The next day, a large-scale search of the mountain began. Three days later, the Song army made its way back to Hangzhou.
In the Hangzhou government office, Zhao Tong pointed to a person in front of him and said calmly: "His name is Fang Gu. He is Fang La's nephew, but he is a few years older than Fang La. He has watched Fang La since he was a child, so he can identify him."
Zhao Kai looked at Fang Gu doubtfully: "Second brother, are you serious? I still think it was Fang La who was caught. The pseudo-queen, pseudo-prince and ministers all died in front of him, how could he be a substitute?"
Zhao Tao looked at him and said: "This Fang La only has a crude jade seal on his body and does not have the leader's token of the Ming Cult. This is the biggest loophole. Moreover, Fang La himself is very skilled in martial arts, but when he was captured, he couldn't even commit suicide. Isn't it true?" Not a joke?"
Zhao Kai retorted: "Maybe he is greedy for life and afraid of death, and is cruel to kill others, but he can't kill himself? As for the demon sect's token, why is it as important as the jade seal? I think this is true, so I should return to Beijing as soon as possible to recover. yes!"
Zhao Tong smiled slightly: "Third brother, this Fang La is a high-flying figure. If the golden cicada really escapes from the shell and escapes, and gathers some demon sect thieves who have slipped through the net, can they start again without saying anything in advance and sneak into Tokyo to take revenge?" What should we do? Don’t forget, you also have a share in this encirclement and suppression of Gangyuan!"
"How can I be afraid of such grass bandits!" Zhao Kai said disdainfully, suddenly remembering the scene where he saw corpses scattered all over the field with blood and flesh flying on Bangyuan Mountain, his voice became slightly weaker: "Since the second brother insists that Fang La is fake, then the identification is , I’m not in a hurry to go back!”
Zhao Tong looked at Tong Guan and said, "Fang Gu alone is not enough. Your disciple Mu Shuang, Privy Tong, also has contacts with Fang La. Please call us to sort it out together."
Tong Guan was not at ease in his heart. If Fangla used the golden cicada to escape from his shell, he would lead his troops back to recover and hand over a fake Fangla to Emperor Daojun. If the real Fangla appeared again in the future, he would not be able to eat it and carry it around. of.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tong Guan said hurriedly.
A long time later, Hangzhou Prison.
The three of them took the generals from all walks of life and stood in front of Fanglao Gate.
It was dark inside the prison at this time. Fang La was stripped of his robes and chained to a pillar. His mouth was stuffed with rags, but his eyes were wide open with anger. He looked at the people outside the prison and made an angry sound of "woo woo".
Zhao Tong looked at him for a moment, then Fang Gu said, "Go in and have a look."
Fang Gu felt guilty. He had never dared to see Fang La, but Zhao Tong asked him to identify him and he had to obey, so he had to follow the order and walk into the prison.
He lowered his body slightly and went up to the front. Fang La immediately became excited when he saw that he was coming, making the iron chain clang and make Fang Gu retreat hurriedly in fright.
Zhao Tong narrowed his eyes: "Remove the rag."
The rag was removed from Fang La's mouth, and he immediately cursed: "Fang Gu, you traitor to our ancestors, you actually have the nerve to come see me?"
Fang Gu was panicked, but everyone outside was watching, so he had to say harshly: "Uncle Thirteen, nephew, this is for the good of the Fang family. Why do you think you can't do anything, but you want to rebel? This is a serious crime against the Nine Clan. If my nephew hadn't abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side, , I’m afraid the Fang family will be completely destroyed in your hands.”
"You damn thing, our Fang family is not as greedy for life and fearful of death as you, a traitor to the people! I wish I could cut you into pieces to satisfy my hatred!" Fang La spat out a mouthful of blood and sprayed Fang Gu on it. One head and one face.
Fang Gu was also angry: "Uncle Thirteen, you said that you are not short of food and drink, and you also manage Qiyuan. What kind of demon sect did you join? You also started a rebellion and became a traitor. I think you are the one who betrayed the Fang family." Ancestors, I’m sorry to the Fang family, you deserve to die!”
Fang La was so angry that he screamed "ouch" when he heard this. His eyes were bloodshot, and he stretched his head to bite Fang Gu, which frightened Fang Gu so much that he almost fell down.
Two jailors hurriedly came over and held him down. Zhao Tong frowned and said, "Keep your mouth shut again, Fang Gu, check carefully!"
Seeing that Fang La couldn't move, Fang Gu wiped the cold sweat from his head and muttered: "I don't care if you call me Uncle Thirteen anymore. You are the traitor Fang La, so I will call you Fang La. You traitor, do you remember going to the tree when you were a child?" When I touched the bird, I dropped it and hit my head, which caused a long wound. My scalp turned over at that time..."
