Chapter 343: Prisoner Exchange, the Birth of a Spy
Revenge on Zhuang Xiaocheng?
In the cold interrogation room, when Zhao Duan uttered these words lightly, the three prisoners were stunned at the same time.
Qingniao and Wu Ling were surprised, and subconsciously wondered why this court lackey was looking for them.
Yunxi's reaction was more direct. She subconsciously wanted to throw away the handkerchief that was stained with Zhao Duan's scent.
But after hearing these words, the pale hand paused, and he actually wiped his face carelessly, wiping away the tears, and asked with a cold look:
"You want to deal with him?"
Zhao Duan leaned back slightly, folded his hands on his lower abdomen, imitated the posture of a police boss in the movie, smiled and nodded:
"Isn't this obvious? You know best the hatred between me and him."
Yes!
From Yunxi's perspective, Zhuang Xiaocheng almost killed Zhao Duan in the temple in the bamboo forest in the southern suburbs, and even left a big pit of "letting the rebels go."
The hatred is huge.
"You want me to help you?"
Yun Xi's mind raced, and she sneered, "Why do you think I would help you?"
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn't it?"
Yun Xi snorted and said stiffly:
"Zhuang Xiaocheng is a black-hearted old dog, but you are not a good person either."
She did turn evil, but that doesn't mean she changed her attitude and thought Zhao Duan was a "good person."
Zhao Duan was not angry either. He said with interest:
"You are right. I am not a good person, but I can help you get rid of Zhuang Xiaocheng and prevent the people of Dayu Dynasty from being deceived by Zhuang Laogou.
Don't you want to wake up those righteous people who are still being deceived like you as soon as possible?"
Yunxi didn't say anything, she was persuaded!
Of course she is not stupid.
In fact, after sitting facing the wall most of the night last night, she had already realized that Zhao Duan had "other plans" for her.
From initially detaining her without torturing her, to now taking her out specifically to shatter her faith, each step would not be so boring as to simply watch her look ugly.
"I don't know much useful information." Yun Xi suddenly spoke, she said indifferently:
"I've been with Zhuang Xiaocheng, and I've gotten some information, but most of it concerns the Beijing branch. Now that you've completely eradicated it, I don't have any intelligence to share with you."
Zhao Duan was not surprised. He still had a smile on his face and didn't say anything.
Yunxi said to herself:
"Or perhaps, do you want me to switch sides like Qianmian and work for the court? Help you trick the Kuangfu Society into opening its doors? For example, find a chance to release me and let me escape? Act as a spy for you?"
The girl spoke calmly, thinking she saw through Zhao Duan's intentions.
She shook her head and said:
"Let's not talk about whether I'm willing or not. Even if I agree to it, it's meaningless. Zhuang Xiaocheng is very cautious. He won't believe me. Besides, the fact that I, who was imprisoned in the Imperial Prison, could escape is the biggest suspicion."
Zhao Duan slowly sat up straight, leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, crossed his ten fingers, and said with a smile:
"But what if I exchange you?"
The three prisoners in the interrogation room were stunned at the same time.
Yun Xi was stunned for a moment and frowned: "Exchange?"
Zhao Duan did not keep anyone in suspense. He spoke freely:
"For the past three years, the imperial court has been sending people to hunt down the rebels. The capital is actually just the most 'peaceful' area. Outside the capital, the struggle is more intense. The imperial court has arrested many of your people, but at the same time, you have also captured many of the imperial court's people in return."
He learned this information when he was serving as the Chief of Investigation and when he was in charge of the Linfeng Shadow Guards last time.
For example, some shadow guards, if discovered while investigating and tracking down rebels, would be captured and killed.
During these three years, the struggle between the imperial court and the rebels spread to every corner of the world.
Zhao Duan said in a low voice:
"What do you think if I spread the word to the Kuangfu Society and ask them to exchange prisoners?"
Yun Xi and the other two were stunned at the same time, with thoughtful expressions on their faces.
Zhao Duan didn't 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 it.
Oh, it's not difficult. Just spread the news in the martial arts world. You're all eager to intercept the court's intelligence... As long as enough people know about it, it will create pressure and force Zhuang Xiaocheng to agree.
He said this with certainty for two reasons.
First, the rebels are also human beings and have relatives and friends.
The criminals arrested by the court will have relatives and friends outside.
The core group headed by Zhuang Xiaocheng may not care about the lives of these people, but the relatives and friends of those prisoners will care.
They will in turn put pressure on each other and actively promote this matter. If Zhuang Xiaocheng blocks and disagrees, he will offend people and cause the collapse of the Kuangfu Society.
