The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 36 There are two paths before you, life or death
Although she is very versatile and good at 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 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, but I've never seen him stay out overnight."

Xiaoya heard him address her in a friendly way and thought that they had a good relationship, so she smiled and said:

"After all, Envoy Zhang is a man of great talent. I think he doesn't want to show up in public. Whenever he wants to drink, he usually sends someone to send a message 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 make it sound like my reputation is better than mine... Zhao Duan had no place to complain, so he turned his wine glass and asked with a smile:

"When Brother Zhang and I chat and drink, he is always talkative, quoting scriptures and classics. Thanks to him, I know many new things in the capital... Has he told you about me?"

Xiaoya held up the wine jug with both hands, filled his glass, 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 respond."

Not surprisingly.

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 as if he was chatting casually.

When Xiaoya mentioned Zhang Changji, she felt a little unhappy and said angrily:
"Zhang's second son is rude and never considerate of others. However, unlike his brother, he is a talkative person and likes to teach me how to speak. He even talks in his sleep at night..."

What did he teach you to say... Zhao Duan's gossiping spirit was aroused, but he suppressed it and grasped the key point of "talking in sleep".

Some surprises.

No wonder, Zhang Changji, as a lieutenant of the Beijing Camp, seldom spent the night in the camp. Even when he was on night patrol, he had to 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, but 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, sliding down with her soft hands, breathing sweetly:
"It's late at night. I'll serve you and let you rest. How about we talk somewhere else?"

However, the next second, her bare hands were 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, then 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 disappeared, and said:
"I asked you if Zhang Changji said anything important."

Xiaoya hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said:
"So the envoy is complaining about this. It's nothing important. It's just the things that you men care about, like the emperor got angry today? Which official got unlucky? It's trivial and boring..."

"No," Zhao Duan said calmly:
"If that's all you want 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 resentfully:

"Your Excellency is indeed too suspicious. I just think that I should keep my mouth shut and not disclose the affairs of the Excellencies casually. No matter what the Envoy said today, I will definitely not tell anyone a 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 the wrist, the blood flow is also accelerating...

This is a manifestation of guilty conscience and nervousness.

He completely lost his smile, his face was cold, and a hint of violence appeared just right:
"No, you're afraid of offending the Zhang brothers by talking nonsense."

"But," he sneered, "You don't dare to offend them, but you dare to offend me?" He exerted force with his palm, and Xiaoya's slender wrist suddenly felt pain.

She is afraid!

At this moment, some rumors about Zhao Duan came to mind, and fear arose in my heart.

The person in front of me is not a gentleman, but a cruel and violent villain!
"No...don't dare..."

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 sounding like a devil:

"Do you know why I came here today?"

"No...I don't know..."

Zhao Duan said:

"I was ordered by the Emperor to investigate the case of the Kuangfu Society's traitorous gang. I found out that Zhang Changji was involved and learned that he had been coming to Qinglian Cottage frequently over the past six months to meet with you in private...

Ha, and you refused to answer and helped him cover up... I have reason to suspect that your true identity is the rebel hidden in the capital from the Kuangfu Society!"

Xiaoya turned pale with fright.

Rebellious party, supporting the society... Even if she didn't know the severity of the situation, she knew that this was a serious crime punishable by death or even the implicate of others.

I was already afraid, and the big hat frightened me so much that I almost lost my soul.

"I am not a rebel, not..."

Zhao Duan said quietly:

"Yes and no, you will know after you are thrown into the imperial prison and tortured."

"There are two paths before you, a path of life or a path of 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 welled up in her eyes, and she cried:

"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 hand, and threw Xiaoya back to the table.

He restrained 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 tear marks, and she knelt on the ground trembling, as if she had returned from hell to the world of the living.

At this moment, seeing that Zhao Duan could switch between the two states freely, he couldn't help but feel terrified and thought that the rumors were indeed true.

The empress's lover is a wolf in disguise.

"I...I don't know where to start..." she cried.

Zhao Duan patiently persuaded:
"Just say what you want to hide the 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 willing 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 serious crimes.

However, Miss Xiaoya's next sentence stunned him.

"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)