Chapter 139 Yuan Li's Shock
Chapter 139 Yuan Li's Shock
"Zhao Jisi, please follow me. Mr. Yuan is handling some matters and ordered me to invite you to the inner hall first."
The person who came out to greet him was a young imperial censor.
He led Zhao Duan in, talking as he walked, still looking at him curiously, as if he was quite curious about this favorite of the empress who had recently become famous.
"Thanks for leading the way."
Zhao Duan smiled and nodded, tidied his appearance, and walked along a small path towards the back yamen.
The Censorate is also a complex of buildings. Perhaps because the work has not yet ended, there are not many people on the road.
After Zhao Duan entered the inner hall, the young censor left.
He had waited for less than a quarter of an hour when he saw a familiar figure in blue slowly walking out of the courtyard outside the hall.
In the dog days of summer, the brilliant sunshine illuminates every figure in the courtyard.
Yuan Li wore a sky-blue double-breasted robe and an official hat on her head. Her elegant and handsome face had deep and restrained eyes, which seemed to contain the vicissitudes of life washed away by the years.
At this moment, he walked over alone with a smile on his face.
"Mr. Yuan! I haven't seen you for a long time, but you are still as charming as ever."
The moment Zhao Duan saw Yuan Li, he stood up to greet her and instinctively uttered words of flattery.
The then Imperial Censor, the "Leader of the Qingliu Party", Yuan Li shook his head and laughed, jokingly saying:
"I haven't seen you for a long time, but Zhao Jisi is still so slick."
If outsiders saw this scene, they would be shocked.
It was surprising that two people with such different reputations could be so familiar with each other even though they shouldn't be in the same occasion.
It was also because in front of all the officials, a dignified and graceful lady in blue clothes would actually joke with a junior who had a huge gap in status.
As for the two of them, even though they hadn't seen each other for several days, the slight unfamiliarity was quickly dispelled by just this one warm greeting.
"I don't deserve the name 'Zhao Jisi'. Just call me 'Xiao Zhao', Mr. Yuan."
Zhao Duan blinked and invited him to sit down.
Can't float!
Although he has become famous recently, it is all empty reputation, and there is still a huge gap between him and the Imperial Censor in front of him.
Xiao Zhao... Yuan Li couldn't help but smile, and walked into the hall and took a seat.
His wide sleeves hung down, making him look particularly casual and natural, but he did not speak. Instead, he looked at him carefully for a moment.
Immediately, the man in blue clothes, who could make Dayu tremble with a stamp of his feet, sighed:
"The last time I saw you, you were still a little messenger fighting with the Zhang brothers. In the blink of an eye, you have become the 'little king of hell' who can bring down the princess. And how long has it been? The young are really formidable."
He still remembered that in the "overthrow of Pei" case, Zhao Du'an, who was originally just a chess piece, performed a brilliant strategy of sowing discord and participated in the vortex of party struggles in the temple as a mere messenger, and successfully got a share of the pie.
At that time, Yuan Li was already surprised.
Afterwards, as promised, Yuan Li sent Zhao Du'an a gift, and petitioned the empress to transfer Zhao Du'an from the Baima Prison to the Imperial Court.
At that time, he even made a bet with the empress in the palace, but he didn't expect that both he and Xu Zhenguan underestimated him.
"Mr. Yuan, thank you for your praise," Zhao Duan said respectfully with a serious expression:
"I was able to enter the imperial court thanks to the recommendation of Lord Yuan. I will never forget this favor."
Yuan Li waved her hands and scolded with a smile:
"It's good that you don't blame me. It's your ability to gain a foothold in Lihua Hall. Besides, if His Majesty doesn't agree, my recommendation will be useless."
Zhao Duan agreed:
"Your Majesty has treated me with such kindness that I am like a new creation. As your subjects, we should do our best to share your worries."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Li smiled and said:
"You have something else to say. Tell me, why did you come to my house so suddenly?"
As he was speaking, the woman in blue clothes raised her hand to take the teacup. Zhao Duan handed it to her with a sharp look, but did not answer.
Instead, he used his movements to cover it up, observing the other person out of the corner of his eyes, and said:
"Why don't you take a guess, Mr. Yuan?"
