Chapter 443: Blocking the door and bringing people in! The Empress has arrived
How to crack down on these Qingshan disciples? Zhao Duan had his own ideas.
In the world of martial arts, being a good-tempered "nice guy" is not the right way to survive. Only by showing appropriate toughness can you gain respect.
How to deal with these three people without going too far, maintaining the dignity of the court, and not making enemies at this sensitive juncture is a skill.
Xu Zhenguan seemed to believe that Zhao Duan could handle this matter.
"Everyone, go away." Zhao Duan waved his hand to dismiss the servants, and then walked to the door of the cold palace under the last rays of sunlight in the western sky.
After hesitating for a moment, he did not push the door open, but just kept his eyes on the door.
Through the crack in the door, I saw Concubine Xiao, who was wearing a coarse cloth skirt, putting the food box on her knees, grabbing the food with her hands and swallowing it in big mouthfuls. She didn't care at all about Xiao Ran's departure.
After a moment of silence, Zhao Duan locked the door again and left.
…
The imperial palace is a structure similar to the Chinese character "回".
The small "mouth" inside is the residence of the emperor and his harem, and the large "mouth" outside is the office serving the royal family. Unmarried or grown-up princes and princesses also live in this area.
In a sense, the palace is the master's bedroom, and the imperial city is the area where servants and guests live.
The Qingshan trio were arranged to live in a villa within the imperial palace.
Chai Keqiao personally brought the dinner sent by the Shangshan Bureau and pushed open the door to Qiye's room.
As the door opened, a strong herbal aroma filled the air. Qiye, with his eyes covered in a black cloth and his upper body naked, was sitting on the bed. A white bandage was wrapped diagonally around his chest, and his left hand was also wrapped.
"It's time to eat," Chai Keqiao put the lunch box on the table, his mouth twitching, "Why are you here?"
Qiye said expressionlessly:
"Given Zhao Duan's bad temper, will he leave so easily if I don't express my opinion?"
Chai Keqiao sighed:
"If you hadn't angered him, this wouldn't have happened. Are you really just speaking up for Tian Hai?"
Qiye calmly got out of bed. Although blindfolded, he walked to the round table and sat down as accurately as a normal person.
"Voicing injustice is only one of the reasons. It's more of a test. If you don't take action, Xiao Ran won't be interested in this competition. If I don't play the bad guy and do the good guy for you, how can I figure out his strengths and weaknesses?"
After a pause, he frowned and said:
"However, I didn't expect that Zhao Duan could deliver such a powerful strike. His internal strength is so powerful and profound that it's almost comparable to that of the mortal realm. Are you sure he's only of the middle level?"
Chai Keqiao placed the plates in the food box one by one and shook his head.
"That strike was unusual. If I'm not mistaken, it was simply the release of energy he'd accumulated for so long. He wasted so much of this powerful energy. If you could build it up to its limit like he did, coupled with your control over your energy, I wouldn't say you could break a hundred armors with one strike, but seventy or eighty would certainly be within your reach."
Qiye's frown relaxed and he said:
"So, he is indeed a show-off?"
Chai Keqiao hesitated and said:
"It's hard to say. After all, we haven't really sparred, so just looking at internal strength is too one-sided. But in comparison, in my opinion, Tang Jinzhong and Song Jinxi are the more solid ones among the tributes, but... they're not a concern. This generation of the Yu Kingdom royal family is truly dwindling in talent."
The young master of the Chai family, dressed as a woodcutter from the mountains, with a bronze complexion and snow-white teeth, has eyes full of determination and pride.
Qiye also nodded and felt relieved.
The royal family places too much emphasis on "loyalty" and hides the inheritance of the "God of War" too deeply. Only a very small number of people can access it, and it is bound to decline.
The Qingshan lineage is tolerant and inclusive, recruiting talents without any restrictions. If we ignore the fact that the royal family can mobilize resources from all over the world, they would have been completely left behind by Qingshan.
In this generation, there are only two people who are eye-catching. One is the female emperor Xu Zhenguan, who reached the level of "pseudo-celestial being" when she was just over 20 years old. She was a woman who was rare in the world.
