C8

The wide threshing floor was lit up by a circle of torches, making it as bright as day.

Gongsun Xu sat on the boulder, quietly looking at the dozens of yellow-robed soldiers who were kneeling in front of him.

Gongsun Xu had not spoken a word the entire time, he had only observed carefully, and suddenly, he pointed to a man kneeling behind him, and bellowed: "Drag that fellow out!"

Gongsun Jia rushed forward and grabbed the man's hair, dragging him in front of the millstone. He was a man dressed in a black suit. His ears were wide and he looked simple and honest. He seemed to be scared silly and kept on kowtowing while trembling.

Gongsun Xu pointed at the man and said loudly, "If anyone is willing to reveal their identity, not only will I spare their lives, I will also reward them with ten gold!"

The prisoners looked at each other in dismay, causing a slight disturbance. A few people quickly gave a hidden signal with their eyes, and they immediately quietened down.

"Take those guys out and chop them off!" Gongsun Xu's fingers moved continuously, pointing at the people who were exchanging glances.

"Spare me, young duke!" Please spare my life! "

"I'm just following orders. I'm begging the young duke to spare my lowly life!"

"I have eighty old mothers above me, and I have suckling children below me. I beg the young duke to spare me, I will definitely return home and live an honest life!"

Gongsun Xu ignored them coldly. Gongsun Jia and his brother rushed forward like wolves and tigers, pulling those people out and killing them on the spot. A few headless corpses fell to the ground, and the thick smell of blood spread in the air. The remaining prisoners all drew back, afraid that they would be the next to die.

"These people actually dared to do such a thing in front of me, they are really reckless!" "I'll give you one last chance. Who knows who he is?" Gongsun Xu's cold eyes swept from left to right, silencing all the captives.

After a long while, Gongsun Xu saw that no one spoke, and laughed coldly: "You truly are a loyal man! Very good, I'll grant you your wish! From the left side, the people will be the first to be cut down! "

The prisoners had already been killed to the point of being afraid, so they did not dare to resist and could only wail and beg.

The first person to be pulled out was a youth who collapsed the moment he was pressed to the ground. He cried out as he cried, "Young Marquis, spare me! This little one made his move! "Yes!"

At this time, Hei Yihanzi quickly turned his head and glared fiercely at the young man. His eyes were filled with hostility and killing intent, without the slightest hint of loyalty or honesty.

Gongsun Xu coldly snorted, as Gongsun Jia stepped forward and kicked him heavily in the back. The latter threw himself onto the ground with a thump, and his lips and nose were smashed so hard that it bled profusely.

Gongsun Xu slowed his tone and asked the teenager: "Who is this person?"

The young man swallowed his saliva, and said softly: "He is Tao Da Qu General's nephew, Tao Dayong!"

"Which Great Qu General?" Gongsun Xu immediately asked.

"Great General Zhang Yan's subordinate, Great Qu General Tao Sheng!"

"What!" Gongsun Xu was startled at first, then his eyes lit up and he scolded hypocritically: "Nonsense! General Zhang is an old friend of the Marquis of Ji's Mansion, how could his subordinates do anything bad to him within the borders of the Youzhou! "

The young man was shocked as he kowtowed as if he was knocking garlic. "I am not spouting nonsense! No nonsense! We are really Tao Sheng's subordinates! "

Hei Yihanzi struggled to sit up, and with a sinister look in his eyes, he looked at the young man. His tone was sinister and malicious: "Liu Xiaohei, you bastard, your entire family will be minced into a thousand pieces!"

Gongsun Xu waved his hands, Gongsun Jia immediately kicked Tao Dayong away, and then fiercely stepped on his neck with his right foot. Tao Dayong found it hard to breathe, he couldn't even shout if he wanted to.

Gongsun Xu coughed lightly. "Gongsun Jia, let him go first."

After Tao Dayong regained his breath, he coldly said: "Tao Dayong, whether or not you die, all depends on a single thought of yours!"

Tao Dayong rubbed his neck, and asked with a complicated expression: "How does the Young Marquis sense that my identity is different?"

"That's easy to say!" Gongsun Xu laughed, and then pointed around: "I dare not speak, but my eyes kept staring at you, and I was just surrounded by the beheaded men, how can I not investigate?"

Tao Dayong let out a long sigh, and said dejectedly, "Those few people were completely loyal to me, but unexpectedly, they revealed their weak points! "Since things have come to this, you can ask whatever it is that the young duke wishes to know. I'll tell you anything I know and just give it my all!"

Gongsun Xu did not comment, and asked indifferently: "Are you waiting for the order of Tao Sheng to rob and kill?"

"Exactly! my uncle wants to start the fight between Marshal Zhang Yan and Marquis Jin, so that we can find a chance to replace him! "

"How many teams did Tao Sheng send out this time?"

"I really do not know about this!" my uncle has always been cautious when doing things, and even though I am his nephew, I will not tell you my secret. "

"There are one hundred and fifty thousand Army of Heishan under Zhang Yan's command. How many hundreds of thousands of people does Tao Sheng control?"

"About thirty percent."

"During the Realmbridge battle one year ago, Great Marshal Zhang Yan ordered Great Qu General Du Chang to command fifteen thousand elite soldiers to help my father. However, Du Chang was completely defeated by Yuan Shao the moment he arrived at the battlefield.

"Exactly! Du Chang is a trusted general of Zhang Yan, if he were to return victorious, he would definitely take more people and power away, how can the my uncle let him do as he pleases? "

"How many children does Tao Sheng have?"

"Third son and woman."

"What is Tao Sheng's age?"

"Two out of fifty."