Guess? Yuan Li sat leisurely and calmly took the teacup offered by Zhao Duan with both hands.
The senior official, who had experienced many ups and downs in the officialdom for many years, smiled. How could he not understand his testing intention?
Bad temptations are offensive, but good temptations are not.
Zhao Duan is an expert in this and knows when and how to test in a safe way.
As expected, Yuan Li was not angry at all. She pretended to be silent for a moment and then smiled leisurely:
"You can't be here for Zhou Cheng, right?"
Zhao Duan was really surprised: "Mr. Yuan knows?" He only said the word "knows" but did not specify it. This was the second test.
Yuan Li was not fooled and asked back with a smile:
"What should I know?"
Zhao Duan blinked his eyes but said nothing, his brain working rapidly, thinking about how to respond.
I complained in my heart that those who could get to this position were indeed very smart.
I didn't ask anything to get the question right, and the other party took over the initiative instead.
While hesitating and thinking, Yuan Li suddenly laughed, boringly:
"Forget it. I am too lazy to tease you. Your Majesty taught you to investigate Zhou Cheng. I know about this."
Zhao Duan was both surprised and not surprised. After all, according to his understanding, Zhou Cheng and Li Yanfu had a close relationship.
As for weakening the "Li Party", it is obvious that the Empress and Yuan Li are working together to do so at the current stage.
He deliberately let out a long breath, looking embarrassed:
"Mr. Yuan knew it a long time ago..."
Showing timidity in moderation is also a subtle form of flattery.
Yuan Li praised:
"It's not a bad thing to be cautious. It's the right thing to do when working for His Majesty. Okay, let's get down to business. Why are you coming to me instead of investigating Zhou Cheng? Don't you know where to start? Can't you find any flaws in him? Come and try your luck with me?"
This guess is not difficult to make.
Although the Censorate was only a supervisory agency and was not good at "investigation", Yuan Li, as the leader of the Qingliu Party, naturally knew all the important officials in the court.
Pei Kaizhi was like this back then, and so is Zhou Cheng today.
Yuan Li frowned and said:
"Zhou Cheng is a man who is very good at scheming. When the eunuch Wang Zhen was in power, he was transferred back to the capital from the post of governor because of his relationship with him.
This kind of person is also extremely cautious, and it is indeed difficult to find sufficient evidence to prove his worth. In this respect, he is no less cautious than Pei Kaizhi.
But Pei Kaizhi has relatives and children to give you leverage, so it will be difficult to replicate the trick against Zhou Cheng."
Zhao Duan asked curiously:
"Emperor Yuan is in charge of the Censorate, but he doesn't have any leverage over Minister Zhou?"
Yuan Li shook his head and laughed, raised his finger and pointed at him, scolding with a smile:
"You are making a sarcastic remark about me. You are really brave."
Zhao Duan smiled playfully, knowing that he was not angry.
Sure enough, after Yuan Li laughed and scolded, she sighed softly and said:
"It's not that there aren't any, but they are all minor matters... Anyway, now that your majesty has entered the new dynasty, it's not a good idea to bring it up again."
Zhao Duan's heart moved, and he heard some hidden meaning, as if there was something else going on.
But Yuan Li obviously didn't want to say it, so he didn't rush to ask.
Seeing that he was silent, Yuan Li thought he was worried and couldn't help but comfort him:
"You handled the case so quickly before, but you probably took advantage of the good location and good people, or others' underestimation of your ability, or Pei Kaizhi's youngest son was not on guard against you...
In the end, it’s all the accumulation of your bad reputation over the past year, but you can’t always rely on it. Now that you’re blocked, it’s not a bad thing…”
"Ah?" Zhao Duan raised his head and said with a smile:
"Mr. Yuan has misunderstood. I am not worried about not being able to find a breakthrough."
"Oh?" Yuan Li was surprised: "Then you are..."
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"I am an official, and I have just obtained evidence that Prime Minister Zhou violated the law and killed important officials of the court. I have the audacity to come to your door to report this to Lord Yuan."
Yuan Li was stunned.
……
There is no time, I updated in a hurry, so it is a little short
(End of this chapter)