Chapter 1 The Imprisonment

As the Fourth Head, Xiang Tianjie held a high position, commanding a unit of troops, and his military power could not be ignored, so the matter of his imprisonment could not be concealed.

The next day, his absence from the military conference attracted attention, and soon other heads curiously inquired about it.

Lu Longchuan prevaricated, only saying that Xiang Tianjie had violated military orders, so he was temporarily detained, but he did not mention the specific charges, which caused the heads to feel doubtful and puzzled, and they kept asking questions.

Without a choice, Lu Longchuan had to act arbitrarily for once, putting on the posture of the Grand Head, saying that his actions must have a reason, and also using the reason that a formidable enemy was at hand, so that everyone should not be distracted, and so on.

In the end, the military conference broke up unhappily, and the heads had to leave with their hearts full of doubts.

Lu Longchuan was also in a difficult position. After all, Xiang Tianjie was a veteran of the stronghold and had excellent interpersonal relationships. If he said that he was colluding with the enemy, the impact would be even more unfavorable, leading to unrest, and it was not yet certain whether Xiang Tianjie had been framed.

But even if he didn't say it, imprisoning one's own general for no reason during the battle between the two armies was also a major taboo, and it would still cause panic.

He could only weigh the pros and cons, feeling deeply disgusted with the traitor, and felt that whatever he did, he would fall into the opponent's trap, and be successfully alienated.

In order to find out the traitor, Lu Longchuan asked people to pay close attention to the movements of each head, believing that if Xiang Tianjie was really framed, then the real traitor would most likely send a message to the enemy again, reporting this matter, and thus might reveal his whereabouts.

On the other hand, he also asked people to carefully interrogate Xiang Tianjie. If they could find out anything, that would be even better... but because he cherished old feelings, he was reluctant to use torture on Xiang Tianjie, so the interrogation made basically no progress.

In the following days, Lu Longchuan was doing this, but it was always fruitless, which made him more and more suspicious, and everyone looked like a spy.

At the same time, his main energy had to be focused on dealing with the waves of attacks from Dragon King Stronghold, and he felt more and more physically and mentally exhausted.

Because Xiang Tianjie had not been released for many days, coupled with the signs of internal investigation, the heads of Heavenly King Stronghold became more and more uneasy, wondering what Lu Longchuan meant.

Seeing that this was not a solution, Sun Rong offered a plan, saying that a screening method could be used, summoning batches of heads for military conferences separately, giving different military intelligence, and observing the movements of Dragon King Stronghold afterwards to know which batch of people had leaked the news.

Lu Longchuan thought this method was good, so he adopted it.

However, the result was not satisfactory. Dragon King Stronghold did not take any other action at all, and only attacked frantically as usual.

Lu Longchuan couldn't help but wonder if Xiang Tianjie was really the traitor, and that he was captured, so no one was passing on military information to the enemy.

Or perhaps the real traitor was lurking deep and watching quietly.

Repeated failures made Lu Longchuan more and more anxious and irritable.

...-.

Night, in the prison.

Xiang Tianjie sat in the corner, wearing only a single shirt, with disheveled hair, a dirty face, and exhaustion was hard to hide on his face.

Although he was imprisoned, he had not been embarrassed much, so he was not shackled.

However, the days of questioning and interrogation had exhausted his mind, and at this time, he stared blankly at the beams, his thoughts were mixed.

During this period, Xiang Tianjie had calmed down and knew that he had been framed, which meant that there was indeed a traitor inside, and a person with a not-low status.

He himself was analyzing who might betray everyone, thinking it over and over again, but he still had no clue.

What he couldn't understand was, why would an old brother collude with the enemy? Did they really think that their Heavenly King Stronghold was not working anymore? What exactly caused someone to become estranged?

Without the disturbances from the outside world, Xiang Tianjie had the opportunity to calm down and reflect on the changes in recent years.

In the beginning, he joined Heavenly King Stronghold because he was infected by the Robin Hood spirit, and they gathered together to do a great career, and not live a mediocre life.

