The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Yuan Li laughed and said,

"My lord, I am even more inclined to keep a close watch on him, and now I feel I have a sixty percent confidence that he will succeed.

However... the Imperial Court is a treacherous place, and Ma Yan has already made numerous attempts to probe, so the insiders must be on alert. Zhao Douan's current investigation will be extremely difficult, I fear he will need plenty of time."

Xu Zhenguan asked curiously,

"Mr. Yuan, how long do you think it will take him to find something?"

Yuan Li pondered for a moment and cautiously extended two fingers,

"At least two months."

This was not an underestimate but a speculation based on objective facts.

Xu Zhenguan shook his head and said,

"My confidence is not as strong as Mr. Yuan's, but if he really can do it, I believe it must be within two months, or perhaps one month might be enough."

One month... Yuan Li wondered, "Your Majesty, why would you guess so?"

Xu Zhenguan huffed and said,

"Because I have ordered him to bring back Zhuang Xiaocheng before the end of the year. Therefore, he does not have the luxury of patience or time to waste. Besides, hasn't Mr. Yuan noticed how quickly he gets things done?"

Yuan Li was stunned for a moment, and then he chuckled,

"Very well, then I shall boldly make a bet with Your Majesty on whether Zhao Douan will need one month or two months to accomplish this task."

Xu Zhenguan's lips curved slightly, "Agreed."

Then, his gaze shifted beyond the palace walls, towards the direction of the Imperial Court, thinking that he hoped the Little Forbidden Army would not disappoint him.

...

"Achoo!"

Zhao Douan sneezed, rubbed his nose, and muttered,

"Who is cursing me now?"

Forget it, there are many who curse him in the world, and these days probably even more so.

"Come to think of it, if the belief of the people can gather together to form a deity, with enough people hating me, could it not conjure a 'God Zhao'..."

Pondering this strange thought, Zhao Douan's ears twitched as he heard footsteps approaching from outside the courtyard.

At this moment, he was in the back courtyard of the Imperial Court's Governor Hall, which also served as the private residence of his mentor's junior brother.

Eunuchs lose the concept of having a "home" the moment they step through the palace gates.

Just as Sun Lianying lived in the government office behind the White Horse Hall.

Ma Yan also didn't have a courtyard of his own—though the Empress had once bestowed one upon him, the stern eunuch had refused.

Thus, he too made the government office his home.

Today, Zhao Douan had relied on his martial arts skills to avoid the eyes of others and secretly scaled the walls to wait for him.

The courtyard door creaked open.

The figure who entered was slim, with disheveled white eyebrows like bristles and a long, skinny face devoid of smiles—Lord Ma, the eunuch, stepped through the gate.

His sharp gaze immediately locked onto Zhao Douan sitting nonchalantly in the middle of the courtyard on a stone bench.

The robust energy he had gathered in his chest, on sensing someone in the house, flowed through his meridians like the floodgates of the Hun River had opened.

The imposing aura gradually subsided.

Ma Yan furrowed his brows, "Why have you come?"

With a slight push from his hand behind his back.

With a bang, the double-doors of the courtyard slammed shut.

Zhao Douan pointed cheerfully at two boxes of pastries from the Drunken Moon Inn on the table and said,

"I had some free time, and shouldn't I visit my senior brother? After all, I've been in the Imperial Court for several days now and have not even seen my senior brother once. Even if we are avoiding suspicion, this seems a bit too much, doesn't it?"

Ma Yan's face was expressionless, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly.

He was annoyed by the repeated calls of "senior brother" and "junior brother."

He opened his mouth, trying to correct him, but seeing the smiling face in front of him, he gave up helplessly.

"On wanting to visit, there is a front door you didn't enter through, which I haven't heard of. I was not informed of this method of sneaking into someone's home."

Ma Yan, striding powerfully, walked up to the stone table and said coldly,

"How did Sun Lianying teach you?"

Zhao Douan replied as if it were natural,

"At the White Horse Hall, I often sneak into Mr. Sun's private quarters."

Ma Yan's face stiffened for a moment, underestimating the young man's shamelessness.

Lord Ma and the Old Director had very different personalities. He was not one for idle chatter or sentimentality.

But Zhao Douan knew his senior brother was not truly a bad person.

According to what Sun Lianying said, Ma Yan had received a life-saving grace from the Crown Prince and had spent almost twenty years in the palace with little to no interaction with him.

Yet, on the day of the coup, this almost forgotten street urchin from twenty years past, who had been casually saved, stepped forward in silence, taking dozens of blows for the Crown Prince.

He fought almost to his last breath.

Just this grateful heart alone indicated he could not be a cold and unemotional person.

This was probably also why the Empress dared to employ him heavily after her ascension.

It was also the reason why Zhao Douan dared to be so frivolous and close with this cold eunuch, known as "King Yanluo" and feared by all officials.

"You, never mind."

