Deputy General Dong pursed his lips and stared at the girl sitting in the chair, trying to discern something from her expression.
"If you are really Xu Zhengye's men, as you said, since your master is dead, why would you take the risk of killing this person to silence him? The master is dead, is there anything else that cannot be said?" Chang Suining glanced at the corpse on the ground.
Deputy General Dong sneered: "...I'm just afraid that he will betray me!"
"You are just afraid that he will betray you. You can obviously escape beforehand. Why would you take the risk of falling into his trap?"
Chang Suining shook his head and said, "No. The reason why you would rather take the risk to kill him is because of your status. You are the superior and he is the inferior. If he says something he shouldn't, it is your fault and you need to bear the punishment for it. You can escape from the barracks in advance, but you can't escape from your real master. So, you have no choice but to come here even though you know it is dangerous."
The man who was being held down struggled again after hearing this: "Let me go!"
In Chang Suining's eyes, this futile struggle was nothing more than a subconscious evasion and attempt to hide her panic after she hit the mark.
She asked: "After saying so much, aren't you curious about how I know your identity as a spy?"
Seeing the man looking at her intently, Chang Suining asked with interest, "Or are you afraid to be curious?"
Their eyes met, Chang Suining was neither hasty nor slow, silently wearing away the other's patience and rationality.
How did she come to suspect this man?
This story begins when we were still in the Shouzhou camp.
Facing Xiao Min, the new head coach who replaced Li Yi, this man was very respectful and obedient. After a few visits, he naturally followed Xiao Min.
He seemed to treat Xiao Min as the second Li Yi. He was not only obedient to Xiao Min, but also whispered in her ear from time to time to sow discord between Xiao Min, her and Lao Chang.
But he thought he was "taking sides", but in fact he didn't get the point at all. The wind was blown to the wrong person, and his good intentions were misplaced. In his heart, Xiao Min was on the same team with her and Lao Chang.
This person probably could not have imagined that Xiao Min not only did not accept his provocation, but also turned around and "sold" him out - Xiao Min told her and Lao Chang that this person was quite strange, and everyone needed to be more cautious.
Later, when the army was standing still, this person repeatedly inquired about the marching arrangements... Of course, Xiao Min turned around and reported him again.
To be on the safe side, during the Battle of Bian River, she and Xiao Min deliberately left this man in Shouzhou and asked Chang Kuo to keep an eye on him.
But unexpectedly, a Zhong Si would appear.
After the great victory at the Bian River, she finally had some time to spare, so she planned to get to the bottom of the matter.
At the same time as sending someone back to Xuanzhou to bring Fan Ou, Chang Suining also sent a message to Chang Kuo, so Chang Kuo appointed this person to come to the Bianzhou camp to deliver the message.
This time, she secretly informed Xiao Min, so he had the opportunity to be responsible for escorting Zhong Si.
This escort was originally a test, and the result of the test was already before our eyes.
The above is the process from Chang Suining's initial suspicion of this person to his confirmation of this suspicion.
This is the truth, but this is obviously not the right time to tell the truth, it is only suitable for lying.
Chang Suining looked at Deputy General Dong who was kneeling there under arrest and said, "Back in Shouzhou, someone told me your true identity."
Deputy General Dong sneered with an ambiguous tone.
"You don't believe it, right?" Chang Suining looked outside the hall and said, "Bring the person in."
After a moment, a figure was brought over by the sword boy, and Chang Sui'an was also beside him.
Soon, the man was forced by the sword boy to kneel beside Deputy General Dong.
It was Fan Ou.
He was kneeling there, supporting himself with his hands. He seemed very weak, with messy hair and beard, making it difficult to see his expression.
Deputy General Dong turned his head slightly to look, but after only a glance, he immediately looked away. There was no clear change in his expression, no surprise, and no panic. He just sneered and said, "I don't recognize this person."
At Chang Suining's signal, Jian Tong took out a token from Fan Ou's arms and threw it in front of Deputy General Dong.
"I didn't take good care of him. He is a little disheveled and it is indeed difficult to recognize him." Chang Suining looked at the token: "But you should be able to recognize the token of Prince Rong's Mansion, right?"
Deputy General Dong looked straight ahead, his face tense, "I don't understand what you are saying."
