Chapter 36 There are two paths before you, life or death
Although she is good at dealing with people and understanding men's mentality, her status is too low after all and she cannot access high-level information.
So he didn't know about the personal grudge between Zhao Duan and the Zhang brothers.
I just thought that they were all colleagues in the Baima Prison, and Zhao Duan might have been introduced by the former.
"That's not the case," Zhao Duan smiled and asked curiously:
"Brother Zhang is actually a fellow traveler. It's fate. I just don't usually see him staying out overnight."
Xiaoya heard him address her affectionately, thinking they had a good relationship, so she smiled and said,
"Emperor Zhang is, after all, a man of great talent. I think he doesn't want to be seen in public. Whenever he wants to drink, he usually sends someone to tell me first and arrange a time... or his brother brings a message...
If you want to come here in the future, you can do it this way. You don’t have to be with those people in the front hall, so as to avoid a bad reputation.”
Haha, you speak as if my reputation is better than mine... Zhao Duan had nowhere to complain, so he spun his wine glass and asked with a smile:
"Brother Zhang is always a talkative person when we chat and drink together, eloquent and quoting from classics. Thanks to him, I've learned a lot about the latest happenings in the capital... Has he told you about me?"
Xiaoya picked up the wine jug with both hands, filled it up for him, and shook her head in surprise.
"Envoy Zhang is very tight-lipped here. He rarely speaks. Whenever I try to talk to him, he doesn't really respond."
Not surprising.
That hypocrite Zhang Changshuo was indeed cautious.
Otherwise, Xiaoya would have known that the relationship between the two was not harmonious.
"What about Captain Zhang?" Zhao Duan asked casually.
When Zhang Changji was mentioned, Xiaoya felt unhappy and said angrily:
"Zhang Jia Erlang is rude and never compassionate. However, unlike his brother, he is a talkative person. He likes to teach me how to speak and even talks in his sleep at night..."
What did he teach you to say... Zhao Duan's gossip spirit was ignited, but he suppressed it and grasped the key point of "talking in sleep".
A little unexpected.
No wonder, Zhang Changji, as a lieutenant of the Beijing Camp, rarely spent the night in the camp. Even when he was on night patrol, he would go home to sleep in the middle of the night.
There is actually such a habit.
"Oh? Did he tell you anything about the court and the Beijing camp?" Zhao Duan asked with surprise.
Xiaoya was about to answer when she suddenly came to her senses and closed her lips again.
She looked at him with her charming eyes, circled around him, and climbed towards him, her soft hands sliding down, her breath as sweet as orchid:
"It's late at night. I'll wait for you to rest. How about we talk somewhere else?"
However, the next second, her hand was clamped by Zhao Duan.
Zhao Duan, whose face had always been smiling, narrowed his eyes and said quietly:
"Why, is there something you can't say?"
Xiaoya was stunned for a moment and quickly shook her head: "No..."
Zhao Duan stared at her intently and said firmly:
"You know, but you don't want to answer me."
Xiaoya suddenly panicked:
"What do I know? What is the envoy talking about? I don't understand."
Zhao Duan shook his head, the smile on his face faded, and said:
"I'm asking you if Zhang Changji said anything important."
Xiaoya hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said:
"So that's what you're complaining about, sir. It's nothing serious. It's all about the things you men care about, like the emperor got angry today? Which official got into trouble? Those trivial and boring things..."
"No," Zhao Duan said calmly:
"If that's all you have to say, why are you hesitant? You must know something that's inconvenient for me to hear."
He came with the purpose of interrogation, so he naturally observed him carefully.
Xiaoya was startled, then said with resentment:
"Your Excellency is indeed a bit too suspicious. I simply feel that I should keep my mouth shut and not casually disclose the affairs of the Excellencies. As for what the Envoy said today, I will absolutely not tell anyone a single word."
This statement is very logical.
But Zhao Duan, with his strength as a mid-level mortal warrior, could clearly hear that Xiaoya's heartbeat was abnormally fast at the moment.
In my wrist, the blood flow is also accelerating...
This is a manifestation of guilty conscience and nervousness.
His smile completely disappeared, his face was cold, and a hint of violence appeared just right:
"No, you're afraid of speaking nonsense and offending the Zhang brothers."
"But," he sneered, "if you don't dare to offend them, do you dare to offend me?"
Xiaoya's slender wrist suddenly felt pain as she exerted force with her palm.
She is scared!
At this moment, some rumors about Zhao Duan emerged in his mind, and fear arose in his heart.
The person in front of me is not a gentleman, but a cruel and violent villain!
“No…I dare not…”
Xiaoya was completely panicked. She was not a woman with a strong will like Yunxi, and she was already scared to death at this time.
"Are you afraid to offend me, or are you afraid to say it?"
Zhao Duan had a sinister look on his face, and with his other hand, he pulled out a fruit-cutting knife from the fruit plate on the table.
He gently gestured on Xiaoya's fair neck, his voice like a devil:
"Do you know why I came here today?"
"No...I don't know..."
Zhao Duan said:
"I, under the Emperor's orders, have been investigating the case of the Kuangfu Society's rebel gang. The investigation has led me to Zhang Changji, and I've learned that he's been coming to the Qinglian Cottage frequently over the past six months to meet with you privately...
Ha, and you refused to answer and helped him cover up... This officer has reason to suspect that your true identity is the rebel gang hidden in the capital from the Kuangfu Society!"
Xiaoya turned pale with fright.
Rebellion, supporting the society... No matter how ignorant she was, she knew that this was a serious crime punishable by death or even the implicate of others.
I was already afraid, and after being frightened by the big hat, I felt like I was losing all my soul.
"I am not a rebel, not..."
Zhao Duan said quietly:
"Yes and no. You'll know after you've been thrown into the Imperial Prison and severely tortured."
"There are two paths before you: life or death. It's up to you to decide which one to choose."
The imperial prison...a place where one is likely to die.
Xiaoya completely collapsed, tears welling up in her eyes as she sobbed:
"I will tell you everything! I only ask for your mercy, sir!"
Wouldn’t it be great if we could cooperate like this earlier?
You insist on forcing me to play the villain... I really don't want to scare a woman... Zhao Duan muttered, suddenly loosened his grip, and threw Xiaoya back to the table.
He completely retracted his fierce look and restored the gentle appearance of a modest gentleman. A smile bloomed on his face again, and he said in a gentle voice:
"Go ahead."
His current state reflects his true character.
Xiaoya's hair was disheveled, her clothes were wrinkled, her face was covered with tears, and she knelt on the ground, trembling all over, as if she had returned from hell to the world of the living.
Seeing that Zhao Duan could switch between the two states freely, he couldn't help but feel terrified, thinking that the rumors were indeed true.
The empress's lover is a wolf in human skin.
"I...I don't know where to start..." she cried.
Zhao Duan patiently persuaded:
"Just say what you want to hide most."
I came here tonight, originally just to try it out, but I didn't expect to be pleasantly surprised.
The words that could make Xiaoya prefer to offend him rather than say them must be very complicated.
However... Zhang Changji was just a lieutenant in the Beijing Camp. Even if he was a scumbag who took human lives lightly and bullied men and women, he should not have committed any major crimes.
However, Miss Xiaoya's next words left him stunned.
"I once heard Zhang Changji say after he fell asleep that he seemed to have secretly transported firearms to Prince Jing's mansion..."
Zhao Duan's face suddenly changed.
(End of this chapter)
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