As he spoke, he went to pick off Fang Wa's hair, and saw that there was indeed a wound that had healed long ago. It was more than three inches long. He hurriedly turned back to look at Zhao Tong.
Zhao Tong said: "How?"
Fang Gu said: "Your Majesty, there are indeed scars."
Zhao Tong said: "Keep watching!"
Fang Gu turned to the side again: "I remember that you, the traitor, have a blue birthmark on your waist!"
He looked down and saw that there was indeed a birthmark, shaped like a crescent moon. He couldn't help but say, "There is one too!"
Then he scratched his head and turned to the back: "I still remember that you, the traitor, once went into the water to fish, and was bitten by a turtle on the back. That time, you screamed in pain, and you didn't dare to lie down when you slept at night. It lasted for a month. That’s good.”
After saying that, he tore Fang La's trousers at the back with all his strength. There was a "hiss" sound, and Fang La let out an angry "wu wu" sound. Fang Gu looked at it and shouted, "Your Majesty, this turtle bite also has traces of age!"
Zhao Tong said with a gloomy face: "Come out!"
Even though these scars were the same as Fang Gu remembered, he still didn't believe that this was Fang La. However, even these traces of his childhood could be found, and he was afraid that Fang Gu wouldn't be able to find anything anymore. After all, Fang La couldn't help but ask about secret matters. Answer, it can only be distinguished by looking at the appearance.
At this time, Tong Guan said to Lin Chong who was standing in the shadows outside the prison: "Can you tell the truth?"
Lin Chong's heart was beating wildly. When Fang La took off the gag rag just now, he was afraid that he would find out his name and wanted to leave the prison immediately. He hurriedly said: "The appearance and voice look right, it should be Fang La... ...However, my disciple has not had much contact with this thief chieftain, so what he said may not be correct."
He wished that Fang La would die immediately, but he was really not sure whether it was Fang La, so he tried to evade it with his words.
Tong Guan looked at Zhao Tong and said, "Your Majesty, this..."
Zhao Tong looked inside and saw that Fang La was also looking at him. He sneered: "What's fake is fake. You Xibei idiot really thinks that I have no choice!"
Fang La's eyebrows moved, not knowing what he was thinking.
Zhao Tong turned to look at Yao Pingzhong and said, "Xiyan, have you brought the person I asked you to find?"
Yao Pingzhong stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, only two of the five were found, and the remaining three are missing. They should have left Hangzhou."
Zhao Tong nodded: "Two are enough, we can support each other!"
Zhao Kai wondered: "Second brother, who are you looking for this time?"
Zhao Tong whispered something, everyone was stunned, and then showed a look of sudden realization. Tong Guan said: "The prince is really good at it. With these two people here, I'm afraid it's true and false!"
Zhao Kaipi said with a smile: "Second brother is really capable, he can think of such things, but I underestimated him!"
Zhao Tong said: "How can I compare to my third brother? The orchids and jade trees make the wind and the moon shine, and the flower field ten miles away has a nickname!"
Zhao Kai immediately turned dark and silent. Everyone wanted to laugh but did not dare to laugh, so they all lowered their heads.
Yao Pingzhong went out to call for someone, and two women came in a moment later. They were clothed in commoner clothes and Jing Chai, their faces covered with black cloth.
These two people are not bystanders, they are the concubines that Fang La took in when he was in Qianwang Palace in Hangzhou. Zhao Tao did not kill these women at that time and let them go. There were five of them in total, and two of them were found at this moment.
The person who is most familiar with Fang La in the world must be his wife Shao Yuxian, but Shao Yuxian is dead, and even if he is not dead, he will not be able to prove it. Zhao Tao suspects that Shao Yuxian actually knows that the person in front of him is the fake Fang La, and he just set up such a plan to let the real Fang La escape. A game, but the cost of this game is really high.
Apart from Shao Yuxian, the people who are most familiar with Fang La are not his sons and ministers, but the several concubines he has in Hangzhou. After all, some things can be faked, but some things cannot be faked...
The two women concealed their appearance. This was Zhao Tong's order. After all, they had been good family members by hiding their identities, and their peaceful lives could not be disrupted by this incident.
The two girls were greeted and then Yao Pingzhong took them into the prison.
Fang La was a little stunned when he saw the two women at first, but then his expression started to turn bad. He seemed to have thought of something and began to struggle desperately on the pillar.
Zhao Tong said calmly: "Light more candles, don't worry about anything, just watch carefully!"