"It seems that long after I kidnapped Fan Ou, Li Lu had already spread the news to various places to prevent me from using Fan Ou to do things." Chang Suining showed a look of sudden realization: "So you are not surprised to see Fan Ou in my hands now."
Fan Ou was at least a trusted confidant of Prince Rong's mansion. Li Lu had said before that when Fan Ou celebrated the birthday of the former Prince Huainan, he was responsible for contacting the military insiders.
Such an important person fell into her hands. According to Li Lu's cautious style, she would naturally inform everyone in time.
Deputy General Dong kept silent, just frowned and sneered, as if she was just talking nonsense.
Chang Suining didn't care and continued to speculate: "According to this, Li Lu probably told you that Fan Ou is very tight-lipped and won't leak anything, so you don't have to panic, just be careful... Is that right?"
This is indeed the truth, and Fan Ou has never revealed anything about it until now.
Deputy General Dong's expression changed slightly - how could this woman guess almost word for word! "It is indeed difficult to pry open this mouth, but hard work pays off -" Chang Suining leaned back in the chair, his posture leisurely: "He didn't just give you up..."
Fan Ou raised his head with difficulty and looked at the girl who was full of lies with gritted teeth.
She was also looking at him, even with a hateful smile in her eyes.
She counted out his confessions one by one:
"Send a secret letter to Li Yi, revealing to Li Yi that the Saint will replace He Wei as the commander, so that Li Yi can prepare early and set an ambush to kill He Wei... This is one thing."
"Poisoning Huainan King Li Tong, causing the Huainan Road to be nearly lost... This is also one of them."
"The imperial court's grain transportation route map was leaked to Xu Zhengye, causing the grain to be intercepted by Xu's army... another one."
The more Deputy General Dong listened, the heavier his heart felt. He turned to look at Fan Ou, but saw that the other party had not refuted a single word!
Fan Ou also turned to look at him: "..." He wanted to refute, but he didn't know what medicine he was fed, and he couldn't speak at all at this moment! He didn't say anything! He tried to convey this message with his eyes, but Deputy General Dong couldn't understand it at all.
But the voice continued, "Also, before this, the Hedong Jiedushi Xiao Chuan tricked Cui Jing into going to Bingzhou to deal with the Chief Clerk Dai Cong, hoping to seize Bingzhou Taiyuan. After the plot failed, he claimed that he was an accomplice of Xu Zhengye... How many scapegoats did Xu Zhengye take for your Rong Wangfu?"
Fan Ou was shocked when he heard this, and looked at Chang Suining fiercely. How could she even...? !
Chang Suining smiled at him and raised his eyebrows to show understanding.
Fan Ou's face suddenly changed.
This person who is full of evil intentions... is actually trying to trick him! Deputy General Dong's expression has completely changed. He looks at Fan Ou with anger in his eyes - this person actually betrayed the prince to this extent!
Fan Ou also stared at him, this idiot was about to fall into the trap!
Chang Suining didn't think that Deputy General Dong was stupid. He was really a stupid person, so there was no need for her to waste so much time talking to him.
The other party heard her talk about so many secret things, and Fan Ou did not refute a word from beginning to end.
Moreover, the other party could become a sixth-rank general in the imperial army, so he must have been rooted for a long time, and Fan Ou was mostly in Yizhou, which meant that this person would not have much contact with Fan Ou, nor would he know much about him. In other words, if Li Lu trusted Fan Ou 90% and believed that Fan Ou would not easily betray Prince Rong's Mansion, then this person only trusted him 20% at most.
Under such circumstances, it is only normal for these two points of trust to be shaken.
She is also very good at sowing discord.
Chang Suining decided to add one last fuel to the fire.
"Fan Ou also told me that you, the Rong Palace, not only want Taiyuan, the origin of the dragon vein, but also want Cui Jing's life--" As she spoke, her index finger lightly tapped the scabbard beside her.
"Before the battle of Bianshui, thanks to Fan Ou's reminder, I wrote a letter to Grand Admiral Cui in time to inform him, which helped him avoid the assassination."
As she tapped her fingers, a black-clad assassin was dragged out from the inner room by Ache.
The assassin fell to the ground and looked dying. Ache pulled up his left sleeve, revealing a tattoo on the inside.
This is the unique mark of the assassins in Prince Rong's Mansion.
Chang Suining certainly didn't know, and Cui Jing had no way of knowing either, but Deputy General Dong could recognize him at a glance.
