Chapter 154

Yu Baoer was very sensible. When Fan Changyu told him that they were going to stage a play to trick the old steward of the Sui family into confessing, he immediately nodded to show that he was willing to cooperate.

The dungeon was dark and eerie, so Fan Changyu didn't let Changning go with him. He told Xie Qi to take her to play in the mansion for a while.

In order to shock the old housekeeper, Xie Zheng ordered his men to change Baoer into a set of tattered clothes stained with blood, and smeared his face with makeup paint to make it pale and gray, and even drew a few scars that could be mistaken for real ones.

When he appeared in the dungeon again with Bao Er, the old housekeeper was really very excited. He held the cell door tightly with both hands, and a look of extreme pain appeared on his wrinkled face: "Young Master...what did you do to the young master?"

Yu Baoer stood outside the prison with wounds all over her body, her eyes were empty and blank, and she looked like she had been abused a lot.

Xie Zheng stood behind him with his hands behind his back. The light from the alcove shone over him, and his shadow completely enveloped Yu Baoer. The dungeon was dimly lit, and the dark gold embroidery on his collar gleamed faintly in the candlelight. His delicate eyebrows were unusually cold: "You don't care about cutting off your grandson's flesh, but I wonder if you would still be so strict if you cut off the flesh of this child in front of you."

When Yu Baoer heard this, she immediately cooperated and trembled, with fear in her dark and empty eyes.

The old butler cried so hard that he knelt down beside the prison door, choking with sobs and trembling: "Don't touch the young master, don't touch him, whatever you want to ask, I will confess..."

Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng, who were standing nearby, looked at each other and asked the old housekeeper, "Seventeen years ago, Wei Qilin, a Langjiang of Huaihua under the command of General Changshan, went to Chongzhou with a tiger talisman to mobilize troops. Why didn't Chongzhou send out troops?"

The old housekeeper, who was originally crying bitterly, suddenly stopped crying after hearing this, and raised his old eyes to look at Fan Changyu.

Fan Changyu's eyebrows immediately shone: "Answer me!"

Xie Shiyi also whipped out at the right time: "How brave! Who gave you the courage to look the general in the face?"

The whip was used with restrained force, enough to hurt the old butler without seriously injuring him. When the whip landed on his back, it felt like a knife cutting him and burning him. The old butler couldn't stop shaking. He lowered his head and dared not look again. He muttered almost instinctively, "I don't know...what tiger talisman, what troop deployment, how would I know..."

Fan Changyu frowned and was about to speak when he heard Xie Zheng say, "Eleven."

Xie Shiyi got up with Yu Baoer in his hand and went to the torture chamber outside the cell. From the old housekeeper's perspective, he could just see the wolfhounds trapped in the iron cages stained with dark red and black blood. After Yu Baoer let out a miserable scream, a piece of bloody meat was thrown into the iron cage, and several wolfhounds immediately rushed forward to grab it.

The old butler could not stop groaning just by watching with tears in his eyes. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Stop cutting! Stop cutting! I confess, I confess everything!"

Xie Zheng looked coldly at the old man who was crawling on the ground like an ant, crying and choking, and said slowly: "Old man, since I can ask you these questions, you should know that I have found out a lot of things. What I ask may not be what I haven't found out yet. If you dare to lie to me, not only will you be killed with the remnants of your family, but also your grandson, and I will kill him alive and feed him to the dogs!"

The old housekeeper's face turned pale as paper, and he kowtowed while crying, saying, "I won't dare to do it anymore. I won't dare to do it anymore."

Xie Zheng then slowly asked: "Then tell me, why didn't Chongzhou send troops seventeen years ago?"

The old housekeeper trembled his cracked lips and said, "Huaihua Langjiang Wei Qilin did come to Chongzhou with the tiger seal and Wei Yan's handwritten letter, but the prince said that the tiger seal was fake. The prince put two tiger seals together in front of all the soldiers in Chongzhou, and they couldn't put one together. The prince suspected that Wei Yan had ulterior motives and wanted to kidnap Wei Qilin and punish Wei Yan."

Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng's expressions changed.

It seems that Wei Yan had ulterior motives back then, and he even dared to forge the tiger talisman.

But Xie Zheng quickly said, "You are lying. The Changzhou Tiger Seal that Wei Yan ordered Wei Qilin to take and Meng Shuyuan were all real. Why is the Chongzhou Tiger Seal fake?"

He ordered coldly: "Eleven."

Soon, the sound of a sharp knife cutting meat was heard from the torture room. Yu Baoer screamed and called "Mom", and another piece of bloody meat was thrown into the iron cage for the wolfhounds to eat.

The mother and son who served as Yu Qianqian's stand-in seemed to have been brought in to watch the execution as well. They were also screaming hysterically. For a moment, the sharp cries of the woman and the child echoed throughout the dungeon, piercing people's eardrums.

The old butler was so anxious that he kowtowed repeatedly on the ground, and soon blood came out. He said bitterly: "Don't cut it, don't cut it! I am telling the truth. I am just a butler in the palace, I don't know so many things. After Wei Qilin was captured alive, he found an opportunity to escape not long after. Then the news of the defeat of Jinzhou came, and the court punished General Meng and blamed the defeat of Jinzhou on the failure of grain transportation..."

The old housekeeper cried bitterly, “Your Highness only now knows that Wei Qilin came with the tiger talisman to mobilize troops for the urgent need in Jinzhou. But Your Highness was not sure beforehand whether General Meng had really gone to Luocheng. Although there was Wei Yan’s handwritten letter, there was not even an imperial edict. The tiger talisman for mobilizing troops was fake. How could Your Highness dare to act rashly?”

After Jinzhou fell, the prince blamed himself and quickly led his army to fortify the cities below Jinzhou, thus stopping the overwhelming force of the Northern Jue army. The prince wanted to apologize to the capital after the war was stabilized, but soon after, news came that the East Palace had a fire, the crown prince and the crown princess were burned to death, the princess and the eldest son were killed, and the eldest son had half of his face burned..."

The old housekeeper was even more distressed when he spoke this, and almost cried with every word, "The Crown Prince is dead, the Sixteenth Prince is also dead, and a fire suddenly broke out in the East Palace. How could the prince not understand that the Princess and the eldest son were affected by the princes' fight for the throne!

If it is true as Wei Yan said in the letter, the late emperor wanted to protect Jinzhou and save the sixteenth prince, so he came up with this bad plan, letting Elder Meng go to Luocheng and letting the prince go to transport grain, why did he bring a fake tiger talisman to mobilize troops? Or was the tiger talisman replaced by someone with ulterior motives, so that the prince dared not send troops, resulting in the tragedy in Jinzhou?"

The more Fan Changyu listened, the colder her hands and feet became. Her mind also became a little groggy. She asked, "When the imperial court put all the blame for the defeat in Jinzhou on General Meng, did Prince Changxin ever think of making this matter public?"

The old housekeeper said with tears in his eyes, "Your Highness had not yet been crowned as a king for his meritorious service in resisting the Northern Jue from continuing to move south. Although he was appointed a general, what could he use to fight against the people who designed all this? If Wei Qilin was still in your hands, there might be a witness who could let Wei Qilin identify Wei Yan. But the capital directly denied that they had sent people to Chongzhou to mobilize troops. Even General Meng's visit to Luocheng was said to be because General Meng was ambitious and went to attack Luocheng. There is no evidence at all. How can your Highness make the truth known to the world?"

so……

Was it Wei Yan who replaced the Chongzhou Tiger Tally?

He had an affair with his concubines and plotted to kill Crown Prince Chengde and the sixteenth prince, just to seize power?

Wei Yan wanted to hunt down his own parents because they were the witnesses who could accuse him of all his crimes?

Even though she had guessed various truths long ago, when the truth was finally revealed, Fan Changyu still felt a dull pain in her head. A cold and suffocating feeling swept over her, making her feel powerless even when she wanted to scream to vent.

