The First Lackey Under The Empress

Backyard of the Prefectural Office.

Zhao Du'an left the "war room" and arrived at the courtyard in the back to rest.

After dismissing the others, he didn't go inside, but sat in a small stone pavilion, gently closing his eyes to calm his mind, and mentally summoned Pei Niannu:

"Senior, with my current cultivation level, if I fully entrust you to activate the Mysterious Turtle Seal, how much distance can it cover simultaneously? Well, if we add Ji Yue, can the two of us together summon a rainstorm covering at least one county in a short period of time?"

Strands of red silk threads were drawn from his body and spread out.

On the empty seat opposite the stone pavilion, appeared an ancient woman in a wedding dress and wearing a dark golden mask, undetectable to outsiders.

It was none other than Pei Niannu from the 《Six Chapters Scripture》, who looked at him with cold eyes and shook her head, saying:

"Impossible..."

She sneered, "Do you think... cultivators in this world... are that strong? Besides... your aura, when converted into mana, also suffers losses..."

Zhao Du'an was slightly disappointed, but not surprised.

During the Battle of Hundred Flowers Village, only when Zhenbao advanced to the Celestial Human realm could he stir the abnormal phenomena of the surrounding ten miles.

He had only walked less than halfway in the Mortal Realm, far from the realm where every gesture resonated with the heavens and earth.

When he fought Heng Wang on the border of Qingzhou, both of them went all out, but the water and fire domains they created only covered a small area.

"You... want... to do what?" Pei Niannu asked haltingly, showing moderate curiosity.

After Zhao Du'an advanced, Pei Niannu, who had already died and survived in the painting by unknown means, became more and more alive.

Zhao Du'an shook his head and explained the enemy's preparations for burning the city:

"I was thinking that if it comes to the worst, perhaps we can use the power of the Water God to summon rain to extinguish the fire."

"Saving the world... saving the people?" Behind Pei Niannu's mask, her silver eyes flickered slightly, and she suddenly said:

"There is a way..."

Zhao Du'an raised his eyebrows, and then, through the female warlock's stuttering and slow narration, he learned of a plan.

According to Pei Niannu, Zhao Du'an's current cultivation level was not enough to support stirring the celestial phenomena, but if the mana was sufficient, exceeding the scope of the "Mortal" realm, it might be possible to achieve it briefly.

"Senior is saying that water and fire, both being in the Five Elements, not only counteract each other but can also be transformed? And I happen to possess the Crimson Flame Holy Armor, which can accumulate a large amount of mana in the armor through formations.

As long as some methods are used, in theory, the armor can be regarded as an 'external Qi Sea'? Equivalent to expanding the mana I can mobilize?"

Zhao Du'an was shocked by this suggestion.

In simple terms, it was to treat the Crimson Flame Holy Armor as a "power bank."

Use a formation to import the mana stored in the armor into Zhao Du'an's Qi Sea, combining it with his own power to control the Mysterious Turtle Seal.

"Is that possible? But even if the mana is abundant, limited by my personal realm, it will only increase the time I can cast spells, right?

There's no reason why expanding the Qi Sea would allow me to break through the realm limitations and use spells that my current realm cannot use, right? After all, I haven't even succeeded in sensing the heavens and earth... Wait a minute!"

Zhao Du'an analyzed, suddenly froze, and stared intently at Pei Niannu opposite him!

He was indeed only in the Mortal Realm, but the female warlock in front of him had reached the "Celestial Human" realm at her peak six hundred years ago!

In other words, Pei Niannu's understanding of cultivation, her theoretical realm, had touched the Celestial Human realm!

It was only because she had lost her body and become a rootless weed that she became a person in the painting that anyone could take advantage of.

But if Zhao Du'an used the Crimson Flame Holy Armor to increase his body's mana capacity and then "lent" his body to Pei Niannu, theoretically, it would be possible to break through the limitations of the Mortal Realm and touch the Celestial Human realm!

Even if it was a pieced-together, extremely perfunctory "half-step Celestial Human", briefly activating the Mysterious Turtle Seal... shouldn't be a problem.