The more Gongsun Xu asked, the faster he answered, and Tao Dayong would answer any irrelevant questions easily.

Suddenly, Gongsun Xu lowered his voice and asked quickly: "When did Tao Sheng collude with Yuan Shao?"

"Half a year ago!" Tao Dayong answered without thinking, but right after, he reacted and immediately asked back, "What did the young duke say? Although the my uncle wanted to take Zhang Yan's place, he had never thought of colluding with Yuan Shao! "The fourth and third generations of the Yuan Shao family have always been extremely contemptuous of the Yellow Gown Army!"

Gongsun Xu did not wait for him to finish and shouted: "Shut up! Do you think I'm an ignorant child? Gongsun Jia, make this thief speak the truth!

Gongsun Jia promised as he dragged Tao Dayong out of the village. After a while, creepy, heavy screams could be heard, causing the captives to tremble in fear.

Zhao Yun had been silent the entire time, and at this moment, his eyes couldn't help but show an expression of admiration. The young duke's seemingly casual few questions had actually easily revealed the truth about Tao Dayong! He hesitated for a moment, but still asked out his own question: "How did the young duke know that Tao Sheng had colluded with Yuan Shao?"

"I was just suspecting it. I didn't expect it to be so easily cheated!" Gongsun Xu laughed: "Zhang Yan has a very high prestige, Tao Sheng only has over forty thousand people, if he wants to rebel, he would definitely get help, other than Yuan Shao, who else could it be?"

Zhao Yun nodded his head, admiring him even more in his heart.

Gongsun Xu made the yellow-robed soldiers raise their heads, and under their timid gazes, they fiercely asked: "Who has news to report? If there are none, then behead them all! "

"Young duke, I know some news!"

"Me knows as well!"

"Me, tell me first!" Me also went to Yuan Shao's territory with Tao Dayong. "

"Shut up! Speak one at a time! "

After a while, Gongsun Xu obtained a lot of useful information from these people. While muttering to himself in thought, he waited for Tao Dayong's information to be verified.

Outside the village, Tao Dayong's miserable wails became softer and softer, until it finally quieted down.

Zhao Yun frowned and whispered: "Young Marquis, that bastard won't die, right? He is an important witness, if he dies, I am afraid I will not be able to obtain Zhang Yan's trust! "

"No way!" Gongsun Xu shook his head, and laughed: "Gongsun Jia naturally knows what to do, and will not let that fellow die. Zi Long, take a guess, what will Zhang Yan do if he finds out about this matter? "

Zhao Yun answered without even thinking, "Let's do it the way we want, we'll take him down in one go!"

Gongsun Xu laughed, obviously thinking the same thing as Zhao Yun.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Gongsun Jia dragged the limp Tao Dayong over and threw him to the ground like a dead dog. Tao Dayong lied on the ground, gasping for breath. His body was covered with fine wounds, his left ear had already disappeared, and even more so, not a single fingernail remained.

Gongsun Jia cupped his hands and said, "Young Marquis, please ask as you please, this thief definitely doesn't dare to lie anymore."

Gongsun Xu nodded, looked at Tao Dayong and asked: "How many troops did Tao Sheng send this time? Where did they all go? "

"my uncle has sent four teams, I have brought people to the Mausoleum of Le Mausoleum, the other three teams are going to the Nanzi, Pu Yang and Gao Tang."

"Men, report this to the authorities of the three territories. Let them try their best to capture those bandits alive." Gongsun Xu turned his head and ordered Gongsun Yi.

Gongsun Yi was a little hesitant. He looked at his comrades and said: "Young Marquis, our guards are insufficient. How about we let the local villagers go?"

"No worries!" Gongsun Xu smiled as he looked at Zhao Yun: "With Zi Long by my side, what can a mighty army do to me?"

If it was anyone else who had said these words, Zhao Yun would have modestly refused, but at this time, he had already viewed Gongsun Xu as someone who would serve his entire life, thus he did not try to be hypocritical, he only bowed slightly, and was extremely grateful to Gongsun Xu for his trust.

Gongsun Yi went over and called out the names of three people, and those three people speedily rode their horses out of the village.

Gongsun Xu continued to ask: "How many things did Tao Sheng obtain from Yuan Shao?"

Tao Sheng coughed out a few mouthfuls of blood and replied, "Armour and weapons capable of equipping ten thousand people."

"Oh?" Gongsun Xu's eyes lit up, and he anxiously asked: Where are you hiding these things?

Tao Dayong asked in shock, "How did the Young Marquis know that the thing was hidden?"

Gongsun Xu laughed contemptuously: "How would Tao Sheng dare to let Zhang Yan find out that he has gained many fine equipment all of a sudden? He only gave out the equipment on the eve of rebellion. Tao Dayong, this is your chance to live, understand? "

Tao Dayong's initially lifeless eyes suddenly lit up, and he hurriedly said: "This little one understands, this little one knows what to do." After being cruelly tortured by Gongsun Jia, he had long since lost the courage to fight back. He did not expect that he would still have a chance to live, so he grabbed tightly onto it.

"As long as you do this right, I can guarantee that you will become a County Lieutenant." Gongsun Xu gave her another sweet date.

"Thank you for your appreciation, young duke!" Tao Dayong was overjoyed, and quickly kowtowed: "Little Marquis, as long as you have orders, this lowly one will not refuse."

"Stand up and speak."

"Thank you, Young Marquis!" Tao Dayong stood up after thanking her, and bent down not daring to raise his head.

Gongsun Xu smiled strangely, "I have something I need you to do right now."

"Young duke, please give your orders. This lowly one will not hesitate to go through fire and tread on water!"