Fan Changyu unconsciously took a step back. Xie Zheng held her wrist. The endless warmth from his palm spread to her cold wrist, which barely calmed Fan Changyu down a little.

The oil in the oil lamp on the alcove seemed to be burning out, and the bright spot at the wick turned into a bean-sized dot, making the entire dungeon darker.

The dim light cut out Xie Zheng's handsome profile. He held Fan Changyu's wrist with one hand, his long eyelashes half drooped, and his face showed no emotion at all. He was so calm that it made people feel uneasy. "According to what you said, Prince Changxin had been hiding in Chongzhou for many years and finally rebelled just to overthrow Wei Yan?"

The old butler nodded: "This is indeed what the prince wishes for."

Xie Zheng continued to ask: "Were the rumors that the Jinzhou tragedy was related to Wei Yan also spread by Prince Changxin?"

The old butler choked up and said "yes" again, then continued to beg for mercy, "My Lord, I have answered all your questions, please spare your only bloodline..."

Xie Zheng slowly raised his eyes, his eyes were cold: "I will take what you said as true, but what General Yun Hui told you before was not false at all. The eldest son who has been hiding in your Sui family for seventeen years is not Sui Tuo's eldest son, but the eldest grandson of the emperor who was ripped off by the golden cicada."

The old butler was stunned, his face full of sorrow, with only confusion and shock showing no other emotions.

Xie Zheng said calmly, "If the Sui family is really as loyal and innocent as you said, there were so many dignitaries attending the banquet in the East Palace that day. Why did the Crown Princess choose the Sui family as the place of refuge for the Emperor's eldest grandson? The Emperor's eldest grandson was able to kill Princess Changxin and Sui Yuanqing without blinking an eye, and it seems that he didn't care about the Sui family at all?"

His gaze fell on the old butler indifferently, without any murderous intention, but the old butler trembled like a sieve and burst into tears, saying: "I really don't know what you are talking about..."

Xie Zheng returned his gaze and said calmly, "Think about it again. What have you forgotten about what happened back then? After all, the eldest son you swore to be loyal to was using the Sui family as a springboard to set up a trap for Wei Yan, and was about to rely on the Li family to fight for the throne. Wei Yan fell, and everyone was happy, but Sui Tuo's family was killed by him. You claim to be loyal to the Sui family, so don't you want revenge?"

The old butler was completely confused by the news. He had really believed that what Fan Changyu said was a collusion with Zhao Wen to deceive him.

At this moment, he confessed everything he knew. After listening to Xie Zheng's words, there was no other emotion on the old man's face except sadness and despair.

Xie Zheng did not miss any change in the old man's expression. Seeing that he really seemed to be unaware, he held Fan Changyu's wrist and slowly left the dungeon. The old butler seemed to have come to his senses at this time. He knelt in the cell and sobbed bitterly.

Fan Changyu's expression also looked particularly heavy.

Outside the cell was the torture chamber. Yu Baoer and Xie Shiyi stood in the blind spot of the cells on the left and right. On the tray on the table were several pieces of bloody pork that had just been cut off.

The pieces of meat that were thrown into the cage holding the wolfhounds opposite were cut from the tray.

Yu Baoer just screamed miserably. The mother and son were imprisoned in the cell next door. Like the old housekeeper, they could only see the cage where the wolfhound was locked up from inside the cell. When they heard Yu Baoer's screams and saw the wolfhound gnawing on the bloody pieces of meat, they thought that Yu Baoer had really been killed alive, and that's why they screamed in fear.

Yu Baoer saw Fan Changyu and wanted to go to her, but she saw that she looked very bad, so she stopped and just called out, "Aunt Changyu."

Fan Changyu nodded reluctantly and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Baoer. You can go out and play with Changning first."

Yu Baoer glanced at Fan Changyu worriedly, then looked at Xie Zheng beside her, and finally followed Xie Shiyi out of the dungeon.

