Chapter 111 Zhao Duan: Who dares to be so presumptuous?
"What?"
Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows and looked at his "full-time driver".
The driver, Xiao Wang, lowered his voice and explained:
"Your Excellency does not recognize that man, but I have seen him before. He is our noble Marquis Xia Jiang."
Marquis? Some memories flooded Zhao Duan's mind.
There were several power groups in the Dayu Dynasty.
One of them is the "noble group", which is composed of meritorious officials who have been awarded titles throughout the ages.
When he first traveled through time, the first broker he beat up was Ning'an County Master, who, strictly speaking, was also a nobleman.
Because they were all aristocrats and supported by the court, the noble group was close to the royal family.
But Zhao Duan didn't expect that they would be so close that they even rolled in the same bed.
He had also heard of the name "Marquis Xiajiang".
His ancestor was a marquis of military merit who was awarded during the revival of the Xu Dynasty three hundred years ago.
By this generation, most of the nobles had already lost their real power, and Marquis Xiajiang was no exception.
But after all, he is from a family of military merit, and his foundation is still there. He himself is also a practitioner of the "warrior" path, and has never had any intersection with Zhao Duan.
But I didn't expect to meet you in such an occasion today.
“It lives up to its reputation…”
Zhao Duan was amazed. He had no interest in this "Marquis", but was quite surprised that he was involved with Princess Yunyang.
It's no surprise that the two of them slept together.
After all, Princess Yunyang was famous, and the hats she gave to her husband were piled up to a height comparable to the bell tower of the Tianshi Mansion.
"But you didn't even try to hide it. Doing this on the street... isn't that a bit too much..."
At this moment, Zhao Duan suddenly understood why Li Lang was such a playboy.
It would be difficult for any teenager to avoid psychological problems if he had a mother with such a wide circle of friends and a father who was so tolerant.
"Are you Zhao Duan?"
At this time, Xia Jianghou, who was sitting in the sedan chair opposite, with an imposing appearance but a hint of evil in his eyes, asked a question.
The condescending attitude and almost interrogative tone made Zhao Du'an feel disgusted.
He ignored the marquis and looked towards Princess Yunyang, who only had her long white legs exposed. He said calmly:
"Why doesn't the Grand Princess show up? Is she too embarrassed to see anyone?"
The two sides had already been hostile to each other, and he was too lazy to be polite.
The curtains of the sedan swayed gently in the wind. The eldest princess in the sedan seemed angry, and her hands exposed outside suddenly clenched.
Xia Jianghou also shared the same hatred and said in a cold voice, with an angry look on his face:
"Zhao Duan, didn't you hear me talking to you?"
What are you dancing for? We are all male favorites, as if you are nobler than me... Zhao Duan was unhappy.
I looked at him and said perfunctorily:
"So it's Lord Xia Jiang. I've long heard of your name. What could it be that you're calling me for?"
Unsure, he decided to play it safe.
Xia Jiang Hou, with his silk smock disheveled and a delicate beard, held a warm and soft jade in his arms, and looked him up and down for a moment, then suddenly said:
"No reason, but I heard that there's a man named Zhao Jisi in the capital recently. He's very popular and favored, even the royal family and nobles don't care about him, so I wanted to come and see him."
Although he said "looking up to him", his downcast eyes and condescending attitude made him look like an aristocrat observing a commoner.
This made Zhao Duan inexplicably unhappy.
A so-called nobleman, driving a luxury car, stopped him on his way to work, just to see him.
He also showed an expression of condescendingness, as if saying, "I, the Marquis, am honored to see you."
Zhao Duan really wanted to pull the other person down, press him to the ground, and then ask:
Did you know that this is very rude?
But he didn't choose to do that after all. Instead, he said "Oh" and asked calmly:
"What did the Marquis see?"
Xia Jianghou smiled but did not give a direct answer:
"I'll just call you Lord Xiao Zhao for now. I'm a little older than you, and I've been around the capital for much longer than you.
