The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 229 - 204, in my life, I hate threats the most
The legitimate daughter of Xiping’s You family... Zhao Douan looked surprised.
It was as if he was truly seeing his stepmother for the first time.
You Jinhua’s story was not complicated; although her branch of the family could not compare to the main line of the You clan, they were still a local power.
Considered a Jianghu hero, they had numerous business ventures. Her grandfather was a Cultivation Martial Artist, with connections in both the underworld and lawful society.
You Jinhua’s father, originally the "Family Head" of this branch, got caught in a Jianghu conflict during a trip one year.
Seemingly injured by a magician from the Magic God Sect, he returned home with his life hanging by a thread and passed away shortly after.
You Jinhua was the second eldest in her immediate family, with an older brother who also mysteriously disappeared.
The family’s authority momentarily hung in the balance, and her second uncle from another branch seized the opportunity to take over.
Once in power, he conducted audits in the name of financial scrutiny and captured many "criminal evidences" against Jinhua’s father.
He used these to make a big issue out of it, constantly suppressing the main family and stripping them of their property.
Without a man to support them, the widowed and orphaned members of the main family couldn’t fight back.
Already frail, You Jinhua’s mother fell seriously ill after the consecutive shocks of losing her husband and eldest son and soon followed them in death.
For a time, the once large main family was reduced to a single young girl, You Jinhua, who lived in destitution and often suffered bullying from the clan.
At this time, some army troops were retreating back to the Capital and stayed at the You estate.
You Jinhua had long wished to escape her family and took the chance when she and a soldier developed mutual affection.
Seeing this, her uncle who had taken over as the Family Head, generously allowed her to leave by marrying her off.
Thus, she came to the Capital and later remarried into the Zhao family.
"Mother..."
After hearing the story, Zhao Pan’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears, empathetically moved.
Zhao Douan suddenly realized why a mere soldier could marry You Erjie, a woman of understanding and education.
At the same time, he also finally understood why his stepmother had always been so accommodating and gentle...
Once bitten by a snake, one fears a rope for ten years.
She had personally experienced the dismal state of a home without a man to defend it.
"So, aunt, do you have any enmity with the family elders? If so, how about I take them down a notch,"
Zhao Douan said cheerfully:
"I’ll find an excuse to throw them into the Imperial Prison. If they don’t die, they’d lose a layer of skin, airing your grievances."
You Jinhua was startled and hastily waved her hands, urgently advising:
"Great Lord, please don’t do this!"
After a pause, she gave a bitter smile:
"After all, we are all family, and many years have passed. Moreover, my uncle was not overly harsh to me back then; he took care of me too."
Took care of me?
Zhao Douan didn’t believe it.
To marry off the only daughter of a deceased elder brother to a soldier was considered care?
Or was it just getting rid of a burden?
But he said nothing, as they were, after all, his stepmother’s relatives.
As a transmigrator, he felt no kinship with the clan ties of this era and couldn’t understand why You Jinhua still harbored feelings for her relatives.
"Alright, for aunt’s sake, I won’t make it difficult for them. Since they’ve come to the Capital to visit, we should treat them well."
Zhao Douan smiled:
"After all, aunt is part of our Zhao family; it wouldn’t be right for you to lose face in front of your family."
You Jinhua breathed a sigh of relief, biting her lip, her eyes flickering, deeply moved by her stepson’s consideration.
Zhao Pan frowned, thinking:
Uncles who haven’t contacted for decades suddenly visiting, most likely aimed at brother’s wealth and status.
```
...
...
The night passed without incident.
At dawn the next day, the faint light revealed ministerial officials in the capital waking up, grooming themselves, and heading out to the court.
Outside the gate.
When the court officials arrived, clear divisions formed among them into several groups.
Because of the recent consecutive battles for new policies, everyone had accumulated anger and exhaustion.
Especially the officials, who, as the main force in the court quarrels, had many of them hoarse.
Yet... many noticed that the members of the Li Party were unusually silent and listless.
With curiosity stirring, the bell rang, and the ministers entered the hall.
The eunuch lashed his whip harshly on the shining floor of the Golden Throne Hall.
The Empress sat upright on the throne, signaling the start of today’s power struggle.
