After Rong Xia ascended the throne, his methods were strong, but when it came to human relations, he would not make people feel that he was overbearing. In less than half a month, the officials of the court gradually became used to his way of doing things.
Knowing that the Emperor placed great importance on the coronation of the Empress, no one in the imperial harem dared to slack off, especially the palace servants who served the Empress. Everyone's birth characters were calculated, and those whose birth dates were unknown were all filtered out. Those whose appearances were not good enough were not accepted, and those who had been tainted with bad luck in the past were not accepted.
"Even His Majesty's coronation ceremony was not so strict," the taijian who was wiping the floor said to his companion, "The Empress really has the Emperor's heart."
"Tsk," the companion looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before he said smugly in a small voice, "You think too simply. This is not just His Majesty placing importance on the Empress. Have you forgotten the surname of the Empress's ancestors?"
The taijian shook his head dazedly: "His Majesty is so good to niangniang, isn't this placing importance on her?"
"The Empress is very popular in the military. His Majesty has just taken over the world, shouldn't he show that he places importance on the Empress?" The companion said mysteriously, "Don't forget, the Empress still has the blood of the Imperial House. His Majesty's present throne was given to him by the Crown Prince of the previous dynasty, do you understand?"
The taijian's expression became even more confused. If His Majesty was only doing this for these reasons, he did not have to go to this extent. Was he not afraid that the Empress would control the court?
Ban Han stood outside the hall and listened to the two's conversation. She turned and saw the pale-faced and trembling palace maids and taijian behind her. She smiled and said: "Let's go."
It was just the ignorant words of two inferior taijian. She did not need to take it to heart.
After Ban Gong left, the steward eunuch in the main hall walked out and kicked the two eunuchs who didn't know what had happened. "You two don't want to live, but I, your grandfather, still want to live. You really are audacious. You even dare to make up stories about His Majesty and Her Majesty?! Come, gag their mouths and drag them out … … "
Just as the eunuch in charge was fuming with rage, a well-dressed young woman with her hair tied up in a bun walked over. "Are you the eunuch in charge here?"
The steward eunuch took a look at the woman. Her facial features were beautiful, her clothes were not ordinary, and she even had a waist token of the Great Moon Palace on her waist. He hurriedly nodded and bowed, saying, "Miss, what can I do for you?"
"We don't dare to give orders. Even our niangniang said that these two little things did not mean it. Niangniang does not take these words to heart," the female official said with a stern expression, "But inside the palace, we cannot speak carelessly. There must not be a next time. Otherwise, we will punish according to the rules."
"Yes, yes, yes." The steward kicked the two eunuchs who were kneeling on the ground. "You two, come over and thank me."
"That's enough." Yuzhu frowned. "As stewards, you should take care of the people around you. If your subordinates make a mistake, you should be punished as well."
The steward's knees trembled. Even after Yu Zhu left, he didn't dare to stand up straight.
"Gan-grandfather …" A young eunuch wanted to go up and curry favor but was pushed away by the steward.
This new Empress was both gracious and stern. Her style of conduct was completely different from Empress Dowager Fu Ping. As servants, they had to be more careful. Thinking of some of the ways this person had acted when she was still a junzhu, he felt a chill run down his back and almost fell to the ground.
"Niangniang," Ruyi followed behind Ban Han and said carefully, "Those are young eunuchs who don't know much. What they say is not accurate. Don't take it to heart."
"Silly Ruyi, growing up, what kind of words have I not heard?" Ban Han smiled unconcernedly. "When I was a junzhu, other people also liked to say these things. Now that I am the Empress, there will only be more people talking about me behind my back."
"Then …" Ruyi was worried that there would be animosity between the Empress and His Majesty. At that time, the one who would suffer would only be her niangniang.
"Then there's nothing to say. I won't take it to heart." Ban Han had already guessed what these people would say. For example, her virtue was not worthy of being the Empress. They were worried that she was extravagant. They were also worried that her relatives would monopolize power.
These people wanted nothing more than to worry for the Emperor, but if the Emperor treated them with this kind of thought, they would naturally change their way of speaking.
