Chapter 436 In the early summer of that year, there was silence in the palace. (5k)
The sharp spring breeze bypassed the hem of Zhao Duan's official robe from outside the gate and blew on the faces of the officials in the palace.
The expressions on everyone's faces seemed to be frozen, and some even raised their hands to block their eyes, as if to block the strong light pouring in from outside.
Zhao Duan... Zhao Duan... isn't he already dead? Why does it appear here?
Resurrection from the dead?
The moment this absurd idea arose in the minds of many courtiers, they were cut off by them, and they all realized the truth:
"Fake death!"
Yuan Li, the imperial censor doctor His lips moved and he uttered these two words. His face turned slightly red at first, and he looked excited.
Then there was a look of "sudden realization" in his wise eyes. He turned his head and glanced at Luan Cheng. Seeing that the prefect looked calm as expected, he became more and more sure of his judgment.
That's right... He had felt that Zhao Duan's death was unexpected before. Although anything could happen in the overseas struggle, perhaps the impression Zhao Duan left on people in the past year was too deep for Yuan Li to accept, so he just So dead.
But during these days, neither His Majesty's reaction nor the Zhao family's grief made him notice anything strange.
Now it seems that he must have really concealed it from everyone in the capital...
Fake death...fake death... In Li Yanfu's deep eye sockets, the pupils suddenly shrank to a small dot, and he subconsciously stepped back. He took two steps, his hands in his sleeves trembled, and the good mood during this period was instantly ruined.
Realized that I had been deceived.
Not only him, but also the entire Jinluan Palace, headed by Li Dang, the officials who had been celebrating the occasion in recent days, were getting colder and colder, and their moods fell to the bottom.
"Zhao Shaobao...are you still alive?"
"This...is there a mistake in the transmission?"
"Your Majesty, may I ask what this is..."
>
The ministers were in an uproar, and they all rushed to speak.
Zhao Duan, on the other hand, walked straight forward, like a sharp knife splitting the tide, and walked to the front of the hall under the gaze of officials on both sides.
At this time, the officials also noticed that there were two people following him.
Suddenly it was Haitang, the master of Narcissus Hall in Zhaoya, and Zhang Han of Peony Hall.
As for the senior brothers and sisters of Tianshi Mansion, as well as Ji Yue Yunxi and others, they were not suitable to appear here, so they did not follow.
Haitang and Zhang Han, one on the left and one on the right, carrying the heavy box - the three of them entered the palace early and pulled Zhuang Xiaocheng over from Eunuch Hai to complete the scene. Public ceremony.
"Everyone is silent."
Empress Dayu looked down at the commotion among the ministers with a smile, waited for a while, and then spoke softly.
The eunuch on the side raised his whip and struck it hard on the shiny marble floor, making a crisp sound.
When the ministers shut their mouths, Xu Zhenguan smiled and said:
"I know that all of you are wondering, why is Zhao Shaoban safe? Zhao Qing will tell you this matter himself. Sirs, listen.”
Zhao Duan held up his hand and said, "I obey the order."
After saying that, he raised his head and did not rush to tell. Instead, he slowly walked around and walked to the big box on the ground, smiling:
"Before telling the story, there is an old 'friend' who needs to be brought out to meet with all my colleagues."
After finishing speaking, before everyone could react, he pulled up the ring and said, "Bang" With a sound, the heavy box like a coffin was opened!
The old man in the box who was sleeping with the talisman on his forehead was exposed.
"Zhuang... Zhuang Xiaocheng! It's Zhuang Xiaocheng! The rebel leader!"
A recent censor was shocked and shouted.
The ministers who had finally calmed down started to riot again.
And this time, the noise was even greater than the one just made!
“Zhuang Xiaocheng!”
Who would be unfamiliar with this name? As the leader of a rebel bandit, he seemed to be the most troublesome enemy of the imperial court after the "Xuanmen Coup".
