The night grew deeper, and when Zhao Duan returned ho, he found all the lights were on.
"Big brother is back!"
The old steward opened the door, joy erging on his tired and worried face as he loudly shared the good news.
In just a mont, his stepmother and sister, who had not yet gone to bed, arrived together.
Clearly, Zhao Duan's abrupt departure earlier had caused concern among his family mbers, especially since it happened during the day when that conflict had occurred.
"It's nothing, just so official duties at the governnt office, I went to handle it," Zhao Duan casually fibbed.
You Jinhua breathed a sigh of relief and, with a smile returning to her face, asked with concern,
"Are you hungry? Your aunt has kept so food for you."
What food... Eat and drink?
... Zhao Duan was sowhat tired and not in the mood for jokes, so he said,
"Have the servants bring it to my room."
After a day of turmoil, even with his martial artist's abundant energy, he didn't have much spirit left.
...
In the bedroom.
Zhao Duan devoured his food like a whirlwind, filling his stomach and regaining so energy, then sat staring off into space.
After repeated testing, he confird that the Dragon Essence within his Qi Sea had fallen into a deep slumber, and except for greatly benefiting his cultivation, it showed no flaws.
"Good, I thought it might need to eat sothing too..." Zhao Duan silently comnted to himself.
Shaking his head, he put aside this matter for the mont, stood up, and stripped off his outer garnt.
He peeled off his damp undershirt, soaked from the river, and threw himself onto his bed.
His robust body exposed to the air, he lay back with his hands resting under his head, then began to recall the conversation he had with the Empress.
"The one who targeted this ti was the son of Li Yanfu... that Young Master... As my military achievents rise, it was inevitable I'd co into conflict with the higher echelons of the Li Party."
"Zhenbao said she hopes that I would be removed from the Xiuwen Pavilion next, fearing that I might be affected by subsequent repercussions... Being cautious is right, but blind caution is a strategic retreat."
"This ti, she vented her anger on my behalf, teaching a lesson to a bunch of scholars. Though it felt good, the grudge with that Young Master will only deepen.
Yeah, next, the main issue for the Li Party will be to block the new policies, and they should be too busy to bother with for the mont. But once they're free, they will co after sooner or later..."
"If you don't kill the snake, it will bite you back... But as re Sixth-rank, I'm not yet capable of toppling my opponent... but who says that if I can't topple them, I can't do anything?
Zhenbao also weakens the Li Party bit by bit with each strike... I can also use this approach, not aiming to crush them in one fell swoop but to whittle away steadily..."
"Young Master, heh, Li Yinglong... It's not polite not to return what one receives. Do you really think that just because you tripped once, this matter is settled?"
As Zhao Duan pondered his plans, his eyelids began to fight each other and drowsiness surged over him like a tide, and he drifted off to sleep.
...
...
The sa night.
Outside Li Mansion, a sedan chair slowly ca to a halt.
Li Yinglong, nearly forty, with delicate features, a high nose bridge, and deep-set eyes, stepped out of the sedan, surrounded by his house servants as he entered his own ho.
As the "Young Master" and Vice Minister, his residence was naturally broad and impressively luxurious.
Every stone in the courtyard had been painstakingly transported from far outside the Capital at great human expense.
Li Yinglong's everyday life also epitomized extravagance, and his fondness for riding in a sedan chair shed light on this.
If not for this, he could not have beco the "top dandy of the Capital" in his youth.
Even as he approached forty, his love for luxury hadn't diminished, and every old fox in the Capital's official circles knew that the Young Master had a weakness for won.
Besides his official wife, the number of his concubines exceeded the count of one hand — and that was only because Yu's Law allowed for only six positions, even though he often replaced them.
Moreover, he had all sorts of unusual habits.
Nurous maids were kept in the mansion, and during the winter, he would select the most robust among them to stand around him to block the cold wind with their bodies.
This was known as the "flesh screen."
