Chapter 217 Lure the snake out of its hole
A loud roar broke the solemn and gloomy atmosphere in the courtyard.
Zhao Duan stopped and looked up to see a group of people, both men and women, suddenly rushing in from the hanging flower gate.
The leader was a burly man who looked quite similar to the deceased.
At this moment, he rushed in fiercely with an iron rod in his hand and red eyes, followed by a crying woman who tried to stop him.
“Who is it?!”
Without waiting for the men to make a move, the imperial officials guarding the yard rushed forward, restrained the other party, and pinned him to the ground.
A man in brocade clothes delivered a heavy elbow strike with a stern face.
"Bang!"
The strong man knelt on one knee, and the iron rod fell into the mud. He still stared at Zhao Duan and cursed.
Ma Yan frowned, and Haitang looked at Mr. Zhao.
Zhao Duan shook his head, indicating that he was not clear about the situation:
"What's going on?"
Next to him, the green-robed official from the government office had an unpleasant expression on his face and explained in a low voice:
"This is the brother of the deceased flag officer. In his grief, he offended you. Don't pay any attention to him."
Zhao Duan walked in front of the man and said indifferently:
"It was the rebels who assassinated your brother, so why do you want me to pay for it?"
The man who was being escorted and kneeling on one knee stared with his eyes wide open, his eyeballs bloodshot like spider webs:
"My eldest brother has never had any contact with the rebels. If you hadn't made enemies with them and offended them to death, how could you have launched a new policy and invited such an assassination? You say it had nothing to do with you?! Why wasn't it you who died?"
Zhao Duan was almost so angry that he laughed. It turns out that this is indeed the logic from a certain perspective.
The green-robed official's expression suddenly changed, and he angrily shouted:
"What nonsense! Someone, take this man away..."
Zhao Duan waved his hand and said:
"Let him go. This stupid coward is like a dog on a leash. He barks loudly but doesn't have the guts to bite."
The man seemed insulted: "You..."
Zhao Duan stood with his hands behind his back, a mocking look on his face:
"What? Putting aside the question, anyone with a common sense can see that it's the rebels who are stirring up trouble. Even if you follow your logic, if I hadn't angered the rebels, I wouldn't have come here to kill people...
Your Majesty's name is written on that blood letter. Why don't you go to the Golden Palace to cause trouble for Your Majesty?
You don't dare to vent your anger on His Majesty, but you dare to vent your anger on me... It seems that even in this rage, you still know who to offend and who not to offend... But..."
He sighed softly, his eyes full of pity:
"Why do you think I can be provoked?"
The man was speechless and unable to refute for a moment.
However, Zhao Duan no longer paid any attention to him and followed Ma Yan and Haitang out.
After the three men left, the remaining imperial officials laughed grimly, kicked the man in the heart, and spat:
"There are idiots every year, but this year there are especially many... Lock him up, take him away and let him reflect on his actions, so as not to upset the adults."
Zhao Duan could just downplay it and say let him go and not bother with the little guy.
But the officials below would not really do that.
The official in green robe shook his head and sighed when he saw this.
…
Outside the door.
Zhao Duan was not in a happy mood after resolving the incident.
The chief eunuch Ma Yan looked at him, his long face expressionless:
"What do you think?"
When it comes to solving cases, he will ask Haitang, but when it comes to dealing with more complicated situations, Ma Yan will ask Zhao Duan for his opinion.
Zhao Duan sighed softly, with a complicated expression:
"The good side is that the rebels are finally getting impatient. The bad side is that they are also getting impatient.
The other party chose to assassinate a small flag officer. The implicit message it conveyed was mostly sending a signal rather than actually killing anyone. Otherwise, the first move would have targeted a big figure in the imperial party.
Killing only minor officials now won't really make the entire court hostile to the Kuangfu Society, but it will cause panic among lower-level officials... and the new policies just happen to require lower-level officials to implement them..."
