The First Lackey Under The Empress

How to discipline these Green Mountain disciples? Zhao Du'an had his own ideas.

In the world of martial arts, being a good-tempered 'Mr. Nice Guy' isn't the right way to survive. Showing appropriate toughness is what earns respect.

How to deal with these three without overstepping, maintaining the court's authority without making enemies during this sensitive period, is a skill.

[Remember this site's domain name: Taiwan Novel Net → 𝓉 𝓌 𝓀 𝒶 𝓃 . 𝒸 ℴ 𝓂]

Xu Zhenguan seemed confident that Zhao Du'an could handle this matter well.

"Dismissed," Zhao Du'an waved, dismissing the enshrined warriors. Then, draped in the last rays of the western sunset, he walked to the front of the Cold Palace.

He hesitated, not pushing the door open, but pressing his eyes to the doorframe.

Through the crack, he saw Consort Xiao, wearing a coarse cloth skirt, placing the food box on her lap, grabbing the food with her hands, and swallowing it in large mouthfuls, completely unconcerned about Xiao Ran's departure.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Du'an relocked the door and left.

......

The imperial palace was structured almost like the Chinese character '回' (hui, meaning 'return').

The small '口' (kou, meaning 'mouth') inside was the residence of the emperor and the imperial harem, while the large '口' outside was where the government offices serving the imperial family were located. Unmarried or grown-up princes and princesses also resided in this area.

In a sense, the palace city was the master's bedroom, and the imperial city was the area where servants and guests lived.

The Green Mountain trio was arranged to stay in a separate courtyard within the imperial palace.

Chai Keqiao personally carried the dinner sent by the Imperial Food Bureau and pushed open Qiye's room.

As soon as the door opened, a strong scent of herbal medicine permeated the air. Qiye, blindfolded with black cloth, sat bare-chested on the bed. A white bandage was wrapped diagonally around his chest, and his left hand was also bandaged.

"It's time to eat," Chai Keqiao placed the food box on the table, his mouth twitching, "Did you have to go this far?"

Qiye said expressionlessly:

"With Zhao Du'an's nasty temper, would he have let us leave so easily if I hadn't made a show of it?"

Chai Keqiao sighed:

"If you hadn't provoked him, it wouldn't have come to this. Were you really just standing up for Tian Hai Ming?"

Qiye calmly got out of bed. Although blindfolded, he walked to the round table and sat down as if he could see:

"Standing up for him is only part of it; it was more of a test. If you don't act, and Xiao Ran doesn't take the martial arts competition seriously, then if I don't play the villain and let you be the good guy, how can we figure out their strengths and weaknesses?"

After a pause, he frowned:

"However, I didn't expect that Zhao Du'an could unleash such a strike. The strength and depth of his inner force are almost comparable to the Seijin Realm. Are you sure he's only a middle-grade?"

Chai Keqiao placed the dishes from the food box one by one, shaking his head:

"That strike was not normal. If I'm not mistaken, it was an outburst he had accumulated for many days. Such a powerful aura, yet he wasted too much of it. If you accumulated as much as he did, and combined it with your control over Qi, I wouldn't dare say you could break through a hundred armors with one sword, but seventy or eighty armors wouldn't be unattainable."

Qiye's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and he said:

"So, he's really just a showboat?"

Chai Keqiao hesitated:

"It's hard to say. After all, we haven't truly exchanged blows. Judging by inner force alone is too one-sided. But comparatively, in my opinion, Tang Jinzhong and Song Jinxi are the more solid ones among the enshrined warriors, but... they're not worth worrying about. This generation of the Yu Kingdom's royal family can be said to be declining in talent."

The young master of the Chai family, dressed as a mountain woodcutter, with bronze skin and snow-white teeth, had an expression full of certainty and arrogance.

Qiye also nodded, relieved.

The royal family places too much importance on 'loyalty' and keeps the 'Martial God' inheritance too hidden. Only a very few people can access it, which is bound to lead to further decline.

The Green Mountain lineage, on the other hand, is inclusive and recruits talents without sticking to one pattern. If you disregard the fact that the royal family can mobilize the resources of the entire country, it would have been completely left behind by Green Mountain long ago.