When close friends visited, the mansion would set up feasts without tables or chairs; dishes would all be held by beautiful concubines kneeling for the guests to use.
This was poetically called "a feast for the eyes."
It was only out of concern for social decorum that Zhao Duan doubted not; otherwise, he was sure Li Yinglong would have co up with body sushi...
At this mont, maids and concubines ca out to welco Li Yinglong, chanting in unison:
"Master."
Li Yinglong's expression was dark; he was not in a good mood.
Seeing these won only increased his irritability, and he waved them away, saying,
"Get lost."
The concubines beca as silent as chilled cicadas, unsure why the master was angry, and quickly scattered.
Li Yinglong plopped down grandly in the hall, drank a sip of tea that the servants presented, and his heart's anger slowly subsided, "Is the Sixth Madam already asleep?"
Beside him, the head housekeeper said, "The lights in her room are still on, Master. Are you going to sleep there?"
The Sixth Madam was the newest concubine that Li Yinglong had recently taken by force.
Reportedly, the Young Master had been out drinking one day when he accidentally caught sight of a young and beautiful married woman, and he was instantly captivated.
After so investigation, he learned that the woman was originally an artiste from Jiangnan and that she had been taken as a wife by a rchant surnad Hu, who was bringing goods to sell in the Capital.
In those days, business invariably involved so shady dealings.
Once Li Yinglong found out, he conducted a further investigation, caught Mr. Hu in a mistake, and slightly manipulated things to implicate him in a serious case, escalating a minor issue into a major one.
He had him sent back to his hotown and thrown into prison, and Mr. Hu's wife was taken into his mansion by force.
To clear a slot, the forr Sixth Madam was rcilessly discarded.
The whole process was legal and aboveboard; low-level dandies would only harass married won, but high-level ones operated without leaving a trace.
However, ever since the new Sixth Madam had entered the mansion, she had spent her days weeping and showed an unyielding spirit. Beneath her cultured exterior hid a wild horse yet to be tad.
Li Yinglong had not yet managed to subdue her.
"Yes, I'll go take a look." Li Yinglong stood, and accompanied by the housekeeper, arrived at Mrs. Liu's chamber within the courtyard.
Sure enough, he saw a woman's silhouette reflected on the paper window.
Hearing the sound, the occupant of the room, the Sixth Madam, suddenly stood up and asked coldly,
"Who's there?!"
Li Yinglong now revealed a smile, as if he had forgotten the displeasure brought by Zhao Duan, and said in a gentle voice,
"Lady Lin, it is I..."
"Get lost!"
Inside the room, the strong-willed woman coldly spoke, startling the old nursemaid, but the master beside her didn't seem angry at all.
Li Yinglong tried to persuade her with kind words,
"Lady Lin, as the saying goes, 'a couple bonded for only a day should maintain affection for a hundred days.' You are now my concubine, living in a high-walled mansion in the Capital. Isn't it a hundred tis better than giving yourself to a re rchant?"
In the room, the woman's shoulders quivered, her voice strained to the breaking point,
"If you dare to enter again, I'll risk this life..."
"Ah! What are you saying!" Li Yinglong expressed his dissatisfaction,
"If I do not enter, then I will not. In your eyes, is your husband really so contemptible?"
With that, he really turned and walked away, his face masked with barely concealed anger.
The old nursemaid said,
"Master, please calm your anger. The Sixth Madam has not been in your house long, and she still can't get over that threshold. This old servant has been advising her, and I believe in a couple more days, after she accepts reality, she won't behave like this."
Li Yinglong nodded,
"Let's hope so, but also, don't rush her too much."
Saying this, the Young Master, unable to have his way with a woman, inexplicably thought again about the source of his many troubles today.
"Zhao Duan..."
Li Yinglong's eyes turned grim, rembering his father's admonishnt, he had to suppress his anger.
In the following period, he and the Pri Minister needed to resist the new policies with all their might, temporarily avoiding creating any additional problems.
"Just wait, I'll let you have your mont."
Inside a side room.
