The First Lackey Under The Empress

"Lord High Counselor!"

Accompanying the stopping of boots, a deep and heavy voice rang out:

"This humble general, Stone Might, commander of the Divine Machine Camp, has arrived."

Only then did Xue Shence raise his head, close the official document in his hand, and calmly and indifferently scrutinize the man.

The man was true to his name. Stone Might was quite burly, wearing soft armor, his muscles bulging, and the veins on his arms protruding. His skin was dark.

He appeared to be forty years old, with a beard like steel needles and eyes like a tiger.

At this moment, he cupped his fist in salute, his face puzzled:

"I wonder why you summoned me so urgently, my lord?"

The three great camps of the Jing Camp were the Five Armies, the Three Thousand, and the Divine Machine… Each great camp had a commander.

Stone Might commanded the Divine Machine Camp and was also a martial arts practitioner.

He seemed like a reckless general, slightly out of place with the "Divine Machine Camp," but Xue Shence, who had a close relationship with him, knew very well:

The man before him was only pretending to be rough on the outside; in reality, he was meticulous. How could anyone who had climbed to this position among the military officers be truly reckless?

"Take a look at this." Xue Shence said calmly, throwing a document to him.

The Divine Machine Camp commander, with his appearance of a fierce general, opened it and frowned deeply:

"His Majesty is appointing that Zhao Du'an to the Divine Machine Camp as a nominal vice magistrate? This…"

Xue Shence clasped his hands in front of him, his tone calm:

"The official appointment has not yet been issued. This is to inform you in advance to prepare to welcome him."

Stone Might, with his rough appearance that was extremely deceptive, was taken aback:

"Although Zhao Du'an is a military officer, he is from the Imperial Secretariat. Why would he suddenly come to the Jing Camp? Could it be… for the Jing Prince's estate…"

Xue Shence sighed and said:

"The firearms case is extremely important. His Majesty ordered this humble official to investigate myself, but it has not satisfied the Sage. Now that he has sent this person to take a nominal position, it is clear that he is going to take over the matter. Just do your best to cooperate. Whatever he wants to do, as long as it's not out of line, let him. And…"

After a slight pause, the Great Yu's first-rank military officer, the "God of War," said solemnly:

"Instruct the people below not to give him any leverage at this juncture of his appointment."

Stone Might was stunned for a moment, his eyes slightly shifting:

"Lord, are you worried that His Majesty…"

Xue Shence waved his hand, but did not continue. He simply ordered him to leave and figure it out for himself.

Stone Might cupped his fist in farewell.

He walked out of the High Council.

His burly, mountain-like body rode on the fierce warhorse, heading back to the military camp, constantly pondering.

In his mind, he recalled the rumors that had been spreading in the army recently.

Namely:

The court's civil officials' struggle has come to an end, and the Sage is likely to free up his hands to reorganize the military generals.

So… what the Lord High Counselor meant was… he was afraid that a group of arrogant and fierce generals would cause trouble for him, giving His Majesty an excuse to take action…

Yes, that must be it.

But…

"Troublesome." The commander held the reins, feeling a headache coming on.

The military generals in the army were fond of bravery and fighting, and they valued the friendship of their comrades. Not to mention Zhang Changji, the former Divine Machine Camp captain who was killed by Zhao Du'an, after all, it involved the Jing Prince's estate, which was a small matter.

The key was that not long ago, the Kuangfu Society's experts continuously assassinated officials, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, a considerable number of them were military officers.

Especially the first squad leader who died. It was said that his brother cursed a few words in agitation and was thrown into prison by Zhao Du'an's henchmen and severely tortured.

Coupled with the propaganda of those with ulterior motives, it caused some military officers in the camp to harbor resentment. Now that he was parachuting into the Divine Machine Camp, how could he appease the people below…

Especially the descendants of the military honors headed by the Duke Zhenguo's "Little Duke"… it was indeed a difficult problem.

He could only hope that his words as "commander" would be useful.

And…

The traitor who defected to the Jing Prince's estate…

Stone Might's eyes were filled with worry.

