"Zhao Douan? Sister, are you talking about that little white-face kept by the Empress?" a priest exclaimed in surprise.
Jin Jian thought for a moment and gently nodded, "Yes, him."
The priests looked at each other in dismay, surprised that the simple-minded Jin Jian, who usually showed no concern for the mundane world, suddenly mentioned this person.
"This person... has a notorious reputation that is despicable," a priest frowned, "Sister, why do you pay attention to him?"
"I heard that this person recently got into trouble, apparently related to the rebels wanted by the court, and it caused quite a stir."
"Ah, I heard about it too, but didn't pay much attention."
The priests of the Heavenly Master Mansion, immersed in cultivation, paid little attention to the tumultuous affairs of the court; the academic atmosphere was intense.
However, everyone loves gossip, especially when it involves "palace secrets" and "harem scandals"; even magicians find it hard to resist their allure.
Thus, Zhao Douan's notoriety in the cultivation circles exceeded that of major court officials like the Prime Minister and the Imperial Censor.
Of course, his reputation remained poor, categorized as an object of collective disdain.
At that moment, a group of magicians buzzed with discussion, sharing the dirt and gossip they knew about Zhao Douan, chatting merrily.
When they remembered Jin Jian again, they were astonished to find that the sister had already left.
The stars and moon were hazy.
Like a ghost, Jin Jian drifted among the buildings of the Heavenly Master Mansion in her dark robe, which rendered her body semi-transparent. The priests along the way took no notice of her.
In the depths of the Heavenly Master Mansion, there was a special courtyard.
In the yard, there stood a large banyan tree with densely packed leaves that remained vibrant throughout the seasons. At night, it emitted a phosphorescent glow, with cicadas chirping constantly in the summer.
Jin Jian walked through the courtyard gate and saw an old man lying leisurely in a rocking chair under the banyan tree.
Tall and strapping, with long beard and eyebrows, narrow eyes, and a gentle face, his black priest robe hung softly.
Seemingly ordinary, yet with an intimidating pedigree, he was the Old Heavenly Master Zhang Yan Yi of this generation, one of the "Four Celestial Beings" of the day.
"Why are you free tonight to visit your master?" Zhang Yan Yi asked without moving, his voice carrying through the air.
Jin Jian, the "Zhu Dian Maiden" among this generation of disciples of the Old Heavenly Master, thought for a moment and said,
"Disciple is puzzled by something."
"How can a Mortal Realm withstand the full force of a world's magician's strike with an intact Divine Soul?"
"Are there no exceptions?" Jin Jian furrowed her brows.
Zhang Yan Yi paused then chuckled,
"Heaven evolves in cycles, man escapes through loopholes, everything in the world, yet nothing is absolute."
Jin Jian's brows relaxed, and she said,
"Disciple still does not understand how it can be done."
"Then go ponder it, study it, like you would scholarly inquiries," the Old Heavenly Master said lazily.
Jin Jian thought it made sense and formally bowed,
"Thank you, Master, for enlightening me."
"Go on," the Old Heavenly Master waved; as the young girl withdrew a hundred meters, the sound of cicadas continued, and the large banyan tree suddenly swayed, its huge, mysterious, and hazy face covering the courtyard.
The face looked puzzled toward the direction the girl had vanished in and slowly said,
"Did she encounter something?"
Zhang Yan Yi lay on the rocking chair, turned over, and without raising his eyelids, mumbled,
That same night, at the Zhang family's home.
Sporting a goatee and dressed as a scholar, Zhang Changshuo bid the doctor farewell and closed the door. He turned to his brother sitting on the sickbed and asked,
Zhang Changji, with his upper body bare and one arm wrapped in gauze, looked pale but was spirited as he stubbornly said,
"Big brother, with my physique, a couple of days of rest and some Pills will do the trick. Who needs a doctor? It was just that Zhao fellow's sneak attack today. I wasn't prepared, otherwise..."
"Shut up!" Zhang Changshuo scolded,
"Aren't you causing enough trouble? Who asked you to storm into someone's house?"
