Chapter 111 Zhao Duan: Who dares to be so presumptuous?

Chapter 111 Zhao Duan: Who dares to be so presumptuous?

Chapter 111 Zhao Duan: Who dares to be so presumptuous?

"what?"

Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows and looked at his "full-time driver".

The driver, Xiao Wang, lowered his voice and explained:
"Your Excellency does not recognize that person, but I have seen him before. He is the noble Marquis Xia Jiang of our dynasty."

Marquis? Some memories came to Zhao Duan’s mind.

There were several power groups in the Dayu Dynasty.

One of them is the "noble group", which is composed of meritorious officials from successive dynasties.

When he first traveled through time, the first broker he beat was Ning'an County Master, who, strictly speaking, was also a nobleman.

Because they were all aristocrats and supported by the court, the noble group was close to the royal family.

But Zhao Duan didn't expect that they would be so close and even roll in the same bed.

He had also heard of the name "Hou Xiajiang".

His ancestor was a marquis of military honor who was awarded the title of military merit when the Xu Dynasty was revived three hundred years ago.

By this generation, most of the nobles had already lost their real power, and Marquis Xiajiang was no exception.

But after all, he is a family of military merit, and his foundation is still there. He himself is also a practitioner of the "warrior" path, and has never had any intersection with Zhao Duan.

But I didn't expect to meet you in this kind of occasion today.

“It lives up to its reputation…”

Zhao Duan was amazed. He had no interest in this "Marquis", but was quite surprised that he was involved with Princess Yunyang.

It's no surprise that the two of them slept together.

After all, Princess Yunyang was famous, and the hats she gave to her husband were piled up to a height comparable to the bell tower of the Tianshi Mansion.

"But they didn't even bother trying to hide it. Doing this on the street... isn't that a bit too much..."

At this moment, Zhao Duan suddenly understood why Li Lang was such a playboy.

It would be hard for any teenager to avoid psychological problems if he had a mother with such a wide circle of friends and a father who endured humiliation like that.

"Are you Zhao Duan?"

At this time, Xia Jianghou, who was sitting in the sedan chair opposite, with a dignified appearance but a slightly evil look in his eyes, asked the question.

The condescending attitude and almost interrogative tone made Zhao Du'an feel disgusted.

He ignored the marquis and looked at Princess Yunyang, who only showed her long white legs, and said calmly:

"Why doesn't the Grand Princess show up? Is she too embarrassed to see anyone?"

The two sides had already been hostile to each other, and he was too lazy to be polite.

The curtains of the sedan swayed gently in the wind. The eldest princess in the sedan seemed angry, and her hands exposed outside suddenly clenched.

Xia Jianghou also shared the same hatred and said in a cold voice with anger on his face:

"Zhao Duan, didn't you hear me talking to you?"

Why are you jumping? We are all male favorites, as if you are nobler than me... Zhao Duan was unhappy.

He looked at him and said perfunctorily:
"So it's Lord Xia Jiang. I've heard of your great name for a long time. What can I do for you?"

Unsure, he decided to play it safe.

Xia Jianghou, with a messy silk smock, a soft and fragrant jade in his arms and a fine beard, looked him up and down for a moment, and suddenly said:
"No reason, but I heard that there is a Zhao Jisi in the capital recently. He is very popular and favored. Even the royal family and nobles don't take him seriously. So I want to come and see him."

Although he said "looking up", his drooping eyes and condescending attitude made him look like a nobleman observing a commoner.

This made Zhao Duan inexplicably unhappy.

A damn nobleman, driving a luxury car, stopped me on my way to work, just to see him.

He also showed an expression of condescendingness, as if saying, "I, the Marquis, am honored to see you."

Zhao Duan wanted to pull him down, press him to the ground, and then ask:
Did you know that this is very rude?

But he didn't choose to do that after all. Instead, he said "Oh" and asked calmly:

"What did the Marquis see?"

