The First Lackey Under The Empress

In the woods, by the bonfire.

Zhao Du'an pinched the end of a gray-black branch, frowning as he questioned the returning court guard: "What's going on?"

Tang Jinzhong was still holding a bundle of dry branches in his arms:

"A team of soldiers is chasing someone in the forest. Without your order, we dared not show ourselves and take action, so we came back to report first."

A chase in the forest? Now, not only Zhao Du'an and Mo Chou, but even the divine official Yu Xiu, who was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, opened her eyes.

The sound approached, and the group looked in the direction of the sound, only to see vaguely the figures of people approaching in the forest on the left, moving extremely fast.

The person fleeing in front was slender, wearing coarse cloth clothes and a bamboo hat. One of her shoulders was injured and stained with blood. She was fleeing in panic. It was actually a young woman.

Behind the woman, a team of about twenty soldiers in the forest, wearing soft armor, holding swords, and wearing iron helmets, exuded a fierce aura, faintly forming a hunting formation. Their heavy boots stepped down, splashing patches of accumulated water from the grass and trees that had not yet dried.

Tang Jinzhong, Song Jinxi, and the other guards stopped what they were doing, formed a circle, and protected Zhao Du'an and the others in the center, subconsciously holding the handles of their knives at their waists, assuming a vigilant defensive posture.

"They are soldiers from the Linfeng Military Prefecture." Zhao Du'an narrowed his eyes, recognizing their origin from the style of the soldiers' armor.

Soldiers from the imperial court's military prefecture? Why would they appear here?

And who are they chasing?

There's clearly still a distance to go before reaching the prefectural city... Mo Chou was stunned, her expression visibly puzzled.

"Master, do you want us to help capture the person?" Song Jinxi, with his keen observational skills, asked.

Zhao Du'an suddenly turned his head and looked at Yu Xiu, smiling, "Could I trouble the divine official to take action?"

Yu Xiu closed her eyes again, appearing indifferent:

"This Taoist does not interfere in royal infighting."

Mo Chou became a little anxious and urged him: "Don't waste time, stop them first and ask about the situation. I feel like something is not right."

Logically, since it was an action by imperial soldiers, they should help, but Mo Chou keenly sensed something was amiss.

She prepared to first control the situation and find out what was happening.

"No hurry," Zhao Du'an glanced at the approaching parties, pursuer and pursued, and suddenly felt an itch, saying:

"You don't need to take action. Watch this official mediate with arrows."

He stood up, stretched out his right hand, and immediately a guard brought him a horn bow. Everyone was curious, preparing to witness Lord Zhao's archery skills.

Zhao Du'an drew the bow and nocked an arrow, his figure upright. In the sunlight, the arrow reflected a cold light, locking onto the black-armored soldier closest to the fleeing woman, who was about to catch up.

According to the "ballistics," this iron arrow would land on the ground in front of the soldier's feet, forcefully stopping both sides.

"Swoosh—"

The bow suddenly relaxed, and an arrow pulled out a residual image, instantly appearing in the forest dappled with sunlight.

The chased Jianghu woman was panting. Seeing Zhao Du'an in the distance in the camp drawing his bow and nocking an arrow, she was delighted, but in the next second, her hair stood on end!

The arrow grazed her scalp, and the bamboo hat on her head "bang" split in two, falling to both sides, and her head of black hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

The arrow's momentum did not diminish, and with a "thud," it plunged into the tree trunk, half of it submerged, the fletching still vibrating!

"Ah!" Mo Chou was startled and turned her head to look at Zhao Du'an in astonishment.

She recalled the scene when she sent Zhao Du'an to the Shenji Camp to take office, and the latter had shot the arrow off target on the drill ground.

He shot off target... The latter tried his best to maintain the posture of a martial arts master, the corner of his mouth twitching. He threw the bow and arrow to the guard:

"This bow is damp, the accuracy is not good, adjust it when you have time."

Everyone: … …

At this time, the soldiers were frightened and instinctively slowed down, drawing their knives to defend.

The woman took the opportunity to escape to the vicinity of the camp, finally exhausted, staggered and fell to the ground, blood gushing from her shoulder, staining her coat red, her voice weak: "Save... me..."

Tang Jinzhong looked back at Zhao Du'an and, seeing him nod, signaled a guard to drag her into the encirclement.