But now, they had become the imperial court's lackeys, turning their guns against their former comrades in the Robin Hood world, fighting for the imperial court in all directions... Was this really what he wanted in the beginning?

Although the older one gets, the more worldly one becomes, and one can never go back to the past..." But even though they had surrendered, they had not seen much benefit, and only sold their lives for the imperial court.

Compared with his younger self, Lu Longchuan had also changed a lot. Although Xiang Tianjie cherished old feelings, he had to admit that many of Lu Longchuan's words and deeds in recent years did not meet his expectations, and in his heart, he no longer admired and respected him as he used to.

"Perhaps... the old brother who betrayed everyone felt that Chief Lu was no longer worth serving... That Chen Feng is an unparalleled hero, and it is not surprising that he can attract people to join him."

Xiang Tianjie sighed secretly, with mixed feelings.

In the past, it was their Heavenly King Stronghold that had such charm, but now, it was someone else's turn to attract heroes from all over the world.

He sighed secretly, feeling a kind of powerlessness of being replaced by later generations.

Just then, a burst of pushing and shoving noise suddenly sounded outside the prison.

Not long after, several figures strode in, and the jailer followed beside them, bitterly persuading.

Xiang Tianjie took a closer look and saw that it was several familiar heads.

"Brother, we've come to see you!"

Several heads came to the prison door and shouted loudly.

Xiang Tianjie's face showed surprise: "How did you come?"

He was being held in strict custody, and no one was allowed to visit him. This was the first batch of people to break in.

Xiang Tianjie quickly got up and came to the prison door, seeing that the faces of several people were flushed and the smell of strong alcohol was coming from their noses, he immediately became anxious:

"Ah yo, have you brothers been drinking? This is a violation of military orders, quickly leave, don't delay things!"

Several heads did not take it seriously, and even cursed:

"To hell with the military orders, just because we surrendered and became bird officials, we're not even allowed to drink alcohol?"

"That's right! Brother has been unjustly imprisoned for no reason, the brothers are feeling unhappy, how can we relieve our depression without drinking!"

The imperial army generally does not allow drinking during marches and battles, to avoid mistakes after drinking, but this has been repeatedly prohibited in Heavenly King Stronghold.

After all, the heads are all old Robin Hoods who are used to freedom. Although most of them can distinguish between priorities, it is really unpopular not to let them drink at all, and some people always secretly drink.

Xiang Tianjie had no choice but to say: "What are you doing breaking into the prison? I'm fine here, you should quickly go back and apologize to Chief Lu."

Hearing this, several people shook their heads and said:

"No way! We broke in today to ask for a clear explanation, why exactly is Chief Lu imprisoning Brother? If there is no explanation, the brothers will not agree!"

"That's right, that's right!"

Xiang Tianjie felt both moved and helpless, and had no choice but to say: "Someone forged a letter, framing me for colluding with the enemy, Chief Lu imprisoned me for a reason."

Several people were stunned, and then became furious:

"Bullshit, Brother is a veteran of the stronghold, has worked hard and made great contributions, how could he collude with the enemy and rebel?!"

"This matter, with a little thought, one will know that it is a fraud, why does Chief Lu not trust Brother so much?"

Hearing this, Xiang Tianjie had nothing to say instead, and also had resentment about this.

Although he could understand Lu Longchuan's actions, he had worked hard for the stronghold for so many years, and Lu Longchuan would still wrong him because of such a small trick, he was definitely unhappy in his heart.

The several heads became more and more angry, and using their drunkenness, they cursed:

"Chief Lu is really getting more and more useless as he gets older, first he is obsequious to dog officials and treacherous ministers, and then he is tricked into wronging the stronghold's veterans, so incompetent, where is there any appearance of a Heavenly King? I think that Chen Feng is right, he has become a petty person who covets wealth!"

As soon as the words fell, a roar suddenly came from not far away.

"Shut up!"

Lu Longchuan rushed over with his personal soldiers, his face livid, and he was very angry.

Behind him, followed many heads who had heard the commotion, looking confused.