"The Emperor, of course everyone wants to fight for his favor. Whoever the Emperor favors is their enemy." Ban Han touched her mouth. "In any case, I'm used to being a thorn in other people's side. This kind of laborious work, leave it to me. If I'm not as good as hell, who will enter hell? "
Ruyi: …
She felt that she had worried for nothing.
This matter quickly reached Rong Xia's ears. He listened to Du Jiu's report and his expression was very ugly. After a long silence, he asked: "What was niangniang's reaction?"
"Niangniang, she …" Du Jiu's expression became subtle. "Niangniang said, if she doesn't enter hell, who will?"
Hearing this, Rong Xia paused for a moment and then laughed in a low voice.
"Your Majesty?" Du Jiu felt that His Majesty's mood seemed to have improved in an instant.
Rong Xia put down the brush in her hand. She stood and said: "When Zhou Daren comes, say that zhen has something to do and have him go back first."
Seeing His Majesty go to the back hall, Du Jiu rubbed his nose with a helpless expression.
Right now, he was the commander of the Imperial Guards. In private, he had taken over His Majesty's former spy group. Therefore, he knew a lot of things that happened in the palace. For example, the Empress liked to leave the palace when she had nothing to do. Another example was that Empress Dowager Fu Ping had once pleaded with the Empress Dowager to put in a good word for the King of Violence in front of His Majesty.
Whatever Empress Dowager Fu Ping had said, whatever the Empress Dowager Fu Ping had said, he had reported it all to His Majesty. After this incident, His Majesty suddenly ordered that they were not allowed to get close to the Empress or spy on her.
This incident, if it wasn't for the fact that the spies were watching the coronation ceremony and didn't allow anyone to do anything, they wouldn't have known about it.
Rong Xia had just arrived at the back hall when she saw Ban Han dressed in riding attire. He looked like he was preparing to go out.
"Huahua, you are going out of the palace?"
"En," Ban Han nodded. "Last time, I said that I was going back to Jing to take care of a certain assassin organization. I can't go back on my words."
After a moment of shock, Rong Xia finally remembered what she had said. She couldn't help but laugh: "These people have already escaped. How can you find them?"
"It's not that easy to escape. I've already arranged for people to watch over them." She pushed Rong Xia into the hall. "Hurry and change your clothes. I'll take you to destroy the place."
Rong Xia changed her clothes and saw Ban Han's eager expression: "What do you want to do?"
"First of all, there needs to be a lot of people," Ban Ti said in an experienced tone. "Three years ago, there was a gambling house that wanted to trick little brother Heng into gambling. I took people and smashed the gambling house clean."
At the time, there were many thugs in the gambling den, but they couldn't compare to the personal guards she had brought. Those people were beaten until they cried for their parents. Even the people behind the gambling den didn't dare to make trouble for her.
Leaving the palace, seeing the bustling crowd, Rong Xia suddenly realized. Ever since he moved into the palace, he hadn't had a chance to take a good look at Jing.
The faces of these people were filled with joy, anger, sorrow, and joy. They came and went in a hurry as though they had forgotten the recent war.
"You have done what you said." Ban Han rode on horseback and looked at the handsome man beside him. He smiled and said, "You have kept the prosperity of Jing."
Hearing this, Rong Xia stilled. His throat became uncomfortable: "Huahua …"
"What's wrong?" Ban Han looked back at him with a smile, "Did you forget the promise you made?"
Rong Xia shook his head: "I didn't forget, and I won't forget."
At that time, he still had a glimmer of old affection for the Jiang Family dynasty. It was not until Wanfu was poisoned and assassinated and almost lost her soul that Emperor Yunqing continued to shield her that he could no longer bear it.
No one in the Jiang Family was qualified to be an emperor. He didn't need to endure anymore.
Originally, he thought that it would take him at least three or four years to enter Jing. However, the Three Army Tiger Tally given to him by De Ning Princess Royal and Huahua's ability to mobilize troops made him even more powerful. What would have taken him three or four years to complete or even fail in the end, was completed in one year.
Two or three years didn't seem important, but for the people of the world, every minute of war meant that they would suffer more and more people would die.
