The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 284 - 249, Zhao Douan: Whoever dares to leave will be treated as plotting rebellion!

"They’ve been stolen... stolen..."

This sentence, like a giant rock, smashed viciously into the lake within the hall, causing towering waves in everyone’s heart.

Zhao Douan looked toward Haitang’s gradually approaching figure, his expression clearly one of astonishment.

"The firearms... have been stolen!"

Xue Shence abruptly stood up, his face visibly moved for the first time. Normally reserved and stoic, known for his near-mystical command of the armed forces and dubbed the "Military God," his eyes now shot out a compelling light.

Beside him, equally high-ranking military officials from the Ministry of War like Mr. Wang and Ma Yan were also shocked and pale.

Instinctively, they turned their gaze toward the chief officer of the Firearms Camp and the Commander of Divine Machine Camp, responsible for defense.

However, Chen Gui, slightly drunk, only wore a blank expression, as if he had not yet recovered from the shocking news.

Shi Meng’s eyes went wide, his mouth agape as he exclaimed in a hoarse voice, "How is that possible?!"

At that moment, any drunkenness was washed away by fear, instantly sobering him up.

He fixated his gaze on the female detective who had just arrived at the banquet hall.

Many present knew of the Daffodil Hall Master from the Imperial Court, a woman with a mysterious background.

Seeing her deliver the report, they couldn’t help but be perplexed.

As Haitang stepped into the hall, searching for Zhao Douan with her eyes, she caught sight of the venerable figure seated at the head of the room.

Her movements froze, her pupils dilating:

"Your... Your Majesty?!"

She had not expected the Empress to be here tonight.

At this moment, Xu Zhenguan also stood up. Her countenance was equally grave and ugly as she directly asked,

"How is the Firearms Bureau? And how did you come to know of this?"

"I... I..."

Haitang stumbled, her gaze instinctively filled with awe and the urge to reveal the truth to the Empress.

"It was I who commanded her to keep an eye on the Firearms Bureau for me."

In a critical moment, Zhao Douan interjected to save the situation.

Swish—

A multitude of gazes focused on him. Zhao Douan, with an impassive face, solemnly said,

"I was concerned about the safety of the Firearms Bureau, therefore I entrusted her to go there and watch over it."

After briefly explaining, Zhao Douan stared at Haitang, his eyes slowly narrowing,

"What did you see? Don’t rush, explain everything clearly."

Haitang quickly picked up on the "covert signal" and went with the flow, saying,

"I went to the Firearms Bureau with Zhang Han and others; our intent was to aid in its defense. But unexpectedly, upon our arrival, we found the government office’s people either dead or unconscious, and the blueprints had vanished without a trace..."

She recounted the event swiftly.

Once she finished, everyone’s complexion changed.

Including Zhao Douan, whose expression became extremely odd.

According to the plan, the one who was supposed to report this incident should have been someone from the Firearms Bureau’s government office, but Haitang had personally rushed back with such detailed information.

It suggested that the attackers of the Firearms Bureau might indeed be real "rebels."

And they, who were pretending to be "rebels," were a step too late...

"Outrageous!"

The Minister of War’s face turned ashen, and he slammed the table in anger,

"Such audacity, such audacity! Those who commit such acts must undoubtedly be rebel traitors!"

Another military officer from the Privy Council was distraught, overwhelmed with uncontrollable rage,

"How dare they? At such a time..."

He stopped mid-sentence, seized up himself.

Everyone else also came to the realization.

Indeed, precisely because no one dared to think that the rebels would act at such a critical juncture, performing a bold and irrational act,

...it gave the enemy an opportunity.

For a moment, the faces of all the commanding officers turned exceptionally grim.

"The firearms... my firearms..."

Chen Gui, who had drunk too much, finally realized the severity, letting out a pitiful wail with a shriek of despair.

Xue Shence was both shocked and enraged.

Stolen again after several months!

And both times, right under the nose of the Secretariat Envoy.

Especially since he had convened this victory celebration himself...

Xue Shence could feel his face burning with shame.

He turned his head to the Empress, only to see Xu Zhenguan’s dignified face covered with a thick layer of "cold frost."