People have been sent to arrest him countless times, but they all failed.
This is also the reason why Zhao Duan caused such a big stir when he "let go" of Zhuang Xiaocheng - his identity is too special.
At this moment, Zhuang Xiaocheng, who had been "missing" for three years, appeared in the hall again. How could he not make all the officials moved?
"Yes, as you can see, this thief is the rebel leader, the former Taifu Zhuang Xiaocheng." Zhao Duan said loudly.
He put his hands behind his back, looked at Li Yanfu in the crowd, and raised the corners of his mouth:
"Three months ago, on New Year's Eve, the prime minister once again brought up the old matter. I said at that time that within three months, we would The rebel who had been let go was caught back, and now, fortunately, he has not broken his promise."
Li Yanfu stared at him without saying a word, only his beard trembled slightly.
Li Yinglong, the "little pavilion elder" who was also in the hall, stepped forward and helped his father to prevent him from losing his composure.
"Haha," Zhao Duan did not chase after him fiercely, he smiled lightly and said:
"The reason why I discussed with Magistrate Luan and sent the news of his death was to escort the thief back to the capital safely..."
Then he talked eloquently and narrated the entire arrest experience.
And explain why.
After everything was described, the officials finally knew everything.
After understanding what happened, I realized that Zhao Duan had probably returned to Beijing early, waiting to go to the palace today to slap Li Yanfu in the face.
"Wait..." Someone suddenly recalled the empress' suppression of Li Dang during this period, and his expression suddenly became exciting.
If the empress had known that Zhao Duan was not dead, wouldn’t those suppressions have been intentional? Li Dang suffered a dumb loss?
Thinking of this, Yuan Li and other members of the Qingliu Party immediately cast "sympathetic" glances at a group of sworn enemies.
"Good... good means..."
Li Yanfu took a deep breath, closed his eyes, opened them again, and stared at the high-spirited Zhao:
"What a fake death, what a plan."
Zhao Duan looked at him with a smile:
"My lord, Xiangguo, thanked you. Speaking of which, I would also like to thank Xiangguo for urging me, otherwise I would have It may not be possible to bring this thief to justice so quickly."
Li Yanfu remained silent.
Haitang and Zhang Han found it interesting. It was rare to see Xiang Guo embarrassed in public.
"As Zhao Shaobao said, today the leader of the traitorous bandit was captured and brought to justice. The men led by Zhao Shaobao made a great contribution, and the Prime Minister also took the greatest credit."
Xu Zhenguan said with a chuckle, this sentence was more of a tease than a compliment. The words were like a slap on Li Yanfu's face.
However, today’s purpose is not to target Li Yanfu after all.
The empress stopped when it was time and began to list Zhuang Xiao's crimes. She rewarded Haitang and others who participated in this battle and made meritorious deeds in public.
The only exception is Zhao Duan - because in name, his meritorious service this time is "atonement for his sins."
As for whether there is compensation in private, the ministers don't know.
In the end, the empress announced in public that Zhuang Xiaocheng and other rebels would be put on trial in public. After the case process was completed, they would be beheaded together at Caishikou.
Baiguanshan shouted long live, and no one raised any objection.
……
After the dynasty dispersed.
Zhuang Xiaocheng continued to be taken away by Ouchi masters to ensure that he would survive until the day of beheading without any accidents.
Zhao Duan walked among the crowd and went out of the Meridian Gate together.
Unconsciously, the ministers separated with a tacit understanding, leaving him and Li Yanfu behind.
One is too young and the other is too old.
Two officials from the old and new imperial courts walked down the white jade steps little by little, and the sunlight cast their shadows on the ground.
"Master Xiangguo, do you still remember the scene when you and I first met at the Meridian Gate?" Zhao Duan put his hands in his sleeves and walked down the long steps, asking softly without squinting.
Li Yanfu remained silent.