At this time, a group of black-armored soldiers also rushed out and surrounded everyone. The two sides confronted each other, one side wearing armor and holding sharp weapons, the other only dressed as guards, the strength contrast was clear.

Only upon closer inspection would one notice that the guards, who should have been trembling and fearful, were calm and composed.

And the soldiers, who should have been full of confidence, were anxious.

"Hand her over!"

A black-armored officer, leading the group, walked out with his knife drawn. They were covered with half masks, and the gaze from the holes was sharp and cold.

As if at the slightest disagreement, they would slaughter and kill.

Zhao Du'an dusted off his robe, slowly sat back on the small stool by the fire, dressed like a young master from a wealthy family, bossing around:

"Who do you belong to? Do you know the identity of this young master? Has Sun Xiaozhun not told you to prohibit pointing your weapons at the people under your jurisdiction?"

Logically, since Linfeng had become a war zone, these soldiers from the military prefecture should have been transferred to Taicang Prefectural City and should be under the jurisdiction of Sun Xiaozhun, the prefect of Taicang.

Zhao Du'an was deeply impressed by the black, thin, iron-like prefect who acted decisively in the Taicang Silver Mine case.

"Who are you? State your identity! We are arresting rebel spies. Anyone who shelters them will be treated as a rebel!"

The black-armored officer, covering half of his face, asked in a muffled voice, the veins on the back of his hand holding the knife handle bulging, quietly exerting force.

Zhao Du'an put on a straight face:

"Good, you're interrogating me instead. I haven't suspected you of being rebels yet..."

"Attack!" Before he could finish a sentence, the crow's feet at the corner of the black-armored officer's eyes suddenly became dense, and he shouted in a low voice, already erupting.

His military boots exerted force, his armor clanging, and the thick, sharp saber in his hand slashed towards Zhao Du'an with a "whoosh" sound.

The remaining twenty-odd "Linfeng soldiers" all attacked at the same time, neatly and uniformly, charging towards the guards with their knives drawn.

If they were ordinary guards, even if they had martial arts skills, they would not be able to withstand the coordinated charge of the military formation for more than a few breaths before they were killed and wounded.

In the eyes of the black-armored officer, this young master, whose identity was obviously not low, was already a dead man.

This was the front line of the war zone, yet he was stupid enough to travel with a few beautiful women. He deserved to die.

However, Zhao Du'an, who was holding a branch and tending the fire, only lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on a pot of boiling water bubbling on the stone stove, and said softly: "Leave one alive."

"Yes, sir!"

In the next second, the harmless "guards" revealed their fangs. Tang Jinzhong grinned, without carrying a weapon, took a big step, and delivered a punch to the nearest soldier.

The ferocious soldier's body was like soft mud, suddenly losing all strength. His back arched, the inner armor inlaid with metal pieces torn apart like tofu, and blood oozed out a fist print on his skin. He fell into the forest like a sack, lifeless.

Song Jinxi smiled obsequiously, his figure like a ghost, appearing behind three soldiers almost at the same time, locking their fragile throats with one hand, easily knocking down three people as if pinching little chicks.

The remaining guards also took on one opponent each, without even drawing their knives. In the blink of an eye, a team of murderous soldiers lay on the ground.

Only the black-armored officer was left, charging to the fire alone, yet no one stopped him.

Just as his knife was about to fall, a bright scimitar suddenly flew from the carriage, cutting off his ankles in two.

The scimitar rotated in the air, flew back again, and was casually caught in the right hand by Lang Shiba, who had finished "releasing water" from the forest.

He picked up the wine gourd in his left hand, took a swig nonchalantly, then frowned, re-weighing the weight of the wine gourd, a little dazed.

Ji Yue, hugging her knees, curled up into a ball, and squatted next to the tree stump, silently grabbed, half of the black-armored officer's blood was drawn from the severed ankle wound, grabbed by her into a "blood ball", and thrown into the forest.

"Ah—"

At this time, the officer fell to the ground with a thud, too weak to hold his knife, only feeling dizzy, but looking up with fear in his eyes at the noble young master who was still stirring the charcoal fire:

"You... you are... Zhao..."

Zhao Du'an pulled out the branch, stuffed it into his mouth, and said:

"The rebels of Yunfu changed their clothes, and they think they can deceive this governor. They underestimate people too much. Take him to the forest and interrogate him properly. This official is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see torture."

Song Jinxi, skilled in assassination, interrogation, and other strange methods, grinned and picked up the soldier, heading towards the forest.