Her phoenix eyes flickered with severe, frosty light, as if countless swords lay within, razor-sharp and menacing.

"Your Majesty, your servant has failed in his duty, allowing thieves to steal important national weaponry. I implore Your Majesty’s permission for me to lead troops to search and capture these bandits!"

Shi Meng, burly as a bear, stepped forward, kneeled on one knee, and cried out loudly.

Yet, his back was drenched in cold sweat.

As the commander involved in the incident, Shi Meng found it hard to absolve himself of blame and was eager to perform a meritorious deed.

His words roused everyone as if from a deep sleep.

In an instant, the commanders of the Five Army Camp, the Three Thousand Camp, the Imperial Guard, and the Feathers Guard... one after another, the imperial guard commanders stepped forward, requesting orders to march to battle.

Even Xue Shence spoke up, pleading to personally join the search.

Xu Zhenguan’s face was iron blue, and as she looked at the cluster of commanders clamoring for orders, her gaze did not at all acknowledge them. Instead, it cut through the crowd, landing on Zhao Douan,

"Mr. Zhao, what do you think should be done?"

At that moment, even Xu Zhenguan herself felt the impulse to rise immediately and join the search.

However, Zhao Douan’s next statement silenced the entire hall:

"In my opinion, the immediate priority should be to lock down this banquet hall. No military officer, none present, is permitted to step out of this hall!"

Zhao Douan’s mouth twisted into a grimace, not a smile but a harbinger of murderous intent, like an old hunter eyeing his prey.

"Clang!"

His fingers snapped against the hilt of his sword, and the Cold Frost Sword, wreathed in chilling light, was drawn from its sheath.

Sword in hand, he stepped to the entrance, blocking the way out, his voice stern,

"Anyone who dares to leave will be regarded as a conspirator!"

Clang—

At that moment, everyone was stunned, and Haitang looked on at him, utterly bewildered.

"Master Zhao, what are you..."

Before the questioner could finish, the eunuch, Ma Yan, spoke with a somber voice,

"Indeed! No one is permitted to leave! Your Majesty, may we not forget, the military inside man, who stole the firearms last time, has yet to be dealt with!"

The words hit the crux of the matter.

Everyone suddenly came to an understanding.

Yes!

Among those present, there very likely concealed a rebel.

If tonight’s theft of the firearms was the handiwork of that same traitor?

Once everyone was allowed to leave, the military traitor would have the opportunity to contact the rebels and even deliberately provide cover.

Shi Meng, still kneeling, felt a waterfall of cold sweat on his forehead as he realized his request to join the battle was a grave mistake.

Zhao Douan swept his sword across the faces of the officials, searching for a crack in their expressions but to no avail.

Xu Zhenguan slightly raised her eyebrows, and her gaze towards the many military generals grew even colder.

"Your Majesty," Mister Zhao interjected, "it’s imperative that the military generals here must not leave. It would be best to entrust Mister Zhao with leading his trusted men to conduct the search."

Xue Shence sighed and proposed the plan.

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However, it was interrupted by Zhao Douan shaking his head:

"No need!"

Then, under the puzzled looks of everyone, they saw the elegantly dressed Zhao Douan, sword in hand, slowly pacing at the entrance of the inner hall.

The moonlight revealed itself from behind the clouds, illuminating the courtyard like water, and he appeared as if draped in a layer of light.

Zhao Douan suddenly smiled and said:

"Your Majesty, there’s no need to send anyone to search. All I ask is for Your Majesty and the esteemed officials to wait here for a while."

Wait?

"Wait for what?"

The one who spoke was the bewildered Haitang beside him.

She wanted to say, our plan has already failed, and you’re still continuing with the deception strategy at this time?

Yes, Haitang believed that at this moment, Zhao Douan was resorting to using a strategy within a strategy, breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat.

Implementing that so-called deception method.

But at this time... wasn’t the focus supposed to be on capturing the spy?

"Waiting for someone."

Zhao Douan stated succinctly, calmly uttering those two words.

He lifted his gaze, looking past the many heads, and made eye contact with the Empress.

Xu Zhenguan looked deeply at him, her vermilion lips parted slightly, uttering with the authority of heaven’s mandate:

"Granted."