Beautiful and elegant, with an oval face and silkworm eyebrows, although an artist by origin, she naturally possessed a scholarly aura.
Lady Lin's beauty was not inferior to that of noble daughters, her eyes filled with tears, her hands nervously clutching a pair of scissors, aid fiercely at the door of the room.
It wasn't until the footsteps outside faded, and she was sure Li Yinglong would not visit her that evening,
that Lady Lin dropped the scissors with a clatter, threw herself onto the table in her sheer robe, gazing toward Jiangnan with tears streaming down her face.
Who could save her?
Probably...
She could only resign herself to her fate.
...
An uneventful night passed.
The next morning, officials entered the ridian Gate early.
Inside the Imperial Palace, doors of the Primordial Ancestor Temple swung open with a bang, and the Empress walked out, her gaze falling on Mo Zhaorong, leading the group of waiting ladies-in-waiting, outside.
In the hands of a big chunk of ice was a tray with the imperial crown and Dragon Robe for attending court.
"Your Majesty. The Grandmaster and all the court officials are already outside."
Xu Zhenguan humd in affirmation, her beautiful eyes sharp,
"Attend court."
She knew that today was the day the new policies would be officially introduced.
Then she would face the resistance of countless nobles and scholars, and the governnt officials and literati from which she ca...
...
That day, a piece of news quickly spread throughout the Capital.
Early that morning at court, Grandmaster Dong Xuan presented three strategies for new policies since the Empress's ascension, which shook all the officials.
On the spot, a large number of officials objected, pointing out various flaws in the three strategies.
Moreover, many officials from the Six Ministries and the Imperial Court of Supervision criticized them, arguing that the minds behind the strategies deserved punishnt, claiming they were re empty talk, and that if implented, the nation would cease to be a nation...
This piece of news, like a bomb, attracted the attention of countless people.
The commotion in yesterday's feast was montarily forgotten.
As for Zhao Duan, he chose this critical mont to return the badge of Sixth-rank Master and withdraw, avoiding the turmoil.
And in the following days.
Things turned out just as Xu Zhenguan had said, the entire court was almost as noisy as a marketplace.
The Empress overseeing everything from above watched as various forces clashed in a struggle concerning the division of interests in the Great Yu Dynasty, growing more intense like fire cooking oil.
Throughout the gradually passing sumr days, the situation intensified.
Anyone who recklessly approached would be burned inside and out.
And Zhao Duan, who was previously the focal point of many, suddenly disappeared, becoming temporarily "forgotten" by people...
...
"People are always forgetful... The best way to cool down an event is to introduce a bigger hotspot," muttered Zhao Duan, slightly tipsy, in the courtyard of the White Horse Hall.
On the opposite side, the Old Director, Sun Lianying, dressed in a loose official robe, his temples frosted with white, slurred,
"What are you babbling about, boy? I didn't catch it clearly."
"It's nothing," said Zhao Duan, cradling a jug of wine, his gaze shifting from the corner of the eaves – that is, toward the Imperial Palace – and murmured,
"So Her Majesty just lets them all argue equally? No, I feel even Grandmaster Dong might not hold on."
Sun Lianying narrowed his eyes; this canny eunuch let out a sigh,
"In matters as big as these, Her Majesty can't intervene directly at once. She must, and can only watch from the Dragon Throne, letting the Imperial Faction led by Dong Xuan charge into battle, then judge the situation to decide when to make a final decision. If she issues a direct decree, though it may be implented forcefully, that leaves no room for maneuvering, unlike first letting them fight among themselves... That's better...
Moreover, boy, your three strategies strike at many officials. How could they not fight back?
And you, with a few words, caused such a big stir then simply withdrew and left, idling every day, coming to my place for a drink. It's like you have nothing to do with what's happening in the court."
Zhao Duan set down his jug and got up to leave,
"What has the court's strife to do with , a re Sixth-rank Master?"
"Hey, where are you going?"
"I have things to take care of."
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