Xia Jianghou smiled but did not give a direct answer:
"I'll just call you Lord Xiao Zhao for now. I'm a little older than you, and I've been around the capital city longer than you.

I have seen more people who rose to power overnight than the bridges you have walked across.

Today, I want to give you a few words of advice: as a person, you should be humble. As an official, you should not be too arrogant.

Even if you want to be a lone minister, you should open your eyes and know which people you can offend and which people you cannot.

Even the dogs in my mansion know that one has to judge a person by his social status. In the Yu Dynasty, there have been many ups and downs, and ministers who rose and fell every year.
The ones who truly stand firm are us nobles, not you commoners."

His tone was sincere, and even contained some words of advice, but the feeling of looking down on others was lingering.

Very dad-like.

Seeing Zhao Duan remained silent, he added quietly:
“That’s all I have to say. If you can listen to me, you will know what to do. You don’t have to be grateful. Just think of it as me doing a good deed every day.

If you persist in your mistake, you will never be successful again. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

After saying that, Xia Jianghou waved his hand and signaled the bearers to carry the sedan chair.

Thick curtains also fell down, hiding the adults in the sedan chair.

At the moment when the curtain of the sedan chair shook and fell, Zhao Duan vaguely met a pair of enchanting and charming eyes.

There was no emotion in those eyes.

"Get up the sedan!"

The sedan bearers let out a low shout, and the sturdy men simultaneously picked up the heavy dark red wooden bar and took big strides.

Princess Yunyang's sedan chair passed the carriage and went straight to the other end of Suzaku Street.

The crowd watching also scattered like birds and beasts.

It is conceivable that it would not be long before the gossip about Marquis Xia Jiang reprimanding Envoy Zhao in the street would spread in teahouses and taverns.

"Sir? You..."

The driver, Xiao Wang, looked at his boss, feeling a little nervous.

Zhao Duan squinted his eyes, sitting upright in the carriage, without pulling out the scabbard in his hand, and smiled:

"Are you worried that I will take action against him? Don't worry, that won't happen."

The driver Xiao Wang breathed a sigh of relief.

As a member of the Lihua Hall, having witnessed Zhao Duan's recklessness, he was really worried that his boss would not be able to stand Xia Jianghou's "reprimand" and turn against him in the street.

But I heard Zhao Duan say quietly:

"The other party wants to provoke me. If I really fall for it, wouldn't that be what he wants?"

The driver, Xiao Wang, was stunned for a moment, then realized, "Sir, are you saying that Xia Jianghou said those things on purpose?"

"What else?" Zhao Duan exhaled, and said with a difficult meaning:

"There are indeed fools among the royal family and nobles, but it is just too coincidental to meet two of them at once."

Princess Yunyang's first appearance indeed refreshed his stereotype of this "dissolute" princess.

From the beginning to the end, the other party was still holding the lute and half-covering her face, always hiding behind the curtain, only pushing out a mistress to act as the vanguard.

If Zhao Duan really dared to use his knife, he might not be able to win against Xia Jianghou.

Secondly, it will give someone something to hold against you.

It should be noted that the laws of the Dayu Dynasty clearly protected the nobility.

Zhao Du'an had beaten the Magistrate of Ning'an, but he had to swallow his anger because the other party's title was too low and he had no power or influence.

As for the playboy Li Lang, although he is the princess's son and a member of the royal family from a bloodline perspective, he has no title.

But Xiajiang Hou is different. Although he has no real power, he has the title of "Marquis", which makes him more unreasonable.

"I admit that I underestimated this woman."

Zhao Duan sighed.

Princess Yunyang released the Marquis in public, forcing Zhao Duan to swallow the loss.

Fortunately, after this period of time, he had recovered Lihua Hall.

Therefore, he was not worried that this matter would shake his prestige.

"Let's go back to the government office first."

Zhao Duan said this, but he was secretly alert in his heart, always feeling that Princess Yunyang's revenge would definitely not be just a few verbal warnings.

……

……

The journey went smoothly afterwards, and when Zhao Duan arrived at Lihua Hall, it was already past the hour of dawn.

