Xu Liang was shocked. "Who could the traitor be? It must be someone from the inner guard. Women are the most unreliable! "
Huang Xuchang was a member of Hundred Cavalry, so he had an instinctive trust and protection for them. He hurriedly said, "That's right, it must be someone from the inner guard. We Hundred Cavalry are all brothers who have gone through life and death together. If the traitor causes the death of the Prince of Luling, then all of us brothers will die. No one would harm their own brothers like this!"
Yang Fan slowly said, "I still don't know who the traitor is. Before we can confirm who the traitor is, everyone is suspicious. You and I must not let our first impressions be the strongest, or it will only blind our eyes!"
Huang Xuchang and Xu Liang slowly woke up from their excitement and agreed.
Yang Fan solemnly said, "We'll deal with tonight's matter first. The most important thing we have to do next is to ferret out the traitor. Otherwise, we won't be able to return to the capital alive. The further north we go, the more dangerous it will become. So from now on, I'll only tell the most trustworthy people about our actions. "
Xu Liang curiously asked, "Since you've already sensed the traitor, how can you be so sure that the two of us are trustworthy?"
Yang Fan replied, "It's very simple. Because the two of you have been closely guarding the Prince of Luling along the way, including when I left you to intercept the pursuers. If one of you harbored malicious intent towards the Prince of Luling, you would have long since made your move."
Yang Fan bent his fingers and calculated. "I can trust Gao Ying and Lan Yiqing. They were the ones who helped the Prince of Luling down the mountain. If they wanted to harm the Prince of Luling, they would have long since made their move.
After tonight, give me a list of the Hundred Cavalry and inner guards who protected them down the mountain. These people can also be trusted. Otherwise, as long as they purposely make some noise and alarm the guards on the mountain, it will be difficult for us to escape.
Furthermore, Miss Gu can be trusted. Otherwise, there is no need for her to tell me her findings. If we are completely unguarded, even if we set up sentries at night, it will be difficult for us to defend against the assassins … "
Yang Fan had obviously calculated it carefully. He spoke in an orderly manner. Huang Xuchang and Xu Liang nodded frequently.
After counting, Yang Fan said, "You can tell these people that there are spies among them in advance, so that they can be more vigilant of others. If there is someone guarding Prince of Luling and … Young Commandery Princess who is not one of these people, find a way to transfer him away and replace him with the most reliable one!"
The two of them nodded in acknowledgment.
Yang Fan continued, "I'll tell you what I'm about to say next. After that, I'll go find Miss Gao Ying and tell her the same thing. You know your subordinates the best. When monitoring and guarding against others, the most important thing to pay attention to is … "
Yang Fan glanced at the two of them and said word by word, "It's those with ordinary family backgrounds and a small population. They can easily disappear without a trace!"
Although Huang Xuchang and Xu Liang were martial artists and had a rough temperament, they had been officials for a long time. They were definitely not fools who only knew martial arts but not the slightest bit of scheming. They immediately understood what Yang Fan meant.
The situation the Prince of Luling faced upon his return to the capital was unprecedentedly complicated because the power of the Wu and Zhou dynasties was simply too chaotic and had too many factions. Wu Zetian was also well aware of this, but she could not reorganize the Wu clan, nor did she have the energy to do so.
In order to ensure her son's safe return to the capital, she could only make the decision that if the Prince of Luling returned alive, all his guards would be rewarded; if the Prince of Luling returned dead, all his guards would be executed to ensure that the imperial decree was carried out.
In this case, it was unlikely that the hundred cavalrymen and internal guards, who had large families and could not easily "disappear" into the commoners, would be bribed. On the contrary, those guards with small family backgrounds could easily escape the capital after receiving a large sum of money and sending the Prince of Luling's life. They could change their names and live in leisure in other places. Therefore, if there was a traitor, people with such family backgrounds would be the most suspicious.
Huang Xuchang and Xu Liang nodded in agreement. Yang Fan gave them a few more instructions before getting up and leaving to find Gao Ying.
In the room to the right, Li Guo'er stood barefooted at the door, her ear pressed against the door. After Yang Fan left, she gently straightened her back and, after some serious thought, quietly climbed onto the bed. After a while, she came down again and rummaged through her outer clothes. She took out the sheathed dagger that Gao Ying had given her for self-defense and returned to the bed. Hugging the dagger to her chest, she finally fell asleep.
Yang Fan's footsteps were heavy as he walked.
The matter of the assassin had already caused him to carry a heavy psychological burden, and the appearance of a traitor made him even more worried.
A traitor was hard to dig out, but he had to! If this traitor was not found, he would be in even more danger once he crossed the Crouching Bull Mountains and entered Duji Province. This was because the Wu clan attached great importance to the development of their power in the capital regions, and the Wu clan's main forces were concentrated in this area. Bringing a traitor back to the capital was tantamount to entering a dragon's pool and tiger's den.
But how could it be easy to find this traitor hidden in the cavalry or the inner guards? If they beat the grass and startled the snake, it would be very difficult to dig out this traitor. Furthermore, if too many people knew that there was a traitor among them, everyone would be paranoid and unable to sleep at night. It wouldn't be long before the enemy didn't even need to make a move, and the entire team would collapse.