The other is the famous Zhao Duan.
"You take a rest, I'll go take food to Xiao Ran." Chai Keqiao said - as a "captain", his role is more like a nanny.
Qiye broke off his chopsticks and said calmly, "No need, she's out and probably won't be back until tonight."
Chai Keqiao's expression changed, and he guessed something: "She went to the harem?"
"kindness."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why do you want to say that?"
"..." Chai Keqiao felt tired and adjusted the axe at his waist. Then he heard someone knocking on the door outside the villa.
The two exchanged glances. Chai Keqiao's expression turned unhappy. He walked out and opened the door, only to see a serving eunuch standing outside. The latter, with his sleeves gathered, stood in the green night, and said arrogantly:
"Qingshan Xiaoran has trespassed into the harem and has been captured by Zhao Shaobao. If you want him, come to the Martial Arts Hall."
Chai Keqiao's heart sank.
…
…
Martial Arts Hall.
When Zhao Duan pushed open the door of the house, he saw Xiao Ran, dressed as a female knight, with her hands and feet tied up with special magic ropes.
She sat quietly on a chair in the house, the bamboo hat on her head, the dagger on her body, and the soft sword were all taken away.
"Miss Xiao, you must be hungry after such a fierce battle."
Zhao Duan walked in with a smile, carrying a tray of food.
Seeing the darkness in the room, he couldn't help but frown:
"The people below have no vision and don't light the lamps."
He put down the food, lit the candle with a flint, covered it with a lampshade, and the warm orange light filled the entire room.
Xiao Ran stared coldly at the empress's adulterer. The hair on her temples was sticky on her cheeks, which was caused by the dried sweat after the competition.
She said sarcastically:
"I've often heard that officials in the court are shameless, saying one thing to one person and another to another. Why is Zhao Shaobao so arrogant at first and respectful later? Why would you bother to bring food and light a lamp for a mere daughter of a convicted official?"
Zhao Duan picked up the food again and sat opposite her. They were separated by a small table. He looked surprised and said:
"What did Miss Xiao say? Delivering food? No, no, you're overthinking it. This is mine."
He pointed at the delicious dishes and then at his nose:
"This is my dinner. I'll eat it right in front of you."
Xiao Ran: “…”
Her chest rose and fell slightly, and she closed her eyes, believing that out of sight, out of mind.
After a moment, he opened his eyes again in annoyance:
"Can you eat quietly? Stop smacking your lips?!"
Zhao Duan, who was concentrating on a plate of crystal pork elbow, smiled and said:
"I come from a low-ranking military officer family. I can't compare to Miss Xiao, who comes from a prestigious family. There aren't as many elegant etiquettes when it comes to eating, like not talking while eating or sleeping. So... if you don't want to hear it, you can just bear it."
"You..." Xiao Ran glared at him and sneered:
"Vulgar! I don't know how the Empress could favor you!"
As soon as he said this, Zhao Duan suddenly picked up a cup of wine from the plate and without warning poured it on the face of Xiao Ran, who had his hands and feet tied.
She was stunned for a moment, letting the wine slide down her face, her eyes cold and silent.
Eh... This is different from what was shown in the video. Shouldn't you turn your head away and say something like "It's so cold"... Zhao Duan was extremely disappointed. He put down his elbow, wiped the grease from his hands with a handkerchief, and said lightly:
"You are very brave."
Xiao Ran looked alert. Although she didn't understand much, her intuition told her that the treacherous minister in front of her seemed to be teasing her for fun.
Zhao Duan was dull and boring:
"I'm very curious. Even if she was born out of wedlock, there's no reason for her to be sent to the East China Sea to suffer since she was young, right?
Could it be that Master Xiao could have predicted the fate of his entire family being executed many years later? Leaving behind a descendant? Then he should have left behind a boy, right? Tsk, I'm very curious, can Miss Xiao explain this to me?
Xiao Ran didn't answer, but just stared at him:
"Chai Keqiao will come to look for you if he sees that I haven't returned yet."
No, in fact I have already informed him, otherwise why do you think they would arrest you... Zhao Duan curled his lips.