He uttered a "huh" and said:
“It seems that assassination is a stupid act, but if the other party does it, it will really be effective.
Important figures in the imperial party may have treasures to protect themselves, or be guarded by experts, or have high status that serves as amulets... But it is difficult for the court to fully protect the officials below.
The only solution now is to catch the ringleader as soon as possible to serve as a warning to others.
After all… although there are many simple-minded fools in the Kuangfu Society who claim to be righteous, those who are truly capable of threatening and carrying out assassinations must always weigh whether it is worth risking their lives to kill some insignificant officials…
Moreover, we can also take advantage of this. If they dare to kill, we can publicize it widely, not to the officials, but to the people...
Oh, haven't these traitors been slandering and vilifying Your Majesty all along?
Now that we've given them evidence, we can turn the tables and vilify them... When the Kuangfu Society realizes that the benefits of assassination are outweighed by the resulting bad reputation, they'll naturally stop."
Ma Yan and Haitang's eyes lit up slightly.
I thought to myself, this kid is really good at playing tricks.
Ma Dugong nodded, approving of this plan, but then said:
"But the most urgent task right now is to resolve the next assassination, that is, to capture the Thousand-Faced Divine Lord."
Detective expert Haitang said bitterly:
"How easy is that? The Thousand-Faced God is extremely skilled in disguise. Unless he's someone you know very well, you might not recognize him even if he's standing right in front of you. The capital city is filled with millions of people, like a vast ocean. He's hiding in it like a drop of water... unless..."
The female detective suddenly looked at Zhao Duan.
Ma Yan also frowned and looked at his cheap junior brother with a meaningful expression.
"..." Zhao Duan was stared at with a chill down his spine, and said helplessly:
"Don't try to use me as bait. Would he be so foolish? Last time, the Frost Sword attacked me, but was killed in return. How could this Thousand-Faced God be unprepared? Could he not have imagined that I might be used as bait?"
After a pause, he picked up the blood letter and shook his head:
"Furthermore, you see, they listed my name alongside His Majesty this time. It was clearly intentional."
Ma Yan frowned: "You mean, killing someone with a borrowed knife?"
After saying that, he shook his head and rejected it: "Useless work."
Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes and said self-deprecatingly:
"Is it really a useless effort? Didn't the deceased brother in the courtyard just now take the bait?
Don't underestimate the stupidity of some people. Or, when a loved one is killed, in anger, people's rationality will decline significantly... and they will do some incredible things. "
"This paper demands the removal of a traitor like me. Guess what will happen if this gets out to the meeting, given my terrible reputation?
Oh, there's no need for the rebels to spread the word. Those in the capital who have grudges against me and are hostile to me will spread the word and lead the assassination of the rebels onto me... thus shifting the blame."
He sighed softly, as if he saw the coming "future":
"Compared to the terror of the rebels who lurk in the shadows like ghosts, ready to kill at any moment, wouldn't it be easier to bully me, a treacherous minister who's out in the open?"
Ma Yan shook his head and said:
"But it's no use. A few words can't hurt you."
Because my reputation is already bad, I don’t mind getting even worse, right… Zhao Duan complained, shaking his head:
"Don't underestimate public opinion. This Thousand-Faced God is very clever. He knows that once the assassination attempt is carried out, the officials will panic or become angry, and these emotions need an outlet. If the officials dare not express their anger towards Your Majesty, they will only hate the traitor...
But now, the rebels have added my name to the list, and people's anger will be directed at me...
See? It’s a simple but practical way to divert hatred.
Public opinion certainly cannot kill me, but it will make me uncomfortable. Moreover, as long as I am in the front line, even if they carry out an assassination, people will not hate them completely, but will hate me.
I think all this is caused by me.
Just like when bandits come to a village and kill people, the villagers will hate the bandits. But if the bandits come to kill people and say that they are killing people because someone in the village has offended them...
The villagers will hate that person."
