Chapter 17 I Give You the Knife
"How do you explain this?"
In the side hall, with a bang, the scroll fell in front of him, and Zhao Duan clearly heard the empress's questioning.
The other three people present also heard it.
Censor Lu Liang's eyes were shining and his brows were raised with joy.
Don't be fooled by his eloquence just now. In fact, most of his criticisms lacked strength, including the accusation of "secretly communicating with the rebels", which was also quite blunt.
As for Zhao Duan’s past misdeeds, they were not serious enough.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Changshuo provided a great assist.
With solid evidence, it was difficult for the empress to defend herself.
Governor Ma Yan shook his head silently. As the "King of Hell" who supervised all officials, the imperial court had long been paying attention to Zhao Duan.
But considering his "ambiguous relationship" with the empress, Ma Yan always turned a blind eye to him.
Of course he is not stupid if he can sit in the position of governor.
Nor would he be so tactless as to take the initiative to report on his leader's lover.
Zhao Duan's conversation with him just now slightly improved his impression of him, but as the evidence was presented, Ma Yan's evaluation of him plummeted:
"You're so stupid... You've wasted your beautiful appearance..."
"Selling power is fine, but allowing political opponents to obtain irresponsible evidence is too imprudent..."
He silently sentenced him to death in his heart.
If Zhao Duan had room for defense before, this stab in the back by his colleague completely ruined his official career.
"Zhao Duan, His Majesty is asking you a question, why don't you answer?"
Next to him, Zhang Changshuo, who had dressed up carefully for today's scene, was beaming with joy.
With a winner's smile on his face.
Be proud of yourself!
At this moment, all the frustration that had accumulated over the past year disappeared.
In this world, is there anything more satisfying than sending your enemy to jail with your own hands and stepping on their corpses to reach higher levels?
Looking at Zhao Duan's silent expression and his desperate look as he stared at the torn scroll, he felt extremely happy.
If it weren't for the wrong occasion, Zhang Changshuo would have liked to recite a poem to express his congratulations.
At this time, he even began to imagine that the empress would be furious and Zhao Gou would fall out of favor and fall into the mortal world.
As a talented scholar in the capital's literary world, he took the opportunity to soothe the empress's wounded heart, replace her, and rise to prominence...
However, what was slightly different from what he imagined was:
Faced with the ironclad facts, Zhao Duan simply calmly withdrew his curious gaze.
Immediately, he looked at him with a look that made him very uncomfortable and said:
"Did you record this?"
Zhang Changshuo, like a peacock spreading its feathers, showed off to the empress:
"I had noticed his suspicious behavior long ago, so I secretly ordered someone to follow him, and that's why I accidentally recorded this scene."
Haha... your secret photography can be an "accident"... Zhao Duan curled his lips. He bent down to pick up the "magic scroll" which was slightly bigger than his palm and played with it curiously.
Well, no man can resist the temptation of electronic products...
Seeing his indifferent look, Lu Liang took the opportunity to attack him and shouted:
"Your Majesty is asking you a question, why are you evading the question? Simply answer: Is the event recorded in this scroll true or false?"
"It is true," Zhao Duan said.
"Wang Xian did bribe me to help, and I did agree to it."
So rampant!
Lu Liang was shocked, wondering if this villain was so bold or if he was relying on the emperor's favor to act so recklessly?
Shouldn't he be making a tearful defense at this time, insisting that it was a false accusation by a villain, or that he was just confused for a moment, and asking for forgiveness?
Zhao Duan's arrogant attitude stunned the censor for a moment.
Ma Yan frowned slightly, vaguely sensing that something was wrong.
Then, Zhao Duan faced the empress, bowed, and then said:
"Your Majesty, what Zhang Changshuo said is true, but... I did not accept bribes or abuse my power. Instead, I staged this drama to expose the person behind Wang Xian."
A play?
Upon hearing this answer, the white-robed empress sitting on the dragon throne, whose expressionless face had remained since she entered the palace, showed surprise for the first time.
"explain."
"Yes," Zhao Duan had already rehearsed this scene countless times in his mind, and immediately explained the cause and effect of the incident.
How to make a plan, how to stabilize the other party, and how to find out the real "buyer" behind Wang Xian.
He talked freely and without any sign of panic.
"You say it is? How do you prove it?"
Zhang Changshuo could no longer hold back and asked loudly:
"Who knows? You didn't say that on the spur of the moment to atone for your sins?"
Imperial Censor Lu Liang also sensed something was wrong and echoed:
"Your Majesty, do not be deceived by this thief!"
Zhao Duan remained calm and ignored the two of them. He still faced the empress and said calmly:
"I reported this matter to the Supervisor of the White Horse Division long ago after meeting Wang Xian, and I can serve as a witness."
Zhang Changshuo's heart sank suddenly!
He knew that since Zhao Duan was so sure about it, it must be true.
But...how is that possible?
How could this arrogant, uneducated fool suddenly change his character?
Yes... to make meritorious service while serving his sentence. Could it be that he was planning to use this incident to make meritorious service to offset today's impeachment?
This is the only reasonable explanation Zhang Changshuo could think of.
As a result, the "evidence" he presented with great anticipation suddenly became waste paper and had no effect.
Even his behavior was a little funny.
At the same time, Lu Liang and Ma Yan also guessed this possibility and were surprised.
But then I realized that even so, the situation has not changed much.
Zhao Duan proved that he did not accept bribes or interfere in politics, and he may have made some contributions, but what is the point?
Brokerage transactions at Wang Xian's level would at most involve officials of the sixth or seventh rank, and at most the fifth rank.
This tiny achievement is really not worth mentioning compared to the crime committed by Zhao Duan.
Thinking of this, Ma Yan shook his head slightly:
Zhao Duan’s self-rescue was indeed eye-opening, but it was just a futile struggle.
The corners of Lu Liang's mouth curled up slightly, thinking that this just meant that the empress was unwilling to favor him, so she did this.
"Oh? That's actually true."
No one noticed that the Empress of Dayu, who was sitting high up in the table, had a hint of curiosity in her eyes:
"Who is the one who bribed me?"
Zhao Duan took out a memorial written overnight from his sleeve:
"The details of this case are all recorded here. Please read it personally, Your Majesty."
Which official couldn't even reveal his name? And yet he was so mysterious as to write a memorial?
Lu Liang shook his head, looking even more contemptuous, thinking that he was at most a fifth-rank official in Beijing, and it was really ridiculous for him to do such a thing.
Could it be that some unspeakable big shot is involved?
Xu Zhenguan opened his mouth softly and said, "Present it."
At the side, a palace maid flicked her whisk, took the memorial and handed it to her.
Xu Zhenguan did not look at it immediately, but first glanced at Zhao Duan who was standing with his head bowed in the hall, and then opened the memorial with a hint of curiosity.
She wanted to know what kind of waves this little guard could make.
What kind of surprise will you give yourself?
However, the next second, when her eyes fixed on a name on the memorial, a little bit of laziness and casualness disappeared.
She paused for a second before starting to read word by word from the beginning.
The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it seemed like only a moment had passed.
When Xu Zhenguan closed the memorial and looked at the handsome and tall young guard below again, there was some indescribable meaning in his eyes.
"It's really... a big 'surprise'."
(End of this chapter)
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