However, the fierce battle many had anticipated did not occur.
Today, the officials of the Li Party were dispirited, responding feebly and showing signs of yielding.
Seeing this, the Imperial Faction advanced vigorously while the Li Party showed no will to fight.
They put up only a symbolic resistance before being completely routed.
Some even staged a "sudden realization" and "great enlightenment" in the hall.
They declared that after much reflection, they realized that the three strategies were beneficial to the country, should be implemented, and were indeed acts of good governance.
With someone taking the lead, numerous officials from the Li Party switched sides.
The remaining officials, despite their best efforts to resist, were now in the minority.
The Imperial Faction swept away their gloom, their momentum unstoppable; the Empress seized the moment and settled the matter definitively.
This long-lasting great battle resolved in such a manner.
After the court was dismissed, Dong Xuan and others still couldn’t believe it and stayed behind to see the Empress alone, inquiring what exactly had happened.
The Empress, keeping the details close to her chest, revealed only that someone had persuaded Li Yanfu.
Who?
In the minds of the leaders of the Imperial Faction, the smiling face of Zhao Douan from yesterday’s minor court meeting emerged.
Their minds briefly wandered.
"It’s him again..." the Chief of Staff from the Ministry of Justice mused.
"How did that young man manage it?" Yuan Li was utterly baffled.
"Generation after generation, new talents emerge, haha, it seems we are indeed getting old," Dong Xuan said, stroking his beard and shaking his head in reflection.
Silent and out of place among these scholarly officials, Xue Shence stood on the vast, once blood-soaked square outside the gate.
Squinting his eyes and looking at the long stretch of white jade steps, he began to walk away.
He was a martial artist and admired the military genius even more; falling back, he should be glorified as a martial prodigy.
Zhao Douan, as a cultivation martial artist who delved into scheming every day, might indeed be skilled or even a capable official.
Yet, he couldn’t have achieved anything notable in martial arts.
The path of the martial artist lies in purity alone.
Thus, however intelligent or skillful, none of it appealed to him.
"By focusing on the minor, he loses sight of the major, forsaking cultivation for power," Xue Shence thought, "merely another deluded man."
...
After the court was dismissed.
News of the Li Party’s defection and the conclusion of the new policies at the morning court spread like a whirlwind through the streets and alleys of the capital.
It was bound to dominate today’s conversations among scholars and officials.
```
At the same time.
A rumor that the Li Party had defected and joined the Young Master who had entered Lihua Hall the previous day spread quickly.
Some speculated that the Zhao thief had used some underhanded trick, while others claimed to have witnessed Zhao Douan meeting with the Prime Minister yesterday.
"Sir, everyone outside is talking about today’s changes in the court, and some are saying that Lord Zhao was involved. It’s really distasteful, people are becoming too reckless, blaming everything on Lord Zhao."
At White Horse Hall, a messenger reported to the Old Director.
Though complaining verbally, he was actually envious, and it was mixed with probing.
"Just let those mediocrities talk," Sun Lianying sat in the courtyard, waved his hand, and dismissed the person.
At that moment, a complex expression appeared on his calm face, and he whispered softly:
"This boy, he really made it big… So that’s how it is, that’s how it is…"
At that moment, in his heart, the Old Director had pieced together Zhao Douan’s thoughts, overwhelmed with emotion.
"How did the Zhao family ever produce such a monster?"
Sun Lianying rubbed his cheeks, his gaze shifting toward the storeroom where he kept his wine, suddenly worried:
"This brat better not forget to ask His Majesty for some wine…"
Li Mansion.
The back door creaked open.
Dressed all in white, Lady Lin stepped out over the threshold, followed by the old nanny who escorted her out.
"Lady Lin, the master has sent me to pick you up. You’ll stay at the government office for now, and he will meet you later."
Outside, a carriage stood waiting.
The carriage curtain lifted to reveal Qian Kerou’s round face.
Last night, Li Yinglong had not returned to the mansion, and Lady Lin stayed awake all night until dawn when she received a message.
It was sent by the Prime Minister, requesting her to be sent out as "Sixth Madam."
Along with the message were delivered a divorce agreement, ending her concubine status, and her own deed of servitude.