Only at this time did Mo Chou regain her senses, "Ah," she exclaimed, startled and stood up, looking at the corpses on the ground, she suddenly covered her mouth and began to gag again.

Yu Xiu maintained the posture of sitting cross-legged, frowning:

"There are only wrongly given names, not wrongly given nicknames. No wonder the people of the capital call him 'King Yama Zhao'."

Zhao Du'an smiled and said: "The divine official can't bear it?"

Yu Xiu stood up and turned to walk towards the carriage:

"The mutual killing of two armies also conforms to the way of heaven. What does it have to do with this Taoist?"

Zhao Du'an laughed loudly: "When the rice is cooked, I will have someone send it to the carriage."

Yu Xiu was silent, only quickening her pace.

… …

This battle came as suddenly as it ended quickly.

In the blink of an eye, there were twenty-odd more corpses in the forest. Tang Jinzhong searched the bodies and indeed found the identity tags of the Yunfu rebels inside their armor.

"How did the rebels appear here? Could it be that something went wrong in the prefectural city?"

Mo Chou gagged a few times, tightened her brows, and looked at Zhao Du'an.

Zhao Du'an sat by the fire, pinching an identity tag and examining it, squinting and said:

"If something really went wrong, these people wouldn't need to disguise themselves. It's obvious that they are a small group of scouts infiltrating the imperial court's defense line. It's impossible to completely block such a long defense line. It's not surprising that some slip through.

And that woman who was being chased by these people seems to be more important than we expected."

At this time, a guard led the woman over. Her wound had been simply treated, and she had been fed healing pills, recovering a little strength, but her hair was still disheveled.

When she was brought over, staggering, the face with ordinary features, only the bridge of her nose high, smeared with seven or eight layers of black ash, showed vigilance and uncertainty.

"Tell me, who are you, and why are these people chasing you." Zhao Du'an said quietly, scrutinizing the strange woman.

After the bamboo hat was shattered, an arrow grazed a red mark on the woman's scalp. At this moment, there was still a trace of blood on her forehead, but her leopard-like eyes carried a strange brilliance. She looked at Zhao Du'an warily and suddenly asked:

"May I ask, are you Zhao Shaobao from the capital? Do you have any tokens to prove your identity?"

Tang Jinzhong on the side raised his eyebrows, and the long knife in his hand suddenly pressed against the woman's neck:

"Answer whatever the lord asks you."

Zhao Du'an exchanged a slightly surprised look with her, then suddenly waved his hand, intrigued, and said:

"You have guts. Fine, do you recognize this?"

He reached into his chest, and when he took it out again, there was a token in his palm, the identity tag of the imperial city's enshrined guards.

With a twist of his wrist, the token spun and embedded itself into the ground in front of the woman with a 'thud'.

The woman's eyes lit up. Her blood-stained hands pulled out the token, held it up, tilted it towards the sunlight, and observed the angle of the light reflected by the token and the subtle patterns, as if examining a counterfeit bill.

"Confirmed! 'White Falcon,' a silver-badge Shadow Guard stationed in Linfeng, greets Milord!"

The dirty woman revealed a look of surprise, and suddenly knelt on one knee, holding the token high with both hands to return it.

This scene stunned everyone. Zhao Du'an asked suspiciously:

"Shadow Guard White Falcon?"

"Yes," the woman codenamed White Falcon reached into her chest and took out her own black-background, silver-letter Shadow Guard token:

"Please inspect it, Milord."

Tang Jinzhong, who was beside him, took it, infused it with his Qi, and the Shadow Guard token stirred up dreamlike starlight-like light spots. After flipping it once, the words "White Falcon" appeared on the back of the token.

"It's real," Tang Jinzhong confirmed.

"You are an imperial Shadow Guard? Why were you assassinated? Tell me quickly," Mo Chou, losing her composure, suppressed her urge to vomit and pressed.

White Falcon immediately replied:

"This subordinate was ordered to infiltrate behind enemy lines in the war zone to gather intelligence. Because my identity was exposed, I was hunted down. Fortunately, I was saved by Milord."

Mo Chou, harboring a suspicion, asked: "Why did you flee this way? Shouldn't you have fled to the prefectural city?"

White Falcon truthfully replied:

"There are battles occurring in the prefectural city today, so I dared not go there. I had to go north. The Linfeng Shadow Guards had known for several days that Milord was leading his troops south, so I fled north in the hope that the enemy scouts would be afraid to go deep and retreat."

