Chapter 342 Don’t you want to take revenge on that old dog Zhuang Xiaocheng?
The demon is dead?
Was it Zhao Duan who did it again?
Not only that, even the branch of Kuangfu Society was uprooted?
In the Golden Palace, the ministers were stunned for a moment by the news uttered by the empress.
Even with Li Yanfu and Yuan Li's skills in cultivating their qi, they were still dazed and felt a little unreal.
It's really that all this happened too quickly. The announcement of the return of the national master, the demon Taoist priest, happened yesterday, right?
Only one day? And then he died?
"He's here to send it off..."
At this moment, this thought arose in the minds of many ministers.
Just a second ago, everyone was still worrying and discussing how to deal with this challenge, but in the end, the demon who came with such great momentum didn't even last a day.
He also took away the rebel branch.
Unbelievable.
Yuan Li suddenly realized: No wonder Ma Yan didn't go to court. If such a big thing happened last night, he should still be cleaning up the mess by now.
Then he couldn't help but wonder, what is that kid Zhao Duan doing?
…
Outside the palace.
Zhao Duan walked out of the towering palace gate refreshed, and then walked towards the imperial court in the golden autumn morning light.
When he arrived at the main gate of the yamen and saw the two stone lions, the officers in embroidered uniforms at the gate all looked at him as if he were looking at gods.
"Zhao Jisi!"
"Master Zhao!"
Everyone's face was filled with sincere admiration and strong envy.
Obviously, the news of last night's incident had spread. Compared to the extremely fast fall of the demon Taoist priest, what really made the officials envious and jealous was the fact that "the branch office was destroyed in one fell swoop".
"Hey, isn't this Lord Zhao? Where did this come from?"
As we entered the Governor's Hall, our old acquaintance Haitang asked sourly, crossing her arms.
In the early morning, morning dew rolled on the withered grass and trees in the yard. It was a sunny day today, and the bright sunlight made the dark circles under the female inspector's eyes particularly eye-catching.
"Good morning, Maritime Investigation Division. Why isn't the Governor here?" Zhao Duan greeted with a bright smile, in a very good mood.
Haitang, who hadn't slept all night, yawned and said, "I'm personally watching over those prisoners in the Imperial Prison."
Then, she briefly told Zhao Duan what happened after he was sent to the palace last night.
After Zhao Duan left last night, Haitang led his men to the Bafang Theater and, with the authority of an official, sealed off the entire theater that had been alarmed.
At the same time, the news was blocked and the only thing told to the outside world was: Arrest the rebels.
Afterwards, the few people who stayed behind from Lihuatang went to contact and find Gongshu Tianyuan's team and join up with them.
Gongshu Tianyuan's side was extremely smooth, with almost no obstacles, and he arrested dozens of rebels in one go before the end.
Afterwards, a bunch of rebels who were apprehended overnight were thrown into the imperial prison. Ma Yan personally took charge of the interrogation, while the rest of the gang members were responsible for the aftermath, and they have been busy until now.
"Gongshu Tianyuan went back to the Tianshi Mansion and said that although he didn't catch the demon, he thanked you for your hospitality." Haitang said while yawning.
With a look of extreme resentment, he added:
"You guys at Lihua Hall are really quiet, but you made such a big move. You've clearly exploited the connections at the Tianshi Mansion."
She is sour!
Just this time, Lihua Hall will definitely be ranked first in the merit assessment this year. She has been diligently leading Narcissus Hall and has been thinking about the title of the first among the nine halls for so long, but in the end it was taken away by Zhao Duan.
But after the resentment faded, he sighed in submission and said, "Remember to treat me."
I turned around and went back to sleep.
Zhao Duan smiled when he saw this, but did not explain. His goal was never to compete for the first place in the Nine Halls, but just to lay the groundwork for the follow-up.
Instead of rushing to see Ma Yan, he turned around and went back to Lihua Hall to find out the details.
"Sir, were you okay last night?" Qian Kerou answered everything and looked at him curiously.
"What can I do for you?" Zhao Duan said calmly.
"But your face is pale..." The secretary said halfway and was stopped by the other three people with a wink.
I thought to myself, "I see it but I don't say it. My Lord has stayed in the palace for one night, so what if his face is a little pale?" It's very reasonable.
"Sir, this is your mask." Zheng Laojiu handed back the disguise mask "Jiuyi".
This item was lent to the Thousand-Faced God last night, and I will naturally take it back when he returns.
"Well, how are Yunxi and Wu Ling doing?" Zhao Duan asked, then without waiting for an answer, he stood up and said with a smile, "Forget it, I'd better go and see for myself."
