Chapter 97 The non-existent “rebel party”
Zhao Duan went to Zhaoyamen on the sixth day.
In the early morning, the red sun rises above the clouds over the East China Sea.
In the Imperial Garden, over the past six hundred years, beads of crystal water rolled down the branches and leaves of the precious plants and trees that had been moved and transported from all over Dayu with great pains and labor and material resources.
In the pond, groups of golden koi carps compete for fish food.
The empress in white clothes stood by the lakeside by the pavilion, holding a mackerel food can in her bare hands. Under her fair skin, light blue blood vessels were visible.
Throw it around at will, and the beauty will be as beautiful as a picture.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Yuan is here." Behind him, a female official stepped forward to report.
Xu Zhenguan didn't even look back, focusing on teasing the fish:
"please."
After a while, she was dressed in a large open-fronted green dress, led by the palace servants, along the winding green brick path, passing through the mountains and rivers surrounded by many waiters with their heads bowed.
Came to the pavilion that Zhao Duan had seen that day.
The elegant and handsome doctor with deep eyes smiled and said:
"Your Majesty seems to be in a good mood today, but what interesting thing happened?"
Xu Zhenguan tilted half a bowl of fish food into the pond and turned around. The elegant female emperor smiled and joked:
"Why did Mr. Yuan ask even though he knew it?"
The king and his ministers looked at each other and smiled.
It is clear that what each other is referring to is the storm that Zhao Duan has stirred up in the past two days.
It was just now that the dust of this farce had settled.
Last night, when the Eighth Detective Division was forced to give in due to the lustful power of the Zhao thief, Zhao Duan finally relented and mercifully released the remaining fifty-seven people.
This morning, Governor Ma Yan personally presented a report to the court, saying that the "misunderstanding" between the two parties had been reconciled.
As for the officials, because of the huge bribes, they couldn't think deeply about it, so they kept arguing.
Both parties agreed to give up, and the instigator, Zhao Duan, was fined three months' salary. If he committed the crime again, he would not be tolerated.
Almost nothing.
Won Ma.
From the beginning to the end, the empress and Yuan Li, who were sitting on a high place watching the mountain scenery and overlooking the wind and clouds, couldn't hide their joy when they saw the officials headed by Li Dang withered.
The two have fun together.
The two walked into the pavilion and sat opposite each other at the table.
Yuan Li smiled and said:
"Zhao Du'an has only been in the imperial office for five or six days, but he has already established himself and established a firm foothold. If we say that he established his authority at the beginning, the people below were only afraid but not convinced. But after this turmoil, he must have improved greatly."
Sometimes, the person watching the chess game can see the situation most clearly.
Before the people involved in the situation understood it, Yuan Li had roughly guessed Zhao Duan's true intention.
But even so, when everything developed as he expected, this first-grade official still stroked his beard and marveled.
"Thousands of armies are easy to come by, but one general is hard to find. It is your Majesty's blessing that Zhao Duan has such ability to control him."
Yuan Li lightly flattered him.
Xu Zhenguan felt relaxed and happy.
Sometimes, when people say they don’t like flattery, it’s not because they really don’t like it, or they think the method of flattery is not sophisticated enough.
But the status of the person photographing is too low.
No one could withstand the compliments that came from the mouths of people like Yuan Li, who was the most famous person in the Qing Dynasty, and a scholar in the world like Zijing Cong.
Xu Zhenguan was carved from ice, with a slight smile on his flawless face: "Mr. Yuan is joking, he is just a detective, and he is just a little cunning and unworthy of the public. If the little imperial army hears it, , I’m afraid it won’t raise its tail to the sky.”
Overt derogation and secret praise.
They say they are just a small group of forbidden troops, they are not on the stage, they use very little means, but in fact they are very satisfied.
In five or six days, Lihuatang, which Ma Yan had been having a headache for a long time, could be conquered.
Although it cannot be compared side by side.