Lu Longchuan's face was as deep as water, glaring at the people present, and shouted:

"Not only are you greedy for alcohol and neglect your duties, but you also broke into the prison to visit a major criminal privately, are you treating this Chief's military orders as a joke!"

However, someone retorted with a stiff neck:

"Why did Big Brother wrong Fourth Head, saying that he was colluding with the enemy and rebelling, is he not afraid of ruining the brotherhood?"

Hearing this, many heads who did not understand the inside story were immediately taken aback.

Lu Longchuan's face was full of irritability, and he did not want to explain, and shouted again:

"This matter, I have my own plans, you don't need to worry about it, you are making a fool of yourselves and talking nonsense here after drinking a few cups of horse urine, offending the commander of the three armies, what kind of system is this? Why don't you quickly go back to the camp and be punished by military law!"

Seeing this, Xiang Tianjie also advised several familiar heads: "Listen to the Chief, don't act impulsively, and ruin the commander's prestige."

However, several people did not bow their heads, but confronted Lu Longchuan,

Just as Lu Longchuan was furious and was about to order his personal soldiers to take down several people, one of them suddenly took out a letter from his arms and shouted:

"Chief Lu, I also have a letter here, and I hope you will explain it as well."

"What letter?"

Lu Longchuan was stunned.

This person held up the letter and showed it to everyone present, and said loudly:

"This letter has the official seal of the imperial court and is a secret letter from the imperial court. Everyone knows that we have been asking the imperial court for help during this period, and each time the government dispatches messengers to reply, saying some nonsense about giving money and food but not giving reinforcements to appease us.

But the day before yesterday, I entertained an imperial court messenger, and accidentally saw this letter while he was drunk. This secret letter was originally presented to Chief Lu privately by the imperial court, writing a shocking secret, so I secretly stole it!"

As soon as this remark came out, it immediately aroused everyone's curiosity.

"What does the letter say?" Another head immediately asked.

Hearing this, this person opened the letter and read it out loud.

This letter was written in the name of the imperial court. The general content was to praise Lu Longchuan's command and control, saying that as long as he continued to inflict heavy losses on both sides with Dragon King Stronghold as agreed, he would follow the agreement and give him the promised official position and reward after he returned to the capital.

At the same time, it also urged Lu Longchuan not to hesitate any longer, and like what was mentioned before, use the lives of some heads as bait, set a trap to plot against Chen Feng, and get rid of this harm once and for all. As long as it is done, Chief Lu can be promoted three levels in rank.

In order to show proof, the imperial court also stood in Lu Longchuan's perspective, saying that there were many heads in Heavenly King Stronghold, with good and bad mixed together, and if all of them were rewarded, it would be detrimental to the imperial court's face. If some rude people who did not understand etiquette and did not know the interests were not eliminated, it would also be detrimental to your career. If you use the lives of these useless people to eliminate the confidants of the imperial court, it would be a worthwhile death, and so on.

After listening to this, the many heads were in an uproar.

If the contents of the letter are true, wouldn't Lu Longchuan be taking the lives of his brothers as a stepping stone for his own promotion and wealth?

"Absurd! I have never communicated with the imperial court privately, this must be a forgery by thieves!"

Lu Longchuan was furious.

However, this person pointed to the letter and did not give in an inch, saying: "Look carefully, this has the official seal of the imperial court on it, it can't be fake!"

Many heads quickly looked carefully and recognized the official seal, and their faces changed for a while.

Lu Longchuan snatched the letter, looked at it carefully, and angrily defended:

"This must be Chen Feng's trick, he is doing whatever he wants in Huyang, and the state government does not dare to provoke him, is it not simple to seize the official seal? Don't be fooled by him!"

But before everyone could respond, the head who took out the letter retorted:

"Brother Xiang was also framed by a forged letter, but you easily believed it, why are you saying this now?"

"Presumptuous! Ridiculous! You are here to sow discord and ruin my morale, could it be that you are the traitor who is colluding with the enemy? Come, put them all in prison for me and await punishment! Also, capture the imperial court messenger and interrogate him clearly!"

