Chapter 19 The spies have caught you
With Liangzhou now under control, notices were hung throughout the city, listing Wang Ben's atrocities. The things he had tried to hide with murder were finally exposed in broad daylight. Chudie's name was not mentioned on the notices, but rather as Shen Chuci, the daughter of the former governor of Liangzhou. Her heroic deeds, venturing alone into danger and skillfully breaking through the imperiled city, were recorded in history.
Now all that’s left is the last city.
Fang Yilan was planning to take Hezhou in one fell swoop before the New Year, but the food and fodder that should have been sent by the court had not arrived yet. She could not just sit there and wait for death, so she selected a team of 100 people from the Linque Cavalry and sent them to investigate the situation near Hezhou so that they could make countermeasures as soon as possible.
On the training ground, soldiers are carrying out their daily training.
Suddenly, the crowd exploded. A few shouts and curses startled everyone, and all eyes were drawn over.
The source of the voice came from Zhou Qi, who was born into a branch of the Genji clan and felt that he was noble and superior to others.
He was not an incompetent person. He passed the assessment with some real skills and joined the Linqueqi.
However, after losing to Zhao Huaixu in the team selection, he began to dislike him. It just so happened that during today's knife fighting practice, they were paired together again. After a few rounds, Zhou Qi was still outmatched and lost again.
Zhao Huaixu sheathed his long sword, his face expressionless. He didn't take the competition seriously at all. He didn't even have any idea who was standing opposite him. He just clasped his fists and said, "Thank you."
This calm look hurt Zhou Qi. There were many people in the military camp who flattered him, but this person just didn't take him seriously.
New and old hatreds surged into his heart, and he immediately lost his mind, disregarding any military discipline or regulations, and spewed out savage words: "You're just a piece of shit who only knows how to fawn over others. You only managed to get into the Rinzai Cavalry by selling yourself. You only used some dirty tricks to defeat me. What's there to be proud of?"
Zhao Huaixu ignored his curses and turned to leave.
Young Master Zhou Qi had never been ignored like this before. He immediately clenched his fists and prepared to swing them towards Zhao Huaixu.
A wooden stick flew through the air and hit Zhou Qi's arm. He felt pain and had to retract his fist.
"He's a loser, so what are you? A wimp who can't even beat a loser?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Fang Yilan on the high platform with a gloomy face. He shouted loudly, "The military selection has always been fair and open. Several lieutenant generals and deputy generals were present to supervise the entire process. You are so rude and wantonly provoking trouble. You will be expelled from the Linque Cavalry with immediate effect."
I thought the matter was settled, but who would have thought that some rumors that confused right and wrong began to spread in the army.
At first, it was just a few soldiers whispering in private. During the conversation, Fang Yilan had many complaints, mentioning the battles in Ningqiu and Liangzhou, and believed that Fang Yilan had relied on sneaky tactics to win.
Ning Qiu and Wen Wanshu were both useless. On the battlefield of Liangzhou, Fang Yilan even instigated his men to say some nonsense. After fighting for a long time, they were unable to knock on the city gate. In the end, they relied on a prostitute to lure the enemy into opening the city gate and finally captured Liangzhou.
Gossip spread and grew, with more and more people joining in the discussion, gradually turning into unbridled abuse.
Blames were directed at Fang Yilan, who was ultimately a woman, far inferior to her father and brother, who relied on real swords and guns to earn their illustrious military exploits. And she, on the other hand, was obsessed with men and had used her own favor for Zhao Huaixu, first allowing him to infiltrate the Linque Camp and then smoothly join the assault team. She treated the military's confidential areas as her own backyard, freely placing her confidants there.
Fang Yilan never took rumors seriously.
Just like now,
She looked calmly at the group of soldiers who were determined to leave the Linque Camp and said calmly, "Just make up your mind. I won't let you go back on your word. If you've made up your mind, leave your ID badges here."
As he said this, he knocked twice on the table.
Dozens of soldiers thought they would be severely reprimanded, but they didn't expect Fang Yilan to be so easy to talk to. Instead, they felt a little uneasy and scratched their heads in embarrassment, not daring to say a word.
One of the soldiers boldly asked, "General, after we withdraw, will there be a chance to come back?"
Fang Yilan couldn't help but find it a little funny. Her eyes fell on the soldier who asked the question rashly. He was being hit hard on the head by his companion next to him and looked embarrassed.
"Do you think my Linque Camp is a tavern? You can come in and out as you please?" Her tone was not loud, but it had a sense of majesty.
As soon as these words were spoken, half of the soldiers in the crowd immediately lost their courage, no longer daring to mention the idea of withdrawing, and scattered in disgrace.
The remaining other half simply made up his mind and handed over the ID card with a firm look on his face.
Just after seeing off this group of people, I saw Lieutenant General Lin coming towards me.
Lieutenant General Lin looked at the pile of wooden signs on the table, his face filled with worry. He immediately bowed and said, "General, rumors are spreading wildly in the army right now. If we don't stop them soon, they will definitely shake the morale of the army!"
Fang Yilan did not respond immediately, but just sent everyone away.
"I'm afraid there are spies hiding in this army."
The air around them suddenly became a little colder.
Lieutenant General Lin was stunned, his eyes wide open: "Could it be the man who had a conflict with Young Master Zhao that day?" He guessed subconsciously.
Fang Yilan shook her head. "No, they are not so foolish as to expose themselves so blatantly. Deputy General Lao Lin, please find me a capable person who is fluent in Xiling language."