Ma Yan took a deep breath, sat down in front of him, and frowned,

"State your business clearly."

Such straightforwardness, if not for proven loyalty, one wouldn't be able to survive in the officialdom like this... Zhao Douan, taking on the stance of a more experienced professional, said with a smile,

"I do have a matter I wish to ask for my senior brother's help."

"Speak," Ma Yan said succinctly.

Zhao Douan laughed and said,

"Actually, it's quite simple. Yesterday, didn't I pry quite a bit of information about the rebels from the mouths of eight other halls? I reviewed it all last night and looked at it again for a long time today. Combining the intelligence from each hall, I indeed made some discoveries."

Ma Yan's eyes lit up,

"You found a clue to the rebels?"

He could hardly hide his surprise, but upon closer thought, he felt it was indeed possible.

The nine halls were in competitive relationships with each other, each independently investigating cases.

Some important clues would only be presented to Lord Ma when they made a breakthrough.

Whereas many clues without progress were tightly held by the chiefs of each hall, guarded closely and not shared with one another.

This time, Zhao Douan had forced it out of eight people.

Although Ma Yan was certain that the eight had definitely concealed some information, and what they handed over was most likely the less important part,

But when originally isolated and unrelated clues came together in Zhao Douan's hands,

Cross-referencing and constructing connections,

It was very possible to link different clues together and achieve a breakthrough.

"Yes. I have indeed found the suspected hiding place of the rebels, but please forgive me for not disclosing it right now," Zhao Douan said.

"..."

Ma Yan's chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath and said coldly,

"So?"

If the person in front of him were one of his subordinates, Ma Yan would have already erupted in rage, but considering the figure standing behind the other party was the Empress, he chose to restrain himself.

Zhao Douan sincerely said,

"I'm preparing to raid tomorrow, leading the Lihua Hall to capture them, but my martial arts cultivation is still shallow. I fear that if I encounter a strong enemy, I won't be able to subdue them, so I would like to ask my senior brother to accompany me tomorrow."

Just this? Ma Yan readily agreed,

"Alright."

His furrowed brows relaxed as he thought that although this young man was slippery and opportunistic in claiming relationships, he still knew what mattered and did not seek glory blindly.

Hmm, it must have been the lesson from the Zhuang Xiaocheng case.

However, Zhao Douan didn't stop there and continued,

"Additionally, I would like my senior brother to issue an order today to the Eight Halls, requiring the eight Masters to stay at home and not go out, with all Colonels and attendants on guard at their respective halls, and without permission, no movement is allowed."

!! A sharp light suddenly flickered in Ma Yan's eyes,

"You're worried..."

Zhao Douan said with a smile,

"Senior brother, no need to ask more. All will be clear tomorrow."

Ma Yan was silent.

He did not know how Zhao Douan was aware of a spy in the government office, whether the Empress had informed him, or otherwise.

But to order the confinement of the halls was undoubtedly a way to eliminate risks, ensuring that Lihua Hall's operation would go without a hitch.

"It can be done."

Ma Yan nodded gravely, giving him a deep look,

"But if Lihua Hall lacks manpower and the rebel escapes..."

Zhao Douan smiled enigmatically,

"Senior brother, rest assured, the rebel is in the Capital. As long as he shows his head, he won't be able to escape."

Having said this, he turned and walked away.

Ma Yan called out, "The main gate is over here."

"I know, but there's a back door, who uses the main entrance these days anyway?" Zhao Douan vaulted over the wall, his movements extremely practiced.

Leaving Ma Yan sitting alone in the courtyard.

After a while, he glanced at the pastries on the table and suddenly lifted his calloused fingers, picking up a piece of mung bean cake, and put it in his mouth, gently chewing.

Clever little rascal... quite delicious, too.

...

...

Meanwhile,

After vaulting out of the Governor Hall, Zhao Douan went straight back to Lihua Hall.

He summoned four of his subordinates, instructed them for a while, and gave each of them a brocade bag, ordering them to open it after they returned home that night.

The subordinates looked at each other after hearing the content,

But by now, they had quite a bit of faith in Zhao Douan. Despite their confusion, they still agreed and went down to carry out his orders.

Unnoticed, Zhao Douan had already acquired his own base of loyal followers.

Many small tasks no longer required his personal attention or reliance solely on Zhu Kui.

Afterward, he took off his official robe, changed back into his regular attire, and boarded a carriage:

"Go to White Horse Hall, quickly."

Inside the carriage,

Zhao Douan peered through the curtains at the contiguous cluster of ten halls belonging to the Imperial Court, slowly narrowing his eyes.

Only he knew that he had not obtained any information about the rebels from those scattered bits of intelligence.

He was just taking a gamble, betting whether the spy would surface tomorrow.

And the knife to "slay the ghost" was only Ma Yan's—which was far from secure. Until the dust settled, he maintained his suspicion of everyone.

Of course, that included Ma Yan.