In this generation, there are only two noteworthy individuals. One is the Empress Xu Zhenguan, who reached the 'Pseudo-Seijin' Realm at the age of twenty-plus, a woman who can be described as unparalleled.

The other is Zhao Du'an, whose reputation is rising rapidly.

"You rest. I'll go deliver food to Xiao Ran," Chai Keqiao said—he, this "team leader," was more like a babysitter.

Qiye broke apart his chopsticks and said calmly, "No need. She's gone out. She probably won't be back until late."

Chai Keqiao's expression changed, guessing what had happened: "She went to the imperial harem?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why should I?"

"..." Chai Keqiao felt a wave of exhaustion. He adjusted the axe at his waist and heard someone knocking on the door outside the courtyard.

The two exchanged a look. Chai Keqiao's expression was not good. He went out and opened the door, only to see an enshrined eunuch standing outside, his sleeves gathered, standing in the gauze-like night, saying haughtily:

"Xiao Ran of Green Mountain trespassed into the imperial harem and has been captured by Shao Bao Zhao. If you want her, come to the Martial Arts Hall."

Chai Keqiao's heart sank.

......

......

Martial Arts Hall.

When Zhao Du'an pushed open the door of the house, he saw Xiao Ran, dressed as a heroine, with her hands and feet bound by special magical ropes.

She sat quietly on a chair in the room. Her hat, the dagger on her body, and her soft sword had all been taken away.

"Miss Xiao, after that fierce battle just now, you must be hungry," Zhao Du'an said with a smile, personally carrying in a tray with food on it.

Seeing that the room was dim, he couldn't help but frown:

"The people below have no sense, not even lighting a lamp."

He put down the food and then struck a flint to light the candle, covering it with a lampshade. The orange-yellow warm light permeated the entire house.

Xiao Ran stared coldly at the Empress's paramour. The strands of hair on her temples were sticky and stuck to her cheeks, the result of dried sweat from the martial arts competition.

She said sarcastically:

"I often hear that the officials in the court have several faces, speaking human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts. Why is Shao Bao Zhao so arrogant and then so respectful? Why would you trouble yourself to bring food and light a lamp for a mere daughter of a criminal official?"

Zhao Du'an picked up the food again, sat opposite her, with a small table between them, and looked surprised:

"What are you saying, Miss Xiao? Delivering food? No, no, you're overthinking it. This is mine."

He pointed at the exquisite dishes, then pointed at his own nose:

"This is my dinner. Yes, I'll eat it in front of you."

Xiao Ran: "…"

Her chest rose and fell slightly, and she closed her eyes, wanting to shut out the sight and clear her mind.

After a moment, she opened her eyes again, annoyed:

"Can you eat quietly? Don't smack your lips?!"

Zhao Du'an, who was focused on dealing with a portion of crystal pork knuckle, smiled and said:

"I come from a low-ranking military family, unlike Miss Xiao, who comes from a prestigious clan. My family doesn't have so many elegant customs when eating, like 'don't speak while eating or sleeping.' So… if you don't want to hear it, you can endure it."

"You…" Xiao Ran glared at him and sneered:

"Crude! I really don't know how the Empress favors you!"

As soon as she said this, she saw Zhao Du'an suddenly pick up a cup of wine from the plate and splash it on Xiao Ran's face, who was bound hand and foot, without warning.

She was stunned, letting the wine run down her face, her eyes cold and silent.

Huh… this isn't how it played out in the video. Shouldn't you tilt your head to avoid it and say something like 'It's cold'?… Zhao Du'an was extremely disappointed. He put down the pork knuckle, wiped the grease from his hands with a handkerchief, and said indifferently:

"You're brave."

Xiao Ran's eyes were wary. Although she didn't quite understand, her intuition told her that the treacherous official in front of her seemed to be teasing her for fun.

Zhao Du'an said listlessly:

"I'm very curious. As a daughter of the Xiao family, even if you're from a concubine, there's no reason to send you to the East Sea to suffer from a young age, right?

It can't be that the old Master Xiao foresaw the fate of the family being executed many years later? Leaving a descendant? Then he should have left a boy, right? Tsk, I'm very curious, Miss Xiao, can you enlighten me?"