I have seen more people who have risen to power overnight than the bridges you have walked across.
Today, I want to give you a few words of advice: as a person, you should be humble. As an official, you should not be too arrogant.
Even if you want to be a lone minister, you should keep your eyes open and know who you can offend and who you cannot.
Even the dogs in my mansion know that one has to judge a person by his status. In the Great Yu Dynasty, there have been many ministers who have experienced ups and downs, rises and falls every year.
The ones who truly stand firm are us nobles, not you commoners."
His tone was sincere, and even contained a hint of admonition, but the feeling of looking down on him was lingering.
Very dad-like.
Seeing Zhao Duan remained silent, he added quietly:
"That's all I have to say. If you can listen to me, you will know what to do. You don't have to be grateful. Just consider it as me doing a good deed every day.
If you persist in your mistakes and refuse to change, your glory will fade in the future. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
After saying that, Xia Jianghou waved his hand seriously, signaling the sedan bearers to carry the sedan.
Thick curtains also fell down, hiding the adulterers in the sedan chair.
At the moment when the curtain of the sedan chair shook and fell, Zhao Duan vaguely met a pair of enchanting and charming eyes.
There was no emotion in those eyes.
"Lift the sedan!"
The sedan bearers let out a low shout, and the sturdy men simultaneously lifted the heavy dark red wooden poles and took big strides.
Princess Yunyang's sedan chair passed the carriage and went straight to the other end of Suzaku Street.
The crowd of onlookers also scattered like birds and beasts.
It is conceivable that it would not be long before the gossip about Marquis Xia Jiang scolding Envoy Zhao in the street would spread in teahouses and taverns.
"Sir? You..."
The driver, Xiao Wang, looked at his boss with some trepidation.
Zhao Duan squinted his eyes, sitting upright in the carriage, without unsheathing the scabbard in his hand, and said with a smile:
"Are you worried that I might take action against him? Don't worry, I won't."
The driver Xiao Wang breathed a sigh of relief.
As a member of the Lihua Hall, he had witnessed Zhao Duan's recklessness, and he was really worried that his boss would not be able to stand Xia Jianghou's "reprimand" and turn against him in the street.
But then I heard Zhao Duan say quietly:
"The other party wants to provoke me. If I really fall for it, wouldn't that be what he wants?"
The driver, Xiao Wang, was stunned for a moment, then realized:
"My Lord, are you saying that Marquis Xia Jiang said those things on purpose?"
"What else?" Zhao Duan exhaled, and said with an unclear meaning:
"There are indeed fools among the royal family and nobles, but it's really too coincidental to encounter two of them at once."
Princess Yunyang's first appearance indeed refreshed his stereotype of this "dissolute" princess.
From the beginning to the end, the other party was still hiding behind the curtain, only sending out a mistress to take the lead.
If Zhao Duan really dared to use his sword, he might not be able to defeat Xia Jianghou.
Secondly, it will give people a handle.
It should be noted that the laws of the Dayu Dynasty clearly protected the nobility.
Zhao Duan had beaten the Ning'an County Magistrate, but he had to swallow his anger because the other party's title was too low and he had no power or influence.
As for the dandy Li Lang, although he is the princess's son and a member of the royal family by blood, he has no title.
However, Marquis Xiajiang was different. Although he had no real power, he had the title of "Marquis", so he was still three points more unreasonable.
"I admit, I underestimated this woman a bit."
Zhao Duan sighed.
Princess Yunyang released the Marquis in the street, forcing Zhao Duan to swallow this loss.
Fortunately, he had recovered Lihua Hall after this period of time.
Therefore, he was not worried that this matter would shake his prestige.
"Let's go back to the government office first."
Zhao Duan said this, but he was secretly alert in his heart, always feeling that Princess Yunyang's revenge would definitely not be just a few verbal warnings.
…
…
The journey went smoothly afterwards, and when Zhao Duan arrived at Lihua Hall, it was already past the hour of dawn.
