Chapter 436: Cut them three times a day, don’t let them die even if only a skeleton is left

It was already dark outside. When Xiao Yan went out, he saw someone standing in the darkness.

When he approached, the man quickly saluted: "Master."

"What is it?"

"Eunuch Feng sent word that a fire broke out in the Cold Palace tonight. Yu Yanfeng pleaded guilty but was not punished. Emperor An was angry and scolded him, but he only postponed his caning, saying that he would receive punishment after his injuries healed. Eunuch Feng said that Emperor An had no intention of handing over the palace confinement to Commander Liu."

Xiao Yan lowered his eyes with a cold look. He had always known that Yu Yanfeng was Emperor An's confidant, and was even more trusted by Emperor An than him, a eunuch.

Yu Yanfeng has a secret guard that is specifically responsible for protecting the emperor. Although he is only the deputy commander of the imperial guards, most of the power and influence of the palace guards lies in Yu Yanfeng's hands.

On the contrary, the commander of the imperial guards, Liu Tong'en, seemed to be a higher-ranking official, but it seemed that he only held an honorary title. He did not need to be summoned to enter and leave the palace, and he could also dispatch the palace guards, but he never "competed for power" with Yu Yanfeng.

The most important thing is that Commander Liu did not report for duty every day. He would disappear for a few days from time to time, and Emperor An never asked about it.

Xiao Yan had investigated Liu Tong'en before, and found out that he had a very clean background. It was said that he had saved Emperor An's life and was injured while guarding the palace in his early years. Emperor An took pity on him and allowed him to "recuperate" in the position of commander of the imperial guards. Outsiders knew that it was an empty title, but Xiao Yan just found it strange.

These two deliberate disruptions of the palace led to Yu Yanfeng being punished. Given Emperor An's temperament, he should have become suspicious, or even angry and severely punished him, even if he trusted him. However, Emperor An seemed to have reservations and did not want Yu Yanfeng to be seriously injured and unable to perform his duties, and he did not even think of letting Liu Tongen take over the palace.

Why?

Xiao Yan rubbed his fingertips with a gloomy look as he heard the man whisper, "Eunuch Feng said that after you left the palace, Emperor An summoned Commander Liu alone, leaving no one else with him. But he vaguely heard from outside the door that Emperor An seemed to be asking Commander Liu to investigate the Lu family affairs, and he also mentioned some order..."

Xiao Yan's sword eyes turned cold, and he said in an instant: "I understand. When you go back, give Feng Lai 50,000 taels of silver notes, and find a good teacher to teach his two 'grandsons'."

If Feng Lai wants to return to his loyalty, threats alone will only increase resentment.

Although they were in the same boat and Feng Ye had already been tied up, he never underestimated anyone.

The man lowered his head: "Yes."

After the messenger from the palace left, Xiao Yan stood in the yard for a long time.

He has always been wary of the private army in Emperor An's hands that has never seen the light of day, and he could not find any clues. Emperor An would definitely hand over that private army to the person he trusts most. Could it be Liu Tong'en?

But he still hasn't figured it out. Money and food are one thing, but where did the people who supported Emperor An's private army come from?

The population of the Wei Dynasty was not large, and the army was not able to recruit enough soldiers. However, the population was recorded in the household registers everywhere. If Emperor An wanted to raise a private army of tens of thousands or even more people, where would he get so many people, and how could he hide it from everyone?

…

It was already dawn when Tang Ning's fever subsided. Canglang came back covered in blood, but when he reported the results of the interrogation to Xiao Yan, he spoke with some difficulty.

Xiao Yan sat outside and listened quietly, but anyone could feel the hostility in him.

"When Madam Rong was sent back to the mansion, she was still breathing, but outsiders told everyone she and Song Xi were dead. Old Madam Song placed her in a coffin at the Song Family Ancestral Hall and interrogated her about the whereabouts of the Dragon King's Order. Madam Rong refused to speak, so in anger she had the coffin sealed to teach her a lesson."

"I never thought that the coffin was so good, it was coated with beeswax and sealed with gold paper in advance. Madam Rong was suffocated to death in the coffin. At that time, the girl saw with her own eyes that Madam Rong struggled to die in the coffin."

Canglang lowered his head even lower and spoke in a muffled voice.

