Chapter 217 Lure the snake out of its hole

Chapter 217 Lure the snake out of its hole

Chapter 217 Lure the snake out of its hole
A loud roar broke the solemn and depressing atmosphere in the courtyard.

Zhao Duan stopped and looked up to see a group of people, both men and women, suddenly rushing in from the hanging flower gate.

The leader was a burly man who looked quite similar to the deceased.

At this moment, a man rushed in with an iron rod in his hand and red eyes, followed by a crying woman who tried to stop him.

"who?!"

Without waiting for the men to make a move, the officials from the imperial yamen guarding the yard rushed forward, restrained the other party and pinned him to the ground.

A man in brocade clothes delivered a heavy elbow strike with a stern face.

"boom!"

The sturdy man knelt on one knee, and the iron rod fell into the mud. He was still staring at Zhao Duan and cursing.

Ma Yan frowned and Haitang looked at Mr. Zhao.

Zhao Duan shook his head, indicating that he was not clear about the situation:
"what happened?"

Next to him, the green-robed official from the government office looked unhappy and explained in a low voice:

"This is the brother of the deceased flag officer. In grief, he offended you. Don't pay any attention to him."

Zhao Duan walked in front of the man and said indifferently:

"It was the rebels who assassinated your brother. Why do you want me to pay with my life?"

The man who was being escorted and kneeling on one knee stared with his eyes wide open, bloodshot like spider webs in his eyeballs:
"My eldest brother has never had any contact with the rebels. If you hadn't made enemies with the rebels and offended them, how could you have launched a new policy and attracted an assassination? You said it had nothing to do with you? How come it wasn't you who died?"

Zhao Duan was almost so angry that he laughed. It turns out that this is indeed the logic from a certain perspective.

The green-robed official's expression suddenly changed, and he angrily shouted:
"What nonsense! Someone, take this man away..."

Zhao Duan waved his hand and said:

"Let him go. This stupid coward is like a dog on a leash. He barks loudly but doesn't have the guts to bite."

The man seemed insulted: "You..."

Zhao Duan stood with his hands behind his back, a mocking look on his face:
"What? Let's not talk about that. Anyone with a normal brain can see that it was the rebels who were stirring up trouble. According to your logic, if I didn't anger the rebels, I wouldn't have come to kill people...

Your Majesty's name was written on the blood letter, so why didn't you go to the Golden Palace to cause trouble for Your Majesty?
You dare not vent your anger on His Majesty, but you dare to vent your anger on me... It seems that even if you are so angry, you still know who you can offend and who you can't... But..."

He sighed softly, his eyes full of pity:

"Why do you think I can be provoked?"

The man was speechless and unable to refute for a moment.

However, Zhao Duan ignored him and followed Ma Yan and Haitang out.

After the three men left, the remaining imperial yamen official laughed grimly, kicked the man in the heart, and spat:

"There are idiots every year, but there are especially many this year... Lock him up and take him away to let him reflect on his actions, so as not to upset the adults."

Zhao Duan could just downplay it and say let him go and not bother with a small person.

But the officials below would not really do that.

The green-robed official shook his head and sighed upon seeing this.

……

Outside.

Zhao Duan, who had resolved the incident, was not in a happy mood.

The chief eunuch Ma Yan looked at him, his thin face expressionless:

"What do you think?"

When it comes to solving cases, he would ask Haitang, but when it comes to dealing with more complicated incidents, Ma Yan would ask Zhao Duan for his opinion.

Zhao Duan sighed softly, with a complicated expression:

"The good side is that the rebels are finally getting impatient. The bad side is that they are also getting impatient.

The other party chose to assassinate a small flag officer. The implicit message it conveyed was mostly sending a signal rather than actually killing someone. Otherwise, the first move would have targeted a big shot of the royal party.

Now, if we only kill minor officials, it won’t really make the whole court hate the Kuangfu Society, but it will make the lower-level officials panic... and the new policy just needs the lower-level officials to implement it..."

