Revenge against Zhuang Xiaocheng?
In the icy interrogation room, when Zhao Douan casually uttered that sentence, the three prisoners were simultaneously stunned.
Qing Niao and Wu Ling were surprised and subconsciously pondered the purpose of this imperial hound's seeking them out.
Yun Xi's reaction was more direct; she instinctively wanted to discard the handkerchief tainted with Zhao Douan's scent.
But upon hearing that sentence, her pale hand paused, and she haphazardly wiped her face with it, wiping away tears, her eyes cold as she asked,
"You want to deal with him?"
Zhao Douan slightly leaned back, hands clasped over his lower abdomen, mimicking the demeanor of a movie police chief, and nodded with a smile,
"Isn't that obvious? You are well aware of the feud between him and me."
From Yun Xi's perspective, Zhuang Xiaocheng had nearly killed Zhao Douan in the bamboo forest Earth God Temple in the South Suburb, leaving behind a huge pitfall of "letting a rebel escape."
The grudge was enormous.
"You want me to help you?"
Yun Xi quickly scoffed, "Why would you think I would help you?"
Zhao Douan smiled and said, "Because the enemy of my enemy is a friend, isn't that so?"
Yun Xi snorted, her voice hard as she spoke,
"Zhuang Xiaocheng is a black-hearted Old Dog, but you're no good either."
Indeed, she had become darker, but that didn't mean she changed her attitude to see Zhao Douan as a "good person."
Zhao Douan wasn't angry; he said with interest,
"You're right. I am indeed not a good person, but I can help you get rid of Zhuang Xiaocheng and spare the common people of the Great Yu Dynasty from being deceived by Old Dog Zhuang anymore.
Don't you want those passionate righteous people, deceived just like you, to awaken sooner?"
Yun Xi didn't make a sound, she was swayed!
Of course, she wasn't foolish.
In fact, after reflecting for most of the last night, she had already realized that Zhao Douan had "another purpose" for her.
From the initial detention without torture to now taking her out to shatter her beliefs, these steps could not be so boring as to be just to watch her make a fool of herself.
"I know not much useful information." Yun Xi suddenly spoke up, her voice indifferent,
"Following Zhuang Xiaocheng, I did indeed receive some information, but most of it involved the Capital sub-branch matters. Now that you have uprooted the sub-branch, I don't have any information to confess to you."
Zhao Douan was not surprised, he still smiled and said nothing.
Yun Xi continued on her own,
"Or perhaps, you want me to like Qianmian, change sides and work for the court? Help you trick open the door of the Kuangfu Society? Like, finding an opportunity to let me escape, so I can go back? To be your spy?"
The girl spoke nonchalantly, believing she had seen through Zhao Douan's intentions.
She shook her head and said,
"Not to mention whether I'm willing or not, even if I agreed to you, it would be meaningless. Zhuang Xiaocheng is very cautious; he will not trust me. Besides, the fact that I have been able to escape from the Imperial Prison is already the biggest suspicion."
Zhao Douan slowly sat straight, leaning forward, his elbows propped on the table, fingers interlocked, and said with a laugh,
"But what if I exchanged you with them?"
The three prisoners in the interrogation room were stunned again.
Yun Xi's expression became perplexed, her brows furrowing, "Exchange?"
Zhao Douan didn't keep them in suspense and spoke casually,
"These past three years, the court has always been sending people to capture rebels. The Capital is actually just the 'calmest' area, and outside the Capital, the struggle is even fiercer. The court's people have captured many of yours, but at the same time, you have also captured many of the court's people."
This information, he had learned while serving as Master and the last time he led the Linfeng Shadow Guards.
For example, some Shadow Guards, while investigating and tracking rebels, would be discovered and captured, killed.
Over three years, the fights between the court and the rebels spread across every corner of Jianghu.
Zhao Douan's voice deepened,
"If I send out a message to the Kuangfu Society, requesting an exchange of prisoners, what do you think?"
Yun Xi and the others were shocked and thoughtful.
Zhao Douan did not wait for her response, continuing on his own,
"Zhuang Xiaocheng might not agree, but what if I spread the news? Let many of the society's members become aware of this message.
Hah, that wouldn't be difficult. I just need to spread a message in Jianghu. You would love to intercept any information from the court... If enough people know, it will create pressure, forcing Zhuang Xiaocheng to nod."
He was certain of this for two reasons.
First, the rebels are also human, and they have friends and family.
Relatives of the criminals detained by the court will care about them on the outside.
Zhuang Xiaocheng and the core group might not care about the life and death of these people, but their relatives will care.
They would, in turn, exert pressure to actively facilitate this, and if Zhuang Xiaocheng obstructed and disagreed, that would be offending people, which could lead to a split within the Kuangfu Society.
Second, as Wu Ling said, apart from the core and middle layers of the Kuangfu Society, there are also many peripheral members.
These people are still deceived, to varying degrees, believing they are engaged in just causes.
With Zhuang Xiaocheng using the lofty banner of "upholding the state and overthrowing the Fake Emperor," he has to consider public sentiment.
If he could save them but doesn't, and the peripheral members find out, they will inevitably grumble.
Once morale breaks, the team cannot be led.
From this perspective, all Zhao Douan needs to do is to release this signal, and it becomes an overt plot that Zhuang Xiaocheng must agree to.
"So, you want to turn us, to let us return to the Kuangfu Society through a 'prisoner exchange' openly, and then work together with you to eliminate Zhuang Xiaocheng?"