The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Outside the main gate of White Horse Hall.

Zhao Douan alighted from his carriage and strode directly into the government office, drawing many astonished glances.

"Lord? How have you come back?"

Inside his designated office, the dark-skinned, rugged-faced Zhu Kui stood up with a toothy grin.

Zhao Douan didn't bother with him. He first picked up the teapot on the desk and gulped down several mouthfuls to ease his dry throat.

Then he flung himself into a rosewood chair, glancing sideways with a smirk and scolded,

"What nonsense, is there something wrong with returning to my own government office?"

Zhu Kui obsequiously picked up a palm-leaf fan and began to fan him, explaining,

"It's just that today was supposed to be the day you assumed your new post at the Imperial Court."

Zhao Douan exhaled, enjoying the cool breeze, and sighed,

"That place is full of troubles. Although a sharp knife can cut through the chaos, the knife needs to rest too."

Only when holding two positions could the contrast be stark and clear.

His days at White Horse Hall had been too comfortable, idling away the time, and facing intense work today made him pine for his old nest.

In comparison to those thorny colonels, even Zhu's ugly face seemed more pleasing to the eye.

"Alright, I've come back for a reason. Have the Imperial Court Jinyi's documents been delivered?" he cut to the chase.

Zhu Kui hurriedly retrieved a thick stack of documents sealed in a cowhide paper bag,

"They have been delivered, sealed up nicely."

Zhao Douan sat up straight, preparing to read them.

On that day up in the Emperor Tower, Xu Zhenguan had promoted him but also tasked him with the hidden mission to investigate the "insider threat."

But, contrary to expectation, this was not a direct liaison with Ma Yan.

The insider case had actually bypassed the Imperial Court, and the Empress had directly assigned the task to him through Sun Lianying as a "White Horse Envoy undertaking the mission."

To put it more bluntly, the Empress had privately ordered him to secretly investigate the matter.

Ma Yan only thought that the Empress had assigned Zhao Douan to solve the internal problems of the Imperial Court and take care of those troublemakers.

He had no idea that Zhao Douan was also shouldering this task.

"Why such an arrangement? Is it because the Empress doesn't trust Ma Yan? But she did say explicitly that she trusts him... Ah, perhaps it's to avoid conflict of interest, to prevent leaks? After all, theoretically, Ma Yan indeed is a suspect."

Zhao Douan pondered and opened the cowhide paper bag,

Fanning through the thick stack of investigation files on the "suspects" of the Imperial Court insider—clearly, these were documents Ma Yan had self-screened and then presented to Xu Zhenguan, who in turn had passed them to him.

A quick flip through revealed dozens of files.

They detailed many aspects of Zhuang Xiaocheng's case.

For instance, how the Imperial Court initially learned of Zhuang Xiaocheng's whereabouts, the people involved in the intelligence chain at all levels, who the informants were, etc.

The pages were also marked with red ink, highlighting key suspects.

"Hmm, according to the file, as soon as Zhuang Xiaocheng's whereabouts were reported, they were immediately classified as top secret, the highest level of confidentiality, with only Ma Yan and a few Masters privy to it, responsible for tracking the case."

"The reason they didn't arrest him immediately was one, to verify the source of the information, and two, to trace the vine to the melon, to catch in one swoop the network of rebels hidden in the Capital."

"After the Empress ordered Ma Yan to self-investigate, all involved personnel were scrutinized, with the focus of the investigation on the source of the intelligence, but all related clues were cut off."

"So, the only option left was to use the clumsy method of rounding up all those in the know. To play along with the trap set by the Kuangfu Society, the insider needed to be able to keep abreast of the arrest movements at all times... some have been eliminated, but there are still dozens of suspects."

Zhao Douan saw the number of suspects and couldn't help but gripe inwardly,

The secrecy work is terrible!

But a closer read revealed that wasn't quite the case.

The reason for the large number of suspects was that subordinates who might have indirectly obtained information from the key suspects were also included.

As for the significant suspects, there were three:

Peony Hall Arresting Officer: Zhang Han

Pomegranate Hall Arresting Officer: Iron Ruler Pass

Daffodil Hall Arrest Officer: Haitang (female)

...Hmm, all "Hall Officers" on the same level as me... Zhao Douan continued flipping through the files, discovering that the remaining scattered suspects were spread across various halls.

With the sole exception of Lihua Hall.

"My subordinates turn out to be so clean." Zhao Douan was extremely surprised.

Then it dawned on him, of course! Lihua Hall didn't even have a boss, essentially a group of government officers exiled to the cold palace, with no access to major cases.

How could they be cleaner?

So perhaps there was another meaning behind the Empress sending him to Lihua Hall.

That the people there were the least suspect, and he could use them with confidence to avoid the actions being noticed by the insider.

"Old Zhu, what do you know about these three individuals?"

Zhao Douan perused briefly, his fingers tapping "thud, thud" on the desk as he suddenly asked.

While speaking, he pulled out the brief profiles of the three and spread them on the table.

There were no sensitive contents on the paper, just rough introductions to the characters.

Zhu Kui stood at the doorway and upon hearing the question, walked back in, cautiously glancing at the files and smiled,

"Are you getting to know the interrelations within the Imperial Court, sir?"

He thought Zhao Douan, new to his post, was asking Sun Lianying for the information to quickly grasp the depth of the new government office's waters, which seemed very normal.

"Less nonsense, don't meddle in what you shouldn't." Zhao Douan scolded with a smile.

Old Zhu had mixed in the lower levels for many years and knew all the gods and goddesses of the various government offices in the Capital like the back of his hand.

He was seeking to learn more from his treasured subordinate.

Zhu Kui pondered for a moment and said,

"I don't know much about them. I only know they are three of the most powerful and meritorious Masters from the nine halls, and they are the most valued."

He used his thick, dark finger to point at the topmost "Zhang Han" and said,

"This one is the strongest, known as the first under the Lord, whether in Martial Arts Cultivation or the ability to handle affairs, including the standard of his hall, he leads by a wide margin."