Ban Han saw that he was deep in thought and didn't know what he was thinking, so he sighed helplessly. Smart men were good at everything, but they thought too much. Would they age easily?
"We're here."
Ban Han's words brought Rong Xia back to reality. He saw that there were few people here, but the pavilions were exquisitely built. Many of them had beautiful red lanterns hanging in front of their doors. In front of the wooden building they were facing, there was a plaque with the words "Huan Hua Pavilion" written on it. The name was elegant, but the words were a bit frivolous.
He frowned: "Where is this?"
"This is the headquarters of the assassin building. They probably don't know that they have been exposed." Ban Han jumped off his horse, put one hand on his waist, and said to his guards, "Smash it. The harder, the better."
"Yes!"
Ban Han's guards took out hammers, axes, maces, and other things from their cloth bags and smashed them at the door of Huan Hua Pavilion. In the blink of an eye, the carved door was smashed into pieces. A guard who looked very short kicked the remaining half of the wooden door and sent it flying. It smashed into the screen wall and shattered into pieces.
Du Jiu and the other guards of the Emperor looked at this scene with their mouths agape. It was the first time they saw the true style of a playboy.
"This is called preemptive strike."
Ban Han raised his chin. "That's what we did when we smashed the mansion of the Count Of Zhongping."
Du Jiu closed his mouth. The Ban Family's method was really simple and crude, but … it was very satisfying.
Ban Han's actions were too loud, and it alarmed the people of Huan Hua Pavilion. A few strong men rushed out with sticks in their hands. However, before they could say anything, they were beaten up by Ban Ti's personal guards. Ban Ti had brought many personal guards with him. No matter if these strong men were simple pimps or killers disguised as pimps, they couldn't fight back at all under this round of attack.
"Aiyo, aiyo, this servant greets you." A woman wearing a purple dress came out. Although she was a middle-aged woman, it could be seen from her eyes that she must have been a very beautiful woman when she was young. "I don't know how this servant's small courtyard offended you and made you so angry."
"I don't like your building, so I need to smash it to vent my anger." Ban Han raised his hand. "Continue, don't stop."
The woman in purple almost couldn't hold back her smile. "Noble, what do you mean by this?"
"Exactly what I mean." Ban Han pushed the woman away. "Don't block me, stay away from me."
The woman in purple was angered by Ban Han's arrogant attitude. "Noble, although you have a high status, you shouldn't bully people like this. If you continue to cause trouble, this servant will have to report this to the authorities."
"Go ahead and report it, I'll see who dares to stop me." Ban Han's face was full of arrogance. "Do you know who my father is? Do you know who my husband is? Even if the capital governor came, he would have to kneel down in front of me. "
The woman had seen all kinds of people in the brothel. People like this who kept talking about their father, brothers, and uncles weren't valued by their families. People with real status mostly kept a low profile, unlike this woman, who was afraid that others wouldn't know.
Understanding this, the woman in purple's face became even uglier. "Noble, as a woman, you dare to cause trouble in a brothel like ours. Your husband is a respectable person, but if he knew that you came to cause trouble for poor people like us, I'm afraid that his face wouldn't look too good."
"Then I'm really sorry. My husband is very obedient to me. Don't talk about me smashing your building. Even if I burned it down, he would help me take care of it." Ban Yu was addicted to being unreasonable. After arguing with the brothel keeper for a while, he ordered his subordinates to smash even more.
Rong Xia, who was standing outside the door, turned to look at Du Jiu. "This place is …"
Brothel Alley?
Du Jiu nodded awkwardly.
From time to time, there were sounds of banging and banging, as well as the screams of women. It was very lively.
Several brothels nearby heard the noise and stuck their heads out to take a look. When they saw that there were many people outside the Huan Hua Pavilion, they shrank their heads back.
It must be that the man didn't protect his lower body and was caught by the fierce woman. Now he brought his guards to the brothel to cause trouble. Smash, smash well, smash harder. With one less brothel, there would be one less competitor.
The woman in purple saw that Ban Han was in their brothel and couldn't bear it anymore. She angrily said, "Noble, you've gone too far. Don't blame me for being impolite."