Zhao Duan thought to himself and said:
"It was the time when Pei Kaizhi was deprived of his official status. At that time, I was standing at the Meridian Gate. I was not qualified to go to court at that time. Watching the ministers disperse from the court When we walked down, Xiangguo didn't pay much attention to me at that time.
I joked with Pei Kaizhi, and he was so angry that he vomited blood. Only then did Xiangguo turn around and look at me. "
Li Yanfu remained silent.
Zhao Duan continued:
"But before that, what impressed me most about the Prime Minister was the afternoon when I 'let go' Zhuang Xiaocheng. I entered the palace to plead guilty to His Majesty. At that time, the Prime Minister was discussing state affairs with His Majesty in the study. .
When you walked out of the study, I was standing in the corridor with a group of female officials, and you didn’t even look at me. "
Li Yanfu left. When I reached the last step, I took a deep breath.
Zhao Duan stopped, hunched his hands to face the sun, raised his head slightly, and showed a bright smile:
“From the time you turned a deaf ear to me, to looking back at me, to the time when you regarded me as a thorn in your side in the Jinluan Palace... …It took me nearly a year to complete these changes.”
He turned his head and looked down. Li Yanfu, who walked down the steps and walked straight forward, raised the corners of his mouth and said teasingly:
"How many more decades did it take for the Prime Minister to reach this position?"
Li Yanfu paused. His slightly rickety body trembled slightly, as if he was trying to suppress his anger, and his gray hair trembled in the spring breeze.
"Don't be proud for too long!"
He spat out these words, walked away, and disappeared outside the palace gate.
Zhao Duan stood on the steps with his sleeves folded, looking disappointed.
Unfortunately, this old thief is far less crispy than Pei Kai.
"Then... let's see."
......
......
After Zhao Duan dispersed from the court, he and his two "alive" colleagues went straight to the imperial office.
As expected, it caused a sensation.
The Jinyi people in Lihuatang went from sadness, to dullness, to ecstasy. In just half an hour, they experienced ups and downs. Fortunately, the same explanation had been given several times, and the situation was explained with ease. The originally leaderless and listless group of thornheads immediately became radiant.
Zhao Duan waved his hand and sold hundreds of taels of silver in his own name. He ordered Qian Kerou to prepare a banquet and congratulate his colleagues later.
As for the "bonus" of the Jinyi people, it was transferred from the account, and the whole hall was filled with joy for a while.
......
"What happened to the prisoners who were escorted back?"
After Zhao Duan arrived at the Governor's Hall, he asked Ma Yan.
As the sharpest knife in the hands of the empress, although Ma Yan did not go to court today, he had learned the information that Zhao Duan was alive earlier.
And last night, according to Zhao Duan's arrangement, Yun Xi was sent to prison
—This time it was not detention, but persuasion to surrender.
“According to the list you provided, all the prisoners with bad records and hopelessness will be tortured to extract as much information as possible. As for those who are expected to be transformed into spies, they will be detained separately, but I heard It is said that those people are quite stubborn and trying to persuade them to surrender alone may not have much effect.”
Ma Yan sat in the entrance of the hall, holding a teacup, and answered.
Zhao Duan pondered for a moment and said:
"Let me go and see for myself."
……
……
Lin Yuebai woke up from a nightmare.
She opened her eyelids, sat up suddenly, and shouted "Qi Chi!?"
In the next cell, the young boy Kou Qi Chi stared at the messy chicken coop-like hair and rushed towards him. Railing side:
"Sister, I'm here!"
Lin Yuebai gasped for air. In the dark dungeon, a look of fear appeared on her face. She raised her chained wrist and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. , shook his head and said:
"It's okay, it was just a dream."
In the dream, Kou Qichi was dragged out by the jailer, thrown to the execution platform and skinned, and his screams resounded throughout the dungeon.
Lin Yuebai shook her head to clear her groggy mind. The Confucian robe that she wore when she was pretending to be a man disappeared, replaced by a tattered prison uniform with a bad smell.