Lady Lin, emotionally stirred, couldn’t help but say,
"Mr. Zhao, he…"
Qian Kerou quickly pulled her into the carriage, and once it started moving, she said with a smile:
"The master had to enter the palace this morning to report to His Majesty, it might take some time, but don’t worry, though my master’s reputation… isn’t the best, he is always good to his own people.
He won’t go back on his promises. Here, this is your ’interest’ for now."
Saying so, Qian Kerou took out a document.
Lady Lin paused and saw that it was indeed a household registration change from the government office.
Her original servant status had been changed back to that of a commoner, which meant she was now a "free person."
Lady Lin bit her lip, her eyes reddening as she clutched at her servitude contract and crumpled it fiercely.
Throwing it out the window, it was crushed under the carriage wheels.
It was like bidding farewell to a chapter of her life.
As the carriage passed a crossroads, coincidentally, another extravagantly splendid carriage, led by servants, approached from the side.
Inside sat Yuan Fei.
Yuan Fei, who had been terrified all night and hadn’t slept, appeared listless.
She had thought countless times about the death that might await her.
But this morning, a female official from the palace merely asked her to return to the palace nonchalantly, reminding her:
"Over these past few days while visiting relatives, Her Majesty never left Yuan Mansion, and if anyone asks, you must say the same. Do you understand?"
Thus, Yuan Fei understood.
She realized she had narrowly escaped from death and returned to the mortal world.
As for Li Yinglong… Yuan Fei sneered, tearing off a sleeve from her robe and throwing it out of the window, the sleeve carried away by the wind and falling to the ground.
It symbolized her love that had died.
After dreaming for so many years, she was finally awake.
What parents, what Old Emperor, what Mr. Li, they were all the same.
From now on, she would live for herself.
The two carriages passed each other, the breeze fluttering the curtains.
Two women who looked strikingly similar, each with different experiences, passed by each other, not catching even a glimpse of one another.
It was like the crossing of two completely different lives.
In a certain sense, it was their "collaboration" that propelled this ancient empire toward a brighter future.
Yet, they knew nothing about each other.
The cunning man orchestrating everything behind them was also on his way to the Imperial Palace, encountering someone by chance.
…
Zhao Douan rode on a tall horse, looking down at the sedan chair that slowed to a stop before him.
The sedan chair carriers lifted the curtain, revealing the effeminately featured, deeply sunken-eyed PRIME MINISTER who looked nearly forty and was expressionless.
"Are you out? How was spending the night at the Imperial Court?"
Zhao Douan was somewhat surprised to encounter him and asked with a smile.
Inside the sedan chair, Li Yinglong stared at him intensely, with force and firmness.
There was no explosion of anger, no cursing, no questioning.
He merely spoke slowly, "I remember you."
That statement seemed to signify a vendetta, implacable.
Yet Zhao Douan seemed unconcerned, just smiling:
"Is that a threat?"
Li Yinglong didn’t respond, simply closing his eyes.
The sedan chair slowly rose, Zhao Douan flicked the reins.
One sedan, one horse.
Like two swordsmen encountering each other on a narrow bridge.
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"Shh—"
The sound of horse hooves concealed the noise of the wind being sliced.
The two passed by each other as though no conflict had erupted.
As they both walked a distance again, the gap between the horse and the sedan surpassed a hundred steps.
Suddenly.
"Boom!"
A sound as if breaking everything apart erupted. The sedan, made of excellent wood and painted with red lacquer, costly in appearance, suddenly burst into countless tiny cracks.
Following that, the fibers inside were shattered by some force.
Dust flew up, the sedan carriers fell to the ground in terror, and the sedan collapsed, completely disintegrating.
The shattered pieces of the sedan’s wooden panels exploded into bits, with Li Yinglong sitting stunned inside the nearly demolished vehicle, his eyes wide and his expression one of horror.
In the distance.
A swift flash of dark golden light suddenly darted back into Zhao Douan’s sleeve, as he pulled the reins after retrieving the flying knife.
Riding the horse, without even turning his head, his voice clear despite the hundred steps, piercing into the ear of the Young Master:
"I, for one, hate threats."