As soon as she finished speaking, more than a dozen strong men with swords rushed out of the building. These people had a murderous aura. It was obvious that they weren't ordinary people.
"A small brothel dares to illegally carry swords." Ban Han sneered. "Your fox tail has finally shown itself. Come, surround this building. Don't let anyone escape."
"Yes."
The woman in purple noticed that the old men who swept the floor, the old women who cooked in the kitchen, and the rough servants who planted flowers all stood out. These people were no longer timid and honest. They became aggressive.
Seeing this situation, she knew that things weren't good. The other party obviously came prepared. These old women and old men were recruited half a year ago. Half a year ago, this woman had placed people in their brothel. What was her identity?
Things had come to this point. The woman in purple knew that they had no other way out. They could only fight.
Hearing the sound of weapons colliding, Rong Xia's face darkened. She dismounted and said, "Everyone go in and protect the Empress."
"Yes."
Du Jiu felt that at this time, there was no need to worry about the Empress's safety. The Empress's personal guards were definitely first-class. The assassins in this brothel couldn't even get close to the Empress.
Du Jiu's guess was correct. When they rushed into the building, they saw the Empress' personal guards suppressing the assassins. Moreover, relying on their numbers, the assassins were beaten to the point where they couldn't fight back at all.
He looked back at His Majesty's expression and raised his hand to signal his subordinates to rush forward. Only half of them stayed by His Majesty's side to protect him.
In less than half an hour, all the assassins were arrested. Even the prostitutes in the brothel were brought out and lined up according to their height.
"A famous assassin organization in the capital, hiding in a brothel." Ban Han walked around the tightly bound assassins. As he walked, he used a racket to hit their heads. "You dare to take on any kind of business and kill any kind of people. Your backer is gone, and you still want to stay in the capital and get away with it. Do you think everyone else is stupid?"
These poor assassins all boasted that they were cold-blooded and ruthless. At this time, they were like dogs being hit by Ban Han. They couldn't even resist. Words couldn't describe how sullen they felt.
Ban Han sat down on a chair. "Speak. Back then, the King of Violence and the Changqing Of Gojoseon colluded. Who arranged for people to assassinate Marquis Cheng'an?"
Hearing the words "Marquis Cheng'an," the purple-clothed woman's eyes flashed. She didn't say anything.
"You tell me." Ban Han pointed at the purple-clothed woman. "I know you're not an ordinary brothel keeper. You're the leader of the Assassin Brothel. What's your relationship with the Changqing Of Gojoseon?"
The purple-clothed woman gritted her teeth. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Anyway, the Changqing Of Gojoseon is locked up in the Celestial Prison. I'll torture him when I'm bored. What do you think?"
The purple-clothed woman's eyelids trembled slightly, but her expression didn't change. "I don't know this person. You don't have to tell me what you want to do."
"Has anyone ever told you that your eyebrows and eyes are somewhat similar to the Changqing Of Gojoseon?"
"I'm just a lowly person. How can I compare to the Changqing Of Gojoseon?"
"Of course you can compare. Right now, he's just a lowly person." Ban Han played with his beautifully manicured fingernails. "He assassinated the current Emperor. Even the death penalty wouldn't be too much. However, I have some friendship with the Changqing Of Gojoseon. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll ask the Emperor to spare his life. He'll just be a lowly person and stay in the harem as a servant. "
There was only one type of lowly person who stayed in the harem as a servant. That was a eunuch.
The purple-clothed woman finally couldn't control her emotions. She stared at Ban Han. "Who are you?!"
"Me?" Ban Han raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Your son called me …"
"Who's causing trouble?!" Zhao Dongan rushed into Huan Hua Pavilion with his subordinates. He saw a group of people kneeling or standing in the lobby. There was also a group of people who he couldn't identify. He swallowed the scolding that was on the tip of his tongue.
As an eighth-rank county magistrate in the capital, he knew that everyone in the capital was a lord. He couldn't afford to offend them.
"You are?" Du Jiu looked at Zhao Dongan's official robes. "County magistrate?"
