Chapter 57 The Palace Rewards Delivered to Your Door
Bite off a piece of the minister's flesh?
Inside the car, Zhao Duan's expression changed slightly, and he was moved by the other party's proposal.
He finally realized the reason why Yuan Li came to see him today.
"Is Minister Pei also a member of the Li Party?" Although it was a question, it was spoken in a declarative tone.
"Yes." Yuan Li said calmly, "He is a very important person. His Majesty has been thinking of replacing him recently."
Shocking news.
Zhao Duan took a deep breath:
"Mr. Yuan is in charge of the Censorate, supervising all officials. Your Majesty wants to deal with Minister Pei, but he can't do it himself. He needs Mr. Yuan to do it."
Yuan Li nodded:
"Your Majesty and I are ready, but we need an opportunity, a legitimate reason."
The real purpose is revealed.
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment:
"Mr. Yuan, do you think I can make a dent in Minister Pei's golden body and create an opportunity? You think too highly of me."
He gradually understood everything.
The empress continued to weaken the Li Party, but Li Yanfu was in a high position and could not be moved, so she started with Minister Pei, and Yuan Li took on this task.
It happened that Zhao Duan reported in the Imperial Garden and showed his talent for "grabbing connections", so Yuan Li tried to pull him in.
The series of conversations in the car before this were a test that left no trace.
The punishment for Lu Liang can be considered as a benefit.
That makes sense.
"I've said before, I have a very good eye for people," Yuan Li smiled.
"At your age and status, you know how to defile yourself, and you can deceive the entire world. This alone is extraordinary."
Ah, this... I said this is a beautiful misunderstanding, do you believe it... Zhao Duan hesitated to speak, unable to explain.
He thought for a moment and asked, "May I ask, is this what Your Majesty meant?"
"Your Majesty doesn't know," Yuan Li shook his head.
"I just decided on this on a whim. So, you need to think it over carefully. If you're having trouble, don't be afraid to refuse for fear of offending me."
The more you say that, the more scared I am... Zhao Duan was too tired to complain.
But he was not afraid.
As a loyal servant of Xu Zhenguan, he was promoted to a tribute servant and had just been rewarded by the empress. With Yuan Li's vision and temperament, it made no sense for her to target him.
On the contrary, if you think about it carefully, it might be a good thing for him.
Things like dealing with the Zhang brothers and accidentally involving Prince Jing's Mansion are not normal after all.
If you want to achieve merit, it is better to take a big gamble than to waste your energy on petty officials similar to yourself.
Take a chance and turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.
If you fail, there's no loss.
Offended Minister Pei?
Haha... from the moment he planned to bite Li Yanfu, he was no longer afraid of offending anyone except the empress.
This is a feast for a "minister". Given his status, if he had not been noticed by Yuan Li by chance, he would have had no chance to sit at the table!
Even if he could only get a very small share when it came to the final reward, it was still enough to keep him full.
"What does Lord Yuan want me to do?" Zhao Duan asked thoughtfully.
Da Qingyi shook her head:
"If you just need a foot soldier to carry the flag and charge, there are plenty of them in the Censorate. If you want to join, you have to figure it out on your own and find a way to exploit Minister Pei's weakness."
After a pause, he added:
"It can't be a false accusation. It has to be solid evidence of a crime."
Zhao Duan smiled bitterly and said:
"Evidence of a minister's guilt... With my status, I'm afraid I can't even get through the door."
Yuan Li smiled and said, "Life is short, why not give it a try?"
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment and said:
"What are the benefits? If I can do it, how much can I eat?"
Yuan Li smiled:
"You are the only one who has asked for favors in person in the past ten years."
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"I'm a villain, and everyone in the capital knows it. I don't care about face, I only care about tangible benefits."
He was not worried and thus offended the Imperial Censor.
Because the higher the level of the game, the more reassuring it is to express your requirements clearly.
As expected, after hearing this, the elegant and handsome Imperial Censor sneered and said:
"If you can accomplish this, I will personally commend you to His Majesty. Furthermore, I will also grant you an additional benefit. How about that?"
Zhao Duan didn't ask what the benefit was, as that would make him look too low-class. He didn't hesitate when he heard it.
"It's a deal!"
…
In order to avoid suspicion, Zhao Duan got off the car and left on foot.
After watching him go away, the servant outside the carriage, with ordinary features but a hidden aura, asked curiously:
"Sir, do you think this person is really feasible? Minister Pei is very cautious. We haven't found any flaws yet. With just him..."
Yuan Li sat in the car with a relaxed attitude, smoke rising from the incense burner in front of him. Hearing the words, his tone was calm:
"Why not give it a try? Maybe you'll get a pleasant surprise."
From his words, it seemed that he didn't think Zhao Duan could really do it.