This situation was extremely special; it could be said that only by chance could this plan be put together.

After all, there are some ways in this world to temporarily expand one's power, but wanting to temporarily break through the Celestial Human boundary is purely wishful thinking.

"A promising... student."

Pei Niannu nodded, and on her snow-white chin under the mask, her lips curled up slightly, as if she had finally regained the dignity of a teacher in front of this hateful junior.

Immediately, she poured cold water on him:

"However... this method involves the transformation of water and fire, which consumes a lot... and the current armor... is not enough."

Zhao Du'an was stunned.

The mana currently stored in the Crimson Flame Holy Armor was not enough to support it? Was it because his Qi Sea was the "transfer station" that there was a loss in the conversion rate?

So, to achieve this plan, he had to find another batch of items related to cultivation and refine them.

But the last round of refining before leaving the capital had already filled almost all of Zhao Du'an's reserves, leaving only a few familiar items, which could not be refined because they were too precious.

Where could he find a pile of treasures of not-so-high value to refine into the armor in a short period of time?

"Is there no other way?" Zhao Du'an frowned.

The dreamlike female warlock shook her head and slowly disappeared into the air.

No, you run away when you can't answer, what use are you... Zhao Du'an felt a burst of stuffiness and a little frustration. He still didn't think the imperial court had full confidence in regaining the lost territory safely.

And once an accident occurred, after three days, the rebels could set fire at any time. Once dozens of miles around, large and small cities caught fire, the situation would deteriorate to an unimaginable extent.

He couldn't help but consider the occurrence of the worst-case scenario.

Zhao Du'an fell into deep thought, considering whether there were other ways to increase the odds of winning besides this plan.

"What are you spacing out here for?"

After an unknown amount of time, Mo Chou suddenly walked into the small stone pavilion and sat opposite him.

Zhao Du'an came back to his senses and didn't explain:

"Why did you come out? How's the discussion inside? Are there any good ideas?"

Mo Chou shook her head with a solemn expression:

"There's no clue yet. I don't understand anything about marching and fighting, and I don't understand much, but judging from Lord Xue's meaning, he has some combat plans, but he's not satisfied with any of them. It seems that the discussion there may not have a result before tomorrow. I felt dizzy listening, so I came out for some fresh air."

After a pause, Mo Chou seemed to cheer herself up and said:

"But with Lord Xue's talent, he will definitely be able to turn the tide and complete this great feat."

Zhao Du'an asked with a bit of amusement, "Why? You seem to have more confidence than Xue Shence himself."

Mo Chou said as a matter of course:

"Because he is the 'God of War', and here, who else can we count on if we don't believe in him?"

Zhao Du'an smiled wryly and teased, "When you were arguing with me, I didn't realize you were a blind believer in authority."

Mo Chou suddenly looked at him with a strange expression and asked:

"Don't tell me you're actually a hidden master of military strategy, and you're also good at leading troops in battle."

In the past year or so, she had personally witnessed Zhao Du'an giving people too many surprises, to the point that she was a bit "gun-shy", wondering if there was anything in this world that Zhao Du'an couldn't do.

No, when it comes to military strategy, I could copy a book of 《Sun Tzu's Art of War》 or 《Thirty-Six Stratagems》, or even talk big and ramble about "On Protracted War" or something... but I'm not even as good as Zhao Kuo, and in this regard, I'm not even as good as online military enthusiasts... Zhao Du'an shook his head bitterly. He was well aware of his abilities.

Copying poems, playing chess, talking about Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism can be done with just words, but leading troops in battle is not something that can be self-taught by memorizing a bit of military strategy. This is also why he took the initiative to "abdicate" this time and didn't get involved in the battle formation.

Zhao Du'an shook his head and said:

"I really can't do this, so don't expect me to come up with any tactical plans."

Mo Chou looked at him suspiciously for a while, and after confirming that his tone was sincere, she breathed a slight sigh of relief:

"In that case, then the two of us should do our duty as supervisors well. Well, your cultivation is a bit stronger, so you can also cooperate with Xue Shence to carry out some tasks. As for whether we can regain the lost territory and how to do it, let's leave it to Xue Shence and the others."