Lu Longchuan was furious and tore the letter to pieces.

The personal soldiers on both sides looked at each other, and had no choice but to do as he said.

These several heads did not resist, but shouted that we will go ourselves, shook off the arms of the personal soldiers, and sat down in the prison on their own, glaring at Lu Longchuan angrily.

Lu Longchuan turned his head to look at the other heads, his anger not yet subsided, and shouted: "The thief's trick is hateful, I will never coexist with that Chen Feng, what are you still doing here, quickly go back to the camp!"

Everyone confessed their guilt and retreated, no matter what they were thinking in their hearts, their faces returned to normal, but the flickering eyes between occasional eye contact could reveal their thoughts.

If it were in the past, they would never have believed this "secret letter from the imperial court."

But now Lu Longchuan, in order to be recruited, is willing to be a lackey of a contemporary traitor like Chancellor Qin...

This person has changed, he is no longer the Heavenly King who was invincible in the Robin Hood world when he was young, and the brothers have become somewhat unfamiliar with him.

After this night's change, the heads did not say it on their mouths, but in fact, they also had doubts in their hearts.

The internal morale of Heavenly King Stronghold gradually became unstable, and this change was also reflected on the battlefield. With more thoughts, their actions slowed down, and they were finding it more and more difficult to resist the attacks of Dragon King Stronghold.

In a blink of an eye, several days passed.

On this day, Dragon King Stronghold came to attack again, and Chen Feng took the lead as usual.

Realist Yufeng went out to meet the enemy as usual, and the two sides fought to the point where the sky was dark and the earth was dim, and once again ended in a draw. Zhou Jing, who had Bill's body, floated back to the Heavenly King Stronghold camp and bowed to Lu Longchuan and others, saying, "Fortunately, I have not disgraced my mission, that Chen Feng has been forced back by this poor Daoist."

"Thank you Realist for your help once again, we are so grateful that we cannot express it in words."

Lu Longchuan and others quickly thanked him.

Although there were rifts between the heads, they still respected Realist Yufeng.

The internal changes did not affect their attitude towards the Realist, knowing that if it were not for the Realist's repeated actions, they would have been hacked by Chen Feng until they were crying for their parents.

Zhou Jing nodded, and immediately returned to his camp, using the excuse of adjusting his breathing, and dismissed the disciples.

After a long time, when it was almost dusk, the sound of war drums outside gradually stopped, the two sides temporarily ceased fighting, and Dragon King Stronghold retreated once again.

At this time, a soldier carrying dinner, as usual, sent it to Zhou Jing's tent.

Although the conditions were difficult during the march and battle, Realist Yufeng always had privileges, and was served by others. Three meals a day were delivered to his door. The food was not exquisite, but even compared to the heads, it was considered very rich.

Zhou Jing stopped his meditation and was about to pick up his chopsticks to pick up the vegetables, but suddenly his movements stopped.

As a master of medicine, he keenly noticed some abnormality.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows. To avoid making a mistake, he simply reached out and held up one of the dishes to look at it.

The auxiliary item analysis function immediately displayed the item information.

[Pickled Vegetables and Tofu Cooked with Poison]

[Type: Food, Poison] [Introduction: It is recommended to discard the food bowl]

"Oh yo, someone actually poisoned me, there is actually a real traitor in the army?!"

Zhou Jing was shocked.

Good fellow, I thought I was the only spy, it turns out I'm not alone!

"The person who poisoned me, I don't know if he is from Heavenly King Stronghold, or if he is acting under the orders of other forces, whether it is for profit or personal revenge... Being able to tamper with my food, the scope of suspects is not large."

Zhou Jing's eyes flickered.

To be fair, this spy is good at grasping the main contradiction. If he can kill me, then no one will be able to resist Chen Feng, and Heavenly King Stronghold will definitely be defeated.

At this time, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He has already made a name for himself, and there are no other benefits to staying here for a long time. Now that there is an opportunity coming to his door, why not play along.