A lot of tallow and wax were lit again in the prison. Yao Pingzhong stepped forward and looked at Fang La with a sinister smile on his face. Fang La showed a hint of fear in his eyes. Yao Pingzhong stretched out his hand and tore it violently...
After a while, the three of them walked out of the gate. Zhao Tong looked at the two women and said, "How is it?"
Both women whispered: "Report to the prince, this is not Fang La in the prison!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone exclaimed in surprise. Zhao Kai looked at the two girls with interest: "How did you two... tell them apart?"
The two women looked at each other, then whispered something shyly.
Zhao Kai burst out laughing when he heard this, but after a few laughs he became a little unhappy and his face turned ugly.
All the generals also looked gloomy. There is no doubt that these two former concubines of Fang La will not make mistakes in identifying Fang La's authenticity.
Apart from Fang La's wife, this is the person closest to him, and it is absolutely impossible for him to admit his mistake.
What these two women said was secret evidence that was difficult to fake and had to be believed. But if you believed it, you would have to face the fact that they had caught a fake Fang La and that he had really escaped.
Zhao Tong waved his hand, and Yao Pingzhong took the two girls away. He looked at the crowd and said, "What do you guys say?"
Everyone looked at each other in shock. Tong Guan took out the silk and wiped the sweat on his forehead. It turned out to be true. If he went back to return to his life, it would be a big joke if the real Fang La came out to cause trouble again.
"My lord, now there are no survivors in the capital, big or small, and only this fake Fang La is left..." Tong Guan said cautiously.
Zhao Tong said: "What does Privy Tong mean... The only way to get the real news about Fang La is to get the real news from this person? But since he dared to pretend to be a thief chieftain, and he had committed suicide before, showing that he was not afraid of death, what could Privy Tong do?" "
Tong Guan gritted his teeth and said, "I believe he is not afraid of death, but I don't believe he is not afraid of torture. Life under torture would be worse than death. If I don't believe him, he won't do it!"
Zhao Tong nodded. At this moment, he had no other choice but to use punishment. After all, Tong Guan was right. Not being afraid of death does not mean not being afraid of torture. Tong Guan was born in the palace and had led troops for many years. He was very good at punishment. There are probably not many people in the world who can surpass him.
After saying that, the execution was carried out immediately. The jailer inside pulled the rag from the fake Fangla's mouth and asked again. If the fake Fangla still bit him to death, it was true. There was nothing to say. Various torture instruments were immediately moved over.
Zhao Kai only watched for half an hour before turning around and running away. He said he was feeling dizzy, but in fact he couldn't stand the bloody scene. Zhao Tong moved a chair and sat in front with his eyes closed to relax.
All the generals are accompanying him. After all, time is tight. It would be beneficial for the arrest to find out Fang La's movements as soon as possible.
Tong Guan's torture methods were superb. Even though he was subjected to more than a dozen severe tortures, he did not make the man unconscious. At first, he gritted his teeth and endured, then screamed out, and finally started to wail.
But every time he came forward to ask whether he wanted to move or not, he still said that he was Fang La and wanted to die.
Until it was getting dark outside, Tong Guan didn't even say a word during the interrogation. He was so anxious that he was like an ant on a hot pot, spinning around in circles.
Zhao Tong had someone prepare food and deliver it, and he and the others ate in the prison. After eating, they continued the torture and interrogation.
He has been speculating on this person's true identity in his mind. If he cannot reveal this person's true identity and prevent his psychological defense from collapsing, then even if he is tortured to death, he may not confess.
People who can be substitutes are not as simple as Tong Guan thought. They will confess and tell everything after a torture.
This kind of person has extremely strong willpower. After various special trainings, he can even feel less pain than ordinary people.
Fang La is the leader of the Ming Cult and the Holy Emperor. The substitute he chooses must be chosen from thousands of places, but the appearance is not enough. The will, bones, character, and all aspects must be taken into consideration.
Moreover, since the Ming Cult is a martial artist, the substitute must be trained strictly and rigorously to ensure that once the substitute dies, it will not only prevent disaster, but at least the real body will not show up in front of the public, and the whole world will think that the real body is dead.
Zhao Tong's head hurts a bit. Logically speaking, only Shao Yuxian might know that such a similar substitute is fake, and even Chen Houtong didn't notice it. Then it is absolutely impossible to hide silently all the time. At least he should have an identity. Yi Yi usually knows Only if you have a face or mask, you can walk in Mingjiao, and your status should not be too low, so it is reasonable.
Otherwise, how could he recognize so many characters? Familiar with so many things? Mingjiao is so big, just relying on Fang La to tell him is not enough!