He chuckled and said:

“It may seem like assassination is a stupid act, but if the other party does it, it will really be effective.

Important figures in the imperial party may have treasures to protect themselves, or be guarded by experts, or have high status that serves as amulets...but it is difficult for the officials and the court below to provide adequate protection.

The only solution now is to catch the ringleader as soon as possible to serve as a warning to others.

After all… although there are many simple-minded fools in the Kuangfu Society who claim to be righteous, those who are really capable of threatening and carrying out assassinations must always consider whether it is worth risking their lives to kill some insignificant officials…

Moreover, we can also take advantage of this. If they dare to kill, we can publicize it, not to the officials, but to the people...

Oh, haven’t these traitors been slandering and vilifying Your Majesty all along?

Now that we have given them evidence, we can also turn the tables and vilify them... When the Kuangfu Society finds that the benefits of assassination cannot outweigh the bad reputation it brings, they will naturally stop. "

Ma Yan and Haitang's eyes lit up slightly.

I thought to myself that this kid is really good at playing scheming tricks.

Ma Dugong nodded, approving the plan, but then said:

"But the most urgent task right now is to resolve the next assassination, that is, to capture the Thousand-Faced God."

Detective expert Haitang said bitterly:
"How easy is that? The Thousand-Faced God is very good at disguising himself. Unless he is someone you are very familiar with, you may not be able to recognize him even if he stands in front of you. There are millions of people in the capital, like a vast ocean. He is hiding in it like a drop of water... unless..."

The female detective suddenly looked at Zhao Duan.

Ma Yan also frowned and looked at his cheap junior brother with a meaningful expression.

"..." Zhao Duan was stared at with horror, and said helplessly:
"Don't try to use me as bait. Is he that stupid? The last time the Frost Sword attacked me, he was killed in return. How could this Thousand-Faced God be unprepared? How could he not think that I could be used as bait?"

After a pause, he picked up the blood letter and shook his head:
"Moreover, you can see that the other party listed my name alongside His Majesty this time. It seemed like they did it on purpose."

Ma Yan frowned: "You mean, killing someone with a borrowed knife?"

After saying that, he shook his head and rejected it: "Useless work."

Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes and said self-deprecatingly:

"Is it really a useless effort? Didn't the deceased brother in the courtyard just now take the bait?

Don't underestimate the stupidity of some people. In other words, when their loved ones are killed, they will be furious and their rationality will drop significantly... and they will do some incredible things." "This paper says that it is required to eradicate me, a traitor. Guess what will happen to me after the news of my bad reputation spreads?

Oh, there is no need for the rebels to spread the word. Those in the capital who have grudges against me will take the initiative to spread the word and lead the assassination of the rebels to me... to shift the blame."

He sighed faintly, as if he saw the upcoming "future":
"Compared to the terror of the rebels who hide in the dark like ghosts and are ready to kill people at any time, wouldn't it be easier to bully me, a treacherous minister in the open?"

Ma Yan shook his head and said:
"But it's no use. A few words can't hurt you."

Because my reputation is already bad, I don’t mind getting even worse, right… Zhao Duan complained, shaking his head:

"Don't underestimate public opinion. This Thousand-Faced God is very smart. He knows that once the assassination is carried out, the officials will panic or be angry, and this emotion needs an outlet. If the officials dare not be angry with Your Majesty, they will only hate the traitors...

But now, the rebels have added my name to the list, and people’s anger will be directed at me…

See? It’s a simple but practical way to divert hatred.

Public opinion cannot kill me, but it will make me feel uncomfortable. Moreover, as long as I am in the front, even if they carry out an assassination, people will not hate them completely, but will hate me.

I think all this is caused by me.

Just like when robbers come to the village to kill people, the villagers will hate the robbers. But if the robbers come to kill people and say that they come to kill people because someone in the village has offended them...

The villagers will hate that person."