Second, as Wu Ling said, in addition to the core senior and middle-level members, the Kuangfu Society also has many peripheral members.
These people are still deceived, more or less, and think they are doing the right thing.
Zhuang Xiaocheng, under the righteous banner of "supporting the country and overthrowing the false emperor", took people's hearts into consideration when doing things.
If someone can be rescued but is not rescued, then when the outside members find out, they will inevitably feel resentful.
If people’s morale is low, it will be impossible to lead the team.
From this perspective, as long as Zhao Duan sends out this signal, it will be an open conspiracy that Zhuang Xiaocheng will have to agree to.
"So, you're trying to incite us to revolt, to have us return to the Kuangfu Society with honor through a 'prisoner exchange,' and then join forces with you to eliminate Zhuang Xiaocheng?"
Yun Xi suddenly realized something, her eyes lit up for a moment, then she frowned and said:
"But even if I go back, I certainly won't be trusted immediately. Old Zhuang wouldn't fail to guess that there's a possibility that I might be turned against him."
Zhao Duan snapped his fingers and said with a smile:
"He'll definitely figure it out, so the people I'm going to exchange for aren't just a few, but a whole group. A whole bunch."
A strange expression appeared on his face. He stood up and paced around the interrogation room.
"In the past three years, the imperial court has arrested many rebels in various places. Some have died, but many are still in custody.
As long as the number of prisoners I exchange back is large enough, even if Zhuang Xiaocheng has doubts, he will not be able to hide such a large group of people or detain them for a long time.
Well, at most he would temporarily monitor them, but then what? He would always release them. At most, for safety reasons, he would no longer allow them to participate in the work.
He paused briefly here, turned around, and gave the three people time to digest what he said.
Zhao Duan was bathed in the beam of light, his back to the light, and his expression became blurred. He smiled and said:
"This is the most interesting part. Zhuang Xiaocheng didn't dare use these captives. So, even if the court released them, they wouldn't worry about them becoming enemies again, because Zhuang Xiaocheng didn't trust them...
But this group of people has inextricable ties with the rest of the Kuangfu Society.
Zhuang Xiaocheng couldn't kill these people, nor could he imprison them for a long time. Once released, the spies mixed in this group could do something, such as... revealing the truth and winning over more people to the court?
It will be all right.
If he dares to use these people, it will indeed cause some trouble for the court, but compared to the benefits gained from planting spies, it is acceptable. Moreover, we can also exchange a lot of manpower. No matter how you calculate it, it is not a loss.
Using a group of prisoners who are either die-hards who can't be persuaded or have been squeezed dry of their value to exchange for the court's elite is a good deal no matter how you look at it.
Moreover, there is one point he didn't say, which is that as long as this news is released.
Then, if someone from the imperial court is captured by the Kuangfu Society, he will most likely not be killed.
Because they are alive, they can be exchanged for others.
But when you die, there is nothing left.
As for the captured court officials, is it possible that they could instigate a rebellion for the Kuangfu Society?
Of course this is possible.
But the imperial court was a large and powerful government, and after rescuing the captives, the worst that could happen was that they would be dispersed and thrown into the military camp to be kept, or a separate barracks would be set up to monitor them.
"In fact, it might not even be that troublesome. For such a large exchange of prisoners, the Kuangfu Society would definitely send someone to assist, right? As long as we use some means to track them, we might be able to find Zhuang Xiaocheng's location and capture him in one fell swoop."
Well, Zhao Duan didn’t tell the three of them this. He said it when he met Ma Yan before.
Ma Yan fell into deep thought after hearing this, and the first question he asked was:
"Your Majesty, can you agree? Exchanging prisoners is commonplace when two armies are at war, but when it comes to rebels... it's different."
Implications:
In the court, it is possible that no one had thought of this strategy, but no one dared to speak it out.
Because the most sensitive part of this plan is that whoever proposes it will easily be suspected.
Therefore, the smarter people are, the less likely they are to mention this plan.
Zhao Duan actually didn't want to mention it, so when he came out of the bedroom in the morning, he didn't explain the whole thing.
All he needed was a verbal order from the empress allowing him to "handle it with full authority."
The dragon soul in his body and the contributions he made in the past six months make him qualified to promote this matter.
…
Inside the interrogation room.
There was a moment of silence.
The three prisoners were shocked by this plan!
Yunxi's eyes became brighter and brighter. She felt that this method could indeed disgust Zhuang Laogou.
It's like a fish hook with bait inside. Even if you know there is a hook inside, you have to swallow it.