Zhao Tong smoothed things over bit by bit, starting with the flag bearer and thinking that this person's level could not be too low. Not only were there many flag bearers, but their rights were not that great, and they were unable to go to many places.
Could it be Sanren? This is possible, but the status of Sanren is still a bit insufficient, and both Sanren and Dharma King can open their own households outside and recruit disciples and believers, which would be a bit unfair. Since this person is a substitute, he will not leave Fang La too far. Otherwise it loses its meaning.
So the Lightbringer? Zhao Tong suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the people in the prison.
Could it be the Lightbringer?
There are four light envoys in Mingjiao, divided into front, back, left and right.
Zuo Shi is Fang Qifu and the next leader of Mingjiao.
The right envoy is him, a member of the Uighur Mingjiao.
The former envoy was Chen Fan, the Nine Transformations of the Divine Dragon, and his whereabouts are unknown at the moment.
The envoy... who is the envoy?
On the list of leaders of the Central Plains Ming Cult that Liyanaza gave him, the Empress of Light did not have a name.
Lianaza explained that the Queen of Light is the shadow of the leader, a being who protects the leader at special times and can do so regardless of life, so there is no need for a name.
The shadow of the leader? Zhao Tong stood up with a bang when he thought of this. Isn't the shadow of the leader the other side of the leader? In other words, he can also be the substitute of the leader!
He suddenly stepped forward and walked into the prison. Tong Guan was confused and hurriedly followed him.
Zhao Tong came to this man. Although the man was bruised and bruised, he was still conscious. At this time, a pair of bloody eyes stared at Zhao Tong.
Zhao Tong looked into his eyes and said word for word: "I know who you are!"
This man's face was already numb, but when he heard this, he tried his best to move the corners of his mouth, squeezed out a sneer, and weakly uttered a few words: "I... am Fang La..."
Zhao Tong shook his head, with a smile on his face as well: "You are not Fang La, you are the light and empress of the Ming Cult!"
As soon as he said the words, the man's sneer immediately froze, his eyes looked at Zhao Tong, and he gradually lost consciousness, as if he didn't believe the words came out of Zhao Tong's mouth.
Zhao Tong continued: "You are the envoy of the light, the shadow of the leader of the Ming Cult, and also... Fang La's substitute!"
The man's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything. He suddenly rolled his eyes and passed out.
"Your Majesty..." Tong Guan was overjoyed when he saw this. He knew that Zhao Tong was right. This man had an extremely strong will and remained awake despite being tortured. Although his methods were involved, the man himself was also at work. , but at this moment, it was clear that Zhao Tong's words hit a critical point, his heart was broken, his spirit and will instantly collapsed, and he passed out.
Zhao Tong nodded, took a deep breath, then turned around and walked out, saying as he walked: "Don't let him die. Wake up and ask Fang La where he went."
Tong Guan nodded. Since this man's will has been destroyed, it will be much easier to get him to confess...
Zhao Tong returned to the government office in Hangzhou, went to the guest room to have dinner, and left at midnight.
On the morning of the next day, before he could go to the prison, Tong Guan came to the door.
Seeing Tong Guan's complicated expression, Zhao Tong asked, "Have you confessed?"
Tong Guandao: "My lord, I'm recruiting... but I'm recruiting. This person's true name and identity of the Demon Cult have been revealed. He is indeed the Empress of Light."
Zhao Tong saw him hesitating and asked, "Where did Fang La go?"
Tong Guan smiled bitterly and said: "This man doesn't know where Fang La has gone. He said that Fang La would never tell him such a thing. Even if he is tortured, he won't be able to tell."
Zhao Tong touched his chin when he heard this: "That's the truth, but it's impossible for him to know nothing. If Fang La can leave his wife and children in his hands and let him decide whether to kill or not in the end, then he will definitely know something!"
Tong Guandao: "This man said... Fang La had been looking at the map before he left. He paid attention to Fang La's eyes and expressions and saw that he had stopped and thought at four places. He suspected that Fang La went to one of the four places on the map."
"Oh?" Zhao Tong frowned and said, "Which four places?"
Tong Guandao: "He said that Fang La first looked at Hebei."
Zhao Tong said: "Hebei Tianhu? They have dealt with each other before, but this is possible."
Tong Guan nodded and said: "I was thinking about Tian Hu's place. This man said that the Taizhou seaside that Fang La looked at for the second time, I thought it should be the place where Master Lu lives in the immortal place."
Zhao Tong said: "Lu Shinang is the great leader of the Mingjiao, but he joined the religion late and is not close to the Mingjiao general altar. Although he echoed the Fang La uprising this time, there has been no joint army. This is also a place to go."
