The Empress's No.1 Lackey

"The Duke has spent his life on the battlefield, he should be a wise man, and wise men know when to advance and retreat. Now, the case of Lang Shiba is about to be retried, but how it will be judged, to what extent it will be scrutinized, the choice is not in my hands, nor in the Emperor's hands, but in yours, Duke."

He did not spell it out, but how could Duke Cao not understand?

If he cooperates by surrendering military authority, the Empress is still willing to offer him a relatively dignified outcome.

But if he is unwilling, this ancient case, which has stirred up such a storm, will completely ruin his reputation as a Duke for all eternity.

As long as one is willing to dig deeper, this case alone is enough to implicate numerous crimes of the entire Cao Family, and then, with all these crimes laid bare for the world to see, the Duke An's Mansion will be buried by this grand case.

Cao Mao suddenly realized, he finally understood the full intent behind the Empress's performance in the Golden Throne Hall.

It wasn't just to rally military support, but also to use as leverage against him, with the two possible judgments, lenient or harsh, depending entirely on his choice.

However, Cao Mao shook his head, he suddenly smirked and looked down at Zhao Douan:

"Do you know, why does a noble remain noble? How has my title as Duke An been securely passed down until now? No, you rookies wouldn't know, nor does the Empress, who ascended to the throne not long ago, even understand it deeply. You think you can oust me? The late Emperor couldn't do it, and you think you can?"

Zhao Douan looked on with pity: "You wouldn't want to tell me that the nobles in the Capital will help you, would you, Duke Cao?"

Cao Mao remained silent.

Zhao Douan sighed, feeling a headache coming on, said:

"Indeed, that's exactly what you would think, not just the nobles, but even the local aristocratic families know the principle of marrying among themselves, forming alliances, to protect themselves. But you surely don't really believe, Duke Cao, that this kind of relationship is unbreakable, do you?"

Cao Mao said nothing.

At that moment, from the open doorway, in the snowy courtyard, came noise.

Zhao Douan did not get up, he simply turned his head on the chair, smiling: "Someone's here."

Who?

Cao Mao and his son looked up, their gaze passing over Zhao, through the falling flecks of snow, seeing an old man leaning on a dragon head walking stick, his hair silver as snow, though thin, wrapped in luxurious robes, slowly approaching.

Beside him, a woman supported him.

Most people in the Capital did not recognize this person.

Yet no one would ignore the Purple Gold Imperial Gifted Belt at the old man's waist, embedded with a full eighteen pieces of jade.

Cao Mao was astonished and stood up, exclaiming: "Duke Chen?!"

Another Duke!

But one with an exceedingly special status, who does not wield military power, and even within the family, few hold real authority. Extremely low-key within the Capital, almost a declining nobility.

Because of being so low-key, even Zhao Douan, having been stirring upheaval in the Capital for a year, was seeing this special Duke for the first time.

Duke Chen was renowned during the late Emperor's childhood, Zhao Douan knew little of this person's past, but he knew that he held high prestige among the nobles.

It's known that once this aged Duke, short on time, passes away, the Duke Chen Mansion will completely fall out of the ranks of the nobles.

Yet at the same time, as long as he is alive, even the Old Emperor, not yet deceased, must show him great respect.

He is also the spiritual leader maintaining the entire noble faction.

"Why have you come?" A bad premonition arose in Cao Mao's heart.

Fragile and aged, already with one foot in the grave, yet still holding on, and long uninterested in mundane affairs, Duke Chen arrived at the door, his face full of wrinkles and spots, his cloudy eyes fixed on Cao Mao, uttering the first sentence in a very soft tone:

"Tang Daren approached me a few days ago."

Cao Mao's heart trembled, he opened his mouth: "Did he slander me again?"

Duke Chen slowly shook his head, his eyes complex as he looked at the still elderly, yet much younger than himself, Duke Cao, uttering the second sentence: "He mentioned that Zhao Shixiong has not returned to the Capital."

Cao Mao paused for a moment.

Then, Duke Chen began to cough violently, prompting the woman beside him to gently stroke his emaciated spine, no one spoke, only the sound of falling snow and the old man's coughing echoed within the hall.

Finally, Duke Chen stopped coughing and uttered the third sentence: "It's time to let go, just let it go."

Cao Mao's heart sank to the bottom.

He did not know what exactly transpired during the process, but he understood, he had been discarded by the noble faction.

Leaning on the dragon head walking stick, Duke Chen turned back, glanced at Zhao Douan, who was respectfully standing aside, observed him seriously for a moment, as if scrutinizing his appearance, and upon seeing that he indeed matched well with the Empress, he nodded lightly in satisfaction, said nothing, and thus, trembling, supported by the woman, he exited the rear hall and left the Duke Mansion.

Not until seeing him vanish did Zhao Douan turn back, dust off his robe, sit back in the chair, looked at Cao Mao, who also returned to his seat, and smiled: "Now then, Duke, have you agreed?"

Cao Mao remained silent for a long while before finally speaking calmly: "You indeed have been colluding for a while, no wonder you went to the Imprisonment to visit, to obtain the Northern Blood Saber's oral testimony, no wonder that Tang guy backed you, thought he had long teamed up with the Empress, intending to sell me out for his own stable position."

Not... you really have a vivid imagination... Zhao Douan was taken aback with a laugh, how to put it? You guessed the process entirely wrong, but the result entirely right?

Cao Mao shook his head, as if he had made some decision, his eyes cold: "Even if the city nobles won't aid me, what if I still refuse to agree?"

Finally, on his face appeared the ferocity befitting a Northern wolf king, both hands fiercely gripping the bursting armrests of the Taishi Chair, almost imprinting ten fingerprints into the wood!