She looked at Zhao Duan with a strange expression, thinking that this man was really cruel and ruthless, and could actually come up with such a disgusting method.
"So, the three of us are the spies you plan to mix into the prisoners?" Yun Xi asked curiously.
Zhao Duan shook his head. He finally turned around, 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 return early."
Last night, only a very few people saw Ma Yan arresting Wu Ling.
Therefore, after discussing with Ma Yan, Zhao Duan decided to block the news.
To facilitate Wu Ling's return.
Yun Xi was stunned for a moment, she turned her head suddenly, stared at Wu Ling in disbelief, and blurted out:
"You betrayed me too?!"
She was confused. You know, not long ago, she had mocked Wu Ling as a "traitor".
Only now did I realize that the other party was also kneeling.
Wu Ling smiled reluctantly and said:
"Last night, Ma Dugong talked with me, and I decided to turn from evil to good."
"..." Yun Xi said with some dismay, "That's it?"
She felt that the actor knelt too quickly and it was a bit shameful.
Wu Ling said calmly, "Last night, I fought with the people from the Imperial Court because I was bewitched by the Imperial Master. Otherwise, I would have run away long ago."
The demon's indiscriminate killing of the "ballast stone" and his manipulation of him were the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Zhuang Xiaocheng had so easily sold his position as the second-in-command of the branch office, the "ballast stone", to the Imperial Master, who used him as a puppet...
This action completely made Wu Ling lose confidence in Kuangfu Society.
Ma Yan took the opportunity to extend an olive branch and, through some means, made Wu Ling leave a letter of allegiance, so he decisively changed his allegiance.
"After all, even Master Zhuang's disciples have turned to the light, so why should I insist?" Wu Ling looked at Yun Xi with a smile.
“…” The girl felt like she was being ridiculed.
Wu Ling turned back, looked at Zhao Duan with complicated eyes, and said:
"Master Zhao, I'm very confused. Why did you tell me about your prisoner exchange plan? I'm about to leave the imperial prison. Aren't you afraid that I'll reveal your plan to Zhuang Xiaocheng in advance?"
Zhao Duan's smile remained as calm as a spring breeze. "Are you worried about the prisoner exchange plan being leaked?"
Are you worried?
What is there to worry about open conspiracy?
Didn’t anyone reveal that Zhuang Xiaocheng couldn’t think of this?
Besides, there are certainly not only Yunxi and Qianmian as spies, there may be others.
Zhao Duan looked down at the young actor, and suddenly said quietly:
"As for calling you here, it's not without purpose."
He walked a few steps closer, raised his hand and pointed at the two women, and said softly to him:
"At least, you know today that they are spies. Then, when the prisoners are exchanged in the future, if Zhuang Xiaocheng pulls them out and discovers their identities, it will mean that you have betrayed the court."
Wu Ling's scalp instantly went numb, and his hands and feet became cold!
Zhao Duan laughed and waved his hand:
"Alright, nothing much to do. Just meeting with you and giving you some instructions. As for prisoner exchange, it's still a long way off. It'll take at least a few months of planning before it's implemented. It won't happen that quickly."
Wu Ling took a deep breath, stood up, bowed to him, turned around, opened the door and left.
Yunxi also stood up, thinking that she would have the opportunity to carry out her revenge plan, and she couldn't wait to act.
"Wait... a moment..."
Suddenly, Bluebird, who had the lowest presence in the room, raised her hand softly and said weakly:
"Master Zhao... I haven't rebelled yet..."
She had always wanted to say that no one had told her about the rebellion.
How come I was pulled here without knowing why? It was as if I had agreed to be a spy with Yunxi?
"You haven't rebelled yet?" Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, as if he had just remembered this. He glanced at her and said:
"I was too busy and forgot. It's okay. You still have time to rebel now. You were involved in what happened last night anyway."
He placed his sword on the table with a smile:
"Either turn evil and join the good, or die. Make your choice, girl."
…
…
Later.
Zhao Duan, who had successfully identified three spies, left the imperial prison in a refreshed mood amid the flattering farewell of the jailers.
After looking at the bright sun, he called his full-time driver Xiao Wang to drive him home.
He no longer needed to keep an eye on things here. Zhao Duan was now impatient and wanted to go back and study the "jade leaf" that he had seized from Guhuo Zhenren.
"What is the origin of this treasure that is so treasured by the Great Yu State Master, who is confident that it can withstand the Martial God's visualization?"
——
ps: No more today, but the author will continue writing in the evening and update before noon tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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