The First Lackey Under The Empress

The moonlight was cold and clear, and the long street returned to tranquility.

With the arrest of the warlock's spirit, this fight came to an end.

"What is this?"

Zhao Du'an dropped the knife hilt, his tense muscles relaxed, and a large amount of lactic acid accumulated, causing his muscles to ache faintly.

Killing an enemy with one blow seemed satisfying, but it was not easy.

The price of high burst damage was the instantaneous consumption of most of his qi. His mortal martial artist's fragile meridians had endured pressure that should not have been present at his level.

The qi was too violent and hurt him!

"Swallowing." The girl in the black priest's robe carefully tied the yellow gourd to her waist, the colorful ghost faces on its surface closing their eyes as if dozing.

She turned back and added:

"A kind of warding item."

Her tone was as if she were saying, "Grass, a kind of plant."

"Similar to a magical artifact?" Zhao Du'an used a familiar concept for comparison.

Jin Jian hummed in agreement and said:

"Almost, but with slight differences. Magical artifacts can only be crafted by humans, similar to swords and sabers, and are mostly held by martial artists.

But warding items possess spirituality, including both man-made and naturally occurring ones, and often have strange abilities, mostly mastered by warlocks."

Learned something new… Zhao Du'an humbly asked:

"This strongman, the gourd, including your staff, are all man-made warding items, right? What are the natural ones?"

Jin Jian first nodded, indicating that his guess was correct, and then said:

"Natural ones… for example, the placenta, baby hair, are all warding items.

After a baby is born, the placenta should be burned or hidden as soon as possible; otherwise, if a warlock finds it, they can use the placenta to perform a curse, which is very powerful."

When she said these things, her tone was like reciting from a textbook.

It reminded Zhao Du'an of those top students in his class back in school.

"I see…"

Jin Jian shifted her gaze slightly guiltily:

"This person is very powerful, not a weakling even among those in the Divine Chapter realm. This kind of small case should not involve a warlock of this level."

You seem to be explaining why you didn't protect me well just now… Zhao Du'an glanced at her, deciding not to expose her insecurity.

Zhu Dian's boy has high talent and great potential, so he was accepted by the Celestial Master, but his absolute combat power is not strong before 'graduating'.

But this matter is indeed strange…

If it was just bribing the Zhang brothers to kidnap a few firearms craftsmen… although the nature of the crime is vile, involving imperial power and the conflict of the 'Eight Kings'.

The case itself is actually very small.

Sending a few small characters would have been enough to handle it, at most involving the 'Mortal Body' realm.

Even Sun Lianying would never have imagined that a 'Divine Chapter' realm warlock would appear.

Using a cannon to kill a mosquito… Unless, Prince Jing's estate has other purposes, or this warlock is lurking in the capital for other reasons.

Zhao Du'an voiced his speculation.

Jin Jian hummed in agreement, her small face serious, and said:

"This person has mastered a lineage that shares the same origin as my Celestial Master's Mansion. I need to take him back for investigation. If the imperial court wants him, he can be handed over later."

This matter has exceeded her authority and needs to be reported to the elders within the mansion, or even the Old Celestial Master.

"Very well." Zhao Du'an didn't mind. Anyway, Jin Jian defeated the man.

It would be troublesome if he took him instead; who knows what other tricks the warlock has?

Martial artists are better, simple and pure, breaking through with brute force.

"I'll take him away first and come find you later." Jin Jian squatted down, her small hand picking up the black-clothed warlock's shell, speaking in a reciting tone.

Preparing to slip away.

Zhao Du'an discovered with interest that beneath the girl's mysterious and ethereal exterior, there was a hint of a student bookworm, not at all aloof.

"…Okay," he nodded. The danger was gone, and he no longer needed her protection.

Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly asked:

"By the way, do you know where Zhang Changshuo ran off to?"

…

…

"Huff… huff…"

Heavy breathing.

Heart pounding like a drum.

Under the cover of night, Zhang Changshuo, wearing a smelly linen robe and having lost one of his shoes, ran wildly in the darkness.

Faint starlight shone down, illuminating his face full of panic and fear, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead.

After the formation teleported him, he suddenly appeared in an empty house. Zhang Changshuo, being a coward, hid in a pile of firewood.

He actually managed to survive the first wave of searches by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

After the officials were all lured away and the surroundings were silent, he carefully crawled out, identified the direction, and fled madly.

