Chapter 409 Asking for help

Chapter 409 Asking for help

Chapter 409 Asking for help
On the winter streets, Ma Yan and Tang Ping rode their horses at full speed, causing the people along the way to scare them and avoid them.

The huge horseshoe inlaid with horseshoes hit the stone road, making a roar like metal collision.

Fortunately, the Duke's Mansion was not far from the Imperial Court, and soon the building in front was in sight.

"Go to Lihua Hall!" Ma Yan rode his horse around the main gate and headed straight for the small door of Lihua Hall. The two of them hurriedly broke into the yamen with anxious looks, fearing that they would have an irreparable conflict.

However, to their surprise, the Lihua Hall was completely empty, without a single person in sight.

"no one?"

Ma Yan's heart sank, and then he vaguely heard a noise coming from the direction of the Yamen Square.

He immediately grabbed the young master and ran over there. From afar, he saw people in brocade clothes gathered around the square, in three layers inside and outside.

"The Governor is back!" Someone with sharp eyes bowed his head and saluted.

Ma Yan's face was grim and anxious: "What are you doing here?"

The detective shuddered with fear and explained:

"Duke Tang's second daughter is competing with Lord Zhao..."

The duel... the fight started... Ma Yan and Tang Ping who was following behind both felt their hearts sink and had a bad premonition.

Especially the young master's handsome face showed annoyance.

In his opinion, it was all a misunderstanding. Now that his second sister had beaten Lord Zhao, given Zhao Duan's vengeful character and His Majesty's favor for him, the consequences would be disastrous.

Yes, in his opinion, the outcome of the competition was a foregone conclusion.

"Get out of the way!" Ma Yan shouted, pushed the crowd apart and rushed into the front row.

Then, Ma Yan, who had already prepared to rescue Zhao Duan, froze in expression, his body suddenly stiffened, his pupils slightly dilated, and he looked at the scene in disbelief.

"Superintendent, what's going on? Is Lord Zhao seriously injured?"

Young Master Tang Ping lagged behind by a step and now he also squeezed through the crowd, and then his voice got stuck in his throat.

In the messy square, Zhao Duan was leisurely tidying up his clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles, and sheathing the Frost Sword.

Next to him, there was a pitch-black lance lying on the ground. Tang Zhao, the "Rouge Horse of the Frontier", was tied to the ground and was cursing.

Her hands and feet were bound, and "ropes" made of Buddha's light bound her tightly in the "tortoise shell binding" posture, making it difficult for her to break free. She cursed with words like "no martial ethics".

"Master... Governor? You're back so soon?" Zhao Duan asked with a surprised look on his face.

After seeing the young master under the Shenji Camp, his expression became a little strange.

"Little...brother?" Tang Zhao, who had unlocked the defeat CG in the tortoise shell binding posture, stopped cursing abruptly, and turned his head away in shame in front of his brother's stunned gaze.

At the same time, the power of the Buddhist chains on her body was exhausted and gradually dimmed and disappeared.

"Governor!" Haitang, Zhang Han and other Jinyi officials around him bowed and saluted.

Ma Yan ignored him. There was no expression on his long face. He just looked at the two men several times and said:

"you……"

Zhao Duan smiled and said, "Miss Tang wanted to compete with me in martial arts, and I was lucky enough to win by one move."

How is it possible? How can you beat Tang Zhao? Also, what is the binding spell? Even with Ma Yan's experience, he fell silent.

Feeling the gazes of his subordinates, he rubbed his brows and scolded:
"Go back to your respective posts. Who allowed you to leave your post without permission?"

Immediately, he looked at the Tang siblings and the troublemaker with complicated eyes:

"Go to the back hall!"

……

In the back hall, in a room in the small courtyard.

"So, this is all a misunderstanding. At the beginning, Zhao Chenshi wanted to find out the traitor, so he kicked me out of the Shenji Camp.

Later, it was found out that I was deceived by some people with ulterior motives. After the incident, I and many of my colleagues explained the misunderstanding to Zhao Chenshi and I was reinstated." Tang Ping patiently recounted the incident.

Tang Zhao, who was successfully rescued from the defeat cg, sat in the chair, rubbing his wrist slowly. He listened to the younger brother's story with a stern face, his face turned red and white, and he cursed angrily:
"Why don't you write to explain it to me and my father?"

The young master's face turned red:
"What's there to say about such a small matter? I don't know where you got the information from, and why did you come to my house directly?"

Sitting opposite the siblings, Zhao Duan, who was sipping tea, gave a proper reminder:
"Duke Tang even took a detour because of this, leaving us officials waiting in the cold wind for a long time."

The brother and sister were choked and speechless.

The atmosphere in the room was extremely awkward. Neither the brother nor the sister was willing to bow to others, so they pursed their lips and said nothing. In the end, Tang Ping sighed, stood up and saluted to Zhao Duan in shame:
"Sir, my sister came to my house without knowing the whole story. I have offended her, but the root of the problem lies with me. I am willing to be punished by military law."

Tang Zhao, who was like a tigress, was anxious. She stood up and stopped her younger brother behind her. She stared at Zhao Duan who was standing opposite her reluctantly. She dug the ground with her ten toes in her boots, mustered up her courage, and said stiffly:

"This matter is my fault. It has nothing to do with Tang Ping. If you want to vent your anger or make compensation, I will take care of it alone!"

Ma Yan sat in the main seat, frowned and said nothing, looking at Zhao Duan.