...

...

In the middle of the night,

in the bamboo forest of the South Suburb,

multiple dark figures dashed swiftly.

This was the very bamboo forest where Zhao Douan had arrived through his traversal. Amidst the darkness, the bamboo forest was as serene as a deep sea.

"Squeak, squeak..."

Only the sounds of boots crushing the decaying bamboo leaves, as they ran, could be heard.

The one in front was the hood-wearing leader of the spies.

At the moment, he raised his hand, and everyone stopped their march, as ordered.

"We should have shaken off their pursuit by now," he said, looking back towards the Firearms Bureau.

A spy beside him said with a laugh:

"It’s surprising how smoothly it went. Those fools at the court never learn, I thought many of our brothers would die before we got our hands on it, but the defense at the government office was so weak."

Another laughed as well:

"All thanks to our leader’s brilliance and valor. None of us expected action tonight, and the court was unprepared, which is not surprising.

But our leader overestimated them, splitting our men into two teams and leaving false trails to mislead the trackers... We were too cautious, after all."

The spies chuckled merrily,

some even took the chance during the brief rest to wipe the blood off their blades with handkerchiefs.

The hooded leader, however, felt a nagging unease and said:

"I’ve felt as though someone’s been watching us all along."

His fellow spies looked around, confused: "Really?"

Not sure himself, the leader hesitated but then said:

"Keep moving, continue to flee. We must leave the Capital territory by night. With these plans, we’ll have enough to report back to the Prince."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, a languid voice came from above:

"Escape? Where exactly do you plan on escaping?"

In the bamboo forest,

as a gust of autumn wind blew, the towering ink bamboos, as tall as tall trees, rustled eerily.

"Who’s there?!"

The spies were shocked and instinctively looked up.

In the sky, the clouds drifted away, and just at the right moment, the full moon was unveiled, illuminating the space above the bamboo forest.

The leader’s pupils suddenly narrowed.

Atop a bamboo shoot, slightly bent under the weight of two boots,

stood the owner of the boots—a short and stout young man.

He stood with his hands behind his back; despite his heavy build, he seemed as light as a feather on the bamboo.

He was wearing a wrinkled and dirty priest robe embellished with gold thread unique to Zhu Dian.

And, slung over his back with a hemp rope, he carried a large bamboo tube.

"A Heavenly Master Mansion priest! Run!"

The leader shouted angrily, and the group of spies bolted away like arrows released from a bow.

Gongshu Tianyuan stood with hands behind his back, looking down at the scattering insects below, shook his head with a round face bearing a hint of disdain:

"If friends come from afar... why not stay awhile?"

With a gentle wave of his hand,

from the wide sleeve, a series of golden lights burst forth.

They were in fact winged copper coins, each flying at astonishing speed with razor-sharp edges.

The leader, while running, heard screams behind him.

He turned in panic only to see his fellow spies "thud," "thud," falling like wheat before the scythe, one by one.

Blood burst from the back of each, and they fell to the ground, motionless!

In the blink of an eye, he was the only one left of this small group!

"Divine Chapter Realm!"

The leader’s heart sank.

Then, he saw the chubby priest suddenly performing a "Heavy Drop," bending the bamboo beneath him like a bow.

Once it snapped back, he shot towards the leader like a cannonball from a distance!

"Bring it on!"

The leader roared and, while on the run, drew his sword, turning around with a fierce backhand strike!

Hum!

The strike was fierce, and the sword wind kicked up a whirlwind of leaves, as if a flurry of dead leaves followed the sword’s slash.

The momentum was overwhelming.

On the floor of the bamboo forest, a shocking, gigantic groove was carved open.

But Gongshu Tianyuan was nowhere to be seen.

"Don’t bother looking, I’m behind you," a ghostly voice spoke.

The leader spun around, only to see Gongshu Tianyuan calmly standing ahead, holding a tiny wooden figure, which he tossed forward.

The figure he called "offering a drink to a barbarian" stood on the ground, respectfully lifting a goblet towards the leader.

An offering of a drink!

The Suppressing Object activated!

When a barbarian offers a drink, the person being toasted is controlled and must drink a cup to break free from the control.

But here, where was there any wine?