The First Lackey Under The Empress

That night, due to the late hour and the need to report to his superiors, Zhao Du'an did not return home but spent the night in the Baima Prison.

The next morning, when Zhao Du'an opened his eyes, it was already bright.

He carefully washed up, changed into his official robes in front of the mirror, and picked out a sandalwood sachet. Looking at his handsome face in the bronze mirror, the corners of his mouth slightly curved up:

"Done!"

He had to pay attention to his image when meeting the Empress.

"It's a pity the sachet's scent is so-so. How were perfumes invented in those transmigration novels? The Empress should like it, right..."

Turning over these random thoughts, he ordered a servant to bring food and simply filled his stomach.

As he walked out of the yamen, he saw Zhou Cang, dressed in brocade clothes, already waiting beside the carriage.

"Lord, this humble servant has prepared the carriage," Zhou Cang said with a smile.

Zhao Du'an deliberately said "I don't care what you find in the interrogation" last night, expressing that he only wanted the credit for solving the case and arresting people.

He left the Zhang brothers to Supervisor Ma, and any information dug up would be credited to the Zhao Yamen.

It was a very 'on the ball' operation to give someone a favor.

Ma Yan understood and returned the favor.

Therefore, he would not accompany Zhao Du'an into the palace this time to avoid competing for credit, only sending a centurion to give a sense of participation.

He himself went to the Zhao Yamen overnight to 'prepare' the Zhang brothers. Last night, the Zhao Yamen jailers heard screams that did not stop all night.

Heh... I hope old Ma can dig up something, anyway, the intelligence about the 'Privy Council' is mine... Zhao Du'an felt no shame for intercepting it.

...

...

The two of them set off towards the Imperial Palace, unhurried.

Xu Zhenguan had a strict schedule. After the morning court, she would review memorials or chat privately with ministers. Unless it was an urgent matter, she was not to be disturbed.

It was already morning when Zhao Du'an arrived at the Imperial City.

He ordered Zhou Cang to wait outside and followed the leading eunuch into the deep palace for the third time alone.

He thought he would be arranged to wait in a side hall.

But unexpectedly, not long after the announcement, the familiar older female official came smilingly:

"Lord, His Majesty invites you to come over."

His status had obviously improved. He didn't even have to queue to enter the server.

Zhao Du'an was flattered and thanked her, then asked curiously:

"Is His Majesty not busy at this hour? Am I going to the Imperial Study?"

The older female official smiled and said:

"His Majesty is talking with Lord Yuan in the Imperial Garden. Since she has summoned you, it should not be a disturbance."

Lord Yuan?

Zhao Du'an was stunned and blurted out: "The current Censor-in-Chief?"

The older palace maid smiled: "Otherwise, who else is there in the Great Yu called Lord Yuan?"

Yuan Li!

Zhao Du'an had heard of this name many times.

There were two major factions in the current court. One was led by Li Yanfu, backed by the Jiangnan gentry, who were also ministers from the old emperor's generation.

The other was the "Purist Party" led by Yuan Li, the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

It was based on remonstrating officials and absorbed a large number of non-Jiangnan scholars.

It was a new generation of giants in the court that the Empress had single-handedly promoted after her ascension to the throne.

As the "leader" of the party, Yuan Li was a first-rank official, a big figure like Li Yanfu, whose stomping could shake the Great Yu court.

But unlike the cunning and powerful Li Yanfu,

Yuan Li had a much better reputation, especially among scholars, and was highly respected.

He had served as the chief examiner for the imperial examinations many times, and his "students" were all over the states and counties.

Zhao Du'an remembered that after "he" gained power, he had wanted to visit Lord Yuan, but the invitation was sent out and disappeared without a trace.

He had been resentful for a while because of this, but now that he thought about it, it was purely because the original owner was missing a screw and didn't know his own weight.

"Lord Yuan is here today too?"

Zhao Du'an was surprised, and a strong curiosity surged in his heart.

Well, after all, in terms of factional divisions, if Li Yanfu was his enemy, then even if Yuan Li was not an ally, he was definitely an object to be courted.

Tsk, tsk, tsk... Why is my head full of sucking up? Where is the integrity of a transmigrator...? Zhao Du'an straightened his back.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the Imperial Garden.

In the height of summer, the garden was full of pavilions, towers, flowing water, rockeries, and clusters of precious flowers and trees transplanted from all over the world.

They were growing well.

The winding stone paths were long, and a servant stood every few tens of meters. The fragrance of flowers filled the air, and emerald birds chirped softly.

Zhao Du'an walked curiously all the way, and soon a gazebo came into view ahead.

The gazebo stood by a pond, attended by beautiful palace ladies in palace attire, their white breasts dazzling.

In the pavilion, two figures were sitting opposite each other playing chess.

The one on the left was Empress Xu Zhenguan of Great Yu. After a few days, the Empress's fairy-like jade face remained unchanged, dressed in white with blue hair, her appearance otherworldly.

