The First Lackey Under The Empress

Revenge on Zhuang Xiaocheng?

Inside the frigid interrogation room, when Zhao Douan casually uttered these words, all three prisoners were taken aback.

Qingniao and Wu Ling were astonished and instinctively pondered the purpose of this imperial hawk's visit.

Yunxi's reaction was even more direct. She had instinctively wanted to discard the handkerchief tainted with Zhao Douan's scent.

But upon hearing these words, her pale hand paused, and she actually smeared it haphazardly across her face, wiping away the tears, and asked with a cold gaze:

"You want to deal with him?"

Zhao Douan leaned back slightly, folding his hands over his abdomen, mimicking the posture of a police boss in a movie, and nodded with a smile:

"Isn't it obvious? You know best about the feud between this official and him."

Indeed!

From Yunxi's perspective, Zhuang Xiaocheng had almost killed Zhao Douan in the bamboo forest shrine in the southern suburbs, and had even left behind a huge pit of "letting go of the rebels."

The feud was immense.

"You want me to help you?"

Yunxi's mind raced, and she sneered: "Why do you think I would help you?"

Zhao Douan smiled and said: "Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn't it?"

Yunxi snorted. She said stiffly:

"Zhuang Xiaocheng is a black-hearted old dog, but you are no good either."

She had indeed turned to the dark side, but that did not mean she had changed her attitude and thought Zhao Douan was a "good person."

Zhao Douan was not angry either. He said with interest:

"You're right, this official can't be considered a good person, but I can help you get rid of Zhuang Xiaocheng, and I can prevent the people of the Great Yu Dynasty from continuing to be deceived by the old dog Zhuang.

Don't you want to awaken those benevolent people with lofty ideals who are still being deceived, just like you, as soon as possible?"

Yunxi did not say a word; she was moved!

Of course, she was not stupid.

In fact, after facing the wall for most of the night, she had already realized that Zhao Douan had "other plans" for her.

From the initial imprisonment without torture, to now deliberately taking her out to shatter her beliefs, this step by step, would not be so boring as to simply watch her ugly state.

"The useful information I know is not much," Yunxi suddenly said. She said indifferently:

"Following Zhuang Xiaocheng, I did get some information more or less, but most of it involved the Jingcheng branch, and now that the branch has been uprooted by you, I have no information to give you."

Zhao Douan was not surprised. He still smiled and did not speak.

Yunxi said to herself:

"Or, do you want me to change my position like Qian Mian and work for the imperial court? Help you open the door to the Kuangfu Society? For example, find a chance to release me and let me escape back? To be your spy?"

The girl's tone was indifferent, thinking she had seen through Zhao Douan's intentions.

She shook her head and said:

"Even if I am willing, it is meaningless. Zhuang Xiaocheng is very cautious. He can't guess that I might be turned. Besides, the fact that I, a prisoner in the imperial prison, can run out is the biggest suspicious point."

Zhao Douan slowly sat up straight, leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, crossed his ten fingers, and smiled:

"But what if I exchange you over?"

The three prisoners in the interrogation room were stunned at the same time.

Yunxi looked blank for a moment and frowned: "Exchange?"

Zhao Douan did not beat around the bush. He spoke eloquently:

"In the past three years, the imperial court has been sending people to search for rebels. Jingcheng is actually the most 'peaceful' place. Outside Jingcheng, the struggle is more intense. The imperial court has arrested many of your people, but at the same time, you have captured many people from the imperial court in return."

He learned this information when he was the Jisi and when he last commanded the Linfeng Shadow Guards.

For example, some Shadow Guards, in the process of investigating and tracking down rebels, would be discovered and captured and killed.

In the past three years, the imperial court and the rebels had fought in every corner of the Jianghu.

Zhao Douan's voice was low:

"If this official releases the news to the Kuangfu Society, requesting an exchange of prisoners, what do you think?"

Yunxi and the others were stunned at the same time, with thoughtful expressions on their faces.

Zhao Douan did not wait for her to answer and said to himself:

"Zhuang Xiaocheng may not agree, but what if I spread the news? Let most of the members of the Kuangfu Society know about this.

Heh, this is not difficult. Just spread the news in the Jianghu. You can't wait to intercept the imperial court's intelligence... As long as enough people know, it will create pressure and Zhuang Xiaocheng will have to nod."

He said this with certainty for two reasons.

First, rebels are also people and also have relatives and friends.

The prisoners arrested by the imperial court would have relatives and friends outside.

The core group led by Zhuang Xiaocheng may not care about the life and death of these people, but the relatives and friends of those prisoners will care.

They would put pressure in return and actively promote this matter. If Zhuang Xiaocheng blocked and disagreed, he would be offending people and would cause the Kuangfu Society to partially collapse.