The answers were fluent and without hesitation.

Zhao Du'an suddenly asked: "You said there are battles in the prefectural city?"

White Falcon nodded:

"Reporting to Milord, today the rebel Su Dan sent troops to attack the prefectural city. But this subordinate's investigation revealed that the rebel leader sent experts leading elite cavalry to take advantage of our army being held back in the prefectural city to sneak in and attempt sabotage. This subordinate learned of this news and was anxious, so I risked crossing the front line to return, which is why I was targeted."

What? Battles are happening ahead? The Yunfu rebels and Xue Shence are fighting?

At this moment, everyone present changed their expressions.

Zhao Du'an's heart sank, and he pressed:

"You said there are experts sneaking in to cause damage? What specifically? Who are they? Where did they go?"

White Falcon looked embarrassed:

"The enemy's movements are confidential, and this subordinate doesn't know much… I only know that there are several light cavalry units, and there are also cultivation experts overseeing them."

Zhao Du'an suddenly threw the map on the ground, along with the branch in his hand, to her:

"Mark the route of the light cavalry unit that you know and saw. Don't tell me you know nothing, otherwise, why would these people risk their lives to hunt you down and silence you?"

Feeling the cold gaze of "King Yama Zhao," White Falcon suddenly shivered. She couldn't muster any thoughts of resistance, and steeling herself, she picked up the gray-black branch and drew several lines on the map.

Zhao Du'an nodded in satisfaction, his gaze towards her softening. He personally got up to help her up:

"You've worked hard. Since you're injured, someone, take her to my carriage to rest. I have better wound medicine in my carriage."

White Falcon was moved to tears and said:

"Milord, the battle situation is urgent. This subordinate is insignificant. I don't know where the reinforcements are. The priority now is to rush to the prefectural city to repel the strong enemy."

Are you teaching me what to do? Zhao Du'an's expression was solemn:

"This commander will seriously consider it. Go."

After speaking, he gave Tang Jinzhong a look, who understood and personally led the silver-badge Shadow Guard named White Falcon to the back.

"The military situation is urgent. There's no time to eat. We should set off immediately," Mo Chou urged anxiously.

Zhao Du'an didn't budge: "Go where?"

Mo Chou looked at him strangely:

"Of course, to the prefectural city! This Shadow Guard is right. Only if we arrive as soon as possible can we turn the tide of the battle."

"Wait a moment," Zhao Du'an said, turning his head to look at the woods where screams were constantly coming from.

A moment later, Song Jinxi returned with a bloody black-armored military officer, smiling obsequiously:

"Milord, this person has said everything he knows."

After Zhao Du'an listened to the officer's intelligence, it highly matched what White Falcon had said.

At this time, Tang Jinzhong also came back and nodded to him, indicating that he had verified White Falcon's identity with the secret code and confirmed it was correct.

Only then did Zhao Du'an nod:

"Shi Meng and Yuan Feng should indeed lead the main force of the capital battalion to the prefectural city. Jinxi, ride a horse to the military camp in the rear and tell them the intelligence we obtained. Tell them to work harder and advance with forced marches. Also, transfer the light cavalry battalion of the Divine Machine Camp separately. I have a use for them."

Song Jinxi responded, jumped on his horse, and whipped it away.

Mo Chou was stunned: "What do you want the light cavalry for?"

Zhao Du'an picked up the branch, his eyes staring at the dirty map on the ground:

"Of course, to kill people. Didn't you hear? The enemy's real purpose in attacking the prefectural city is likely to cover that cavalry sneaking in to cause sabotage. How can we let it go unchecked?"

Mo Chou retorted: "But we don't know where these people went?"

Zhao Du'an didn't even lift his head, staring intently at the several black-gray arrows on the map, his gaze as deep as a pool of water.

In his eyes, within the entire Taicang Prefecture city area, various important locations and coordinates emerged in his mind, and the directions of several enemy attacks marked by White Falcon became clearer and extended in his mind's deduction.

Those scattered, deliberately misleading arrows seemed to stretch and turn along the well-connected roads on the map, eventually converging into one.

He murmured softly:

"I don't understand marching and fighting, but I understand that on this battlefield, within this square inch, it's just a game of chess that follows basic rules. I consider myself quite adept at playing chess. Chess moves can be deduced, so military movements should also be possible.