However, the expected sarcasm did not appear. Zhao Duan slowly put down the teacup, smiled, and said:
"Miss Tang, your words are too serious. If it is a misunderstanding, it will be fine once it is resolved. As for military law, huh, Tang Ping, do you think that I am a person who abuses the law?"

The brother and sister were both stunned and looked at him in surprise. They didn't expect Zhao Duan to be so easy to talk to.

Zhao Duan was stared at and didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

"Why? Do you think I am the kind of person who never gives in even when I am right?" "No..." The young master waved his hands, but his eyes betrayed him.

Over the past six months, no one in the officialdom of the capital has doubted Zhao Duan's courage.

Others might be cautious when flattering a duke and not dare to provoke him.

But Zhao Duan is undoubtedly an exception.

Considering that "King Zhao" is vindictive and will avenge any offense he has caused, such a magnanimous person like Zhao seems indescribably strange in his eyes.

Zhao Duan sighed softly, feeling helpless.

There were indeed many names in his little notebook, but he was not a mad dog. If he wanted to gain a foothold in the court, a certain predecessor had already given him earnest advice, which was nothing more than forming cliques.

In other words, make more friends and fewer enemies.

Zhao Duan would certainly spare no effort to strike down those enemies with whom he had become irreconcilable and had formed deep hatred.

But for a high-ranking official like Duke Tang, who was in a high position of power and had no substantial conflict of interest with him, he would be crazy to offend him to death just because of this misunderstanding.

Besides... he didn't suffer any loss. He just stood there in the cold wind for a while, then turned around and beat up the other person's daughter. He made a profit.

"Ahem, now that Zhao Jisi has said so, it's good that the misunderstanding is resolved. You two should return home first to avoid making the Duke worry." Ma Yan spoke at the right time.

The brother and sister finally came to their senses and thanked Zhao Duan with mixed feelings. After saluting to their superior Ma Yan, they left together.

……

the other side.

The brother and sister rode back to the Duke's Mansion on horseback, walked straight through the pavilions and went to the east wing.

When I opened the door of the wing room, there were only two women in the room. One was an older woman, her beauty was long gone, but she was very elegant and was the head of the household. The wife of the Duke of Guo.

The other one was a noble lady in her late forties, Tang Ping's eldest sister. She had been married for a long time and had specially returned to her parents' home today.

"Mother, elder sister." Tang Ping stepped into the room, bowed to the two of them, and asked, "Where is father?"

The eldest sister of the Tang family has a rare gentle personality in the family. She said:
"Father is going to talk to those officials. Don't disturb him. He will be back soon."

The old lady stared at Tang Zhao, who looked like he had done something wrong, and said unhappily:
"What trouble have you gotten yourself into again?"

"I didn't..." Tang Zhao insisted.

The old lady was so angry that she started to scold her, saying things like "not like a girl". The eldest sister and Tang Ping beside her worked together to comfort her.

After a long while, a servant came over and said, "Second Miss, Young Master, the master wants you to come over."

The brother and sister walked out of the wing room and went to the main hall. They saw that the officials had just left and the room was still full of leftover tea cups, fruit plates, and a charcoal basin that was no longer very hot.

Duke Tang, who had a lame leg and was dressed in gorgeous clothes with a dignified appearance, sat alone in the main seat. On the snow-white wall behind him was a large painting of an ink dragon. This painting was the work of a famous artist and was hung in the main hall. It was said that it could shock people.

"Father."

The brother and sister saluted side by side.

Duke Tang looked at the two of them in surprise, especially his second daughter, whose temperament was just as rebellious as her own when she was young. He was surprised that the other party was so "obedient".

As his thoughts turned and he had already come up with some guesses, he said calmly:
"You beat him up? You know you're in trouble? Never mind, he's just a favorite minister. I've offended him, but I can't kill him. If he's still alive, I can save him with medicine. As for the anger of His Majesty, I'll deal with it."

Tang Ping opened his mouth and explained:

"Father, no...it's not that bad, and Lord Zhao hasn't..."

Tang Zhao hung his head in dismay and said unconvincedly: "I didn't win, I lost."

Duke Tang was stunned. He turned his head and stared at his daughter's face, as if he had heard it wrongly.

……

……

Imperial yamen.

After seeing off the siblings, Ma Yan sighed with mixed feelings:
"Fortunately, although there were some twists and turns, it didn't cause a big mess. After they go back, they will explain everything to Duke Tang, and the matter will be over. I just hope that the second young lady won't bear a grudge..."

Zhao Duan rolled his eyes: "I don't bear grudges, and she's not happy?"

Ma Yan said helplessly:

"You win the fight, but you tied him up like that... That way of tying him up is new, I have never seen it before."

"Oh, that's called the tortoise shell bind. Brother, let me tell you, this..." Zhao Duan was so excited that he was about to explain it.

Suddenly, the two heard a commotion outside again, accompanied by the sound of someone breaking in.

The two stopped talking and looked towards the closed door at the same time. Then, they saw the door was suddenly pushed open, and the cold wind wrapped in a little snow foam rushed into the room.

The person who pushed the door was a woman with white eyes, wearing a frozen red dress and with black hair scattered like a ghost.

"Ji Yue? Why are you here?" Zhao Duan exclaimed in surprise.

Jiyue, a socially anxious person, raised his head, his face pale, and said in a trembling voice:

"The drunkard has been arrested!"

(End of this chapter)