He needs to contact these people for a long time, and this tattoo is used to confirm his identity!
After hearing Chang Suining say that it was Fan Ou who exposed the fact that Prince Rong's Mansion wanted to kill Cui Jing, and that the person in front of him was indeed a assassin of Prince Rong's Mansion, Deputy General Dong was confused by this information and could no longer conceal his reaction.
Chang Suining's words made him react in this way, and his reaction, in turn, confirmed Chang Suining's words.
Chang Suining had the answer in his mind and no longer had any questions.
Fan Ou's teeth were almost broken.
This woman has one plan after another... She is simply trying to get something for nothing! Chang Suining's eyes swept over Fan Ou, Deputy General Dong, and the assassin one by one.
If these three were to be interrogated separately, it would take a lot of effort to get a rough idea of the truth. But if the three were put together, the answer would be tricked out.
Her gaze finally fell on Deputy General Dong: "You are from Prince Rong's Mansion - are you still going to deny this?"
Deputy General Dong had a gloomy expression and remained silent.
"Since you still refuse to admit it, I will have no choice but to hand over the three of you, along with Fan Ou's confession, to the Saint." Chang Suining said, "That will surely be a great achievement."
She lost her patience in her tone, and it didn't sound fake: "Someone come——"
"Wait!" Deputy General Dong interrupted her.
Chang Suining looked at him.
Deputy General Dong looked around, and it was obvious that they were all her confidants, so he finally said: "General Ning Yuan is obviously a smart man, why is he so inflexible, and would rather be loyal to the evil queen who is about to die, and be an enemy of my prince!"
“……”Fan Ou closed his eyes weakly.
Chang Suining's fingers that were lightly resting on the scabbard paused, and there was no longer any doubt in his mind.
So, it was indeed him.
The big hand hiding in the dark, stirring up trouble and wishing the world would not be in turmoil... turned out to be him.
His name is Li Yin, and he is her uncle Wang.
It was her uncle Wang, who was free and easy and taught her how to protect herself when she was young, and who she smiled and said was "a person who shared the same suffering as her".
"That evil queen is unpopular among the people, the situation is set! My prince is the legitimate bloodline of the Li family!"
"Your Highness has always treated General Chang with respect... we can clearly accomplish great things together!"
Chang Sui'an frowned tightly when he heard this and looked at his sister subconsciously.
"Respect..." Chang Suining pulled back his thoughts and asked, "Are you talking about Prince Rong's repeated threats to my father and brother's lives?"
While the Rong Palace was using all means to win over Chang Kuo, who had a high reputation in Xuan Ce's army, it was also plotting how to kill Cui Jing and make Xuan Ce's army leaderless.
All these things that had been traced for a long time were connected together, revealing an ambitious plan.
It’s a pity that the Chang family is too difficult to win over, and Cui Jing is too difficult to kill.
The plan of Prince Rong's Mansion to occupy Taiyuan failed, and the plan to help Xu Zhengye turn the world upside down also failed.
"...Those who have accomplished great things in the past have never been so concerned about trivial matters!" After hearing Chang Suining talk about being threatened by Li Lu, although Deputy General Dong did not know the details, it did not prevent him from saying at this moment: "At this moment, the overall situation is at stake. This matter concerns the survival of the Chang family. General Ning Yuan might as well ask General Chang's opinion first and let General Chang make the decision!"
"Does it mean that those who obey will live, and those who disobey will die?" Chang Suining looked at him and asked calmly, "Now that your life and death are in my hands, you can still make such threatening remarks. Is this the confidence of your Rong Palace?"
This was never about "achieving a great cause together", it was just forcing the Chang family to be their sword and shield and work like their slaves.
Judging from this confidence, the planning and secretly accumulated power of Prince Rong's Mansion over the years must be considerable.
"General Ningyuan, why do you have to act on impulse?" The man surnamed Dong had a hint of contempt in his eyes: "Such an important matter should be left to General Chang to decide--"
"It's not a big deal. It's just a small matter. I can take charge of it. It's more than enough."
The man frowned and was about to say something else, but the girl changed the subject: "It's not that I can't agree to cooperate with your Rong Wangfu. As long as you answer a question for me, I can consider it."
Seeing that there was hope, the man patiently said, "General Ning Yuan, please speak."