…
Late at night, in the backyard of the Liang residence, a group of night walkers gathered together sneakily. The lights in the house were lit, and blankets were hung on the windows to prevent the light from shining out.
The white-haired old steward of the Liang residence with a wrinkled face sat in the corner and looked at them with a hateful gaze. But he couldn't do anything. He was an old man and couldn't do anything to this group of strong people. His family stayed behind to guard this residence, and now his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and little granddaughter were all in the hands of this group of people. He couldn't resist.
The group of people that came in the afternoon fit the description of these people, but he didn't know who they were and why they wanted to deal with the famous scholar from Qianzhong. Old Steward Liang purposely acted as if he didn't want to be reasonable and let the group of people cook for themselves, hoping that they would notice something was wrong from the dishes in the kitchen that hadn't been washed in time.
Old Steward Liang thought about it and sighed inwardly, "I hope they will be more vigilant and escape from this disaster! This old man has been a vegetarian my entire life, and if they die here, this old man will have committed a great sin. "
"Prepare to move! Li Feng, Liu Ruoyu, Sima Shao, Wen Lin! "
The four people whose names were called took a step forward and said in a deep voice, "Your subordinates are here!"
The leader said, "The four of you are in charge of eliminating their patrols on the roof. Make sure to deal a fatal blow!"
"Yes!"
Old Steward Liang was someone who had seen the world, and when he saw the behavior of this group of people, he couldn't help but be suspicious, "Could they be from the military? Look at their speech and actions, they are very much like soldiers! "
The leader then turned to the others and said, "Chen Guang, Stan, Fang Ziyu, Xing Su!"
Another four people came forward and said, "Present!"
The leader said, "The four of you, lead your men and get ready. Once they succeed, you will immediately rush out and entangle the guards who are patrolling around that person's house!"
These four people didn't look like soldiers. Stan's appearance was clearly that of a Kunlun slave, while Xing Su was wearing a Daoist robe and had her hair tied up in a Daoist bun. Old Steward Liang was confused again, "Could it be that my judgment was wrong?"
In fact, Old Steward Liang wasn't wrong. The four people from before were indeed soldiers, and they were most proficient in archery. Each of them had the ability to shoot a target from a hundred steps away. However, the four people from the second group were the family warriors of Wu Sansi and Wu Yizong's residences. They were people from the pugilistic world, and they were experts in individual combat.
The leader wasn't tall, but he was extremely sturdy. He had broad shoulders and a strong back, and he was as majestic as a mountain. The most eye-catching thing about him was his beard. It was as thick as ink, and each of his beard was like a halberd, giving him an extremely mighty appearance. The weapon that this person used was also extremely rare. In his hands was a pair of giant wheel-shaped axes. The back of the axes was heavy, and the edge of the axes shone with a cold light.
This person's surname was Huo, and his full name was Huo Qilin. He was the number one warrior in Wu Sansi's residence. He was also proficient in sumo wrestling and wrestling. In the past, he was very famous in the army, and he once competed with the number one sumo wrestler, Chu Kuangge. He lost in one move, and was later chosen by Wu Sansi.
Huo Qilin then said to the remaining people, "After you enter the East Stride Courtyard, immediately kill your way to the houses. While they're unprepared, kill those guards. The more chaos you create, the better. I will bring five people to that person's residence and take his head! Once we succeed, you and I will enjoy endless glory and wealth. Even becoming a high-ranking general will be as easy as flipping our hands! "
Huo Qilin had arranged for a clever subordinate to dress up as a servant of the Liang Residence. Taking the opportunity to deliver bedding to Yang Fan and the others, he had already carefully arranged the living quarters of the people in the East Striding Courtyard. At this moment, everything was arranged in an orderly manner.
Although Old Steward Liang was old, he wasn't muddle-headed. When he heard this, his heart turned cold. He knew that he was in trouble. Although he didn't know where these people came from, he knew that once they succeeded, they would enjoy endless glory and wealth. They could even become officials. He knew that these people wouldn't allow his family to live.
Old Steward Liang was secretly alarmed. He immediately took advantage of everyone's discussion to sneak towards the door. When Old Steward Liang reached the door, he suddenly turned around and ran out. He didn't expect Huo Qilin to have already seen his actions. When Old Steward Liang turned around, Huo Qilin suddenly raised his hand. The wheel axe in his hand really turned into a shining wheel of light and flew out of his hand.
Old Steward Liang ran out the door, but before he could open his mouth to call for help, the axe had already swept past his neck. In the rain of blood, the axe continued to fly forward. With a "du" sound, it cut into the trunk of a large tree in the courtyard. Old Steward Liang's head was separated from his body. With a "plop" sound, he fell into a pool of blood.
Huo Qilin sneered and coldly ordered one of his subordinates, "This family is no longer useful. Kill them all!"
That person fiercely nodded and rushed towards the back of the residence with his blade.
Huo Qilin forcefully waved his hand and said, "Move out!"
At this time, someone had already run to pull out the axe and brought it back to him. Huo Qilin lifted the bloody axe and with a sinister smile, he strode out!
… …
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