After all, Ma Yan's identity was very restrictive in order to balance and take care of other members of the court, but Zhao Duan was a pure outsider and had no worries.
But it's also fast enough.
This was something the Empress had never thought of before.
However, if Zhao Duan were here, he would definitely correct him righteously:
He would not raise his tail high, even if he raised his tail, it would not be a tail...
"If we talk about shortcomings, his style and methods are ultimately too tough and not gentle enough."
Xu Zhenguan pointed out the flaws calmly and objectively.
Yuan Li smiled and said: "But since His Majesty agreed to throw him over, he had already expected it."
Xu Zhenguan said helplessly:
"I did think that he would do some things with my 'Sword of Shang Fang', but I didn't expect that he would be able to do it like this."
Yuan Li smiled, gently stroked his beard, and sighed:
"This boy knows it very well. With His Majesty's support, he dares to drive away even the Prince Consort."
Mentioning Princess Yunyang, his "aunt", Xu Zhenguan also sighed and felt a little headache.
She has always cared about family ties. Although her relationship with this aunt is not a good one, she still has a blood relationship.
Unfortunately, he didn’t give any face, so he could only stop him. He sighed: "Later, I personally sent someone to give an oral order to the Yamen to send Li Lang back. After so many days, I That aunt is so annoying with her endless chatter.”
At this point in time, her order would not undermine Zhao Duan's majesty.
However, in this way, Zhao Duan completely angered his aunt. He hoped that there would be no conflicts in the future.
Seeing the empress' unswerving expression, Yuan Li changed the subject and said:
"As far as I know, Zhao Duan has asked Badang for clues about betraying the party. I'm afraid he has no intention of uncovering the mole."
Obviously, as a die-hard supporter of the Empress, he also knew about Zhao Duan's "hidden mission" in entering the imperial office.
When business came up, Xu Zhenguan's expression became a little more serious, and her slender dark eyebrows frowned:
"Does Mr. Yuan think he can do it?"
Yuan Li asked back:
"How much confidence does Your Majesty have in him?"
Xu Zhenguan hesitated for a moment, his eyes darkened:
"If before, I was only 10 to 20 percent sure, now I am 50 percent sure."
Yuan Li smiled: "I should be more optimistic about him, now I feel 60% sure.
However... the water in the imperial office is deep. Ma Yan has tested it many times before, so the inner ghost must have been alert. It would be too difficult for Zhao Duan to investigate at this time, and he would only need plenty of time. "
Xu Zhenguan asked curiously: "How long does Mr. Yuan think it will take for him to find something?"
Yuan Li thought for a moment and cautiously stretched out two fingers: "At least two months."
This is not an underestimate, but a speculation based on objective facts.
Xu Zhenguan shook his head and said:
"I am not as confident as Mr. Yuan, but if he can really do it, I think it will be within two months. One month may be enough."
One month... Yuan Liqi said: "Why does Your Majesty make such guesses?"
Xu Zhenguan snorted and said:
"Because I ordered him to capture Zhuang Xiaocheng before the end of the year. Therefore, he does not have enough patience to waste time. Moreover, didn't Mr. Yuan realize that he always does things very quickly?"
Yuan Li was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Okay, then I will be bold and make a bet with Your Majesty. Will it take Zhao Duan one month or two months to complete this matter?"
The corners of Xu Zhenguan's mouth raised slightly: "Yes."
Immediately, he looked outside the palace, in the direction of the imperial office, thinking to himself, little Imperial Army, please don't let me down.
…
…
"Ah sneeze!"
Zhao Duan sneezed, rubbed his nose, and muttered:
"Who scolded me again."
Forget it, there are many people scolding him in the world, and I'm afraid there will be even more in the past few days.
"Speaking of which, the people's faith and will can be condensed into gods. If there are enough people who hate me, will they be able to condense into a 'Zhao God'..."
Thinking of strange thoughts, Zhao Duan's ears moved slightly and he heard footsteps coming from far and near outside the hospital.
