The sun sets in the west and it is dusk.
Zheng Zongnan walked towards his residence with heavy steps. In the past two days, because of the order from the guards at Yanmen Pass, the common people who had been lingering here had to withdraw from the south gate and stationed outside again. This naturally caused many people to complain. In addition to using the guards to suppress it, he also had a large responsibility as the official in charge of grain, rice, cloth and other logistics items in the pass. He needed to allocate corresponding items in a timely manner, and at the same time, he had to After two days of comforting those people, not only did their legs become thinner, but their voices became hoarse.
Fortunately, by this time, everything had been settled and we could finally take a breather. However, unlike the relaxation of his colleagues and subordinates, he felt a little more uneasy in his heart. He didn't expect that his hard work could be seen through and solved so easily, and he actually played a big role in it. Thinking about it, he felt ironic. .
Yes, he, Zheng Zongnan, is the secret agent of the Liao Kingdom who is hiding in Yanmen Pass and coordinating everything. That Laoguan Pass has been delivering the news to the outside world under his orders. But no matter what, two nights ago, that guy actually exposed his identity, causing all the arrangements to fall short. At least it was no longer possible to use the chaotic situation in the pass to cooperate with the Daliao Jingqi outside.
He sighed with some annoyance, and secretly hated himself in his heart: "This Sun Tu is really powerful. When Dashi Linya mentioned him before, I thought it was a bit exaggerated, but I didn't expect that he had only arrived at Yanmen Pass for three days, and he had already let me know There is nothing we can do." If he hadn't known that it would be difficult for an ordinary man to get rid of Sun Tu, he would have wanted to take the risk and assassinate him.
Thinking about all this, Zheng Zongnan arrived at the door of his residence. Although he was deeply tired, his vigilance had not diminished at all. When he arrived at the door of the house, he was not in a hurry to enter. Instead, he took a look at the position of half a leaf caught between the cracks in the door. After making sure that there was no problem, he opened the door and entered. At the same time, he breathed out a sigh of relief again. Only by entering this space that belongs only to him can he relax completely.
But just when Zheng Zongnan was about to cook something to eat, someone knocked on the door, and then a familiar voice came: "Brother Zheng, are you back? I got a bottle of good wine today, and I don't dare to eat alone. I came here to get drunk with you."
When he found out that the visitor was his colleague and friend Mai Liang, Zheng Zongnan relaxed again and went out to open the door. The two of them often drank together, so it was reasonable for him to come here today. As soon as the door opened, Mai Liang walked in naturally, and raised the wine bottle in his hand and the paper bag in the other hand: "There is wine and food, we brothers have to have a good drink today. "
Zheng Zongnan smiled: "I'm really worried about what to eat tonight. Brother Mai, you came just in time. Then I won't be polite. You treat me today, and I will go find a good wine to treat you tomorrow."
"You and I are so worried about what to do. Let's go and eat and drink in the house first. We can wait until tomorrow to talk about anything else." Mai Liang chuckled and pulled the other person back to the house. Then he skillfully found the wine bowl and chopsticks and sat down again. Arrive at the passenger seat.
At this time, some wealthy people were still used to the habit of sharing tables for meals that had been passed down for thousands of years. However, Yanmenguan is located in a remote area and there was no such thing. The two of them sat face to face at a small table, eating a few things. With the food and drinks, I drank the bottle of good wine.
This wine tastes really good
It was really good, and the wine was strong enough without much bitterness. This made Zheng Zongnan, who had always been a bit greedy for drinking, even more impressed by the food. He drank more than Mai Liang.
After feeling a little drunk, he curiously asked: "By the way, Brother Mai, where did you get this wine? If I get the chance, I would like to buy some."
"Ahem, haven't you been settling down those peasants for the past few days? I bought this wine from one of them. I heard it was made from his family's ancestral recipe, and it is much better than the wine outside."
"I see, why don't we go find him tomorrow..." As a craftsman from the Liao Kingdom, Zheng Zongnan has no other hobbies except good wine. After having such a good wine today, he really couldn't stop drinking it, and he felt that any other wine he drank in the future would be bland and tasteless.
"Okay, tomorrow I...I'll take you to see him." Mai Liang was so drunk as he spoke that his tongue was enlarged and his eyes became a little blurry. This made Zheng Zongnan laugh a little. When did this guy's drinking ability become so bad? He only had a few drinks and he was actually drunk? Isn't this a benefit to myself? There is still a little half of the wine in the bottle in front of me.
Thinking of this, he reached out to pick it up. Unexpectedly, he didn't touch the bottle with the first blow, but actually knocked it over with the second blow. It was only then that Zheng Zongnan suddenly realized that he was also drunk. Not only was his eyesight blurred, he couldn't even control his hands.