Of course he understood that although "trespassing into the imperial palace" was a serious crime, with Qingshan Shiwu around, it was impossible for him to make a big fuss about it.
"Haha, is that so? Then I'd like to see if he has the guts to break in and save you. Speaking of which, the eunuchs haven't searched you yet, have they? Oh, maybe you wouldn't mind if they did, as there's nothing they can do except smear your face with saliva..."
Zhao Duan spoke trash, slowly stood up, raised a sinister arc at the corner of his mouth, and approached her step by step.
Xiao Ran suddenly tensed up: "What do you want to do? Aren't you afraid of the empress..."
At this moment, a voice like thunder suddenly rolled across the courtyard from outside the Martial Arts Hall:
"Young Master Zhao! Chai is here to pick someone up! I hope you'll come out and see me!"
Xiao Ran's eyes lit up, as if he saw a savior.
What a spoiler! We haven’t had enough fun yet… You interrupted me at the critical moment. You got the TV drama script, right… Zhao Duan sighed, glanced at Xiao Ran, and walked out of the room.
…
Outside the gate of the Wugong Hall.
The entire palace was shrouded in the green night, and red lanterns were hung on the antique gatehouse.
The young master of the Chai family, wearing linen clothes, straw sandals, and with an axe at his waist, was alone, confronting a large group of worshippers.
The leader was Tang Jinzhong, who was also in the secular realm.
When Zhao Duan walked out from behind the crowd, his face was filled with disappointment, and he said condescendingly:
"What are you shouting for? Go hawk your wares outside the front door if you have a loud voice."
"..." Chai Keqiao took a deep breath, suppressed the rage in his heart, and clasped his fists solemnly:
"I heard that Senior Sister Xiao was captured by the Young Guard due to a misunderstanding, so Chai came here specially..."
"Oh, come back tomorrow." Zhao Duan interrupted him without saying anything:
"It involves the harem, which is of great importance. I will personally interrogate Xiao Ran tonight. Please come back tomorrow morning."
Having said that, he was about to leave impatiently.
Chai Keqiao paused, then said, "It's clearly someone sent by the Young Guard to ask me to come over..."
Zhao Duan asked in surprise, "I sent someone to look for you? Who can prove it?"
He looked at the group of worshippers beside him: "Did you go? Or you?"
The priests all shook their heads in agreement, "Master has never given such orders."
Zhao Duan smiled, stood on the steps with his hands behind his back, and said condescendingly:
"Brother Chai, I'm a man of the rules. Now, identify who is falsely conveying my orders. If you can't, you're being unreasonable."
No matter how good Chai Keqiao's temper is, he can't suppress his anger at this moment. How could he not understand that Zhao Duan is clearly deliberately making fun of him?
The purpose is nothing more than humiliation and revenge.
As for leaving Xiao Ran in the eunuchs' den for a night... Even if it was a eunuchs' den, with Zhao Duan's despicable and cunning nature, Xiao Ran's reputation would be completely ruined as soon as the news got out tomorrow.
Realizing that he couldn't reason with her, Chai Keqiao took a deep breath and slowly held the axe handle at his waist:
"What if I insist on taking people away?"
Zhao Duan smiled slightly and brought everyone to his front:
"Then we have to ask them whether they agree or not."
During the fifteen days, if either side fought, they could use the excuse of "exchange of ideas" to cover up the past.
Chai Keqiao glanced coldly at the group of palace attendants headed by Tang Jinzhong, took a slow step forward, and gripped the axe handle tightly in his hand.
Eunuchs such as Tang Jinzhong also drew their swords.
“Clang——”
For a moment, the atmosphere was filled with murderous intent.
Just when the two sides were on the verge of a fight, suddenly, the sound of a carriage passing by and wind chimes shaking were heard in the distance.
Accompanied by the eunuch's sharp voice:
"His Majesty has arrived!"
…
P.S.: I promised to write more words yesterday, but ended up only writing 5,000. This chapter is to make up for it. There will be an update in the early morning tonight.
Thanks to Kenshin Kyoto Fire for the 500 rewards and 2021...9606 for the 100 rewards
(End of this chapter)
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