"The girl was young and cried non-stop after witnessing the incident. The Song family was afraid she would leak the news, and that Taifu Rong would pursue her to death. So they used the excuse that Second Master Song and his family had died, and the old lady was extremely sad, and the girl was also heartbroken, so they took her to the Song family villa."

"Song Hong wanted to kill the girl outright, but Old Madam Song disagreed. She didn't want to lose the Rong family's support. She also heard that there were some unscrupulous families among the people who used special methods to train young children to have sexual relations. So she kept the girl and had Prince Cheng and Song Hong manipulate the situation so that Taifu Rong fell seriously ill after losing his beloved daughter, and Princess Cheng was too busy caring for her to take care of him."

Xiao Yan's fingers turned white from pinching: "What method?"

The room was quiet for a long time before the sound appeared again.

“Train people like you train dogs.”

Canglang's face was filled with depression and his throat was filled with difficulty, making it difficult for him to speak.

"They would lock disobedient people in cramped confinement, away from the sun, and torture them daily with shady methods, breaking their pride. When they were left with such agony that their hearts were shattered and they could only wish for death, they would then have their masters step in and offer a few gentle words of comfort, making the person they were training feel like a drowning person desperately clinging to a piece of driftwood, not daring to let go."

"Those people are well versed in this and are ruthless. After so many days of this, even the hardest-hearted can become timid and numb, becoming dependent on the piece of driftwood that allows them to escape torture, and from then on, obey them in everything..."

It's like training a vicious dog, grinding away the ferocity in his bones and turning him into the most obedient dog.

With just a word from the master, life or death can be decided.

Click!

The edge of the couch was directly broken by the blow, and Xiao Yan's eyes were red. Even though he had guessed the truth a long time ago and knew that Song Jiading had done something to Tang Ning, he never thought that his little girl had been treated like this when she was young.

The Song family...

Song Family!!

Xiao Yan felt like something was stuck in his throat, and he just wanted to tear the Song family apart. After a while, he said coldly, "Then why didn't Tang Ning..."

Canglang naturally knew what he was asking and whispered back, "According to the Song family, the girl was indeed trained to obey Old Madam Song's every word. Furthermore, in order to pave the way for the Song family, Empress Lu also wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Rong family. Even Lu Zhinian and Song Jinxiu, like her, used the same tactics to make the girl extremely dependent on them."

"But then the girl suddenly fell seriously ill, fainted from a high fever, and nearly lost her life. It happened that Mrs. Rong was going to see the girl, so the Song family had no time to do anything."

"Old Madam Song was extremely panicked at the time. She was afraid that Madam Rong would notice something was wrong, and she was also worried that the girl hadn't been fully trained yet. Who would have thought that after waking up, the girl would have forgotten everything."

"She couldn't remember the cause of Madam Rong's death, nor did she remember anything that happened in the other village during that time. She seemed to have forgotten everything related to Madam Rong."

"Madam Rongguo simply thought she was overly sad and didn't think much about it. The Song family tried to test her several times, and only when they saw that she truly hadn't remembered did they feel relieved."

Canglang became angry as he spoke:

"The girl has forgotten all that, but because of what happened before, she subconsciously became close to Old Madam Song, especially Song Jinxiu and Lu Zhinian. The girl is particularly obsessed with them. It was because of this that Queen Lu was able to take advantage of the situation and arrange the girl's marriage with the Lu family."

Everyone said that Tang Ning was deeply in love with Lu Zhinian and that she couldn't live without him. She would stick to the Lu family even if it cost her the reputation of a noble lady. But who could have imagined that the so-called "deep affection" was a calculation from the beginning to the end.

Whenever Canglang thought about what he learned from interrogating the Song family and Queen Lu, he felt furious.

Tang Ning was only five or six years old back then, and they actually dared to treat her like that.

These people are worse than beasts!

As Xiao Yan listened to Canglang's words, his face darkened as if covered with frost. Thinking of Tang Ning's tears, and how she had been crying and calling "Mother" when she was unconscious just now, his sword-like eyes gradually turned blood red.

"Cut the Song family and Lu Qingfeng to pieces one by one for me."

"Cut them three times a day. Don't let them die. Even if only a skeleton is left, keep them alive!"

It's a relief for them to die like this!