Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

To make his employer feel that the money was well spent, Tao Sanyong specially selected more than a dozen clever and brave men, and personally led the team to carry out the assassination.

Tao Sanyong changed into night clothes and, led by Liu Yuanwai's servant, arrived near the row of houses where Yang Xuedong and the work team members lived. He scouted and ambushed for nearly an hour before deciding to make his move!

Thinking ahead, Tao Sanyong did not intend to harm the officers and soldiers of the Xingfu Army. Instead, he bought sleeping powder at a high price to knock out the soldiers protecting the work team before preparing to attack Yang Xuedong and the work team members.

Have two men block the front and back of the row of houses, then have two men each go to the door of each of the six houses!

Tao Sanyong even planned to personally take action against Yang Xuedong.

Master Liu had already found out that Yang Xuedong was the only one staying in his room, so Tao Sanyong believed that he could take action against him on his own.

The plan is to quickly eliminate the people in these six rooms first, and then deal with the people in the remaining six rooms one by one!

By the dim moonlight, seeing that everyone was ready, Tao Sanyong stretched out his hand and made a gesture...

There was no kicking down the door; kicking down the door would have made too much noise, and that method is not advisable.

Tao Sanyong and the others each took out a small knife and slowly pushed open the door bolt by inserting it into the crack in the door.

The door's locking mechanism had already been learned from Master Liu, so the bolt was quickly pushed open!

Tao Sanyong carefully opened the door and quietly entered the room.

Besides Yang Xuedong, there were also his land survey ledgers in the room, and taking these ledgers away was one of Tao Sanyong's tasks.

First, deal with Yang Xuedong and the work team members, then take the account books, and finally set fire to the row houses. With the cooperation of Liu Yuanwai, they can pretend to be unknown mountain bandits who have entered the village to burn, kill, and plunder. That will be the end of it!

Just as Tao Sanyong was about to gloat over his easy success, two sharp objects pierced through the dark room!

Tao Sanyong was terrified, but he was skilled and before he could even react, his hands instinctively used his knife to parry one of the spears. Unfortunately, there were two spears, and the other one was aimed at his lower body.

The spear aimed at Tao Sanyong's lower body was swift and insidious. Tao Sanyong had no time to dodge, and with a "thud," the spear pierced his thigh!

Tao Sanyong was also fierce and brave. He just groaned, reached out and pulled out the spear that was stuck in his thigh, took a few steps back, and tried to turn around and run away.

Unexpectedly, another person emerged from behind the door and tackled Tao Sanyong, who was about to turn and run away, to the ground.

The two men behind him immediately pressed down on him, one holding his hands and the other his legs, pinning Tao Sanyong firmly to the ground.

Knowing he couldn't escape, Tao Sanyong let out a strange cry to warn his men to flee.

Although his mouth was quickly gagged, the warning had already been delivered.

Tao Sanyong was unaware that his other men were either dead, wounded, or captured.

The four men who hadn't gone into the room had already noticed something was wrong. They only realized what was happening when they heard Tao Sanyong's warning. They tried to escape, but were blocked by two groups of Restoration Army soldiers who came out from the corner, leaving them with no way to get away!

Tao Sanyong and his men were either killed on the spot or captured alive; none of them escaped.

From the very beginning, Liang Zicheng had been secretly monitoring Tao Sanyong and his men's every move. With his intentions carefully calculated, how could he not succeed?

But in a secluded corner, a dark figure witnessed everything and, greatly alarmed, quietly disappeared into the darkness and left.

Seeing that Tao Sanyong and his gang had all been captured, Liang Zicheng arrived at the scene and interrogated Tao Sanyong on the spot.

Liang Zicheng asked only one question: "Who ordered you to kill him?"

Tao Sanyong, who was tied up like a crab, was quite tough. Although he was beaten black and blue, he didn't utter a sound from beginning to end.

Liang Zicheng was eager to know the answer, so he didn't waste any more words. He stuffed a rag into San Yong's mouth, then took out a small pair of wire cutters, which he had brought with him before he time-traveled.