The one on the right was wearing a sky-blue jacket and a hat, about fifty years old, refined and handsome, with deep eyes containing the vicissitudes of time.

Even though age had increased and appearance had declined, he was like a jar of old wine, rich and mellow.

"Your Majesty..."

The older female official was about to speak, but Zhao Du'an suddenly raised his hand to interrupt and shook his head.

With the Empress's cultivation, she must have noticed his arrival long ago without needing to be informed.

"Give it to me."

Zhao Du'an glanced at a palace maid approaching with tea set in hand, took it, and placed a white towel in the palm of his hand. The temperature of the precious purple clay teapot was just right.

Zhao Du'an stepped into the pavilion, walked around to the side of the two people playing chess, and carefully poured tea, his movements light, slow, and skilled.

In his previous life, the leader he followed was very fond of traditional culture, tea ceremony, calligraphy, Go, Chinese painting... and so on.

And he loved to read history books, and there was always a copy of "Fifteen Years of Wanli" on his desk, not pretending, but truly liking it.

Zhao Du'an was an ambitious person, whether it was influenced by what he saw and heard, or deliberate learning.

In short, after several years of experience, he could not say that he had studied this kind of knowledge deeply, but at least he had a wide range of knowledge.

In addition, the "later generations" had a broad vision, and famous chess scores could be found everywhere.

At this moment, he glanced at the chess game, and saw that the situation of black and white pieces intertwined showed that the two players were both good at chess.

Unfortunately, people in this era paid attention to "gentleman's style" in chess, upright and proper.

Therefore, the study of chess skills also went in the direction of a big picture, and they did not delve deeply into the art of fighting for victory.

Therefore, Zhao Du'an, who had been ravaged by AlphaGo, glanced at it and could not help but feel bored.

If he were to play, he would have pushed it flat long ago.

"Tap."

Xu Zhenguan seemed not to have noticed his arrival, did not look sideways, and casually dropped a piece, saying:

"...So, Lord Yuan thinks that the salt and iron affairs in Jiancheng Dao should be moved this year?"

Oh ho, obviously, the two were playing chess as a pretense, and discussing state affairs was the truth.

Before this, they should have talked about some topics.

Zhao Du'an intervened midway and was confused, lacking contextual understanding.

But since the Empress had called him over, instead of letting him wait, it should mean that she didn't care if he heard these things.

Moreover, the words "Jiancheng Dao"... also caught his attention.

Yuan Li was silent for a moment and said: "Is Your Majesty still worried about Prince Jing?"

Xu Zhenguan's beautiful eyes dimmed and said:

"How can I be at ease with a tiger sleeping next to my bed? Just like this game of chess between you and me, my uncle seems harmless, defending all the time, but in fact, just like your chess path, Lord Yuan, there are hidden surges."

The blue-robed Censor-in-Chief said:

"But Your Majesty still has the upper hand in the situation, and this minister can only go to great lengths to plot a few pieces."

"A thousand-mile dike is destroyed by an ant nest. If too many pieces are taken away, the building will collapse," the Empress sighed.

"But Your Majesty can't take drastic measures. After all, there are wolves all around. If they fight early, I'm afraid that people outside the game will overturn the chessboard. Just like a person who has just recovered from a serious illness, if strong medicine is used, I'm afraid they will die. They must be slowly recuperated."

"Lord Yuan is right, but in this way, I have become the defending party," Xu Zhenguan looked depressed.

"Is Your Majesty still worried about the firearms craftsmen?" Yuan Li hesitated:

"Wasn't it handed over to Ma Yan for investigation?"

Xu Zhenguan snorted and looked displeased:

"It's just a perfunctory matter. I have sent him back to investigate again."

In her words, it seemed that she had already guessed that it was related to Prince Jing, but there was no evidence.

Or rather, according to the meaning of the two people's conversation just now, the Empress didn't really care whether there was evidence.

After all, her conflict with the "Eight Kings" was very deep. Sooner or later, it would be a thunder, and when it came time to take action, wouldn't it be easy to find a name?

What really troubled her was that she didn't know who the "ant" hidden in the "thousand-mile dike" of the court was.

And where it was hidden.

Yuan Li sighed softly:

"I'm afraid it will be difficult. Ma Yan has always been conscientious in his work. Since he can't find it, he must have tried his best, and it will be difficult to find anything more even if he investigates again."

Xu Zhenguan dropped the chess piece in her hand, looked depressed, and said bitterly:

"How can I not know this principle..."

At this time, Zhao Du'an, who was standing next to him pretending to be invisible, couldn't help it.

He cleared his throat to attract the attention of the two big figures.

The Empress's beautiful eyebrows furrowed, and she finally turned her head to look at him:

"Speak if you have something to say."

Zhao Du'an took a deep breath, first saluted the two of them, and then said solemnly:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the case of the firearms craftsmen has been solved last night!"