The First Lackey Under The Empress

How does one gain a foothold in the Directorate, known as the "Infernal Palace"?

Zhao Du'an killed the chicken to warn the monkeys, using members of the royal family as stepping stones, initially establishing his authority within the Pear Blossom Hall.

However, this residual power was clearly not enough to command the awe of the other eight investigators.

Especially those ranked at the top, who showed no respect whatsoever.

Even the more euphemistic halls conveyed the same attitude:

Get lost.

Would they spit out what they had swallowed just because Zhao Du'an said so?

"Lord, you must not act rashly!"

Hearing Zhao Du'an's smiling words, the four felt a chill down their spines. The newly appointed secretary, Qian Kerou, felt her heart leap into her throat and quickly spoke.

She was afraid that her superior would act impulsively and take a knife to the eight halls.

It was exactly the kind of thing Zhao Du'an would do.

Zhao Du'an glanced at the female secretary and said helplessly:

"Do I look like such a reckless person?"

The four didn't say anything, but their eyes clearly said "yes".

Zhao Du'an sighed. The world misunderstood him too deeply. He thought for a moment and suddenly asked:

"Did the investigators from each hall gather and meet yesterday?"

Yesterday, Mo Chou stood up for him, clearly expressing that the Empress was behind him.

Logically, for the sake of their own interests, even if the eight halls were unwilling, they should have conceded a little to avoid offending people.

The top few halls had the confidence to refuse, but what about the lower-ranked ones?

Wasn't there even one willing to befriend him?

Yet today, they were so tacit and uniformly refused, which was illogical.

He suspected that the eight had conferred privately.

Qian Kerou shook her head: "Probably not. If there was a gathering, it would only be the council summoned by Director Ma."

Zhao Du'an raised an eyebrow: "I didn't attend the council, but there should have been a notice."

Qian Kerou thought for a moment, then suddenly pulled out a document from a stack of papers in her hand and said:

"Yes, Director Ma issued an official letter last night, saying that this season's assessment has begun, and the merits of each hall will be calculated at the end of the month, which will affect the allocation of funds."

It wasn't that she forgot, but she habitually felt that the document was unimportant…

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Du'an suddenly exhaled and looked enlightened:

"I understand."

The four looked at each other, wondering what he understood.

Zhao Du'an didn't explain.

Director Ma's introduction of the assessment at this juncture undoubtedly accelerated the internal competition among the halls.

Originally, they might have been willing to concede some cases to Zhao Du'an's hall, but now, in order to ensure their own assessment scores, they would hold onto the cases tightly.

This was the reason for the unified front of the eight halls and their stern refusal.

But why would Ma Yan do this? The Grand Eunuch must be clear that Zhao Du'an's entry into the Pear Blossom Hall was to solve his problems.

The two should be on the same side, and there was no reason to sabotage him.

"So, there is only one truth, and that is that my good senior brother is assisting from the sidelines. He knows very well that even if he doesn't push it, the eight halls will only give me some scraps, which will be of no use…"

"And after pushing the assessment, forcing the eight halls to reject and isolate me, on the surface, it looks like I've been set up, but conversely, when the Pear Blossom Hall is collectively isolated and hostile, it will also force the interior to become more united and generate cohesion."

Zhao Du'an summarized three experiences from his previous life's work:

Question: How to resolve internal conflicts?

Answer: Rapid growth

Question: How to cover up internal conflicts?

Answer: Solve the person who raises the problem

Question: How to transfer internal conflicts?

Answer: Build a strong external enemy

"When the entire Pear Blossom Hall is rejected and isolated, then this group of Embroidered Uniform Guards will transfer their hostility towards me to external hostility, thereby regarding me as 'one of their own,' which can quickly improve collective cohesion."

Zhao Du'an admired that his good senior brother was a master at transferring conflicts.

Of course, this method also has drawbacks. Once Zhao Du'an loses in this struggle and is defeated, it will disappoint all his subordinates.

He would lose the possibility of establishing prestige.

But conversely, as long as he can win and break through the "sanctions" jointly imposed by the eight halls, then he will be sincerely admired by his subordinates.

It's very simple to subdue a group of men, as long as you are good enough to convince them.

"Good senior brother, you really think highly of me. Aren't you worried that I won't be able to withstand the pressure, won't be able to turn the tables, and will screw things up?"

Zhao Du'an muttered to himself, but his eyes revealed excitement.

"Lord, you should go see Director Ma and ask him to transfer some cases from other halls," Qian Kerou suggested.

Hou Renmeng crossed his arms and curled his lips, saying:

"I think that since they don't give us face, then the Lord doesn't need to give them face either. It's simple and direct to beat them one by one."

Are you provoking trouble? You think dying isn't fast enough?

Shen Juan stopped him with one hand, smiling mischievously:

"Lord, don't listen to him. I think that since there is an assessment this month, there will inevitably be a reallocation of tasks after the assessment is over. We can just wait."

The short, half-gray-haired Old Zheng didn't say anything, pretending to be invisible.

Zhao Du'an said expressionlessly: "I have already made a decision."

These methods are all effective, but he was not satisfied with any of them.

"Lord, you are going to…" The four were suspicious.

Zhao Du'an suddenly smiled and said:

"There is also a simpler way. Actually, we don't lack big cases in our hands, do we?"

He said slowly:

"For example… searching for rebellious parties."

Rebellious parties?