"As you command."
That night, at the third watch, a group of guards kicked open the door of the barracks where Zhou Qi was.
Zhou Qiben was sound asleep when the sudden noise woke him up. He opened his eyes drowsily and asked unhappily, "Who is it?"
Before he could come to his senses, a pair of strong hands suddenly grabbed his clothes and dragged him out, leaving the barracks in a mess.
Zhou Qi struggled hard, but it was in vain. "What are you doing? Let me go!"
...
The atmosphere in the commander-in-chief's tent was a little solemn, with a dozen Ruining soldiers huddled together uncomfortably.
They were all people who had some interactions with Zhou Qi in the military camp. At this moment, they all stood in a row with their heads drooping, and no one dared to breathe loudly.
Fang Yilan sat upright behind the commander's desk, gently putting down the military book in her hand, and glanced at everyone's faces one by one. After a moment, she spoke slowly, "I called you here today because I have verified something."
"Zhou Qi is actually Xi Ling's spy hidden in our army."
As soon as the words fell, the tent exploded in an instant. Everyone looked panicked, whispered to each other, and the sound of discussion was endless.
Seeing everyone so anxious, Fang Yilan said in a gentle voice, "Don't be so panic, everyone. I just asked you to come here today to ask a few questions. There's no need to be nervous."
"You all spend a lot of time with Zhou Qi, so you're probably quite familiar with his way of dealing with people and his ways of doing things. I'd like to ask, has he ever behaved in any unusual way? Or, who in the camp does he interact closely with?"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. One soldier, eager to distance himself from the matter, spoke first, "General, please understand. We only exchanged a few words during training, and we didn't really interact much. I just happened to hear that he and Zhao Huai had a few arguments, and they've been unhappy about it for a while."
"Oh? What happened?" Fang Yilan asked.
"I heard that when Zhou Qi was given weapons, he was given ten fewer arrow feathers, and many of them were broken. The sword he was given also had several cracks on it, making it impossible to use properly."
"Did Zhao Huaixu give him this arrow feather personally?"
"That's not the case, it's..." At this point, the soldier's eyes became vague. He glanced hesitantly at the two people in the crowd, seeming to be hesitant to speak.
Fang Yilan followed the soldier's gaze and locked onto the two people in the crowd. The corners of her lips curled up in a dignified smile, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
"I got you."
The words he uttered were chilling and penetrated people's hearts. Fang Yilan's eyes were as sharp as a falcon locking onto its prey.
The two people who were targeted felt a heavy pressure coming down on them, and panic instantly gripped their hearts. Their lips opened uncontrollably in panic, as if they were eager to explain, but were speechless due to extreme fear.
There was another soldier who had not yet been identified. Upon hearing this, he suddenly shrank back and subconsciously staggered back a step.
The rest of the people were all bewildered, looking at each other with confusion in their eyes.
It's normal that they don't understand what Fang Yilan said.
Because, just now,
They speak Xiling language.
...
Inside the dungeon,
Fang Yilan stood in front of the desk, his face gloomy. "You bastard, you usually receive a salary from the court and are supported by the people, yet you are willing to be a traitor who sells out your country for personal gain."
Under the case, those Xiling spies were tied to the rack, their clothes were torn, and they had already been tortured to the point of skin and flesh being torn.
But even so, they were very stubborn. After an hour, not much valuable information was pried out of them.
"General, please let me give it a try." Zhao Huaixu offered.
After Fang Yilan nodded in agreement, he ordered the guards to tie the men's hands and feet to iron chairs with thick ropes. Then, they blindfolded them with black cloth. Three basins of water were hung from the beams, directly above their heads. A tiny hole was chiseled in the bottom of the basins, allowing water to drip continuously onto the same spot on their foreheads.
At first, the spies looked at the scene and didn't take it seriously at all. They opened their mouths and cursed wantonly: "Look at you, you are so delicate and tender, you look like a woman. What tricks can you have? It's just bluffing."
Fang Yilan watched coldly and naturally realized that Zhao Huaixu was using the water torture. Before long, these people would experience the power of this method.
"How did you know about this punishment?"
"Of course it's because Huaixu has experienced it before." Zhao Huaixu lowered his eyebrows and deliberately pretended to be absent-minded. He watched the man in front of him restrain his smile and frowned tightly at his answer. The nervous look was really funny. He chuckled again, "General, why do you take it seriously?"
"I just happened to see a related record in an ancient book. It said that this punishment was extremely cruel and that ordinary people could not survive it for more than an hour. I was curious and finally had the opportunity to verify its authenticity."
Sure enough, within an hour, the dungeon was filled with sharp and shrill screams.
Before three o'clock in the morning, one of the spies bit his tongue and committed suicide, and the other had a dazed look in his eyes, crying and laughing at the same time. He had become mentally ill and nothing could be asked of him.
The only one who survived could not bear the torture, and his psychological defenses completely collapsed. He cried out in tears, "I confess, I confess everything..."
...
"My Lord, can we place our men in the army now?"
"No, it's still early." Zhao Huaixu stood quietly in the shadows. The dim light of the fire in the house flickered, making his face appear and disappear.
"It's true that all the spies that infiltrated Xiling have been eliminated," Zhao Huaixu narrowed his eyes, "but she still missed one thing."
"Go check the identity of that spy."
The author has something to say:
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Thanks for the collection, it seems that there will be more chapters soon. Fortunately, I have a stockpile of manuscripts [sunglasses][sunglasses][sunglasses]
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