Chang Suining: "Who is the most hidden spy that Prince Rong's Mansion has planted beside the Saint?"
"For such confidential matters, I have always been just following orders, so I have no way of knowing the details." The man surnamed Dong said, "If General Ningyuan is really sincere in cooperating, you can ask my prince and the prince tomorrow."
Who's going to ask them?
Chang Suining stood up.
"Since you don't know, it seems that this cooperation is doomed to fail."
Seeing that she was about to leave like this, the man surnamed Dong frowned. How could she treat such an important matter so lightly!
He was about to speak again when he heard the man who had already stepped over the threshold with a sword in hand, without even turning his head, casually ordering: "Take them away and kill them all."
"yes!"
Chang Sui'an was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously turned his head to look at his sister's departing back.
Such a sister suddenly made him see a trace of aura that he had never seen before. Neither calmness nor decisiveness could describe it.
"By the way, leave Fan Ou here." The figure added, "Heal his wounds."
The man surnamed Dong looked pale and incredulous.
He was quickly dragged away along with the assassin, and the body was also quickly carried away.
Watching two living people and one dead person being taken away from him one after another, Fan Ou's desire to join a group has never been so strong. His conjunctivitis broke out completely and he was devastated.
Can they carry him away too? He doesn't want to be left behind, he doesn't want to recover from his injuries!
Fan Ou, who was crying and roaring in his heart, felt hopeless and his whole body was limp as sand. He was grabbed by the sword boy and dragged away from here.
After Chang Sui'an arranged everything, he quickly caught up with his sister: "Ningning..."
"Brother, if you have time, you can go to Governor Cui in person and tell him what you have learned from today's interrogation."
"Oh, okay!" Chang Sui'an agreed. He wanted to say something to his sister, but he didn't know what to say.
"Don't worry, brother. No one can force us." Chang Suining stopped and looked at the young man beside him. He said, "From now on, we have the final say on what path the Chang family will take."
The sunlight after the beginning of summer is golden, shining through the shade of the trees onto the girl's body, face, and eyes.
Chang Sui'an couldn't help thinking about the time he spent in prison. He was bound by the chains of injustice. It was his sister who helped him break free from the chains, regained justice, and took him out of the prison in the capital.
And his sister seemed to be promising him that there would be no more chains and cages.
I don't know since when, it turned out that the sister was the one protecting him, and she really protected him very well.
But at the same time, he also didn't want his sister to be swept away by the tide of the world!
The thought that he couldn't express just now suddenly became clear and firm in Chang Sui'an's mind.
This world is a mess, everyone has their own ambitions, if you want to gain a foothold, you need to become stronger! The boy's eyes gradually turned red, and he nodded heavily to his sister: "Okay... From now on, we have the final say!"
In order to "have the final say", he will also make himself stronger as soon as possible! Although he is not as good as his sister, he is fortunate enough to be his sister's half-brother, so he must not be bad... right!
Under the bright sunlight, Chang Suining smiled at him and nodded.
After a moment, Chang Suining looked past the tall young man, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at the dazzling golden crow.
Just now, she made a decision in her heart.
Since this big situation is unavoidable and no one can stay out of it, and since she doesn't want to hand over the dignity and safety of herself and the people around her, as well as this shaky country, to those who don't like it -
Well, she might as well give it a try.
As it happens, she is quite used to herself.
…
The breeze blows gently, shaking the branches and leaves of the ginkgo tree, casting a flickering light and shadow.
Under the light and shadow, there stood a man. He slightly raised his head and looked at the huge ginkgo tree, his face immersed in the light and shadow.
His hair was neatly tied up, and he wore a loose navy blue silk robe. He had a free and easy temperament, and seemed to blend in with the ginkgo tree, forming a painting full of Zen.
This is Yizhou, Prince Rong’s Palace.
The appearance of a voice and a figure disturbed this peaceful afternoon painting.
"Father."
A thin young man in a cloak came over and raised his hand to salute the man.
Today is also a big chapter, making up for the time I took off (I must redress my grievances. Some book friends said that my chapter is much more expensive than other authors. That’s because of the word count. It is calculated by the word count. I just thought that putting two or three chapters together would make it seem more coherent. How come I am the one who is more expensive? I am more wronged than Dou E. Otherwise, I would also publish chapters of 2,000 words each?)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