The crowd looked at each other. This was indeed a big case.

But the problem was that they didn't have any clues at all.

Zhao Du'an didn't bother to explain, but took out a small red-covered notebook from his arms, threw it on the table, and said:

"Pass down the order, the entire Pear Blossom Hall will be mobilized. I want you to capture all the people recorded on pages five to eighteen of this notebook within a day, throw them into the Directorate prison, and wait for review."

Qian Kerou picked it up in confusion and opened it. The other three craned their necks to look, and then they were stunned.

They saw that the small notebook was densely filled with names, spread across various large and small government offices in the Great Yu Dynasty.

The section Zhao Du'an mentioned were all officials below the fifth rank.

These were the names of the officials who had impeached him in the Zhuang Xiaocheng case, which he had learned about.

Yes, Zhao Du'an had written down all the people who were clearly hostile to him during this period in the small notebook.

A few were crossed out, such as Lü Liang and Pei Kai.

But most were still there.

Unfortunately, his Directorate's authority could only sign arrest warrants for officials below the fifth rank.

For those above the fifth rank, Ma Yan had to personally sign the arrest warrant.

Even so, the number of officials he requested to arrest reached a terrifying fifty-eight.

"Lord… you are going to…"

Qian Kerou opened her mouth, and the hand holding the small notebook trembled slightly.

Arresting fifty-eight officials in one go was a major event that would shake the entire court.

He's crazy… he's definitely crazy…

"Lord, don't tell us that these fifty-eight people are all related to the rebellious party."

Shen Juan also put away his usual nonchalant attitude and became serious for once.

Zhao Du'an's expression was as usual, and he said calmly:

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask. Since I dare to order you to arrest people, I naturally have a basis. You just need to do your job. If there is any trouble, I will bear it alone."

Hou Renmeng narrowed his eyes and looked at this superior for the first time.

Even with his madness, he was shocked by this superior's handwriting.

What followed was an unspeakable excitement.

As the thorn in the side of the original Peony Hall, his knife had been hidden in the Pear Blossom Hall for too long and was almost rusting.

Hearing this, his eyes showed ferocity:

"Is the Lord serious? What if those people resist arrest?"

Zhao Du'an said lightly:

"That is your business. I only want people, alive. If you can't bring them back, then don't come back either."

Hou Renmeng laughed loudly, raised his hand and tore off five pages of paper, clasped his fist and said:

"This subordinate will go and do it! I will not fail!"

After speaking, the dark and unruly man left murderously.

"This…" Qian Kerou was stunned, but she saw that Shen Juan, who had always been lying flat, clocking in on time, and never working overtime, suddenly smiled and gently tore off five pages of paper:

"The Lord has ordered, how dare a subordinate disobey?"

Saying that, he turned around and walked out of the hall, lightly licking his lips with his tongue, revealing a sharpness and edge that he had never had before.

Qian Kerou was stunned and suddenly realized that she had never truly understood Shen Juan.

"Cough… This old man has half retired and can't compare to young people."

Old Zheng, who was pretending to be invisible, suddenly smiled.

Qian Kerou was overjoyed, thinking that there was finally a normal person.

The next second, she saw that Old Zheng, who usually only drank tea and read newspapers in the yamen, and liked to play with wood carvings in his spare time, and had extremely good carving skills, actually stepped forward.

He gently tore off three pages and smiled:

"But the Lord has such courage, Old Zheng, I can't spoil the fun, can I?"

Qian Kerou's eyes were blank, watching Old Zheng walk out of the hall, summoning his followers and officials, wearing armor and holding weapons.

She looked at the only remaining piece of paper, her face changing uncertainly.

Finally, she gritted her teeth, tore it off, and clutched it in her hand, muttering:

"If we're going crazy, let's all go crazy together…"

Then, without saying a word, she ran straight out.

Only Zhao Du'an remained sitting alone in the hall, closing his eyes and pretending to doze off.

On the table in front of him was the small notebook that had been torn off fourteen pages of names.

The wind blew, faintly revealing the names of Li Yanfu and Zhuang Xiaocheng on the first two pages of the notebook.

…

…

On this day, the people in the Directorate were surprised to see a strange sight.

From the Pear Blossom Hall, which was usually idle and peaceful, a large number of officials suddenly poured out.

The four Embroidered Uniform Guard captains each led a group of followers and officials, holding knives and riding horses, murderously rushing out of the yamen and galloping towards different directions of the capital.

On a certain street.

Hou Renmeng rode on his horse, whipping his horse and flaunting through the city.

The team led by Shen Juan was temporarily on the same road as him, and the two rode side by side.

The second-generation lay-flat, who had dark circles under his eyes, suddenly delivered his words to Hou Renmeng's ears with Qi:

"Old Hou, do you think the Zhao kid can hold on? Will he run away and leave us to take the blame?

Arresting fifty-eight officials in one go, although they are all small officials below the fifth rank, it will cost lives without an explanation."

Hou Renmeng clenched the hilt of his knife and glanced at him:

"If you're scared, go back and give me the list you have. I'm not afraid. If the Zhao kid dares to say it, I dare to do it. If he runs away, I'll cut him down as a coward and then commit suicide."

Shen Juan cursed and left on his horse, thinking that they were all a bunch of lunatics.

However, wasn't he one himself?

Since we want to make a big fuss, then let's make a fuss that turns the world upside down.

…

Today, 8,000 words are offered.