It was pitiful for a weak scholar who usually traveled by car or rode a horse when leaving the city; how could he possibly run?

After much difficulty, he ran to the designated location, already drenched in sweat and nearly exhausted.

"Young Master? Is that you, Young Master?" In a secluded street corner, a carriage waited.

At this time, a Zhang family servant, holding a horse whip, looked at the approaching figure and called out softly.

He was the other person who drove the "manure cart" earlier.

According to Zhang Changshuo's arrangement, the two of them pretended to live in the residence, and Zhang Changshuo went to handle matters.

The servant went to rent a carriage and waited here, circled around, and then sent Zhang Changshuo back home.

This way, even if someone noticed that he had gone out, it wouldn't matter as long as they couldn't find his tracks.

"Help me, help me into the carriage…" Zhang Changshuo gasped for breath.

The servant was shocked and hurriedly helped him into the carriage:

"Young Master, what happened to you?"

As a servant, he didn't know where his master was going; he only knew that he was taking care of private matters.

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and leave!"

"Oh, okay. Are we going back to the mansion now?"

"No! We can't go back!"

Inside the carriage, Zhang Changshuo caught his breath, his face extremely ugly. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"Go to the West City Gate! Quickly!"

When Zhao Du'an led people to surround him and the torchlight illuminated his face, it meant that he was finished.

The mere charge of "colluding with suspicious warlocks and martial artists" was enough to have him arrested and investigated.

Therefore, he absolutely could not go home now. Hiding at a friend's house would also be difficult. The best way was to take advantage of the fact that the news hadn't spread and leave the city as quickly as possible.

Although the city gates were closed after nightfall, he, as the "Envoy of the White Horse Office," still had some privileges.

As long as he pretended to be working for the Sage and deceived the gate guards into opening the city gate, it wouldn't be too difficult.

Next, he just needed to find a place to hide and wait for news.

"The best-case scenario is that the people from Prince Jing's estate run away or are all killed. In the absence of any evidence, even if there is suspicion, the Empress cannot directly convict me; otherwise, it will cause panic and resistance among the officials of the court…"

"As long as I cannot be convicted, there is room for maneuver, and my father and uncle can mediate."

"The worst-case scenario is nothing more than fleeing to Jiancheng Road and joining Prince Jing's estate. Even if I have lost my value, Prince Jing, in order to encourage others and prevent them from feeling disheartened, will treat me well!"

The carriage rumbled, speeding along the cold streets.

Inside the bumpy carriage, Zhang Changshuo thought anxiously, his thoughts gradually becoming clearer.

At this time, he remembered to take off the smelly linen robe from his body, roll it into a ball, throw it out of the shaking carriage window, and put on the clean long robe prepared in the carriage.

After doing these things, he clenched his fists, his heart in a mess, his fingernails almost piercing into his flesh.

In his mind, scenes from today flashed by like a revolving lantern.

Finally, it froze on a handsome face that he hated to the extreme.

"Zhao! Du! An!"

Zhang Changshuo squeezed this name out from between his teeth, his eyes full of anger.

Even at this moment, he still didn't believe that today's killing trap was orchestrated by the Zhao fellow alone, only believing that it was led by the Imperial Court.

It must be that Ma Yan first discovered clues and intended to test the waters, and Zhao Du'an was just a bait thrown out to paralyze him.

Even if this guess couldn't explain why Zhao Du'an led the officials to arrest him rather than the Imperial Court's commander.

"A gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late. When I escape to Prince Jing's command and the dynasty changes, it will be the day of my return."

Zhang Changshuo fantasized in his heart, his blood boiling with the revenge drama he had imagined.

Suddenly, the horse neighed, accompanied by the coachman's low cry and the muffled sound of a "thump."

The speeding carriage jolted violently and was forcibly stopped.

"Ah—" Zhang Changshuo fell, feeling dizzy. He barely sat up and roared:

"How are you driving the car… Ah!"

The roar came to an abrupt halt.

A man's well-proportioned hand lifted the gray curtain of the carriage, and the moonlight shone down like water, illuminating the face of the person who came.

Zhao Du'an looked at his old friend with a smile, his expression gentle:

"Brother Zhang, it's so late, where are you going?"

Thank you to Only Know Half of Me for the 233-coin character reward~