"This wine is too strong... No!" Zheng Zongnan, who was still clear and clear, suddenly realized that he could drink dozens of glasses of wine without getting drunk. How could he get drunk with half a bottle of wine? There must be something fishy about this! In an instant, his meticulous vigilance as a Liao man returned. As soon as he pressed his hand on the table, he wanted to get up and go over there to get a weapon for self-defense.
But at this moment, several bangs and cracks were heard. The doors and windows of this small house shattered at the same time, and several figures rushed towards him like leopards rushing towards their prey. This made Zheng Zongnan panic even more and he was about to resist. But when the people came together, they just felt like the world was spinning, their feet went soft, and their vision turned black, and they fell down again with a thud. In an instant, they completely lost consciousness.
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I don't know how long it took before Zheng Zongnan felt a chill in his head and his body trembled violently before he woke up. Then he was horrified to find that he was tied to a large wooden pillar, and the firelight flickered around him, illuminating dozens of people. He actually followed other people's methods and completely fell into Song Jun's hands!
At this moment, he was really panicked, and he didn't know where he had exposed his flaw, and he actually let the other party use such a trick to catch him. The only way now is to pretend to be stupid and hope that I can cope with it. Thinking of this, he pretended to shout: "You... what are you doing? I am in charge of the hook official Zheng Zongnan, but the court official... "
"Zheng Zongnan, at this time, don't think about using such arguments to get through. If we didn't have conclusive evidence, how could we suddenly take you down?" A voice with hidden hatred sounded from the side, Zheng Zongnan turned around He turned his head and saw Tian Boyuan, the guard of Yanmen Pass, staring at him.
Even at this time, Zheng Zongnan was still making his last effort: "General Tian, why can't I understand a little bit of what you are saying? I have always been diligent and hard-working, and I have never committed corruption or embezzlement. How could you do this?" You have wronged me..."
"Stop pretending, let's see what this is?" With a shout, something with blood stains was thrown at his feet. After seeing this thing, he subconsciously licked it deep into his teeth, but failed. Zheng Zongnan finally changed his face and gave up.
In order to prevent them from being tortured if they were captured by mistake, or to confess key things if they couldn't hold on any longer, these secret spies kept poison sachets in their mouths. Once they were bitten, they would be fatal in an instant. But now, the poison bag is no longer in his mouth and has fallen to the ground in front of him. At this moment, no matter how many excuses he had, they were completely useless. This thing was the best proof of his identity as a Liao spy.
At this time, Sun Tu, who had thrown something away, took another step forward and sneered: "Do you know why you were easily identified by us?"
This was the biggest question in Zheng Zongnan's mind. At this time, he subconsciously asked: "Why? Where did I expose my flaw?"
"That's it." Sun Tu took the secret letter that had not been sent out again and shook it open in front of him.
"This is impossible! I deliberately concealed my habits in the handwriting on this, and I used my left hand..." He was extremely careful about this and immediately argued loudly.
Sun Tu laughed again and shook his head: "I didn't say that the words above betrayed you. Speaking of which, I was just like you. I ignored the more important clue from the beginning, which was this cloth."
Zheng Zongnan stared at the cloth, and he really couldn't understand what was wrong with the half piece of cloth he pulled casually. Seeing the doubts in his heart, Sun Tu said again: "Haven't you figured it out yet? As the saying goes, the sky net is vast and sparse, but do you know that this piece of cloth was delivered to Yanmen Pass just two days ago, and it was newly made in Jiangnan. The cloth has not even had time to be distributed to the army. In other words, this piece of cloth cannot appear anywhere except the warehouse, unless someone in charge of the warehouse has torn it away and used it."
This sentence finally reminded Zheng Zongnan of his behavior at that time. At that time, because he felt the pressure from Sun Tu, he took advantage of no one around to tear off a piece of cloth that had just been given to him by his subordinates, and then wrote the secret letter on it.
At that time, he thought that everything was flawless - in fact, if the secret message was shot out, there would indeed be no flaw - but in the end, he fell into this small oversight.
It was through this that Sun Tu quickly locked in his identity as a fine workman from the Liao Kingdom. It was only at this time that Tian Boyuan suddenly realized that in addition to Du Changguo and the counselors, Zheng Zongnan, the official in charge, was also the person who could know the exact time of the Song Army's food delivery team and the army's departure from customs at the first time - needless to say the former. , the food in and out has to go through his hands. The latter also prepares food and fodder for soldiers and horses to go on an expedition. Having been an official for many years, he can even calculate the number of soldiers and horses by calling the amount of food.
It can be said that he is an important figure who has been completely ignored. If Sun Tu had not been careful enough, his exact identity would not have been found to this day, and would have laid hidden dangers for the future.
But now, Sun Tu wanted to know even more: "Tell me, who are the spies of the Liao Kingdom who are hiding among the civilians and the guards? Also, what is your overall plan? Are you planning to cooperate inside and outside to seize the throne?" Going down to Yanmen Pass? How should we contact the Liao soldiers outside?"