"I am the County Magistrate of the capital, Zhao Dongan. May I ask who you are and why you are causing trouble here?" Zhao Dongan cupped his fists to Du Jiu. "If you have any problems, you can report it to the officials. I will do my best to mediate. Please do not use weapons without permission. According to the regulations of the capital, citizens are not allowed to carry weapons without permission. If the offense is light, the penalty will be one tael of silver. If the offense is heavy, the offender will be imprisoned. Please put away your weapons. "
Du Jiu saw that the county magistrate's shoulders were still trembling when he spoke, but he still said these words. He said, "Don't worry, Official Zhao. We are following orders. We will not violate the regulations of the capital."
If they didn't violate the regulations of the capital, it meant that their identities weren't ordinary. They were also allowed to carry weapons. Zhao Dongsheng stole a glance at the seated man and woman. The man was handsome while the woman was dressed in a gorgeous riding outfit. Her appearance was so beautiful that no one dared to take a second look at her. Zhao Dongsheng was secretly surprised. Why did this woman look so familiar?
As if he had seen her somewhere before.
Zhao Dongsheng had seen Ban Heng before. Two years ago, Ban Heng had found Zhao Dongsheng, the county magistrate, to report a case because someone fainted in front of his horse. The person who fainted was taken away by unknown people.
"You are the county magistrate of the capital?" Ban Han turned to look at Zhao Dongsheng and nodded. "Two years ago, my younger brother came to report a case to you. When he came back, he said that you were very responsible. It seems that he was not lying."
Zhao Dongsheng didn't dare to look at Ban Han. "May I ask who your younger brother is?"
"The heir of the Jingting Gongfu."
Oh, so it was the hedonistic heir of the Jingting Gongfu.
No, the Duke Of Jingting only had one son and one daughter. This woman said that her younger brother was the heir of the Ban Heng family. Then wouldn't she be …
With a thud, Zhao Dongsheng knelt down in front of Ban Han.
"Did you see that?" Ban Han smiled at the woman in purple. He was extremely cute. "I told you before that my father and husband are very powerful. Do you believe me now?"
Rong Xia, "…"
Du Jiu, "…"
Zhao Dongsheng, "…"
"It's you. It's actually you." The woman in purple suddenly thought of something. Her expression suddenly became fearful. She was afraid that Ban Han would reveal her secret. She also didn't dare to let the Changqing Of Gojoseon know about her past.
Seeing her like this, Ban Han felt that this woman was both pitiful and hateful. She shook her head. "Don't worry. As long as you tell me everything clearly, I won't say anything that you don't dare to say."
The woman in purple was silent for a moment. Then, she told Ban Han how she built the assassin's tower, how she trained the assassins, who she helped kill, and how she resolved grudges.
In order to make Ban Han keep her secret, she even took out the name list.
Ban Han ordered his personal guards to put all the assassins in jail. As for the prostitutes who didn't know the truth, if they were willing to turn over a new leaf, he would let them. If they were willing to return to their old jobs, he didn't care.
Many of the prostitutes felt that no matter how they lived in the future, the fact that they used to work in the assassin's tower and that they had seen the Empress was enough for them to brag to others for the rest of their lives.
After leaving Huan Hua Pavilion, Rong Xia and Ban Han got on their horses. Ban Han glanced at Zhao Dongsheng who was following closely behind them. She said, "You can go by yourself."
Zhao Dongsheng saw that Ban Han was acting intimately with the handsome man beside her. He had already guessed the man's identity. However, there were many people here. He didn't dare to reveal the Emperor's identity. He could only suppress this excitement in his heart.
"Huahua," Rong Xia said to Ban Han after they returned to the palace. "That assassin leader, is she the mother of the Changqing Of Gojoseon?"
Ban Han nodded silently. After a while, she said, "The Changqing Of Gojoseon is a mess. It's just that they've covered it up so that outsiders don't know about it."
Originally, even she didn't know about it.
Until that day, when her grandmother passed away. She went to the Grand Royal Residence for the last time. In the tree hole where she and her grandfather liked to hide their "treasures," she found a box full of secrets of the royal family.
These things were specially left for her by her grandmother.
Because her grandmother knew that she would definitely go back and take a look at the place where she used to play.
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