There were several people imprisoned in the entire cell. At this moment, the others were awakened and were looking at her with either indifference or concern.
No one spoke.
Everyone is waiting for the torture to come.
Ever since they were detained last night, they have been "disrupted" and detained. They didn't know what happened to their other companions, but they could hear the screams that lasted the whole night.
What really depressed this group of people was not the fear of torture, but more confusion.
While on the road, they learned that the Taifu and Zhao Thief had died together.
The death of Zhao Thief was certainly gratifying, but the death of the Taifu made this group of people lose their "guiding light" and were at a loss.
Lin Yuebai could only keep comforting the others:
Princess Wen is still there, the Crown Prince is still there, and core members such as Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun are still there.
Brothers and sisters of Kuangfu Society are still fighting in various places.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, there was the sound of the cell door opening in the corridor, and along with the sound of footsteps, several jailers walked in and scanned everyone: "Lin Yuebai, come out. ”
"Sister!" the boy next door yelled heartbreakingly.
But unable to stop it, Lin Yuebai was roughly dragged out by the jailer.
When the sorceress looked empty and prepared to be tortured, she found that the jailers did not take her to the torture chamber.
Instead, we came to a quieter area.
In the dungeon corridor illuminated by a brazier, Lin Yuebai, who was shackled, saw Wu Ling and Qingniao, one on the left and one on the right, guarding an interrogation room like door gods.
"It's you! Traitors! Court lackeys!" Lin Yuebai glared angrily and cursed the two traitors.
Wu Ling was too lazy to say anything. Bluebird's eyes were filled with pity and a sneer on his lips:
"I hope you will be the same as you are now when you come out later."
Lin Yuebai looked slightly embarrassed. Dazed, he was pushed into the interrogation room.
……
There was only one table and a few chairs in the room.
At this moment, sitting in the interrogator's seat were a man and a woman, one of whom was Lin Yuebai's former friend Yun Xi.
The other one... put his feet on the table, leaned back in his chair, and flipped through the information in his hand, with a condescending look in his eyes.
"Zhao! Zhao thief?!"
Lin Yuebai's eyes widened as if he had been struck by lightning, staring in disbelief at the traitor Zhao Duan who was smiling at him.
She had secretly seen Zhao Duan's appearance in the crowd, and was no stranger to him.
"Lin Yuebai, right? According to the information, you are in charge of a small branch in the company, and you also participated in Huting's assassination of me? Haha, interesting... During the battle of Fengcheng, you were threatened by the blue bird At that time, they clashed with the rest of the society and fought with each other... Gee, it’s even more interesting..."
Zhao Duan will The booklet was casually thrown on the table, and he folded his hands and stared at her with interest:
"Are you interested in changing your mind and starting a new life? For the sake of Yun Xi's recommendation, as long as you abandon the darkness and turn to the light, I will The official’s assassination of you can be forgotten.”
Yun Xi glanced at him: So direct?
"You... aren't you dead?!" Lin Yuebai was at a loss and leaned against the iron door, as if he had seen a ghost.
Yun Xi had no expression on her face and quickly explained the matter simply.
After hearing this, Lin Yuebai's eyes suddenly lit up: "So, Taifu is still alive?"
"Death is not far away," Zhao Duan said lazily:
"In a few days, Caishikou will be beheaded. As long as you accuse Zhuang Xiaocheng in public, I will..."
"Bah! Dog Officer! I will never give in!"
Zhao Duan was not surprised. Looking at this familiar reaction, he seemed to be seeing Yun Xi who had been trained by him in a trance.
He sighed softly and took out a video recording scroll from his sleeve:
"After reading this, I hope you can still curse."
Then , a piece of light and shadow appeared on the scroll, which was especially clear in the dark dungeon.
That was the scene where the empress and Zhao Duan interrogated Zhuang Xiaocheng in the Zhao family study.