At this moment, he was in the backyard of the Governor's Hall, which was also the private residence of senior brother Xianyang.
From the moment the eunuch stepped into the palace gate, he no longer had a "home".
Just like Sun Lianying lived in the back office of Baima Prison. Ma Yan also did not have his own courtyard - the empress once rewarded him, but was rejected by the cold eunuch.
Therefore, he also made the Yamen his home.
Today, Zhao Duan relied on his martial arts to avoid the sight of others and secretly sneaked in to wait for the other party.
The courtyard door opened with a "squeak" sound.
The eunuch, a slender man with a slim body, gray eyebrows as messy as barbs, and a long and thin face, walked through the door.
His sharp gaze instantly locked on Zhao Duan, who was sitting carelessly on a stone bench in the center of the courtyard.
Originally, in the chest and abdomen, due to sensing that there was someone in the house, the vigorous energy was like a muddy river opening its gates to release floods, flowing towards the seven meridians and eight meridians.
The majestic momentum slowly declined.
Ma Yan frowned: "Why are you here?"
Put your palms behind your back and push gently.
With a "bang" sound, the double courtyard doors slammed shut.
Zhao Duan smiled and pointed at the two boxes of "Zuiyueju" cakes on the table and said:
"I have nothing to do, why don't I come to visit my senior brother? Speaking of which, junior brother, I have been in the Yamen for a few days, but I have not met my senior brother once. Even if it is to avoid suspicion, it is too late."
Ma Yan's face was expressionless, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly.
He was upset when he said "senior brother" to the left and "junior brother" to the right.
He opened his mouth and tried to correct it, but when he saw the smiling face of the person in front of him, he had no choice but to give up. Whatever.
"Since I want to visit, I cannot enter the main entrance, but I have not heard of the method of breaking into someone's house without permission."
Ma Yan walked up to the stone table and said coldly:
"How did Sun Lianying teach you?"
Zhao Duan said matter-of-factly: "When I was in Baima Prison, I often broke into the back house of Director Sun."
"..." Ma Yan's face paled, underestimating this boy's shamelessness.
Ma Dugong and the old supervisor have very different personalities. They are not talkative or sentimental.
But Zhao Duan knew that senior brother Xianyang was not bad in nature.
According to Sun Lianying, Ma Yan was saved by the prince, and more than twenty years passed after entering the palace, during which time he had almost no interaction with the prince.
But on the day of the coup, this little beggar, who had been almost forgotten by the prince and had casually rescued him more than 20 years ago, walked out silently, without saying a word, and shielded the prince from the knife for dozens of times.
Almost died from exhaustion.
With only this grateful heart, it is impossible to be a cold and heartless person.
This is probably why the empress dared to reuse him after she ascended the throne.
This is the reason why Zhao Duan dared to smile playfully and get close to this cold eunuch who was known as the "King of Hell" and who made all the officials frightened.
"...伱, that's all."
Ma Yan took a deep breath, sat down in front of him, frowned and said: "If you have anything to do, just tell me."
With such a straightforward temper, if you had not proven your loyalty, you would not be able to get along in the officialdom... Zhao Duan commented as a senior in the workplace and said with a smile: "I do have something, and I would like to ask my senior brother for help."
"Say." Ma Yan spoke concisely and to the point.
Zhao Duan smiled and said: "It's actually very simple. Yesterday, junior brother, didn't I pry out a lot of information about those who rebelled against the party from the mouths of the other eight gangsters? I read it all night long. , I watched it for a long time today, and combined with the information from various halls, I really made some discoveries. "
Ma Yan's eyes lit up:
"Have you found any clues against the party?"
He couldn't hide his surprise, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was indeed possible.
The nine halls are in a competitive relationship, and each is investigating the case independently.
Some important clues will be handed over to the Governor only when there is a breakthrough.
Many clues that have not yet been made are in the hands of the chief officials of each hall, guarding against each other and not communicating with each other.