Zhang Changji replied weakly:
"I'm only doing this for you, Brother..."
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!" Zhang Changshuo was full of reproach towards his younger brother.
Maybe that was part of it.
But more so, it was about personal vendetta and misdirected thinking.
He berated, frustrated that he couldn't instill more wisdom in him:
"I've told you countless times, think before you act. Rashness and impulsivity will lead you to your demise."
Wasn't it you who confidently said that Zhao would be doomed, which emboldened me to act… Zhang Changji thought to himself, but he dared not talk back.
After thinking it over, he said resentfully,
"But should we just let this matter go? It's minor that I got hit, but Brother, you being disliked by His Majesty is the major issue."
Zhang Changshuo, with an expressionless face and his folding fan gripped tightly, narrowed his eyes and said,
"Of course we won't let it go, let Zhao Douan be complacent for a while. Hmph, he may seem to have escaped disaster this time, but he's thoroughly offended the Prime Minister. We just need to find the right opportunity, add fuel to the fire, and use others to exact our revenge...
As for now, we should lay low for a while, no doubt he wouldn't dare to trouble us."
After returning, he had learned through various inquiries about Feng Ju's accusation and understood Zhao Douan's manipulations.
Of course, he didn't believe Zhao Douan possessed such wisdom and skill, confident that it was the Empress's covert instructions.
Zhang Changshuo thought, he himself was just careless, not quick enough to dodge, and next time he would be cautious and surely could finish Zhao off in one blow.
Little did he know, Zhao Douan had already put him on a kill list.
"Alright, I'll listen to you," Zhang Changji, although impulsive, obeyed in serious matters. He thought for a moment then suddenly said,
"Right, people from the south contacted me earlier about the matter of firearms, should I stall them? Or proceed as usual?"
Zhang Changshuo replied coldly,
"Cease contact! At this critical juncture, your every move could easily draw attention. Stall them, take advantage of your injury to excuse yourself for recovery."
Zhang Changji, inwardly disagreeing, felt his scholar brother was overly cautious and indecisive.
Who could be watching him?
Could it really be that Zhao Douan?
The night passed without conversation.
The next day, several events shook the Capital's bureaucratic circles.
Empress Xu Zhenguan, in a morning court session, flew into a rage and, using the case revealed by Feng Ju as a pretext, demanded a thorough investigation of corruption in the bureaucracy.
The spearhead pointed directly at Li Yanfu and his "Li Party."
Imperial Censor Yuan Li chimed in, and the issue of changing crops, which logically followed, was handed over by the Empress to the "Clean Stream Party."
Although Feng Ju had blemishes, his timely correction earned him the Empress's praise and promotion. Wang Xian, caught up in the affair, was arrested at his home.
It was said that as Li Yanfu left the court, his face was as dark as water and no officials dared approach him.
The impeachment against Zhao Douan was temporarily suspended.
At the same time, rumors about Zhao Douan possibly being honored with a title of 'Tributor' spread wildly.
For a while, many who were eager to see him fall were shocked, and the literati in the marketplace mocked the foolish emperor and the nation-ruining Zhao Gou.
Zhao Douan pretended not to hear, his reputation was already thoroughly tarnished, and this did not make things any worse.
A few days later, public opinion gradually settled.
People's attention was diverted by a major anti-corruption campaign in the court.
That day, early in the morning.
As Zhao Douan stepped out of his house and entered the carriage waiting outside,
Unsurprisingly, he picked up a stack of documents inside the carriage.
"Is this all?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows while browsing through them.
Zhu Kui, with a sycophantic smile, said,
"The time was a bit tight; you needed it urgently. I've only managed to gather this much for now. Speaking of which, your sudden inquiry into Zhang Changji, could it be…"
Dressed in exquisite Jinyi, the handsome Zhao Douan lounged lazily inside the carriage, glanced through the curtain, and suddenly smiled:
"If I said I wanted to kill him, would you… believe me?"
ps: I'm panicking as I've run out of drafts.