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墨書 Inktalez
Behind the steel bars, Zhao Gou's eyes darted around, yet his expression was one of stern authority.
He coughed and said, "The one in the pink dress in the middle is the Autumn Maiden?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Wei Ming replied respectfully.
"Good, let's start with her. Bring in the Constables!" Zhao Gou strolled into the interrogation room, and Wei Ming pulled a chair to the corner for him to sit.
Zhao Gou nodded in satisfaction, taking a "serious" seat with a very "solemn" expression.
A line of Constables, heads bowed, quickly descended the stairs into the dungeon under the guidance of the Chief of the Dali Temple, standing against the wall.
These individuals did not appear to be good-natured; they were tall and robust, with bulging muscles, dressed in uniform attire and wearing red headscarves. Each had their chest exposed, revealing a thick patch of dark chest hair. They looked less like Constables and more like executioners.
The Chief of the Dali Temple whispered, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the scene is rather unsightly. Would you like to step back?"
"No need," Zhao Gou firmly rejected. With a sense of righteousness, he declared, "I want to personally interrogate these Jin Kingdom spies. You all just do your jobs; make sure to ascertain the number of spies and capture every last one without missing a single person! We'll start with the Autumn Maiden."
"As you command," the Chief of the Dali Temple replied respectfully before turning to the line of Constables and shouting, "Begin!"
"Yes." The Constables marched forward confidently.
It sounded challenging; they had to ensure Zhao Gou was not frightened while allowing him to conduct personal interrogations—a high degree of difficulty. However, these Constables were not ordinary; they were known as Bounty Hunters. Think of them as skilled rogues from the underworld, each an expert in extracting confessions through torture. Regular methods would be ineffective; special techniques were required to make these captured bandits confess. These Bounty Hunters were seasoned professionals at this task; as Zhao Gou said, even a deity would struggle to withstand half an hour under their methods.
Soon, the Autumn Maiden was dragged out. Her meager cultivation had just been rendered useless by Li Hong, leaving her equivalent to an ordinary person. She was shackled with heavy cuffs on both hands and feet, making escape impossible.
One Constable took out a peculiar glove from his pouch and put it on before slowly walking up to the Autumn Maiden and lifting her chin with his gloved hand.
Autumn Maiden was filled with terror as she stared at the gloved hand in front of her.
The gloves were made of leather, with crab-shaped copper studs at each joint of the fingers. The eight copper claws pointed outward; they were not long but extremely hard. It was easy to imagine that if a punch landed, it would cause severe injury.
The Constable noticed the fear in Autumn Maiden's eyes and smirked with satisfaction, gesturing with the gloved hand near Autumn Maiden's delicate cheek, slowly raising it...
"Wait! Don't hit her face; hit somewhere else," Zhao Gou suddenly spoke up.
The Constable was actually waiting for Zhao Gou's command. Upon hearing this, he nodded and suddenly swung a punch aimed at Autumn Maiden's right calf.
With a crisp crack, blood splattered. Autumn Maiden screamed in agony as her calf broke on the spot, her body involuntarily rolling on the ground. She was quickly pinned down by two Constables. Struggling fiercely, tears and snot streamed down her face, cold sweat pouring from her brow; her face turned pale, losing any trace of allure.
"Lift her clothes and take a look." Watching the bloody scene, Zhao Gou not only did not frown but leaned forward with interest.
The Constable grabbed Autumn Maiden's hair and pulled her up from the ground, lifting her skirt with one hand. They saw seven or eight irregular blood holes on her slender, snow-white calf, large amounts of dark purple blood gushing from the wounds. Her entire calf quickly turned purplish-red before everyone's eyes, swollen thicker than a radish.
"Very well, I will ask you one more time: will you confess?" Zhao Gou, with a "kindly demeanor," coaxed gently, "You are just a woman; it's quite pitiful. You really don't have to suffer like this. If you confess, I will immediately summon the imperial physician to treat your wounds. If you don’t confess, they will continue to strike you. If you remain stubborn, the Celestial Masters will personally intervene. Tsk tsk, at that point, it will be hard for you to even wish for death. Why go through all this?"
Autumn Maiden trembled violently but remained silent.
Zhao Gou pondered aloud: "You are indeed quite strong; you can endure such excruciating pain. I heard you are the top courtesan of Lianxiang Courtyard. Since you are from such a place, it seems you are not concerned about shame." He chuckled coldly and lightly said, "Come on, strip off your clothes and fight."
Hearing the words "strip off your clothes," the Chief of the Dali Temple felt his face flush red and coughed as he was about to speak up to stop it but saw Wei Ming beside Zhao Gou waving him off and had to swallow his words.
He lowered his head, muttering to himself that this matter must not get out today. If it became known that the emperor personally interrogated a female prisoner and ordered her to strip for punishment, it would bring shame upon all scholars and subjects in the realm.
The Constables, however, exchanged knowing glances, thinking that the emperor's method was indeed effective; this was precisely what all female offenders feared most.
Carrying Zhao Gou and Chief of the Dali Temple on their backs, they deliberately made lewd expressions, shaking their bodies and faces, reaching out to tear at Autumn Maiden's clothes.
With a rip, Autumn Maiden's front opened up, revealing her chest. The defense finally collapsed, and she shouted, "I confess! Stop!"
Zhao Gou felt a bit disappointed but turned to Chief of the Dali Temple and nodded solemnly.