Unconsciously, the Jing Camp was in sight.

……

……

"Clang!"

Deep within the Imperial Secretariat, in a solitary female prisoner's cell.

Accompanying the sound of a door opening in the corridor, Yun Xi, who was curled up on the straw-covered bed, drowsy and unaware of the passage of time, suddenly woke up.

In the darkness, the slender and proper-looking girl was wearing a prison uniform.

Her hair was disheveled, and her complexion was morbidly pale due to not seeing the sun for several months.

She blinked and looked at the tall "品"-shaped ventilation hole in the cell, where a beam of light shot in, with dust particles floating inside.

"Daytime…"

Yun Xi murmured, got up, greedily welcomed the beam of light, and walked to the wall.

She used a small stone to draw a line on the wall.

The gray-black prison cell wall was already covered with traces, used to calculate the time of imprisonment.

As a "discarded pawn" abandoned by Zhuang Xiaocheng, Yun Xi suspected that she had been completely forgotten.

The last time she was "interrogated" was several months ago.

Censor Lu Liang押押解押解 her into a prison car, trying to take her to the Ministry of Justice.

He was stopped by Yuan Li halfway.

Afterwards, Yun Xi became more and more angry and handed over the information she had about Lu Liang to that annoying Zhao Du'an through the prison guard.

After that, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no further news.

After many days, Yun Xi was suddenly escorted from the government office prison to the famous Imperial Prison, known as purgatory.

Yun Xi was very excited, thinking that she, a rebel, was finally going to face cruel torture.

Come on!

All kinds of torture!

She was ready.

She would rather sacrifice herself, be cruelly killed by the pseudo-emperor's henchmen, and die for the ideal of restoring the country, than endure the pain of being forgotten.

Then…

She was disappointed again!

Even after entering the Imperial Prison, she still did not escape the fate of being forgotten, and even… did not know why…

The accommodation and food were even better than when she was in the government office…

Yun Xi returned from the wall and sat down on her small bed like a walking corpse.

With both hands, she lifted the chest of her prison uniform, which had the huge character "囚" (prisoner) written on it, feeling the heavy weight of her breasts.

Tears threatened to fall.

They had actually gotten bigger…

"When will these days ever end?" Yun Xi sighed towards the heavens.

Suddenly, she was startled to find the sound of footsteps in the corridor growing closer and closer.

But it was clearly not the time for meals to be delivered.

It wasn't until a prison guard escorted a female prisoner, a few years older than her and slightly less attractive, and threw her into her cell, before turning to leave.

Yun Xi's sluggish brain finally realized that she seemed to…

Have a "roommate" now.

She couldn't hide her excitement, but still cautiously moved closer, using her toe to kick the woman, who was lying on the ground and seemed to have suffered a lot of punishment.

She opened her mouth somewhat awkwardly:

"Are you… alright?"

The maid, using the alias Qing Niao (Bluebird), slowly crawled up, looking at her with a lost expression.

Their eyes met, and both women were stunned, their eyes widening.

Then, they spoke in unison:

"Yun Xi?!"

"Qing Niao?!"

...

A short while later.

The two women, reunited in the imperial prison, put on a show of recognition.

They were old acquaintances.

They had spent time together studying at the main altar of the Kuangfu Society, before separating, Yun Xi following Zhuang Xiaocheng, and Qing Niao following the Thousand-Faced Divine Lord.

They hadn't seen each other for several years.

"How did you get arrested too? Has Thousand-Face come to the capital?"

Yun Xi helped the weak Qing Niao onto her small bed, eagerly asking questions.

She was too eager for information from the outside world.

"Qing Niao," who was no longer a maid and whose real name was unknown, said with a melancholy expression:

"Thousand-Face has been captured, yes, but I didn't see it with my own eyes, I heard it from the prison guards. Before that, he abandoned me, used me as a pawn."

Yun Xi was stunned for a moment, inexplicably feeling empathy.