Haitang couldn't help but say:
"How could that be? Perhaps a few people think so, but most people wouldn't be so foolish. To not hate the enemy, but hate your compatriots?"
Zhao Duan glanced at her and suddenly said:
“Don’t overestimate human nature.”
Seeing the serious and dull atmosphere, he took the initiative to smile and ease the atmosphere:
"Well, the situation isn't that bad. At least my reputation is bad. Even if those people hate me, they can only curse me to death behind my back, but they don't dare to really cause trouble for me, the 'little king of hell'.
So, since the rebels need me to take the lead and share their hatred, they will definitely not come to kill me... Using me as bait will probably not catch anyone."
Ma Yan sighed, feeling that the situation was tricky.
As a warrior, he was never afraid of open opponents, but he hated this kind of sneaky tactics the most.
I didn't realize it before, but after Zhao Duan's in-depth and easy-to-understand analysis, I was shocked to find that there were so many calculations behind the seemingly reckless "assassination" of the Thousand-Faced God.
However, even with Zhao Duan's wisdom, he couldn't think of a way to counter it for a while.
"Let's go and report to His Majesty first."
Ma Yan made a decision, and the three of them rode away quickly.
…
…
At noon that day.
An oral decree from the palace was delivered to the desks of major government offices in the capital.
After careful consideration, the empress did not choose to suppress the case and pretend that nothing happened, but decided to make it public.
The general meaning is that the rebels of Kuangfushe are so crazy that they assassinate officials of the imperial court and want to destroy Dayu.
Her Majesty the Empress has issued an order, ordering the imperial guards of the capital, as well as the troops of the entire Beijing camp, to strengthen patrols, and the capital has entered a third-level martial law state.
All officials, especially those below the fifth rank, must be more vigilant.
The imperial faction tried their best to move to the government office and send imperial guards to guard it.
At the same time, the nine major halls of the imperial court made every effort to search for the "Thousand-Faced God" and even asked some practitioners from the Tianshi Mansion and Shenlong Temple to cooperate.
It’s a pity that the “high-level” leaders of the two major cultivation forces adhere to the principle of not participating in the power struggle, and the warlocks they sent out are only at the Divine Chapter Realm at most.
As soon as the news came out.
The officialdom in the capital was solemn.
As August arrived, the slightly cool autumn air in the city suddenly became stronger.
For a time, all the officials in the court were furious, and the lower-level officials were all in danger.
And that very night.
Another minor official of the imperial party was taken to a secluded place and tortured to death by the Thousand-Faced God disguised as a "coachman" on his way home.
It is said that the death was horrible, with part of the skin peeled off.
At the scene, on the wall, similar sentences were written in blood again, claiming that killing was for the sake of the people of the world, and demanding that the pseudo-emperor withdraw his "evil policies" and severely punish the treacherous Zhao.
Then, the third case.
The fourth case...
For a time, people were in panic.
And just as Zhao Duan expected, gradually, some people in the capital began to be hostile to him.
Voices began to circulate, believing that he had angered the rebels and caused the killing.
However, due to the skills Zhao Duan has shown in the past few months, these voices have only remained in private discussions.
And the changes in attitudes of many officials towards Zhao Duan.
But no one actually impeached him.
"A bunch of sheep that are bullying themselves!"
Zhao Duan sneered, Li Yanfu's metaphor was just right.
…
This day.
In the dining room of their new home, the three members of the Zhao family ate together.
Zhao Duan, who seemed to be worried because he had been chasing the Thousand-Faced God for days in vain, ate in silence without any good appetite.
Suddenly, the beautiful stepmother, who was holding her rice bowl and eating in small bites, hesitated for a moment and said:
"Da Lang..."
"Hmm?" Zhao Duan gave him a puzzled look. "Auntie, is there something wrong?"
Eugene hesitated and said timidly:
"The You Zhande family sent another invitation home this day, wanting to invite you to dinner and apologize in person."
(End of this chapter)
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