Haitang couldn't help but say:

"How could that be? Maybe a few people think so, but most people wouldn't be so stupid. They don't hate the enemy, but hate their compatriots?"

Zhao Duan glanced at her and suddenly said:

“Don’t overestimate human nature.”

Seeing the serious and dull atmosphere, he took the initiative to smile and ease the atmosphere:
"Well, the situation is not that bad. At least my reputation is very bad. Those people, even if they hate me, can only curse me to death in private, but dare not really cause trouble for me, the 'little king of hell'.

Therefore, since the rebels need me to take the lead and share their hatred, they will not come to kill me... Using me as bait will probably not catch anyone."

Ma Yan sighed, feeling that the situation was tricky.

As a warrior, he was never afraid of open opponents, but he hated this kind of sneaky behavior the most.

I didn't realize it before, but after Zhao Duan's in-depth and easy-to-understand analysis, I was shocked to realize that there were so many calculations behind the seemingly reckless "assassination" of the Thousand-Faced God.

However, even with Zhao Duan's wisdom, he couldn't think of a way to counter it for a while.

"Let's go and report to His Majesty first."

Ma Yan made a decision, and the three of them rode away quickly.

……

……

At noon that day.

An oral decree from the palace was delivered to the desks of major government offices in the capital.

After careful consideration, the empress did not choose to suppress the case and pretend that nothing had happened, but decided to make it public.

The general meaning is that the rebel party of Kuangfushe is so crazy that they assassinated officials of the imperial court and wanted to destroy Dayu.

Her Majesty the Empress has issued an order, ordering the imperial guards of the capital, as well as the troops of the entire Beijing camp, to step up patrols, and the capital has entered a third-level martial law state.

All officials, especially those below the fifth rank, must be more vigilant.

The imperial party tried their best to move to the government office and send imperial guards to guard it.

At the same time, the nine major halls of the imperial court made every effort to search for the "Thousand-Faced God" and even asked some practitioners from the Tianshi Mansion and Shenlong Temple to cooperate.

It’s a pity that the “high-level” leaders of the two major cultivation forces strictly abide by the principle of not participating in the power struggle, and the warlocks they sent out are only at the Divine Chapter Realm at the highest.

As soon as the news came out.

The officialdom in the capital was solemn.

As it was already August, the slightly cool autumn air in the city suddenly became stronger.

For a time, all the officials in the court were furious, and the lower-level officials were all in danger.

And that very night.

Another minor official of the imperial party was taken to a secluded place and tortured to death by the Thousand-Faced God disguised as a "coachman" on his way home.

It is said that the death was miserable, with parts of the skin peeled off.

At the scene, on the wall, similar sentences were written in blood again, claiming that killing was for the sake of the people of the world and demanding that the false emperor withdraw his "evil policies" and severely punish the treacherous Zhao.

Then, came the third case.

The fourth case...

For a time, people panic.

And just as Zhao Duan had expected, gradually, some people in the capital began to be hostile to him.

It was believed that he had angered the rebels, and voices of killing began to emerge.

However, due to the skills Zhao Duan has demonstrated in the past few months, these voices have only remained in private discussions.

And the changes in attitudes of many officials towards Zhao Duan.

But no one actually impeached him.

"A bunch of sheep that are bullying themselves!"

Zhao Duan sneered, Li Yanfu's metaphor was just right.

……

This day.

In the dining room of the new home, the Zhao family of three had dinner together.

Zhao Duan, who seemed to be worried because of the futile efforts to hunt down the Thousand-Faced God for days, ate in silence without a good appetite.

Suddenly, the beautiful stepmother, who was holding the rice bowl and eating in small bites, hesitated again and again and said:

"Dalang..."

"Hmm?" Zhao Duan gave him a puzzled look, "Auntie, is there something wrong?"

Eugene hesitated and said timidly:
"The You Zhande family sent another invitation to our house during the day, wanting to invite you to dinner and apologize in person."

(End of this chapter)