But Master Zhuang definitely didn't abandon her, he just didn't have the strength to take her with him.

As Qing Niao continued her story, Yun Xi was completely dumbfounded.

The new helmsman was ambushed… the court's new policies… Zhao Du'an working with the Grand Tutor to set up a trap…

"Wait!"

Yun Xi grabbed her, her lips trembling, her eyes moving:

"You said, Zhao Du'an captured Thousand-Face? He even killed H霜 Sword (Han Shuang Jian)? He's just a pretty boy from the White Horse Bureau, how could he have such ability? And what is his relationship with the Imperial Prison?"

Qing Niao gave her a strange look, then suddenly realized:

"You've been locked up here for too long, you don't know the changes outside. That Zhao Du'an is no longer the same as before, even Grand Tutor Zhuang regards him as a great enemy, listen to me…"

Shortly after.

After Qing Niao filled in the many changes in the outside world over the past few months, as well as Zhao Du'an's various methods.

Yun Xi sat blankly on the cold, broken bed like a broken doll, unable to recover for a long time.

"He? How is that possible…"

...

...

In the following days, the capital entered a rare period of stability.

In the court, the struggles between the major factions ceased, and the implementation of the new policies proceeded in an orderly manner, but this was bound to be a long-term project.

It couldn't be achieved overnight.

Zhao Du'an didn't forget that he was still burdened with the task of arresting Zhuang Xiaocheng.

He tried to get information from the Thousand-Faced Divine Lord, but the information he obtained was of little value.

It was unknown whether he was just stubborn, or whether he really didn't know.

The You Zhan De family, after being ambushed in the southern city, had been rescued and were not dead.

However, You Zhan De was severely injured by the Thousand-Faced Divine Lord, and would inevitably have to recuperate for more than half a year.

Zhao Du'an was rarely "merciful" and didn't pursue the matter further.

You Zhan De even asked someone to send a letter to Pear Blossom Hall, thanking him profusely.

He said that if Zhao Du'an ever went to the Western Plains Road in the future, the You family would do anything for him.

He was mainly adopting a good attitude of admitting his mistakes.

Afterwards, he took his wife and children and left the capital, returning to his hometown.

At the same time.

Zhao Du'an's decree to be promoted to the fourth rank also arrived late, accompanied by the imperial order to be appointed as a nominal commandants of the commandery.

For a time, the officialdom was in a small uproar again.

It was indeed rare to jump from the sixth rank to the fourth rank, but considering his achievements, it was also rare that not many people said strange things.

In the following days, Zhao Du'an held banquets at home in succession, and all kinds of officials, both acquaintances and strangers, came one after another, receiving gifts until his hands were sore.

In particular, Yuan Li, Dong Xuan, and other giants of the court sent congratulatory gifts, giving him enough face.

Even though many officials secretly feared and hated "Zhao Yama (King of Hell)," it didn't prevent them from holding their noses and sending gifts.

"Zhao Yama might not remember who sent gifts, but he remembers clearly who didn't send gifts."

This sentence, which came out of nowhere, spread like wildfire.

Immediately, the number of gifts increased again.

And one night, when the Zhao family of three closed the door, lit the lights, and unwrapped the gifts.

Zhao Pan curiously asked her elder brother who was slandering him with this statement.

Zhao Du'an was slightly embarrassed, and gently tapped his stepsister's head with a box containing a hundred-year-old ginseng, scolding with a smile:

"Little girl, don't ask about adults' affairs."

Zhao Pan was very indignant, she was not a little girl.

...

Autumn had arrived in the capital.

This was confirmed by Zhao Du'an this morning when he got out of bed, from the slightly cold dew on the window.

And when he yawned, crawled out of the quilt, put on a brand-new fourth-rank military official's indigo official robe, and pushed open the door.

Squinting, he looked at the splendid chrysanthemums in the courtyard, his gaze couldn't help but pass through the courtyard wall and look towards the south of the city.

He didn't forget.

Today was the day he took office as a new official.

Thanks to 2024… 0917 for the 500 coin reward support~