Second, as Wu Ling said, in addition to the core high-level and middle-level members, the Kuangfu Society also has many peripheral members.

These people are still being deceived, more or less, thinking that they are doing righteous things.

Zhuang Xiaocheng is doing things under the banner of "supporting the country and overthrowing the pseudo-emperor," so he has to consider people's hearts.

If he could save them but refuses to, the peripheral members would inevitably mutter in their hearts.

If people's hearts are scattered, the team cannot be led.

From this perspective, Zhao Douan only needs to release this signal, which is a conspiracy that Zhuang Xiaocheng has to agree to.

"So, you want to instigate us, so that we can return to the Kuangfu Society in a legitimate way through the 'exchange of prisoners', and then cooperate with you from the inside and outside to eliminate Zhuang Xiaocheng?"

Yunxi suddenly realized, her eyes lit up first, and then she frowned:

"But even if I go back, I definitely won't be trusted immediately, right? The old dog Zhuang can't guess that I might be turned."

Zhao Douan snapped his fingers and smiled:

"He will definitely think of it, so the people I am going to exchange are not a few, but a group. A large group."

A strange expression appeared on his face, and he stood up and paced in the interrogation room:

"The imperial court has arrested a lot of rebels in various places in the past three years. Some people have already died, but there are still many in custody.

As long as the number of prisoners I exchange back is large enough, Zhuang Xiaocheng will not be able to hide such a large group of people, or imprison them completely for a long time.

Well, he will at most temporarily monitor the people, but then what? He always has to release people. At most, for safety reasons, he will no longer allow these people to participate in the work."

He paused slightly here, turned around, and gave the three people time to digest it.

Zhao Douan was bathed in the beam of light, with his back to the light, and his expression became blurred. He said with a smile:

"This is the most interesting thing. Zhuang Xiaocheng does not dare to use these prisoners, so even if the imperial court releases these people, he is not worried that they will re-enemy the imperial court, because Zhuang Xiaocheng does not trust them...

But these people have inextricably linked relationships with other people in the entire Kuangfu Society.

Zhuang Xiaocheng cannot kill these people, nor can he imprison them for a long time. Once released, then the spies mixed in this group of people can do something, such as... revealing the truth and attracting more people to turn to the imperial court?

Everything is possible.

If he dared to use these people, it would indeed cause some trouble for the court, but compared to planting spies and the benefits gained, it would be acceptable. Besides, we can also get a lot of manpower back. No matter how you calculate it, it's not a loss.

Using a group of prisoners who are either die-hard and impossible to pry open their mouths, or whose value has already been squeezed dry, to exchange for the court's elites is a worthwhile business no matter how you look at it.

Moreover, there is one more point he didn't say, which is that as long as this news is released.

Then, from now on, if anyone from the court is captured by the Kuangfu Society, they will most likely not be killed.

Because they can be used to exchange people if they are alive.

But if they die, they are useless.

As for whether the captured people of the court might be turned around and instigated by the Kuangfu Society?

Of course, there is also this possibility.

But the court has a large family and a large business. After the prisoners are rescued, they can either be scattered and thrown into the military camp to be raised, or a separate camp can be opened to monitor them.

"Even, it may not be so troublesome. With such a large exchange of prisoners, the Kuangfu Society will always send people to meet them, right? As long as some means are used to track them, maybe Zhuang Xiaocheng's location can be found and he can be captured in one fell swoop."

Well, Zhao Du'an didn't say this to the three of them, but said it to Ma Yan when they met before.

Ma Yan fell into deep thought after hearing this, and then asked the first sentence:

"Can Your Majesty agree? The exchange of prisoners is a common practice during wartime, but it involves rebels… after all, it's different."

The implication is:

In the court, there may be people who have thought of this strategy, but no one dares to say it.

Because the most sensitive part of this plan is that whoever proposes it is likely to be suspected.

Therefore, the smarter people are, the less they dare to mention this plan.

In fact, Zhao Du'an didn't want to mention it either, so he didn't say it clearly when he came out of the bedroom in the morning.

He only asked for a decree from the Empress allowing him to "handle it with full authority."

And the dragon soul in his body, as well as the merits he had made in the first half of the year, could qualify him to promote this matter.

… …

Inside the interrogation room.

There was a moment of silence.

The three prisoners were shocked by this plan!

Yun Xi's eyes became brighter and brighter. She felt that this method could indeed disgust Zhuang, the old dog, severely.

It's like a fish hook with bait hidden in it. Even if you know there is a hook inside, you have to swallow it.

She looked at Zhao Du'an with a strange expression, thinking that this person was indeed ruthless and could come up with such disgusting methods.