Tong Guandao: "Fang La may not have known at that time that Lu Shinang's bandit tribe had been dispersed by his ministers. Lu Shinang only led a few dozen people and ran into the sea. If he had known about it now, he would not have gone again."
Zhao Tong pondered for a moment and then said: "Where is the third place?"
Tong Guandao: "The man said it seemed to be Guangnan West Road and Jinghu South Road. He was not sure about this. After all, they are adjacent to each other.
Zhao Tong said: "It's either Gao Jiubian from Guizhou or Zhong Laoyao from Dongting. Both of them are evil thieves. When Wang Qing set up Luzhou to challenge, these two and Song Jiang Tianhu all brought people to help. !”
Tong Guan continued: "The fourth place is due west. According to what the man said, it seems... It seems to be the West Sea or among the mountains to the south. I think this should be the place where Fang La felt that he had no refuge and finally wanted to flee. A place to go.”
Zhao Tong said: "If you don't seek refuge, it's really safe to go to Tubo. After all, it's a vast area with few people. Our Song army is outnumbered. If you hide for a few years and then come back, you may be able to start business again and make a comeback."
Tong Guandao: "What the prince said is absolutely true."
Zhao Tong thought for a moment and immediately called Zhao Kai and the generals to discuss the matter.
After hearing the fake Fang La's confession, Zhao Kai wondered: "Why are there so many places to go? Isn't that person lying?"
Tong Guandao: "I have carefully interrogated the man and found that the man's will has collapsed and his heart is as gray as death. It doesn't look like he is lying. Besides, if he really lied, he can just mention two places casually, and there will be no map involved."
Zhao Tong nodded: "As long as he mentions the location, we will definitely pursue it. There is really no need to waste energy and effort by talking about maps."
Zhao Kai said: "What should we do now?"
Zhao Tong said: "Although Fang La has been away for a few days, we still have to send troops to chase him. We have already gone to the sea to catch the official documents. His portraits are all over the country and county. How far can he go?"
Zhao Kai said: "Even so, he doesn't go anywhere where there are people. Wouldn't it be like looking for a needle in a haystack to go after him?"
Zhao Tong looked at him: "Third brother, you can talk to the officials about this."
Zhao Kai said bitterly: "Just chase him, I didn't say I wouldn't chase him!"
Zhao Tong ordered someone to spread the map of the army on the table and said: "Although the man mentioned four possible places, there are actually five places, Tianhu in Hebei, Xianju Lu Shinang, Gaojiubian in Guizhou, and Lake Bell in Dongting. The youngest, and... all the Tubo tribes."
Zhao Kai frowned and pointed at the location of Tubo: "How should we chase here? There are several military routes that can be taken from western Zhejiang to Tubo. Who knows which one Fang La should take?"
Zhao Tong said: "I will send troops to chase Tubo!"
Zhao Kai immediately said: "Then I will chase Tian Hu in Hebei Province. After all, I have conquered Tian Hu before and I am familiar with the road... However, if I don't see Fang La after chasing him there, I will go back to Beijing directly. !”
Zhao Tong said: "If Fang La is not caught, how will you return to the official family when you go back?"
Zhao Kai said angrily: "Then I will be stationed in Hebei for a while. After you don't catch Fang La, we will go back together."
Zhao Tong smiled and said, "How do you know, third brother, that Privy Tong and I can't catch the thief chief?"
Zhao Kai snorted and said nothing.
Tong Guan looked at the two of them and said, "Which way should I go?"
Zhao Tong said: "I don't have many soldiers here. Guizhou and Dongting Lake are both dens of thieves, and they need a large army of troops to subdue them. Privy Council Tong should take those two routes. As for Lu Shinang, even though he was defeated, he still has to go and see it." There won’t be too many people, so I just want to go there in person.”
Tong Guan said yes, and immediately began to make arrangements, leaving 50,000 troops to guard the two Zhejiang roads to search for the remaining bandits and prevent the remnants of the Ming sect from causing chaos. Then he took his own troops to Dongting Lake and asked Liu Yanqing to take them to Guizhou.
Zhao Tong left 10,000 people to guard the city of Hangzhou, and asked Yao Pingzhong and Zhang Xian to lead 20,000 troops and horses to search for Tibet along the road.
Before the two left, he secretly told them to take advantage of this opportunity to go west to Hongjue Temple in Niutoushan, Jiangning, and transport all the huge amounts of gold, silver and jewelry to the Longyou Protectorate, and then ask Wu Song to come over to his side and obey his orders.
A few days later, Zhao Tong led Du Bo, Wu Song, a hundred bloody vanguard regiments, and three thousand cavalry, and headed straight for Xianju...
(End of chapter)