The green pears on the big pear tree in the yard are about to ripen.
"Sir, you are here."
Confidential Secretary Qian Kerou was holding a stack of documents, her eyes lit up:
"I have already checked in for you."
Zhao Duan nodded in satisfaction, walked slowly to the main seat, and asked curiously:
"Why are you the only one here?"
Qian Kerou's face flushed, she reported with high spirits:
"Old Zheng is back there reviewing the case files, while Hou Renmeng and Shen Juan are out there tracking down clues about the rebels."
Worth mentioning:
The two people who were detained in the Imperial Prison were transferred to the Ministry of Justice early yesterday morning.
The case was naturally transferred to the Dali Temple for supervision.
The Censorate is responsible for supervision.
The "Three Law Departments" of the Dayu Dynasty had different divisions of labor.
The Ministry of Justice is in charge of "prisons", which is where prisoners are held. The Dali Temple has the power to adjudicate cases, try people, and arrest people, which is similar to a court.
The censors of the Censorate can have a say at every step, but they are the ones who watch the whole process and only talk but do not take any action.
In order to avoid suspicion, Ma Yan had no choice but to transfer the case, but he still successfully pried open Tie Chiguan's mouth and obtained some intelligence about other rebels.
And handed it over to Lihuatang for investigation.
"How's the progress?" Zhao Duan asked.
After having eaten delicious food, he had no interest in such trivial matters, so he handed it over to his four subordinates, treating it as a training exercise.
Qian Kerou said:
"After Tiechiguan was captured, the rebels associated with him evacuated urgently, and most of them came back empty-handed. However, with clues about their identities, we were able to follow the trail and catch two of the fleeing rebels.
Hou Renmeng and Shen Juan led people to arrest him, but there is no news about the former yet.
But the exhausted team had just sent someone to deliver a letter saying that they had successfully captured the target and also seized a batch of stolen money and goods.
They are currently being counted and prepared to be shipped back, and we need to send someone to pick them up."
Zhao Duan looked surprised:
"So quick, well done. Has the contact been sent out?"
Qian Ke Judo:
"I'm harnessing a wagon in the front yard to bring back some stolen goods. I'm just about to start."
Zhao Duan thought for a moment and suddenly said:
"Call a few people and go with me personally. This is a matter concerning the rebels, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes."
Although he said this, what really made Zhao Duan rethink was Princess Yunyang's inexplicable warning to stop the car just now.
He had a bad feeling:
Maybe some things will lead to complications.
"Oh, okay!" Qian Kerou was stunned for a moment, nodded quickly, and ran to make arrangements.
…
A moment later.
Zhao Duan rode a fine horse and led a group of officials in embroidered uniforms in front, dragging the dirty carts behind.
Not long after, a group of men in brocade clothes paraded through the streets, and as the people evaded them in fear, they arrived at a house in the south city.
It was also the hiding place of the rebels mentioned in the message sent back by Chen Juan.
However, when Zhao Duan arrived, he saw two groups of people confronting each other at the door of the house and on the street from a distance.
One of the parties, blocking the courtyard gate with swords drawn in a defensive posture, was a few Jinyi from Lihuatang.
Standing opposite them, a group of unidentified people outnumbered them several times and trying to force their way in.
They also drew their swords and faced each other.
The leading official in a green robe had a cold expression and was shouting:
"Get out of my way—"
Being outnumbered, they could only retreat and defend, with Shen Juan's face changing from gloomy to uncertain as he tried his best to guard the gate.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of horse hooves coming closer and closer in the distance.
Shen Juan suddenly looked up, his eyes suddenly lit up:
"The master is here!"
Several men in brocade clothes cheered up and looked up.
But Zhao Duan was seen riding his horse, leading the way, with the thin silver lines on his black official robe shaking like waves.
While on his horse, Zhao Duan casually drew his sword, threw it into the air, and shouted:
“Who dares to be so presumptuous?!”
(End of this chapter)
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