The Empress's No.1 Lackey

""",

"Interrogate? Why interrogate?"

Zhao Douan sat in the large chair, behind him, above the weapon rack, was a grand ink painting on the snow-white wall.

As soon as he spoke, the four subordinates were stunned.

Qian Kerou said blankly, "Sir, didn't you say..."

Zhao Douan interrupted her, saying seriously,

"So many people, how tiring would it be for me to interrogate one by one?

Besides, it's almost time to disperse, do I have to overwork and harm my body for a mere fifty-eight officials? Let's detain them for a while, I'm sure they will understand."

Understand, my foot... the four silently complained, Shen Juan held his forehead and said,

"But sir, if we don't quickly find some evidence of their crimes, by tomorrow, the rumors will be hard to control."

One could imagine how exciting tomorrow's early court session would be.

The Empress would face the full court's complaints, she would probably be bewildered too?

Zhao Douan waved his hand and said,

"If the sky falls, Your Majesty will hold it up, what are you worried about?"

He believed, since the Empress entrusted him with such an important task, even sent Mo Chou to express her stance.

Then, the mere pressure of fifty-eight minor officials, Xu Zhenguan would surely withstand for him.

Indeed, according to the plan, as long as the Empress protected him from pressure for three days, it would be enough.

The four subordinates looked at each other with a sudden ominous feeling, Qian Kerou asked nervously,

"Sir, you don't actually have any evidence against this group, do you?"

This girl, why are you speaking the harsh truth? No, how are you besmirching people's innocence out of the blue?

Zhao Douan said with righteousness: "Such words that are not conducive to unity, do not say in the future."

Ah? The naive female Jinyi did not understand.

Zhao Douan sighed and said,

"In short, you just do as I instructed, don't inquire too much.

Your next task is to release the information that the reason Lihua Hall is making such mass arrests is that I am retaliating.

But as long as the families of these officials are sensible and come to pay respects, they can be released."

The four: "..."

Zhao Douan frowned: "Still not going to do it?"

"... Yes."

The four responded, walking shoulder to shoulder out of the hall, Shen Juan muttered,

"So, what's really going on with our boss? Is it just extortion?"

Zheng Laojiu spit out a bit of tea foam, this seasoned Jinyi Captain's eyes shone bright:

"Let's wait and see, I have a feeling, this matter has just begun."

...

...

"These fifty-eight people, all impeached him once?"

Inside Peony Hall, the female detective named Haitang paused, then realized,

"So, the one with the surname Zhao is retaliating?"

Everyone else looked at each other, they debated and speculated for a long time, but the truth might be unusually simple.

The strategist Zhang Han calmly said,

"I have investigated him thoroughly, and I believe you all have too, this person has always been one to take revenge for the smallest grievance, as seen in the case of Zhuang Xiaocheng, the main Imperial Censor who impeached him, Lv Liang, ended up being exiled to Lingnan, and another, Zhang Changshuo, along with the entire Zhang family, is almost wiped out. This says a lot."

The group was aghast.

Indeed, these were publicly verifiable records.

From a certain angle, everything that Zhao Douan had done in the past two months was always about revenge.

First, it was the Zhang brothers, then Lv Liang, and now after being promoted to Master, with even greater power, he finally couldn't wait, beginning to settle accounts with his other enemies.

"Hiss... with his style, it really might be so. If he had more authority, I wouldn't be surprised if he arrested the Prime Minister." one sighed.

A man who took revenge for the smallest grievance, this was Zhao Douan's public persona.

Iron Ruler Pass frowned, speaking loudly,

"But does this have meaning? Even though the Imperial Court has the advantage of arresting people, it does not have the right to judge, even if he wants to fabricate charges, to move against fifty-eight people at once, unless the entire court is blind, they'll be unable to ignore.

Tomorrow, at the early court meeting, all parties will certainly complain to the Saint, even if Zhao is favored, he cannot act with impunity."

This statement was agreed upon by everyone.

The power of the Imperial Court was great, but its restrictions were also very severe.

Not to mention just a Master, even a Lord cannot withstand such pressure.

"Right, what did the Lord say?" Haitang suddenly asked.

Zhang Han shook his head,

"The Lord will not interfere, haven't you noticed? The Lord takes a completely laissez-faire attitude towards Lihua Hall. Because behind Zhao Douan is the Saint, not him, so even if he wants to punish Zhao, only the Saint can do it."

After a pause, he shook his head and said,

"But in my view, that Zhao Douan is already on a path to self-destruction, thinking that by gaining favor and having Your Majesty's support, he can act recklessly.

How arrogant and rampant, if he doesn't restrain himself within three days, Your Majesty will certainly send someone to reprimand him, perhaps, he will become the shortest-serving Master in history... we need not interfere, we only have to wait for him to meet his self-destruction."

Finally, he summed up with eight words:

"Virtue does not match the position, disaster will follow."

Everyone nodded, deep in agreement, all looking forward to the day when Zhao Douan would fall.

...

...

That night, two pieces of news started to circulate wildly in the Capital's official circle.

The first was that the Empress's gigolo had been promoted, and after entering the Imperial Court, he arrested dozens of officials from various government offices in one day.

The second was that Zhao Douan did this to retaliate, all the arrested officials were those who once submitted memorials to impeach him.

Simultaneously, the families of the arrested officials were informed that if they wanted Mr. Zhao's leniency, they needed to be sensible and offer money.

Otherwise, even if eventually released due to pressure, frequent arrests would also be deadly.

No one doubted the authenticity of the news.

This was due to Zhao Douan's deeply ingrained reputation.

Especially the consecutive downfalls of the Zhang brothers and Lv Liang, also confirmed Zhao Gou's true nature as "a petty man who takes revenge for the smallest grievance."

"""