Chief of the Dali Temple immediately "understood," secretly praising him for being the emperor, truly superior, knowing that women are afraid of this tactic. He cleared his throat and said, "Cover the female criminal's clothing and give her a pain-relief pill."
Tears streamed down Autumn Maiden's face as she bit her pale lower lip and said, "I confess, but only if that tall Celestial Master comes in."
"I'm right here." Li Hong slowly stepped down from the dungeon stairs, beside him was the sneering Chuxuan.
Clearing out the Constable and Chief of the Dali Temple, Li Hong looked stern: "Speak."
Autumn Maiden trembled as she confessed.
After hearing this, Zhao Gou broke out in a cold sweat and immediately cursed, "What a treacherous woman! How dare you ruin my Song Dynasty Nation! Hmph, that Qin Xiang, seduced by beauty, deserves it too! Have her sign with her thumbprint, relay my imperial decree to immediately capture Qin Xiang, and order Left Chancellor Zhao Ding and the Dali Temple to jointly investigate this case."
Wei Ming quickly wrote down the decree, took Autumn Maiden's thumb and pressed it on her own calf to leave a bloody print beneath her confession. He then turned around to announce the emperor's will to Chief of the Dali Temple, mysteriously adding, "Qin Xiang's crimes are not enough to implicate Prime Minister Qin, do you understand?"
Chief of the Dali Temple nodded vigorously: "This subordinate understands. I will go find Zhao Xiang to announce the decree at Qin Manor." He hurriedly took the confession and left.
Inside, Li Hong clearly heard everything and transmitted a message to Wei Ming: "I wanted to use this matter to bring down that traitor Qin Hui, why did you say not to implicate him?"
Wei Ming replied with a grin: "Traitors are despised by all. If we easily kill him for treason, wouldn't that be letting him off too easily? Instead, let's encourage the emperor to confiscate his property while leaving him with his title as Grand Master, making him a lonely figure with no power or wealth but still alive—humiliated enough for everyone to trample on him. Isn't that a better way to avenge Yue Fei?"
Li Hong couldn't help but marvel; this plan was brilliant! Deviously brilliant!
In the dungeon, Zhao Gou was still seething with anger, having long lost interest in the pitiful face before him. Nothing was more important than the throne. That terrifying woman had actually laid such a poisonous scheme, casting a vast net right under his nose; it was intolerable.
He solemnly clasped his hands towards Li Hong and said, "I leave everything to you, Celestial Master. Quickly capture the remaining spies; I no longer wish to interrogate them. If you do not want your hands stained with blood, I will now give you the military tokens for the Sun Holder and Heavenly Martial armies, allowing both to directly cooperate with your actions."
The Sun Holder and Heavenly Martial armies were directly under the Palace Guards of the imperial city. By handing over military power, Zhao Gou was determined to achieve his goal while also showing the greatest trust in Li Hong.
However, Li Hong shook his head and replied, "This would create too much commotion, which is not desirable. Your Majesty can rest assured; we will definitely eliminate those small minions overnight. As for that woman, we will handle her ourselves. As long as she dares to come to Lin'an, I guarantee she won't be able to return."
"Good!" Zhao Gou said excitedly, rubbing his hands together as he cast a resentful glance at the trembling Autumn Maiden on the ground before leaving in a flourish.
Li Hong immediately summoned Chuming, Chuxuan, Chu Liang, Chu Hai, Wei Ming, and four other key ministers from the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan along with Jiang Xuanzi, who had to participate. They discussed their plans and set off separately that night.
******
Qin Manor.
Qin Xiang's face was wrapped in thick white cloth, blood still oozing out continuously. The pain made him tremble violently all over, his breath weak as he occasionally let out a mournful sound from his throat, barely clinging to life.
Surrounding him were a crowd of dark figures. Qin Hui looked at his beloved son in such a state and was filled with anxiety as tears streamed down his face. "Xie Er, please tell me what happened! Didn't I tell you not to go out? Why did you go out and get into trouble? Who was it that stabbed you?"
Madam Wang was furious: "Master! Are you still unclear? Someone saw that you have recently fallen from grace and took the opportunity to seek revenge on our Xie Er! Those old geezers among the Celestial Masters will never let us have peace as long as they are around; they must be behind this."
Qin Hui nervously glanced at the group of doctors gathered by the table discussing Qin Xiang's injuries and whispered, "Madam, be quiet! If this reaches the ears of the Celestial Masters, it will cause trouble. In these tumultuous times, can you please keep a low profile?"
He sighed heavily; there was indeed suspicion in his heart.
It is said that someone bullied the beloved Autumn Maiden of Lianxiang Courtyard, and Xie Er hurried over upon receiving the news, only to be accidentally injured by a servant he brought along. That servant has now vanished without a trace, and everyone in the manor is searching the city for him. However, is the situation really that simple? Qin Hui does not believe so. Those Celestial Masters, even without using any tricks, are not something ordinary people can contend with.
Moreover, after the incident, Lianxiang Courtyard fell into chaos, and the Autumn Maiden suddenly went missing, along with two other young ladies from the courtyard.
Putting it all together, Qin Hui has a very bad feeling.
At that moment, there was a commotion at the gate, with many people shouting. Qin Fu rushed in, drenched in sweat: "Master, Zhao Xiang is outside spreading the Sovereign's decree to apprehend Young Master."
Qin Hui stood up abruptly, dumbfounded.
This is outrageous; the one who harmed others has disappeared without a trace, yet the injured one is being hunted down. Is there any justice left in this world?
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