He planned to meet his cheap senior brother first, and then interrogate those guys.
…
…
Imperial prison, deep inside the prison.
The morning light came in through the "品"-shaped vent at the top of the wall, and a straight beam of light shone on the face of the bluebird.
In the past, at this time, if she could have timed it right... she and Yunxi would have squeezed together to greet the rare morning light in the prison.
However, today, she was the only one holding up the sunshine with her face. Qingniao turned her head and looked at the girl sitting cross-legged on the stone bed with her back to her and facing the wall. She whispered tentatively: "Yunxi?"
Yunxi didn't answer.
Since returning last night, the girl has been silent.
In just one day, not only Guhuo Zhenren died, but also Yunxi's heart.
Zhao Duan took her out for a walk and easily destroyed her faith that was wrapped in lies.
The only thing the girl did after she came back was to use pebbles to destroy all the marks on the wall where she had used to record the date.
Then he has been sitting facing the wall ever since.
"Actually..." Bluebird hesitated, thinking of words of comfort.
Suddenly, the sound of shackles rattling came from the corridor, accompanied by footsteps, and the sound finally startled them.
Two jailers, one on the left and one on the right, dragged a nearly limp figure to the empty cell opposite the two women and threw the man in like a torn sack.
Then he turned and left without saying a word.
In the imperial prison, talking to a criminal sentenced to death is against the rules.
Wu Ling fell to the ground powerlessly. The delicate face of this famous actor who rose from the Bafang Theater was pale, and he was no longer wearing a stage costume, but a prison uniform.
There weren't many wounds. The only noticeable wound was a bloody patch between the waist and abdomen.
If you lift up the clothes, you can see a bronze nail driven into the flesh at the belly, which is used to seal the magic power in the body.
“Cough… cough cough…”
Wu Ling coughed and panted for a while, then felt some strength restored. He managed to get up and saw two acquaintances across the railing. He forced a smile and said:
"Before, when we were outside, we were still wondering how inhumane the treatment you would suffer in prison would be. Now it seems that it is better than we imagined."
The bluebird, who had also gained weight, felt mocked. She opened her mouth and the words that came out became:
"They didn't torture you?"
"It's happening, water torture." Wu Ling remained calm and laughed at himself.
"At least my face wasn't disfigured. You may not understand, but disfigurement is a fatal event for an opera singer."
Yun Xi, who had been silent all night, turned around, put on a stern face, and said with a sneer:
"If you can still joke, it means you haven't suffered any serious consequences."
Wu Ling was silent for a moment and sighed:
"I really didn't expect you to be with Zhao last night. My identity..."
"I told him." Yun Xi sneered, "So, are you angry? Do you want to call me a traitor?"
A few hours ago, she was still denouncing and despising the Thousand-Faced God for being a "traitor".
A few hours later, she also became the traitor she once hated.
Wu Ling endured the pain in his stomach, sat up cross-legged, and frowned:
"You know?"
This statement is incoherent, but as the only "God Chapter Realm" sorcerer in the Beijing branch, his status in the Beijing branch is not low.
The branch leader is first, the agent code-named "Ballast" is second, and he is the third-ranked member.
Commonly known as "the third in command".
Therefore, he had interacted with this female disciple of Zhuang Xiaocheng and understood her character.
Considering the time when he was arrested, more than half a year had passed since Yunxi was imprisoned, which was enough for him to guess the reason for Yunxi's betrayal.
"You all know it!" For no reason, Yunxi was irritated like a little leopard.
She climbed down from the bed and walked to the prison door. With the help of the light, she could see that the girl's eyes were swollen, her eyeballs were bloodshot, and her lips were bitten.
She cried silently for half the night last night.
Yunxi became furious:
"Since you all know the truth, why are you still working for that old bastard Zhuang Xiaocheng? You keep saying you want to support the country and save the people, but in the end, you're just pursuing your own selfish desires, right? What? You've failed in your attempt to usurp the throne, and you still refuse to give up?
Want to be a hero of the Dragon? Or something else? I only regret that I know too little, otherwise I would have personally killed that old thief that day! I was so blind that I actually went along with you guys, bah!
Yunxi kept cursing, but it was more like she was venting the emotions that she had been holding back all night.
The stronger a person's faith is, the stronger the desire for revenge will be after he turns evil.
As much respect she had for Zhuang Xiaocheng in the past, she now hated him as much.
"Yunxi..." Qingniao opened his mouth, trying to comfort her, but in the end he just sighed.