Zhao Du'an suddenly asked, "What if Su Dan's fire really starts burning?"

Mo Chou fell silent, then slowly stood up and walked towards the house:

"At worst, I'll take the responsibility, I'll bear the blame. I'm tired, I'm going to sleep for a while."

At that moment, the loyal female official beside the Empress, with her thin and frail back, actually had a hint of the responsibility of a "female prime minister."

However, Mo Chou, who had entered the room, didn't hear Zhao, who was sitting in the pavilion behind her, mutter:

"Little girl, learning to take responsibility. There's never been a reason for a man to lose a battle and have a woman take the blame. Xue Shence is shameless, but I'm not."

… …

Watching Mo Chou leave, Zhao Du'an dusted off his robe, stood up, and walked towards the other courtyard.

He remembered that the people he brought were temporarily settled here.

"Lord."

Song Jinxi guarded the entrance of the other courtyard, and immediately stepped forward when he saw him.

Zhao Du'an grunted in acknowledgment and asked with his hands behind his back, "How are everyone settled?"

Song Jinxi replied:

"The two Divine Officials, Yuxiu and Jin Jian, are cultivating behind closed doors in the house. As per your instructions, Jiyue has arranged to share a room with Mo Zhaorong to protect her closely.

As for us, the yamen here doesn't have enough room to accommodate so many people. I was just about to ask you, Lord, whether to go to the military camp or the post house?"

The yamen was, after all, a place for official business, and didn't have many guest rooms to accommodate such a large group of people.

"The military camp it is.

The two high-ranking disciples of the Heavenly Master's Mansion are not under our command, but don't you experts think about hiding in the back and wasting time. Report to Xue Shence to deal with the rebel army."

Zhao Du'an waved his hand, then seemed to remember something:

"Oh, right, what's the situation with that Bai Jun (White Falcon)?"

He was referring to the female shadow guard he had accidentally rescued earlier.

Song Jinxi pointed to the room:

"She's resting temporarily in that room. Medicine has been applied to her injuries, but she still needs to recuperate for some time. Mo Zhaorong instructed us to keep an eye on her, and we haven't noticed anything unusual."

Zhao Du'an nodded, thought for a moment, and said:

"Contact the Golden Token Shadow Guard Scholar and Hongye in Linfeng Road through channels to verify the situation of this 'Bai Jun'."

The eunuch offering, who was skilled in assassination, paused:

"Does Lord suspect… Should we control her and I'll interrogate her?"

"No need, I just feel uneasy. Let's not deliberately restrict her actions. Treat her like an injured person, but you secretly pay attention to her."

Zhao Du'an earnestly instructed:

"During wartime, everything must be cautious, and even more cautious, but we can't chill the hearts of our own people."

"Understood, sir."

Song Jinxi nodded.

With his assassination and stealth skills, he could perfectly monitor without being noticed by Bai Jun:

"However, the Scholar and Hongye are not in Taicang at the moment, but on the eastern front. Even if we use flying eagle transmission, I'm afraid it will take a few days to get a reply."

The person in charge isn't here? Zhao Du'an was slightly surprised and nodded:

"It's okay, contact them first."

Suddenly, the two heard some noise coming from the side hall in front of the yamen.

Zhao Du'an signaled Song Jinxi to stay, and he walked over.

Passing through the hanging flower gate, he vaguely saw a man in a dusty clerk's robe, about thirty or forty years old, standing dejectedly outside the courtyard below the steps, pacing back and forth.

A clerk from the yamen, who seemed to have had an argument with him, walked over, startled when he saw Zhao Du'an, and said respectfully:

"Greetings, Supervisor."

Zhao Du'an wasn't familiar with this clerk, but vaguely remembered that he was from Sun Zhifu's side, so he casually asked:

"What's wrong with that man?"

The clerk hesitated, then sighed: "He's a grain requisition officer…"

In a few words, he explained the reason:

Since the start of the war, materials and money in Linfeng have gradually become scarce. Moreover, because of the need to defend the city, Xue Shence's soldiers and horses consumed a lot.