Then, they grabbed Tao Sanyong's hand and used wire cutters to pull out his fingernails one by one!

Then Tao Sanyong's fingernails on his other hand were also forcibly pulled out.

The ten fingers are connected to the heart!

Tao Sanyong's mouth was stuffed with a rag, so he couldn't make a sound, but the veins on his neck were bulging, his body was writhing like an eel, and cold sweat was pouring down his face, which was enough to show how much pain he was in!

Even the officers and soldiers of the Restoration Army who were watching this scene couldn't help but shiver, and their breathing became quieter.

Not content with simply pulling out Tao Sanyong's fingernails, Liang Zicheng ordered his men to bring over a basin of highly concentrated salt water, and then immersed Tao Sanyong's bloodied hands in the salt water.

At this, Tao Sanyong's whole body stiffened, and his eyes rolled back!

Although I didn't faint from the pain, it was close.

Liang Zicheng said calmly, "What kind of chivalrous code do you have to talk about? Are the people who hire you your parents? Are they worth you suffering like this?"

Liang Zicheng pointed at Tao Sanyong's men and said, "Even if you can withstand this kind of pain, I don't believe your men can either, so your toughness is useless."

"I heard you secretly have a beautiful wife and a son..."

Liang Zicheng whispered in Tao Sanyong's ear, "I will find out their whereabouts, so you only have one chance to speak. If you don't, then you might as well die in agony with the answer in your heart. Oh, and your wife and son too."

Tao Sanyong, still in pain, suddenly changed color and looked at Liang Zicheng with pleading eyes.

At this moment, Liang Zicheng looked just like a major villain.

Liang Zicheng ordered all of Tao Sanyong's men to be taken away, interrogated separately for cross-examination, and then removed the tattered rag from Tao Sanyong's mouth.

Tao Sanyong coughed twice, his voice hoarse, and said, "Speak, I'll tell you everything, please, sir, don't harm my wife and children!"

Liang Zicheng returned to the same question: "Who ordered you to kill him?"

Tao Sanyong said weakly, "Master Liu, Master Jiang, Master He, Master Shen... I beg you, sir, spare my wife and children."

Liang Zicheng's face darkened: "Liu, Jiang, He, Shen, the four major surnames of Fenglingtou Town, heh..."

After comparing the results of his interrogations with those of his subordinates, Liang Zicheng directly ordered the four major families of the Restoration Army to arrest people.

That night, Fenglingtou Town was far from peaceful.

The Restoration Army went to arrest the members of the four prominent families of Liu, Jiang, He, and Shen overnight.

The four families seemed to have received advance notice and were preparing to flee when the Restoration Army arrived and blocked their way.

That night, over a hundred key figures from the four major families were arrested, and the heads of the four families were brought before Liang Zicheng and forced to kneel.

Master Jiang cried out, "My lord, I'm innocent! I don't know this Tao Sanyong at all!"

Master He continued, "Yes, sir, Tao Sanyong tried to rob me before, but I and my servants fought him off. He's clearly framing me!"

Master Shen feigned composure: "That Tao Sanyong is a vicious and wicked man. I have always done good deeds and am known as a kind person. How could I possibly collude with Tao Sanyong?"

In a final act of defiance, Master Liu said, "To arrest us based solely on the confessions of Tao Sanyong and his gang of thieves, without any other evidence, is hardly convincing, is it?"

Liu Yuanwai communicated with Tao Sanyong through intermediaries, betting that Liang Zicheng had no other concrete evidence.

Unfortunately, Master Liu didn't know that he wasn't qualified to gamble with Liang Zicheng, who had his own methods of persuading people with reason.

"If we drag this out, whoever confesses first will suffer less; those who don't will suffer indefinitely!"

After questioning the members of the four families separately, Liang Zicheng quickly obtained their confessions and reported the whole story to Li Chengming via walkie-talkie.

Having learned the whole story, Li Chengming replied: Kill the ringleader, destroy his heart, and confiscate his property!

Liang Zicheng said, "Captain, shouldn't we just confiscate their property and exterminate their entire clan?"

Li Chengming: "..."

"You're going a bit too far!"