Heh, thankfully this is Taicang Prefecture. When I came here last year to investigate a case, in order to search for the suspect's whereabouts, I spent those few days at the post station understanding this territory inside and out, and personally measured the large and small paths in the city and countryside with my own legs…

In Taicang, there are not many places worth Su Dan's elaborate and misleading ambush;

Cavalry travel cannot cross mountains, and the roads they can take are also fixed;

Reinforcements are about to arrive. With Prince Mu's intelligence capabilities, he must know, so time is also limited… Once these many rules are sorted out one by one, the target of the enemy's surprise attack will become clear."

As he uttered the last sentence, the branch in his hand suddenly pointed to a certain location on the map. Zhao Du'an's expression was lost, and he smiled self-deprecatingly:

"What is called coincidence? My coming here this time is simply destined by fate."

Mo Chou stared blankly. The location circled on the map was actually—

The Taicang Silver Mine!

Zhao Du'an stood up tall and shouted:

"Extinguish the fires and pull up the camp. Abandon the carriages and supplies. Everyone get on their horses. When the light cavalry arrives, follow this commander to conquer and kill the enemy!"

The enshrined guards were invigorated, their eyes shining brightly, and they all agreed.

They were stifled because they had no fights along the way.

Zhao Du'an turned his head back, looked at Mo Chou, and only then remembered something, adding:

"Leave two people to protect Consort Mo and the Divine Official of the Celestial Master's Mansion, as well as the injured Shadow Guard, and rejoin the main force."

Mo Chou opened her mouth, wanting to say that she could also go, but suddenly, Zhao Du'an's voice came to her ears:

"You stay and keep an eye on that White Falcon. The enshrined guards have more than enough martial power, but not enough brains. I don't trust them to watch her."

He used the "Voice Transmission into Secrecy" method that could be mastered after a martial artist reached the Worldly Realm.

Mo Chou was stunned, and subconsciously wanted to look at the Shadow Guard called White Falcon, but she restrained herself, her eyes widened, as if to say: You think she has a problem?

Zhao Du'an smiled, his eyes slightly cold:

"Not sure, just suspicious. It's always good to be cautious."

In the Shadow Guard roster, there was indeed such a person as "White Falcon." This person's appearance, age, and position did indeed match the information from the capital.

But Zhao Du'an couldn't forget the agility and calmness that this person showed when facing the arrow shot by Zhao Du'an when she appeared.

That was not a quality that an ordinary "Silver Badge Shadow Guard" could possess.

"Do you really think this official's archery skills are outrageous to that extent? Learn from this. The deception on the battlefield is no less than the schemes in the imperial court."

Zhao Du'an jumped on his horse and whipped it towards the Taicang Silver Mine.

One follower after another followed like shadows—in the second carriage, a faint and graceful figure also fluttered out and followed.

Mo Chou stared blankly at the back of this man going to kill the enemy, briefly lost in thought.

…

Inside the carriage, Nie Yurong, with a high nose bridge and seven or eight streaks of black ash smeared on her face, lifted the curtain with her hand, looking at the leaving target with a not-so-good expression, her eyes cold and stern.

At this moment, she had undergone disguise, changed her appearance, and transformed herself into the appearance of "White Falcon." Combined with the special secret method to read the information from White Falcon's soul, she had perfectly stolen the identity of this Shadow Guard.

—The Shadow Guard captured by the Embroidered Uniform Guard a few days ago was the Silver Badge White Falcon.

"This lady, may I ask where Lord Zhao has gone? Has he joined the main force?"

Nie Yurong pretended to be weak and worried, and walked down from the carriage with difficulty.

Her gaze swept over the two remaining enshrined guards in the camp.

Swept over the faint cries coming from the second carriage.

And settled on Mo Chou, who was dressed neutrally.

Mo Chou glanced at her with a normal expression, and suddenly smiled:

"You don't recognize me?"

The local Silver Badge Shadow Guard was not qualified to meet Consort Mo.

Mo Chou smiled, without explaining, and said plainly:

"It's cool outside. You're injured, don't wander around."

Far away.

Zhao Du'an was on horseback, looking strangely at Yu Xiu, who was also riding a horse beside him: "Why is the Divine Official following?"

Yu Xiu's expression was indifferent: "Does the Commander not want this poor Daoist to follow?"

Zhao Du'an laughed loudly, full of heroism: "I couldn't ask for more. Today, I will take the Daoist Priest to kill people."