The Empress's No.1 Lackey

"Have you thought of something?"

In Xiuwen Pavilion, Mo Chou didn't know when she had walked over and sat beside Zhao Douan, staring at him with curiosity and inquiring.

Zhao Douan was yanked from his reverie, subconsciously closing the documents he was holding, and said in surprise, "Why are you coming so close?"

Mo Chou declared righteously, "I'm not good at these things, and I can't help."

Although she followed the Third Imperial Princess to attend classes in the palace school, saintly knowledge was of no use to her. She only had a rudimentary understanding, and now she had returned it all to the teachers.

"Oh, what a coincidence, I'm not good at it either."

Zhao Douan pointed at the documents with his finger, smiling as he said,

"What this Mr. Zhengyang has said seems to make a lot of sense, with various references to classics."

Mo Chou exhaled and pressed her finger to the center of her forehead where the "plum blossom makeup" was, sighing,

"Otherwise, how could he be revered as the next Saint of the literary world? Do you have any thoughts on this?"

As the female chancellor who had repeatedly underestimated Zhao Douan and was repeatedly proven wrong, she had a sort of mystical belief in Zhao Douan's abilities.

Although reason told her that the "rival in love" before her was unlikely to achieve anything in this field, but...

"No." Zhao Douan shook his head honestly, threw the documents on the table, and laughed, "What I'm good at is not this."

After hesitating, he chose not to voice his ideas on the spot.

Because from Zhengyang's doctrines, although he had glimpsed some interesting points that could be debated, Zhao Douan was not confident.

In the end, whether in his past life or the current one, he was never good at scholarly research.

In the limited memories of his original self, debating scholarly knowledge among the literati of the Great Yu Dynasty had a whole set of procedures, akin to citing legal statutes.

Moreover, although he had some breakthrough points, it was unclear how successful they would be.

Therefore, when it came to scholarship itself, it was safer to leave it to the experts like Grandmaster Dong.

As for providing ideas to Grandmaster Dong, Zhao Douan was very cautious, because academically, Grandmaster Dong and Zhengyang actually had no big differences to start with, both very similar to the Confucian rationalistic school.

It was only after the Empress ascended the throne that Grandmaster Dong skewed his position academically to seek legitimacy for the Empress's rule.

What Zhengyang wanted to do was to correct his skewed position...

And in Zhao Douan's heart, that set of theories biased towards Heart Learning... Well, he worried that if he spoke out now, it was hard to say what impact it might have on Zhengyang, but it might just shake Grandmaster Dong's moral core...

One shouldn't kill their own before the enemy; that would be disastrous.

So, to be safe, he planned to go back and gather more data for a fuller understanding.

And he tried to find a chance, before the "scholarly debate," to stealthily trip up Zhengyang, preemptively striking him once.

In this way, even if the Confucian Heart Learning he mastered couldn't defeat Zhengyang, it could still shake the opponent's moral core and increase Dong Xuan's chances of winning.

Yeah, like messing with an opponent's mindset before a sports event, quite sneaky.

But being sneaky against enemies has no downside.

"I see," Mo Chou said, somewhat disappointed, glanced at the armor he wore, and asked curiously,

"Did you come from the Divine Mechanism Camp?"

Zhao Douan "oh"-ed and briefly recounted the incident of Prince Heng's Princely Heir causing trouble.

Mo Chou's expression changed, and frowning, she said, "It seems Prince Heng is also quite restless."

"Yes," sighed Zhao Douan, implying, "With the descent of frost, cold winter isn't far behind."

Mo Chou considered for a moment and then said,

"You said he treats the lady master of the East Lake like a slave? After Mrs. Xiao entered the Capital, she has been inquiring about open markets and the imperial regulations on merchants. As far as I know, she has visited officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites in succession, probing their sentiments."

It seems the big ice lump has also grasped some of Xu Zudi's intentions.

Zhao Douan said lightly,

"I have already sent someone to investigate. I have a premonition that this matter is not over. Oh right, almost forgot, Xue Shence told me that he heard Zhao Shixiong and Yunfu Road's Mu Prince are also very close. Does Your Majesty know about this?"

Mo Chou's face turned solemn, she looked at him deeply and said,

"Indeed, this is the case."

Having completed his task as a messenger, Zhao Douan sighed,

"It's a good autumn after all."

...

After sitting in Xiuwen Pavilion for more than an hour, Zhao Douan learned more about his opponents through conversations with various scholars.

Then he got up to say goodbye and went back to the Imperial Court to handle the follow-ups of the morning's affairs. Upon arriving, he learned that Hou Renmeng and a few others had already taken action and drafted regulations for strict discipline.

Zhao Douan went with the flow, also gathering many Jinyi in the Lihua Hall for a talk.

Though it was not possible to eradicate problems overnight and maintain strict discipline, it at least marked a beginning. Over the coming period, it would help to keep these troublemakers in check somewhat.

At the same time, Zhao Douan received intelligence reports from his subordinates:

Mrs. Xiao and her party were intercepted by the Princely Heir, who was also en route to the Capital for leisure, just as they were about to leave Qingzhou Road territory.

"You found out so quickly? Is it reliable?" Zhao Douan wondered.

Hou Renmeng earnestly said, "It's from a servant close to the female head of the Xiao family, mentioned in conversation by a shop assistant of Xiao family's businesses in the city."

Zhao Douan felt the matter was becoming increasingly interesting.

As dusk approached, Zhao Douan went home, deliberately choosing a street where scholars frequently gathered.