This time, Zhao Duan forced eight people to hand over.
Although Ma Yan is sure that the eight people definitely concealed something, and what they handed over was most likely a relatively unimportant part.
But when many clues that were originally isolated from each other and unrelated to each other converged in the hands of Zhao Duan.
Cross-corroborate each other and build relationships.
It is really possible to connect different threads and achieve a breakthrough.
"Yes. I did find the place where the traitor is suspected to be hiding, but please forgive me for not telling you yet." Zhao Duan said.
"..."
Ma Yan's chest rose and fell again, he took a deep breath and said coldly:
"So?"
If the person in front of him was one of his subordinates, Ma Yan would have been furious, but considering that His Majesty was standing behind him, he chose to endure it.
Zhao Duan said sincerely:
"I am preparing to launch a raid tomorrow and lead Lihuatang to arrest people. However, my practice is still young and I am afraid that I will encounter a strong enemy and be unable to suppress it, so I would like to ask my senior brother to accompany me tomorrow."
That's it? Ma Yan readily agreed:
"Yes."
The messy brows relaxed, thinking that although this guy was glib and had random connections, he was still sensible and knew what was important and what was important, and he did not rush into anything greedy for success.
Well, I guess it was the Zhuang Xiaocheng case that taught him a lesson.
However, Zhao Duan did not stop and continued: "In addition, I would like to ask my senior brother to issue an order to the Eighth Hall today, requiring the eight detectives to stay at home tomorrow and strictly prohibit going out. The captains and officers below are all here. They are stationed at the entrance of each hall and cannot be moved without permission."
! ! A light suddenly flashed across Ma Yan's eyes:
"Are you worried..."
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"Senior brother, don't ask any more questions, we will find out tomorrow."
Ma Yan was silent.
He didn't know how Zhao Duan knew that there was a mole in the Yamen, whether it was His Majesty who informed him or what.
However, requiring all halls to be banned is undoubtedly a way to eliminate risks and ensure that there are no accidents in the arrest of Lihuatang.
"Can."
Ma Yan nodded solemnly and looked at him deeply: "However, if Lihuatang does not have enough manpower and escapes the rebels..."
Zhao Duan smiled incomprehensibly:
"Senior brother, don't worry. The thief is in the capital. As long as he shows his head, he won't be able to escape."
After saying that, he turned and walked away.
Ma Yan shouted: "The gate is over here."
"I know, but there is a back door. Who uses the front door these days." Zhao Duan climbed over the wall and came out with extremely familiar movements.
Ma Yan was left alone to sit in the courtyard.
After a long while, he lowered his eyes at the pastries on the table, then suddenly raised his calloused fingers, picked up a piece of mung bean cake, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it gently.
Brat...it's quite delicious.
…
…
at the same time.
After Zhao Duan found the "Governor's Hall", he went straight back to the "Lihua Hall".
He summoned his four men and gave them instructions for a while. He also gave each of them a bag and asked them to open it after returning home tonight.
After listening to the content, the four subordinates looked at each other.
But now, they were quite convinced of Zhao Duan. Although they were confused, they still obeyed and carried out the plan.
Unknowingly, Zhao Duan already had his own team.
There is no need to do many small things personally, or rely entirely on Zhu Kui alone.
Then, he took off his official robe, changed back into his regular clothes, and got on the carriage:
"Go to the White Horse Prison, quickly."
inside the carriage.
Zhao Duan looked through the curtain at the ten buildings connected together outside the imperial office, and slowly narrowed his eyes.
Only he knew that he had not obtained any information about the rebel party from those scattered clues.
He was just betting on whether the mole would surface tomorrow.
As for the "ghost-killing" knife, only Ma Yan has one and it is not safe. Until the dust settles, he will remain suspicious of everyone.
Of course, that includes Ma Yan.
Thank you: godss-moom for your 5000 point reward support!
(End of this chapter)