber.

With a whoosh, it deviated from its trajectory, grazed Jin Jian's scalp with a "poof," and stabbed hard into the pillar behind the crowd, the blade buried halfway in, the hilt still vibrating!

Jin Jian, who was using his hands to prop open his eyelids, was stunned for a moment, and the illusory shadow of a blood-colored moon behind his head slowly faded.

Lang Shishi Ba, in the mortal realm, unleashed a saber strike that was unstoppable. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Zhang Jian. Zhao Doan's lazy voice came from his ear:

"A small warning."

Lang Shishi Ba casually threw down the curved saber, turned his palm into a knife, and, in Zhang Jian's horrified gaze, sent the renowned captain flying backward like a cannonball.

"Boom! !"

Zhang Jian smashed through the inn's window, crashing into the room, overturning tables and chairs, leaving only a human-shaped hole in the window.

Lang Shishi Ba kicked up the curved saber with his foot, sheathed it, and calmly walked back to the group, as if he had done something trivial.

Gongshu Tianyuan and the others looked bored, without any surprised expressions.

What if he was a martial arts expert? He was only in the Divine Chapter realm. With Lang Shishi Ba's full power, the opponent had no chance of turning the tables.

A silence fell.

"Clang!"

An officer's hand trembled, and his saber fell to the ground. The other government officers also had a ghostly expression.

"A worldly martial artist?" Someone guessed the possibility, but then a strong sense of confusion arose.

When did the rebels have such a strong worldly expert?

Governor Luan Cheng stood there dumbfounded, the anger still frozen on his face, cold sweat seeping from his forehead, quickly freezing in the winter air.

According to his plan, this arrest would at most encounter a few Divine Chapter realm experts, which would be the limit, and Zhang Jian and a group of officers would be enough to deal with them.

But obviously, the situation exceeded expectations.

At this time, Gongshu Tianyuan, who couldn't bear to lose face in front of the imperial court, curled his lips, grabbed a straw doll from his loose sleeve, and then flicked the straw doll's head with his finger.

"Ah! !"

In an instant, all the crossbowmen ambushing on the roof screamed simultaneously and were blown away, each with a broken and bloody head.

"Just some skin injuries, no problem. A small warning, you know."

Gongshu Tianyuan explained to Zhao Doan with a smile.

You learned quite quickly, but you don't have to compete in everything… Zhao Doan muttered to himself, unsurprisingly, seeing the remaining half of the government officers turn pale:

"A sorcerer! He's a sorcerer!"

Luan Cheng's scalp tingled, and then his heart was ashen, foreseeing that he was about to sacrifice himself for the country.

"Governor Luan," Zhao Doan slowly stepped forward and walked to his side.

During the process, the officers hesitated, not daring to step forward.

Zhao Doan reached out and straightened his collar in the latter's wooden expression, and whispered:

"I'll ask again, how did you know we were here, and when did you arrive?"

Luan Cheng's face twitched, cold sweat seeping from his back, but he gritted his teeth and stared at him fiercely, his eyes red:

"Rebel, even if you kill me, don't expect me to submit!"

Zhao Doan narrowed his eyes, leaned forward, almost face to face, and stared coldly into the eyes of the middle-aged scholar:

"Do you want to die?"

Luan Cheng closed his eyes, his heart sinking to the bottom, his body icy cold, and said with his last strength:

"Kill me."

The expected death did not come. In the almost silent courtyard, a laugh was heard.

Luan Cheng opened his eyes blankly and saw the rebel leader smiling softly, slowly walking back, and said:

"Old Hou, put away the knives. It seems our whereabouts have been exposed. Hehe, I originally wanted to sneak into the city quietly, but it seems our opponent is more cunning than we thought, so let's stop pretending."

Hou Renmeng and the other Embroidered Uniform Guards put their knives back into their sheaths, looking at the group of government officers with disdain:

"My lord, the government officers in this place are simply disgracing the imperial court. If it were us, we wouldn't be like this even if we couldn't beat them."

Zhao Doan said with a smile:

"Don't say that. Would you risk your life for a few taels of silver?"

Jin Jian felt bored, took off her glasses, and treasured them, putting them in the bag around her waist.

"Cough… cough cough…"

Inside the inn room, the constable Zhang Jian coughed and staggered out, and saw this scene, with a confused expression, turning his head to look at Luan Cheng:

"Governor, this is…"

Luan Cheng was equally confused.

At this moment, Zhang Han walked out of the crowd, looked at the constable Zhang Jian with a poker face, and said:

"Do you still remember me?"

Zhang Jian was stunned, carefully identifying the person in front of him, feeling a little familiar, but couldn't remember, until Zhang Han pulled out the seven-foot sword from his waist, he was stunned and widened his mouth:

"You are… the Imperial Prison Peony Hall… Arresting Officer Zhang?!"

Beside him, Haitang, with a string of throwing knives hanging from her waist, walked over with long legs, glanced at the group irritably, took out the arresting officer's waist card from her waist, shook it, and said:

"Haven't figured it out yet?"

The Imperial Prison arresting officer… another arresting officer… Yuguo Bao Qingtian was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized something, he stammered and widened his eyes, looking at Zhao Doan:

"You are… you are…"

Zhao Doan grabbed his face and removed his disguise, revealing his original appearance, turned to look at him, and smiled:

"Governor Luan, take a look, who am I?"

Thank you to Jian Xin Jing Du for the 100 coin reward.