"So, the three of us are the spies you plan to mix into the prisoners?" Yun Xi asked curiously.

Zhao Du'an shook his head. He finally turned his head, looked at Wu Ling, and said with a smile:

"Wu Ling is different from you. He will establish contact with the Kuangfu Society as soon as possible as a survivor from last night and go back in advance."

Last night, only a very few people saw Ma Yan arresting Wu Ling.

Therefore, after Zhao Du'an discussed with Ma Yan, they decided to block this news.

To facilitate Wu Ling's return.

Yun Xi was stunned for a moment. She suddenly turned her little head and stared at Wu Ling in disbelief, blurting out:

"You betrayed too?!"

She was dumbfounded. She had just mocked Wu Ling as a "traitor" not long ago.

Now she realized that the other party had also kneeled.

Wu Ling smiled reluctantly and said:

"Grand Supervisor Ma talked to me last night, and I abandoned the dark and turned to the light."

"… …" Yun Xi said with some disappointment: "Just like that?"

She felt that this actor kneeled too quickly and was a bit shameless.

Wu Ling said lightly: "Last night, the reason why I fought with the people from the Imperial Prison was also because I was bewitched by the National Preceptor, otherwise I would have run away long ago."

The demon priest's indiscriminate killing of the "ballast stone" and his manipulation of him were the last straw that broke him.

Zhuang Xiaocheng actually sold Wu Ling, who was the second-in-command of the branch, to the National Preceptor so easily and arbitrarily used him as a puppet…

This move completely made Wu Ling lose confidence in the Kuangfu Society.

Ma Yan took the opportunity to extend an olive branch, and through some means, made Wu Ling leave a certificate of allegiance, so he decisively changed his allegiance.

"After all, even Grand Tutor Zhuang's disciple has abandoned the dark and turned to the light, so why should I persist?" Wu Ling looked at Yun Xi with a smile.

"… …" The girl felt that she was being ridiculed.

Wu Ling turned his head back and looked at Zhao Du'an with a complicated expression, and said:

"Master Zhao, I am very puzzled, why did you tell me your prisoner exchange plan? I will leave the Imperial Prison later, are you not afraid that I will reveal your plan to Zhuang Xiaocheng in advance?"

Zhao Du'an's smile was still as calm as a spring breeze: "Prisoner exchange plan, worried about leaking it?"

Worried?

What is there to worry about with an open conspiracy?

Could it be that Zhuang Xiaocheng wouldn't think of this even if no one revealed it?

Besides, of course, there can't be only Yun Xi, Qianmian, and a few others as spies, there will be other people as well.

Zhao Du'an looked down and scrutinized this young actor, and suddenly said faintly:

"As for calling you here, it's not that it's useless."

He took a few steps closer, raised his hand and pointed at the two women, and said to him softly:

"At least, today you know that they are spies. Then, when the prisoner exchange takes place in the future, if Zhuang Xiaocheng pulls them out and sees through their identities, it means that you have betrayed the court."

Wu Ling's scalp went numb instantly, and his hands and feet were cold!

Zhao Du'an laughed and waved his hand:

"Okay, there's nothing extra to do, just meet with you and explain it. As for the prisoner exchange, it's still early. It will take at least a few months to plan and then implement it. It's not that fast."

Wu Ling took a deep breath, stood up, bowed to him, and turned to open the door and leave.

Yun Xi also stood up, thinking about having the opportunity to implement the revenge plan, she couldn't wait to act immediately.

"Wait… wait…"

Suddenly, Qingniao, who had the lowest sense of existence in the room, raised her hand softly, and she said weakly:

"Master Zhao… I haven't betrayed yet…"

She had been wanting to say it, and no one had talked to her about betrayal.

Why was she brought over in a daze, and it seemed like it was defaulted that she would be a spy with Yun Xi?

"You haven't betrayed yet?" Zhao Du'an was stunned for a moment, as if he had just remembered this, glanced at her, and said:

"This official is too busy, I forgot. It's okay, it's not too late for you to betray now, anyway, you participated in what happened last night."

He smiled and put the saber on the table:

"Either abandon the dark and turn to the light, or die, girl, choose for yourself."

… …

… …

Soon after.

Zhao Du'an, who had successfully finalized the three spies, left the Imperial Prison in high spirits with the flattering farewells of the jailers.

He looked at the bright sun, called his full-time driver Xiao Wang to drive him home.

He didn't need to keep an eye on the affairs here anymore. Zhao Du'an couldn't wait to go back and study the "jade leaf" seized from the bewitching Real Person.

"What is the origin of the treasure that can be so treasured by the Great Yu National Preceptor and confident that it can resist the Martial God Visualization?"

— —

ps: That's all for today, but the author will continue to code at night and update before noon tomorrow.