Wu Ling endured the girl's scolding, but there was no anger on his face. Instead, a bitter smile appeared on his face, as if he wanted to explain something, but in the end he just sighed:
“Once you are in the arena, you have no choice.”
He let his hair down, smiled bitterly and shook his head:
"The Kuangfu Society is neither the group of philanthropists you once imagined, nor are they, as you now claim, a group of greedy individuals seeking to seize the throne. Zhuang Xiaocheng and his men participated in the coup and now have no way out, yet they are unwilling to remain in exile and hiding. It's true that they want to reclaim their positions."
"But there are still many people whose families had secretly defected to the Second Prince Jianwen before the coup. Zhuang Xiaocheng has evidence of these people's defection. If it were exposed, they would face catastrophic disaster. So they had no choice but to be coerced and induced into participating."
"Of course, there are also some people who joined later and wanted to seek an opportunity."
"There are many more people like you who were completely deceived by Zhuang Xiaocheng and his gang at the beginning, helping them escape and even getting involved. As a result, by the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Just like you, now you understand, but does that mean you're no longer a rebel? Sometimes, when you've strayed onto a pirate ship, you have only one path to follow."
Wu Ling finished speaking in one breath, and when he found that Yun Xi was silent, he laughed at himself:
“Perhaps in your eyes, I am making excuses for myself.
Perhaps. I admit that I was indeed moved by the future that Zhuang Xiaocheng and the others had painted. At least after learning the truth, I still tried to overthrow the empress. Now that I have been arrested, it is my own fault. You can curse me if you want."
Yun Xi was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "How many people in the company know the truth?"
Wu Ling thought for a moment and said:
"Every branch's senior management knows about it. Most of the mid-level management are aware of it, but they often don't speak out. As for the lower-level members, many are indeed kept in the dark.
In fact, it's quite rare for someone as innocent as you to be chosen by Zhuang Xiaocheng to stay by his side. However, perhaps he chose you precisely because your faith is strong enough, so he can be at ease using you. As for us... our minds are too complicated."
Yunxi was silent, not knowing what she was thinking.
The cell was quiet for a while, and neither side spoke.
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening was heard again at the end of the corridor. Several jailers came in and began to open the doors of two cells at the same time.
The head jailer with a face full of flesh laughed and said:
"Three of you, Lord Zhao invites you."
…
Inside the imperial prison, in a spacious "interrogation room".
Zhao Duan leaned back in the big chair, raised his legs and placed them on the long table in front of him.
He was flipping through the interrogation records in his hand.
"Bang!"
The door to the interrogation room opened, and the jailer said with a flattering smile, "Sir, the prisoner is here."
"Well," Zhao Duan snapped the booklet in his hand, pulled his legs down, and changed to a more serious, but still lazy sitting posture, saying:
"Bring it in, then all of you get out and don't let anyone else get close."
"yes!"
The jailer bowed and left.
Then, Yunxi, Qingniao and Wu Ling were pushed into the cold interrogation room.
As the iron door behind him slammed shut and the footsteps faded away, inside the stone room, there was only a cold long table and a few chairs.
Dust floated in the beam of light coming through the vent.
Zhao Duan threw the file in his hand onto the table, folded his hands on his lower abdomen, leaned back, and said with a smile:
"Sit down, don't be nervous, I'm not a demon."
The three people had different expressions.
The blue bird turned its head slightly, not daring to look at Zhao Duan.
——Whenever she thought of the way the Thousand-Faced God fawned over this man, she would feel deeply wary.
Wu Ling felt nervous and complicated. This was not the first time the two had met. They had met once when Zhao Duan went to the Bafang Theater and hooked up with Pei Siniang.
Later, he tried to assassinate Zhao Duan, but failed without even seeing him.
The most recent time was last night outside the carriage in the alley, when he was shocked to learn that the National Master was killed by Zhao Duan.
"What do you want from us?"
Yun Xi calmly and angrily took the lead in sitting across from him. Her swollen eyes looked at Zhao Duan with a big "prisoner" on her chest. She didn't hide or avoid it, and she cried as she spoke:
"Want to see me laugh?"
Zhao Duan looked at the girl who had been crying all night in front of him and couldn't help laughing. He suddenly took out a handkerchief and threw it on her face, saying lightly:
"Wipe your tears. Don't you want to take revenge on that old dog Zhuang Xiaocheng?"
——
ps: You don’t have to wait until noon, I will update one chapter in advance, and the next chapter will definitely be before six o’clock, I said!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
