In the cell.
After the others had withdrawn, Zhao Douan leaned back in his chair with his hands crossed and asked,
"Tell me, how did Zhuang Xiaocheng manage to escape in advance?"
According to his memory, Zhuang Xiaocheng was hiding in a small courtyard in the East City. The original owner had found out and dispatched the imperial guard to arrest him while he himself hid behind to take credit.
However, before the imperial guard could reach the destination, this rebel master and apprentice had already fled towards the outskirts of the city. Fortunately, someone was tailing them, and the imperial guard was then able to pursue them out of the city.
During this time, it coincidentally matched with the daytime restrictions, and Zhao Douan took advantage of the rules, blocking someone from the Imperial Court, ultimately pushing himself into a corner.
It could only be said that it was "well done"...
Seeing the agonized cries of the Kuangfu Society's members fade away, Yun Xi gave a grim smile, not resisting any further.
After all, in her view, the small piece of "information" she held was already worthless.
She had kept silent before only as a gesture.
If useless "information" could be traded for her companions to suffer less, she believed her teacher would agree.
"Because we had already received news beforehand that we were exposed, the teacher decisively decided to evacuate," Yun Xi sighed.
The Capital truly still had rebel accomplices... Zhao Douan was not surprised.
According to the information he had, the Kuangfu Society had sub-branches throughout Great Yu, and Zhuang Xiaocheng, as one of the core members, traveled around year-round coordinating intelligence and issuing orders.
This infiltration into the Capital was surely to orchestrate the activities of the rebels nearby.
He was like a regional "command center."
He then asked,
"Who sent you the message? And how?"
Yun Xi shook her head,
"I don't know."
It seemed she was afraid that Zhao Douan wouldn't believe her; she added,
"To prevent the society's members from being captured by the court, which could then implicate others, there was no fixed pattern to our information delivery.
Sometimes, the teacher would command me to drop a note somewhere in the city or retrieve information. We never met each other face to face...
The meeting places also changed each time. Important information was transmitted using Magic, which only the teacher knew about, and I was not privy to."
Zhao Douan's face was expressionless, as if he had stepped into a "spy drama."
Such professionalism...
Magic transmission... it was somewhat similar to sending a telegram. No wonder the "court spies" lurking in the shadows hadn't seen anyone make contact with them.
The plan to capture the messenger and thereby uncover more through investigation had failed prematurely due to lack of evidence.
"So? After receiving the message, Zhuang Xiaocheng chose to flee with you?"
Zhao Douan asked.
"Didn't he have any real experts for protection?"
Yun Xi shook her head,
"This is the Capital, having too strong an expert enter the city would easily attract the court's attention. Someone like me is the safest."
That made sense... Zhao Douan thought for a moment before suddenly asking,
"When exactly did Zhuang Xiaocheng find out I was going to make a move?"
Yun Xi hesitated before saying,
"About a quarter-hour before we fled, the teacher came out of the study in a hurry, his expression very grave, and told me to pack up immediately and leave the city with him."
A quarter-hour... Zhao Douan's eyes sharpened suddenly,
"You're lying!"
Yun Xi was stunned, not understanding why.
Zhao Douan stared at her,
"At that time, I first went to your residence and found it empty; only then did I chase out of the city. When I ordered my men to search the house, it indeed looked like you had left in a hurry, but including the study, there were no traces left at all.
Your teacher, who was in charge of information transfer, should have had some records written on paper, yet there was neither remaining correspondence in the study nor much ash in the brazier. If it was a last-minute notice as you said, how could he have managed to destroy the evidence within a quarter-hour?"
Yun Xi opened her mouth but was at a loss for words.
"It seems you are unwilling to cooperate, so I have no choice but..." Zhao Douan made a gesture to call his subordinates to drag "Qingyun" back.
The young girl, bound in a big 'X' shape to the cross, was panicking, her face turning pale as she hurriedly exclaimed,
"I didn't lie to you! It's true! The teacher's study is usually off-limits to me, but I often clean it, perhaps it has always been so."
Zhao Douan pressed on step by step, "How often is 'often'?"
Without waiting for the other to think, he commanded,
"Don't think, answer immediately!"
Yun Xi panicked and said,
"Usually every three to five days, I'd take out a bin of paper ashes to dispose of. The last time, about three days ago, there was unusually more, a big bag, I remember clearly..."
Three days ago… Zhao Douan's eyelids twitched!
According to the original owner's memory, that was precisely when he had received fresh intelligence from a bribed informant at the Imperial Court.
Indeed, there was an issue.
He kept his expression neutral, taking advantage of the girl's unease, he threw out the next question,
"How did Zhuang Xiaocheng escape? What's with the Earth God Temple in the Southern Suburb Bamboo Forest?"
Yun Xi shook her head again,
"I don't know… because of the daylight curfew and heavy rain, we didn't use the city gate. Using a Magic Scroll, the teacher tore open a gap in the city wall, but the road was muddy, and the carriage couldn't move fast, we were still caught up by the soldiers.
I fought desperately, only managing to escape to the Earth God Temple in the direction my teacher pointed out, and then we were surrounded by you. As for the Magician, he must be a master from our society, rescuing us with magic."
After blurting out all this information, Yun Xi gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and stiffened her pale neck:
"That's all I know."
Clearly adopting a stance that no matter the threat, it wouldn't work anymore.
On the other side of the cell,
Zhao Douan sank into deep thought.
At that moment, he searched through the original owner's memory from a bystander's perspective.
Combining the known information, he instantly noticed many abnormalities:
Inside the Earth God Temple.
The first thing Zhuang Xiaocheng said when he saw him was, "I didn't expect to be found by your lapdog."
At the time it felt normal, but on further reflection, it suggested another interpretation:
He didn't expect Zhao Douan to catch him, so who did he think would?
Moreover, from start to finish, Zhuang Xiaocheng's behavior had been peculiar.
Why destroy correspondence three days early, yet, a quarter-hour before Zhao Douan made his move, leave perturbed?
Why, with a magic powerful enough to tear open the city wall, did he rely on a female disciple of an ordinary Martial Arts Realm for protection and not have any protective magic with him?
Why, after reaching the bamboo forest, did he linger, waiting for Zhao Douan to arrive before reinforcements appeared?
"There are big issues," Zhao Douan's thoughts raced,
"Firstly, the bamboo forest Earth God Temple was clearly a 'teleportation point', whether a temporary arrangement or pre-planned, it was Zhuang Xiaocheng's means of self-preservation, and not problematic."
"Secondly, Zhuang Xiaocheng seemed to have known beforehand that his movements had been leaked, thus it makes sense to destroy the intelligence documents early, but why didn't he run?
He waited until I was about to act, then hurriedly withdrew, almost as if deliberately luring me to the Southern Suburbs..."
Zhao Douan's face shifted slightly, a bold idea emerging:
"Could it be that Zhuang Xiaocheng's target was me? Was he trying to lure and kill me?"
But the thought lasted only a second in his mind before he dismissed it:
"That doesn't make logical sense, if it were targeting me, some details could not be explained."
"And besides, to waste such considerable resources and risk great danger, just to kill a mere pet to the Empress?"
Zhao Douan laughed at himself.
If it were a game of chess, using the risk of sacrificing a 'general' and losing a female pawn to swap an enemy 'guard'…
Such a chess player, it would be better just to resign.
Since it couldn't possibly be targeting him, then in this chess game, which person was worth such painstaking efforts for the opponent?
A name almost slipped out as Zhao Douan's mind flashed suddenly:
"Imperial Court!"