"What Taifu is busy with is how to oppose me all day long, how to fabricate history, pour dirty water on me, whitewash Xu Jianwen's evil deeds of rebellion, and deceive people's hearts?"
"I am a swordsman and I am a fish and meat..."
The original conversation also echoed in the interrogation room.
Zhao Duan arranged for Gongshu Tianyuan to secretly take photos outside. The empress probably guessed what he was thinking, so she did not stop him.
During the entire conversation, although Zhuang Xiaocheng didn't say much and looked like he was begging for death, he also didn't reply when faced with the questions from the empress and Zhao Duan.
is the default attitude.
And many times, the default itself means a lot.
Lin Yuebai was stunned. When the scene in the scroll finished playing, she still couldn't believe it: "This is..."
Yun Xi sighed softly and sneered:< br>
"Otherwise, why do you think I turned my back to the court? Do you think I was weak? Or was I forced by power? No, it was me who recognized the face of old thief Zhuang and tore through the lies..."
Then , she told her experience of how she came to enlightenment, and showed her a lot of information prepared on the table that could prove Zhuang Xiaocheng's hypocrisy and lies.
Finally, Zhao Duan looked pitifully:
"You should have noticed that too many people in the Kuangfu Society do not uphold the concept of Kuangfu Sheji, and there are also too many people who would have known better. Xiaocheng is lying, he is just maintaining this lie tacitly."
He stood up and walked out:
"You are a smart man, think about it for yourself, I hope you make the right choice."
Zhao Duan walked out of the interrogation room, stared at the dust floating in the light by the window at the end of the corridor, and suddenly touched Touching his pocket, he regretfully thought that a cigarette would be enough at this time.
About two quarters of an hour later, the interrogation room door opened. Zhao Duan did not look back and continued to look at the light coming from the fence on the wall.
"How is it?"
Behind him, Yun Xi walked over and said calmly:
"She was convinced by me and promised me to go back to the cell, help instigate more people together, and stand up to expose the old thief's hypocrisy."
Zhao Duan was not surprised: "Just follow the method I demonstrated. Keep doing it.”
He sneered:
“Actually, these people are not stupid, so they must be feeling depressed during this time. After thinking about it, I realized that I had been treated as an outcast by Zhuang Xiaocheng. No matter if I didn't want my faith to collapse or because of the opinions of my companions, I just held on.
There was no need to face this group of people. Punishment only needs to attack their hearts and give them a reason to confidently surrender to the court and become 'traitors', and they will naturally change their stance..."
One of the reasons why Zhao Duan divided the prisoners into two parts was to create artificial divisions.
And he screamed all night long to frighten the hearts of Lin Yuebai and the others.
“Everyone is afraid of death. There are very few people who are not afraid. They are just trapped by some nihilistic moral shackles and cannot get out.”
“It’s like aliens attacking a city. Being accused is also But if the foreigners pick up a puppet emperor of their own, the defenders along the way will be able to surrender with peace of mind."
Zhao Duan said without emotion, he was as cold as a cold machine. machine.
He had seen too many similar things in history books.
Yun Xi thought thoughtfully: "What they lack is just an honest reason to change their stance?"
"Otherwise," Zhao Duan turned around and pinched the girl. Face:
“Do you really think that those rebels are just like you, stupidly thinking about sacrifice all day long?”
Hmm… Yun Xi’s eyes widened with anger, but she Too scared to say anything.
Zhao Duan laughed and walked past her to the outside of the prison:
"The rest of the people will be left to you. Those who have been persuaded to surrender can be turned into spies, so I will leave them to you and Wu Ling to lead. You have to continue to pay it off later The remnants of those who rebelled against the party will atone for their sins. Oh, it would be too nice to think that just by rebelling, you can wash away your serious sins. "
Thanks to the book friend 2022...6910, Kenshin Kyoto Fire's Hundred Rewards.
(End of this chapter)