The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 132 - 119, senior apprentice brother, please come to the stage.

Childish—

Upon hearing Zhao Douan’s nonchalant words, the Jinyi agents present unanimously cast a "sympathetic" glance toward the fallen green-robed official in the flower bed.

He Zheng still couldn’t wrap his head around why Zhao Douan, instead of choosing a "smarter and safer" approach, went for the simplest and most brutal one.

It was just as he emphasized "rules," but in the world, victory has always relied on the fist.

"Let’s go. Since he said that the Minister of the Ministry of Justice is personally ’interrogating’ our Marquis, I can only go in person to demand his release."

Zhao Douan strode forward with his hands behind his back.

Behind him, Hou Renmeng and Shen Juan, each leading a team, cleared the path, with anyone daring to obstruct them falling one by one.

"Trouble’s coming, Zhao’s broken in, hurry and report..."

Amidst the chaos...

...

In the rear office of the Ministry of Justice, lights were just being lit in the room.

At this moment, Marquis Xiajiang, with an imposing aura and meticulously groomed beard, bowed slightly.

He held up the teapot he had prepared himself, and the light green tea, tinged with yellow, poured into the square bowl, creating a whirlpool:

"My lord, please taste this ’Spring God Tea’ from my collection. It’s ranked as top-grade in the ’tea classics’ written by Jiangnan tea merchants and is considered the same caliber as the Royal tribute.

Its flavor is distinct from the tribute tea, remarkably clear and refreshing. I was fortunate to obtain some."

Opposite him, seated on a square redwood chair behind the desk, was a man approaching sixty, with broad-square features, wearing a black gauze cap, and a deep crease between his brows dressed in a red robe.

He was the highest-ranking official here, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, a Standard Third-Rank Official.

Although slightly inferior to Li Yanfu and Yuann Li,

his position in the court was by no means less prominent than that of the toppled Pei Kaizhi, even surpassing it.

After all, both men were Third-Rank Officials, but the Minister of the Ministry of Justice was one of the "nine ministers."

Though ranked at the bottom of the nine ministers along with the Minister of Communication, the difference was significant.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Historically, during major cases, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice was the chief judge, with the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Justice standing by.

He was an absolute authority on the court.

"Ha! Marquis, this fine tea might be difficult to swallow."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice had a smirk that was not quite a smile, yet he still lifted the teacup to his nose and sniffed:

"Mmm—indeed, this is a fine thing."

The "difficulty" here was naturally not with the tea itself but with the price behind it.

Marquis Xiajiang laughed heartily, as if misunderstanding, and said cheerily:

"If my lord likes it, tomorrow I will have my servant bring all of it from my mansion. Fine tea should end up in the hands of someone who appreciates it. It is wasted on me."

His every word was full of praise for the other while belittling himself...

That is to say, it wasn’t because he really looked down on other ministers outside of the noble circle, but it all depended on the weight of the person in front of him.

"Heh," said the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, without uttering another word, leisurely closed his eyes and savored a sip.

After a moment, he slowly opened his eyelids but did not continue the conversation, merely placing the teacup back on the desk, and said:

"With age, one dares not drink too much after dark for fear of sleeplessness. Now, tell me what happened, who did you offend to rush here seeking refuge?"

Marquis Xiajiang replied with a forced smile:

"Your excellent judgment, sir, it’s really not a major issue..."

He then briefly explained how he had learned from Princess Yunyang that she felt wronged, how he promised to vent her anger,

and how he was caught by Zhao Douan on a weak point, recounting it all.

"I merely instructed my subordinates to find an opportunity to teach Zhao a lesson, but I never expected them to overstep their bounds and kidnap Feng Ju’s family in an attempt to set a trap..."

Marquis Xiajiang looked aggrieved as though he had been implicated by his subordinates:

"Once the incident occurred, Zhao assumed it was my doing. He came over in a murderous rage, and I, having no choice, had to come to the Ministry of Justice to surrender myself."

Quite the "surrender"...

Quite the "blatant lie"...

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice glanced at him calmly, with cloudy eyes that seemed to see through everything without saying a word:

"Marquis, you certainly know how to manage your subordinates, they’re attentive and diligent."

Marquis Xiajiang looked a bit embarrassed, saying:

"Indeed, I’m to blame for not stopping them in time, mainly because I was considering that Zhao Douan’s false accusations against the Prime Minister were known to everyone.

As they say, justice is clear to the heavens, and if it could clear the Prime Minister’s name for all the world, to uphold the clear and bright laws of Great Yu... A slight transgression, after all, isn’t ill-intentioned."

He paused to gauge the reaction and added:

"Especially given your friendship with the Prime Minister..."

"Marquis, be cautious with your words."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice suddenly interjected, speaking indifferently:

"Everyone in the court knows that the Ministry of Justice doesn’t get involved in factional struggles. If I truly owe loyalty to anyone, it’s only to His Majesty."

"Exactly, it was a slip of the tongue on my part, haha," Marquis Xiajiang apologized.

But inside, he cursed the man’s hypocrisy.

While the Minister of the Ministry of Justice was indeed not publicly aligned with the "Li Party," his relationship with Li Yanfu was quite profound.

In private, cases involving the Li Party tended to be somewhat biased.

This was no secret.

The transactions of interests behind the scenes had occurred numerous times already.

This seemingly upright old fellow was an insatiable "glutton," very greedy.

To build connections, Marquis Xiajiang had siphoned a vast sum of money from the Red Flower Society, and a significant portion of it had gone into the glutton’s mouth.

With such protection, he dared to arrogantly arrange the kidnapping of Feng Ju’s family.

Similar incidents had occurred more than once.

Even if there were slip-ups, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice would cover for him.

His choice to deal with Zhao Douan by "overturning a case" was partly indeed to gain favor with Princess Yunyang.

More so, it was an attempt to present this "overturning of the case" as a gift to the "glutton" before him.