"A good chess player doesn't necessarily have to plan every move carefully, with each move having a clear purpose. Sometimes, just placing one or two pieces casually can be even better."
Yuan Li said, holding up the incense burner, closing his eyes and said:
"Let's go back."
To smoothly replace a third-rank official without paying too much price was definitely not something that could be done with just a word from the emperor.
It was a huge project that required a lot of preparation, and he was the one who arranged it.
As for Zhao Duan?
Just a casual move.
…
…
After Zhao Duan said goodbye to Yuan Li, he did not return home immediately. Instead, he touched his arms and found the three thousand taels of silver notes he had extorted.
She went straight to the best rouge shop in the capital, and then to the place that sold medicine for warriors' injuries, and bought a few items.
Prepare to take it back to Eugene Hua and Zhao Pan.
I didn't buy too much. After all, the character needs to be changed little by little, not to mention...
"By now, the silk and satin rewarded by the palace should have been delivered to my door." Zhao Duan thought, and suddenly looked forward to the expressions of the mother and daughter.
…
Zhao family, backyard.
When Eugene Hua, wearing a dark green satin dress, held the medicine and gently pushed open her daughter's boudoir door.
I saw Zhao Pan, wearing only a small dress, sitting at the table, flipping through the "Martial Arts Secret Book" that she treasured like a treasure.
"Why did you get up so suddenly? Go back to bed and rest." Eugene Hua said in a reproachful tone, but in fact she was concerned.
Zhao Pan turned his head, his lips trembling, and he looked guilty:
"mother……"
The girl had an oval face, disheveled hair, a high nose bridge, and clear eyes. She was even more outstanding than her mother when she was young.
"Get down quickly and take off all your clothes so I can apply the medicine on you."
Eugene Hua frowned and urged her daughter to lie on the bed:
"What will happen if a girl's body is scarred?"
Zhao Pan lay down dejectedly. When Eugene Hua saw the red marks all over her snow-white and slender back, waist, back, buttocks, and legs, her eyes were filled with pain and she felt heartbroken.
"Does it hurt?"
A day had passed since Zhao Duan whipped his sister with a bamboo stick...
Yes, even though so much has happened, the timeline has only advanced by one day.
“It doesn’t hurt at all…”
Zhao Pan was full of energy and vigor. He was not just pretending to comfort her, but really was not in any pain.
It’s strange to say, but when I was whipped by Zhao Duan yesterday, my whole body was indeed in unbearable pain. After returning to the room and applying medicine on the wound, I still felt weak all over.
But after a good night's sleep, Zhao Pan unexpectedly discovered that the pain was greatly relieved, and his body felt lighter and more comfortable.
It was as if the beating with a bamboo stick had opened up the Ren and Du meridians.
She had never felt so light.
"Mom, I suspect I've mastered martial arts!" Zhao Pan said mysteriously and a little excitedly:
"Don't the stories in the novels all say that warriors fight battles and break through realms after being injured?"
Of course, she would never have thought that the comfort in her body was the work of the "Zhongshan Wolf" who had bullied her and her mother since childhood.
I just thought that I had secretly practiced martial arts and achieved some success.
"What nonsense!"
Eugene Hua does not approve of her daughter learning martial arts.
What's more, this time he was beaten by his stepson. When he glanced at the "secret book" on the table, he became angry and pretended to tear it up.
This caused Zhao Pan to rush to grab the book, holding it to his chest, and said stubbornly:
"Mom, men are the most unreliable. My daughter wants to learn martial arts. When she becomes strong, the next time someone breaks into your house and bullies you, I will kill him!"
She stabbed the scarecrow with a dagger that day because she was provoked by Zhang Changji's breaking into the house.
Eugene Hua was both angry and moved:
"But what kind of girl would practice martial arts? If outsiders come, there's also your elder brother..."
"Him?" Zhao Pan didn't believe it. "He's lucky he didn't team up with outsiders to bully us."
Eugene Hua was speechless.
After all, the stepson had just beaten his daughter yesterday.
He fell silent at this moment, with red eyes, and applied medicine to her wound quietly and silently.
Because she had no money and couldn't afford good medicine for the wound, Eugene Hua could only apply thickly over and over again.
At the same time, he was planning to take out the last bit of jewelry he had hidden in the bottom of his box, exchange it for silver at the pawn shop, and buy his daughter special medicine for warriors.
Well, if I can make extra money from the sales, I can buy Zhao Pan a decent piece of silk and make her a new dress.
A girl is at the age of blooming like a lotus, how can she not have a nice piece of clothing?
As for her...she can get by no matter what.
In the room.
Time flows quietly in the silence between mother and daughter.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise outside, as if a large group of people were about to come in.
"What happened?"
Eugene Hua and Zhao Pan became nervous, fearing that it was Zhao Duan's enemy again.
(End of this chapter)
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