The green pears on the big pear tree in the yard are about to ripen.

"Sir, you are here."

Confidential Secretary Qian Kerou was holding a stack of documents, her eyes lit up:
"I have checked in for you."

Zhao Duan nodded with satisfaction, walked leisurely to the main seat, and asked curiously:
"Why are you the only one here?"

Qian Kerou's face was flushed and she reported in high spirits:

"Old Zheng is in the back checking the case files, while Hou Renmeng and Shen Juan are outside tracking down clues about the rebels."

Worth mentioning:
The two people detained in the Tiechiguan Prison were transferred to the Ministry of Justice yesterday morning.

The case was naturally transferred to the Dali Temple for supervision.

The Censorate is responsible for supervision.

The "Three Law Departments" of the Dayu Dynasty had different divisions of labor.

The Ministry of Justice is in charge of "prisons", where prisoners are held. The Dali Temple has the power to adjudicate cases, try people, and arrest people, which is similar to a court.

The censors of the Censorate can have a say at every step, but they are the ones who watch the whole process and only talk but do not take any action.

In order to avoid suspicion, Ma Yan had no choice but to transfer the case, but he still successfully pried open Tie Chi Guan's mouth and obtained some intelligence about other rebels.

And handed it over to Lihuatang for investigation.

"How's the progress?" Zhao Duan asked.

After having eaten delicious food, he had no interest in such trivial matters, so he handed it over to his four subordinates to handle, treating it as a training exercise.

Qian Kerou said:
"After Tiechiguan was captured, the rebels associated with him evacuated urgently, and most of them came back empty-handed. However, with clues to their identities, we were able to follow the trail and catch two of the fleeing rebels.

Hou Renmeng and Shen Juan led people to arrest him, but there is no news about the former yet.

But Shen Juan's team just sent someone to deliver a letter saying that they had successfully captured the target and also seized a batch of stolen money and goods.

They are now counting and preparing to ship them back, and they want us to send someone to pick them up."

Zhao Duan looked surprised:
"So fast, well done. Has the contact person been sent out?"

Qian Kejudo:

"I'm harnessing a wagon in the front yard to bring back some stolen goods. I'm just about to set out."

Zhao Duan thought about it and suddenly said:

"Call a few people and go with me. This is a matter concerning the rebel party, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes."

Although he said this, what really made Zhao Duan rethink was Princess Yunyang's inexplicable warning when she stopped the car.

He had a bad feeling:
Maybe some things will lead to complications.

"Oh, okay!" Qian Kerou was stunned for a moment, nodded quickly, and ran to make arrangements.

……

Russian qing.

Zhao Du'an rode a fine horse and led a group of officials in brocade uniforms in front, dragging the dirty carts behind.

Not long after, a group of men in brocade clothes paraded through the streets, and as the people were terrified and avoiding them, they arrived at a private house in the south city.

It was also the hiding place of the rebels mentioned in the message sent back by Shen Juan.

However, when Zhao Duan arrived, he saw two groups of people confronting each other at the door of the house and on the street from a distance.

On one side, those who were blocking the courtyard gate and drawing their swords in a defensive posture were several Jinyi soldiers from Lihuatang.

Standing opposite them, a group of unidentified people outnumbered them several times and trying to force their way in.

They also drew their swords and faced each other.

The leading official in a green robe had a cold look on his face and was shouting:

"Get out of my way——"

Being outnumbered, they could only retreat and defend. Shen Juan's face changed as he tried his best to guard the gate.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of horse hooves coming closer and closer in the distance.

Shen Juan suddenly looked up, his eyes suddenly lit up:
"My lord is here!"

Several of the royal guards perked up and looked up.

But Zhao Duan was seen riding his horse, leading the way, with the thin silver lines on his black official robe shaking like waves.

While on his horse, Zhao Duan had already drawn his sword and thrown it into the air, shouting:
"Who dares to be so presumptuous?!"

(End of this chapter)