According to custom, the yamen and the military government jointly issued an order, temporarily appointing a group of "grain requisition officers" to purchase and collect military rations from the people in the city to support the war effort.

In these years, most of those who hoard grain are powerful wealthy families. The previous few times of requisitioning grain were fine, but after many requisitions, it was inevitable to run into obstacles.

"Well, that man is one of the grain requisition officers, responsible for going to the Lu family's residence in the city to ask for grain, but the Lu family didn't give it. He ran into a wall several times and returned dejectedly, wanting to see the Zhifu (Prefect) to state the reasons.

But how many affairs are there in the city now? The Zhifu only sleeps for an hour each day and is extremely busy. How can he have time to see him? I told him to go back and wait for news first, but he wouldn't leave, so there was some argument."

The clerk explained in a low voice.

Zhao Du'an raised his eyebrows:

"The Lu family? The Taicang Lu family, the family with the highest power and influence in Taicang Prefecture? They dare not hand over grain?"

He had a slight impression of this Lu family. When he came to handle the case last year, the Lu family's old master was sitting on the very edge of the banquet.

The clerk said a little indignantly:

"Before the Supervisor came, there were not enough soldiers in the city. If we wanted to defend the city, we had to rely on these wealthy families to mobilize the people to defend the city together. Moreover, we had to appease them to prevent them from siding with the rebel king, so the Zhifu's attitude was more gentle.

Even though the Lu family raised the price of grain a lot, the Zhifu, in order to maintain stability, held his nose and accepted it. The Lu family's grain was bought by our yamen with silver for the soldiers to eat."

After a pause, as if realizing that his topic had deviated, he cautiously brought the topic back:

"Of course, the Lu family is still willing to sell grain, but they are deliberately dragging their feet. A small grain requisition officer can't move the Lu family. As long as the Zhifu goes in person, he will definitely be able to get the grain…"

Zhao Du'an was already sneering:

"What a wealthy family, they are so bold as to manipulate the imperial court. You said that the Lu family raised the price of grain? They are not the only ones who are collecting grain?"

The clerk's heart skipped a beat, and he stammered: "Naturally… many families are doing the same…"

Zhao Du'an suddenly asked without reason:

"These wealthy households in the city have accumulated a lot of wealth over the years, right? Do they also like to collect some rare and precious items? Especially those related to cultivation?"

The clerk was stunned, and nodded subconsciously:

"Naturally, there are many, especially rare and precious items related to Taoists are particularly sought after… Eh? Lord, where are you going?"

… …

… …

Outside the side gate courtyard of the yamen, below the high bluestone steps.

Zhao Shande, the grain requisition officer, was distraught, standing alone in the corner. Although his name was "grain requisition officer", which seemed impressive, he had no real power at all.

As a middle-aged clerk in a small, unimportant department under Taicang Prefecture, Zhao Shande was a typical "ordinary person."

By working in the yamen, it took him ten years to finally save money to buy a house in the prefectural city and move his wife, children, and parents into the inner city.

He originally thought that he would work steadily until retirement, and then save some money to bribe his superiors to pass on his small position to his children and grandchildren.

Unexpectedly, a war came, and he was caught as a "conscript" to serve as a grain requisition officer. At first, he was faintly excited, thinking that there might be some profit to be made.

But later he realized that others didn't dare to touch the Lu family, so they simply grabbed him, a clerk without a background, to take the blame.

Zhao Shande stood bitterly at the entrance of the yamen, his head hanging down. Although he knew that the Zhifu was busy with official duties and had no time to see him at all, and that the clerk would not trouble the Zhifu with this trivial matter for him.

But all he could do was wait here.

Waiting for a chance, maybe… he would run into the Zhifu returning to the yamen?

"Are you Zhao Shande? The Lu family's grain requisition officer?"

Suddenly, a young man's voice sounded.

Zhao Shande raised his head and saw a handsome stranger walking over with a smile.

Zhao Du'an walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and smiled:

"Let's go, the Zhifu sent me to go with you to ask for grain."