Xiao Ran didn't answer, just stared at him:

"Chai Keqiao will come looking for you when he sees that I haven't returned."

No, in fact, I've already gone to inform him. Otherwise, why would I capture you… Zhao Du'an curled his lips.

Of course, he understood that although "breaking into the palace" was a serious crime, with the Green Mountain Martial Examination, it was impossible to make a big deal out of it.

"Heh heh, is that so? Then I'll see if he has the ability to break in and save you. Speaking of which, the eunuchs below haven't searched you yet, right? Oh, maybe you wouldn't mind even if they did, they can't do anything except spit on your face…"

As Zhao Du'an spoke rubbish, he slowly stood up, a sinister arc rising at the corner of his mouth, and approached her step by step.

Xiao Ran suddenly tensed up: "What do you want to do? Aren't you afraid of the Empress…"

At this moment, a voice like thunder suddenly rolled across the courtyard outside the Martial Arts Hall:

"Zhao Shaobao! Chai has come to demand the person! I hope you will come out to meet me!"

Xiao Ran's eyes lit up, as if she saw a savior.

How disappointing, I haven't had enough fun yet… You guys took the TV drama script, right… Zhao Du'an sighed, glanced at Xiao Ran, and walked out of the room.

…

Outside the gate of the Martial Arts Hall.

The entire palace was shrouded in a veil of night, and red lanterns hung on the quaint gate tower.

The young master of the Chai family, wearing linen clothes, straw sandals, and an axe stuck in his waist, stood alone against a large group of guards.

The leader was none other than Tang Jinzhong, who was also at the Worldly Realm.

Zhao Du'an walked out from behind the crowd, looking disappointed, and said condescendingly:

"What are you shouting for? If you have a loud voice, go outside the front gate to sell things."

"…" Chai Keqiao took a deep breath, suppressed the anger surging in his heart, and clasped his fists solemnly:

"I heard that Senior Sister Xiao was captured by Shaobao due to a misunderstanding. Chai has come to…"

"Oh, come back tomorrow then." Zhao Du'an interrupted him, without politeness:

"Involving the inner palace is a very important matter. I will personally interrogate Xiao Ran tonight. Come back again tomorrow morning."

With that, he was about to leave impatiently.

Chai Keqiao hesitated and said, "But it was clearly Shaobao who sent someone to ask me to come…"

Zhao Du'an said in surprise: "I sent someone to find you? Who can prove it?"

He looked at a group of guards beside him: "Was it you who went? Or you?"

The guards tacitly shook their heads: "The master never instructed us."

Zhao Du'an smiled, stood with his hands behind his back on the steps, and said condescendingly:

"Brother Chai, I am a person who follows the rules. If you can identify who falsely conveyed my order now, then I will listen. If you can't say it, then you are just making trouble."

No matter how good-tempered Chai Keqiao was, he couldn't suppress his anger at this moment. How could he not understand that Zhao Du'an was clearly deliberately playing with him?

The purpose was nothing more than to humiliate and retaliate.

As for leaving Xiao Ran in the eunuch's den for one night… even if it was an eunuch's den, with Zhao Du'an's despicable cunning, as long as he publicized it tomorrow, Xiao Ran's reputation would be completely ruined.

Realizing that he couldn't reason with him, Chai Keqiao took a deep breath and slowly held the handle of the axe at his waist:

"What if I insist on taking her away?"

Zhao Du'an smiled slightly, protecting everyone in front of him:

"Then you have to ask them if they agree."

During the fifteen-day period, if both sides fought, they could use "sparring" to gloss over it.

Chai Keqiao coldly swept over a group of palace guards led by Tang Jinzhong, slowly took a step forward, and clenched the axe handle in his hand.

Tang Jinzhong and other eunuchs also drew their swords.

"Clang—"

For a time, murderous aura filled the air.

Just as the two sides were about to clash, suddenly, a carriage drove from a distance, and the sound of wind chimes rang.

Accompanied by the eunuch's sharp voice:

"The Empress has arrived!"

…

ps: I promised to write more words yesterday, but I only wrote five thousand words. This chapter makes up for it. There will be an update at midnight tonight.

Thank you to Jian Xin Kyoto Fire's five hundred rewards and 2021…9606's hundred rewards support.