Along the way, unsurprisingly, he heard many people discussing the scholarly debate that was to take place in five days.

The scholarly duel between the great scholars of the north and south was indeed an event that was enough to cause a stir and attract the entire city's attention.

One could visibly see that the number of scholars gathering on both sides of the street had increased by quite a bit.

"Sir, it's said that many students from academies outside the city have abandoned their studies to run back and join the excitement, and the Imperial College is in complete chaos, seemingly divided into two factions arguing endlessly," the carriage driver Little Wang remarked.

Zhao Douan sighed, "It seems there are still many wooden-headed scholars in the city who oppose Her Majesty."

Little Wang dared not make a sound.

Zhao Douan continued melancholically,

"Tomorrow, tell the people below to secretly keep a record of which scholars have been causing a ruckus these past few days, cheering for the Zhengyang School. They are unstable elements. Alas, you and these scholars, are you really just memorizing and blindly following books to the point of stupidity, or are you too clever?"

Little Wang pondered for a moment and then said,

"Perhaps it's because they haven't been lifted up by Her Majesty, haven't obtained an official position, haven't received benefits, so they feel indignant."

Zhao Douan looked at the carriage driver in surprise and sighed,

"Throughout the ages, it has always been like this, who can say otherwise."

The carriage passed through the bustling market, crossing streets, and arrived outside the gates of Zhao Mansion.

Hearing the commotion, the servants opened the door to greet him.

Zhao Douan stepped into the courtyard and saw You Jinhua coming to greet him. As she helped him remove his armor, she said,

"Just now someone delivered a letter."

"Whose invitation is it?" Zhao Douan stood in the hall, arms spread wide, closing his eyes to enjoy his aunt removing his armor.

You Jinhua hesitated before saying,

"It's not an invitation. It was all secretive. I don't think it's simple. It's asking for a meeting with you tomorrow, and it's signed with a woman's name, something like Xiao Donger."

Zhao Douan suddenly opened his eyes.

Mrs. Xiao?

Inviting him for a meeting?

...

That night, the hottest topic in the city was, naturally, Mr. Zhengyang's scholarly debate with Grandmaster Dong at Mei Garden.

Zhao Douan, however, knew that this was just the beginning. The next few days would not only give Dong Xuan time to prepare but also allow the news to spread and the topic to ferment.

The following morning,

Zhao Douan first went to Lihua Hall as usual to handle official duties. Around noon, he changed into plain clothes and found a small eatery for a meal.

Afterward, he estimated the time and, using a disguise mask, changed his appearance and quietly merged into the crowd.

He finally appeared in a residential area, walked along a lane, and arrived at a dwelling with the plaque "Tea Containment Study" hanging above the door.

He knocked on the metal ring of the door, and a young servant opened it.

Zhao Douan reported Mrs. Xiao's name, and the servant immediately welcomed him.

The courtyard inside the house was quite elegant, a place similar to "Qinglian Small House" that Zhao Douan had visited before to deal with Zhang Changji.

However, it was not a brothel but rather a more decent type of private residence, specially for small gatherings of friends.

Many who didn't want to go to restaurants or teahouses would choose such private residences to meet.

This "Tea Containment Study" was known for its "tea brewing around the stove."

After entering, Zhao Douan found that he was the only guest today. It seemed that the host had been instructed not to talk too much and led Zhao Douan to a room with bamboo sliding doors.

Passing through the room, there was a sophisticated small courtyard with a clay stove set up, covered with an iron grid for brewing tea and roasting various foods.

Zhao Douan waved his hand, declining the offer of someone at this place to help him roast, and after sending people away, he took off his disguise mask, reverting to his own face.

Then, he started roasting foods like rice cakes, sliced oranges, and persimmon cakes on the stove himself, clearly enjoying the task.

In the chill of late autumn, it was indeed a leisurely and refined pleasure.

After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he heard footsteps approaching.

A figure wrapped in a black cloak, gracefully and alone, walked in.

"Mrs. Xiao has chosen quite a nice place, but since it's an invitation, to have the guest wait is quite the thing. Surely this is not the East Lake way of hosting guests."

Zhao Douan didn't even bother lifting his eyelids, his hands still busily wielding the iron fork, contently roasting oranges.

The cloaked figure approached the empty chair nearby.

From the sleeves, a pair of well-maintained, delicate hands appeared, removing the cloak and revealing a woman's smooth forehead and cheeks.

Xiao Donger was still in a dark horsehair skirt, though with a different pattern and more formal.

However, her appearance was starkly different from the previous day's delicate and noblewoman-like demeanor playing the zither.

She bowed her head with an air of apology and said,

"I've been terribly rude to bother your honor to come here myself. I was truly unable to get away, please forgive me."

Zhao Douan put down the hot iron fork, stuffed the roasted orange segment into his mouth, chewed slowly, savoring the taste, then casually said,

"Sit down, I don't like talking heads-up."

Mrs. Xiao shifted her round hips and slowly sat down. Her face that suggested peace and tranquility brimmed with spirited eyes.

She picked up the boiling teapot, poured tea for him, and apologized,

"I dare not hope that your honor really deigned to meet. When we first met yesterday, I offended in many ways... truly..."

Zhao Douan threw the warm iron fork onto the stove, finally lifting his eyes to look at this East Lake family head, a hint of a smile on his face,

"The term 'widow' grates on my ears. There's an old saying, 'Where there's a widow, there's trouble de galore.' I am one to avoid trouble, let's use another term, shall we?"