After such a long time, Fan Changyu still felt suffocated. There was a tea table and an armchair in the torture room. After Fan Changyu poured herself a cup of cold tea and drank it, her mood stabilized a little. When she raised her hand to pour the second cup, Xie Zheng held her hand holding the teapot.

"Changyu." His voice was deep, and his big palm pressed on the back of her hand, completely covering hers, as if to give her some support: "If you feel uncomfortable, just cry."

From the time he heard the truth that his father was unable to bring reinforcements until now, Fan Changyu has remained relatively calm, only his face looked a little pale.

She raised her head and looked at Xie Zheng, her stubborn eyes showing a hint of redness, but she still didn't cry. She just said to him, "My grandfather and my father were both wronged."

In the past, she had no evidence and could not say this to him so confidently and seriously, but now she can.

Her voice was very tense, but Xie Zheng felt an inexplicable pain in his heart.

He pressed her into his arms, "I'm sorry."

I'm sorry. Obviously you shouldered as much as I did, but I didn't wait for the truth to come out, and you had to bear so much alone.

Fan Changyu tried hard to push away the sadness in his eyes, and clenched his hands at his sides into fists: "I will clear the injustice of these seventeen years for my grandfather and my father."

Ever since she learned about her life experience, she had been thinking about these things all the time, but at that time she had no evidence.

She told herself again and again in her heart that no matter how difficult it was, she must keep following this path.

Now that she had solid evidence that proved what she had always insisted on, and had taken a big step closer to her goal, she was overwhelmed by all kinds of emotions.

Based on what?

For his own selfish desires, Wei Yan brought a stigma to her grandfather for seventeen years!

If she cannot clear her grandfather's name, then her grandfather will become a sinner for all eternity!

Thousands of years later, people still criticize and criticize them.

That is the loyal soul who has fought for Dayin for most of his life!

Because Prince Chang Xin did not dare to make a big deal about it, Wei Yan turned a blind eye and allowed her parents to escape and live in secret for sixteen years.

Prince Changxin rebelled and brought up the old incident again. Wei Yan was afraid that her parents would come forward as witnesses, so she was determined to kill her parents at all costs!

Fan Changyu rarely lost control of her emotions, but at this moment she clearly felt the resentment and anger surging in her heart. It was like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins, rushing into her limbs and bones along with the blood, surging in the gaps between her bones, and making the joints in her hands crackle when she pinched them.

Xie Zheng pressed his palm on her back without any less force, saying, "This is your revenge, and it is also my revenge."

It's not comfort, it's comfort.

Fan Changyu took a deep breath, forced down the intense emotions in his heart, raised his eyes and asked him, "What are you going to do?"

At this moment, Xie Shiyi, Yu Baoer and Chang Ning hurried into the dungeon again. He looked unusually panicked. After seeing the two people hugging each other, he did not have time to avoid them. He just lowered his eyes and said, "Master, it's bad. The people from the Fifth Army Camp have surrounded Xie's mansion!"

When Xie Shiyi came in with the two children, Fan Changyu quickly distanced himself from Xie Zheng. When he heard this, he didn't even bother to feel embarrassed, but his eyebrows jumped violently.

If they had the audacity to openly surround Xie's residence, if it had not been the emperor's intention, it would have been someone planning a rebellion, and fearing that Xie Zheng would cause trouble, they had taken the initiative.

She looked at Xie Zheng, but Xie Zheng was not surprised at all. He said, "Master Li is desperate and is acting too quickly."

He calmly instructed Xie Shiyi: "Take the two children and leave the city through the secret passage first."

Then he looked at Fan Changyu again.

Fan Changyu raised his eyebrows, unable to suppress his heroic spirit and fierceness: "I am a general who has made great achievements in the battlefield. The enemy is also my enemy, so don't tell me to hide together."

Her unbridled look is brighter than the sun.

Every time she raised her eyebrows or glanced up, it was like a hook entwined in Xie Zheng's heart.

He looked at Fan Changyu deeply and said, "Follow me."

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