Chapter 101 Torture

Wei Zhai and Fu Boqian's hasty departure was actually a move to protect themselves. They hid in an inn in the city instead of fleeing immediately, which shows that they were not willing to give up.

Still watching, perhaps still plotting something in his mind.

"knew."

Jiang Qingning put down his teacup and said calmly, "No need to follow me anymore. Just keep an eye on the inn. If there's any unusual movement, report it immediately."

"yes."

Zi Su agreed, then hesitated and said, "Miss, what about Lord Qin..."

"It's still early."

Jiang Qingning said calmly, "Don't worry about it for now. Prepare the car and go to Jinyi Pavilion later to pick out some fashionable fabrics for my little sister and Yuerou."

Zi Su was astonished: "But the letter has been sent for a long time, and we haven't received any news about the old lady's return yet?"

Jiang Qingning said with a half-smile, "The letter has been sent out for a few days. Maybe they are just waiting and watching."

"After all, grandma is going to come back. Like fallen leaves returning to their roots, she will not give up the Jiang family mansion."

The carriage slowly left the house, and a door in the backyard opened.

Jiang Yuerou walked slowly into Wen Ziyi's room, turned around and closed the doors and windows calmly.

The next moment, Jiang Qingxi opened the window, his eyes flashing, looking straight at somewhere.

Jiang Yuerou looked at the simple furnishings in the house, her heart beating like a drum. She searched carefully but found nothing.

She stood in the room, sniffing the scent of herbs in the air, walked straight to the dried herbs spread out on the table, and reached in to feel around.

Her fingertips suddenly touched something, and her heart skipped a beat. She pushed aside the herbs and saw a black token the size of a palm, which felt cold to the touch.

The front of the token is engraved with a lifelike eagle with its wings spread out, ready to fly. Two tiny blue gems are inlaid in the eagle's eyes, shining strangely in the dim light.

On the back were strange characters that she was completely unfamiliar with and had only seen in ancient books.

The next moment, the door was violently pushed open.

Jiang Yuerou was startled, and the token fell to the ground with a dull sound, as if announcing that she had been caught red-handed.

"Jiang Yuerou, what are you doing?"

A gentle and smiling voice sounded from behind her.

Jiang Yuerou looked at the two figures under her feet, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to look at the person who came.

"When did you...know that?"

“If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it yourself.”

"So you knew it from the beginning, but you just kept it a secret for so many days?"

"That's right. For the past three days, I've been waiting for you to ask me."

Jiang Yuerou chuckled: "Big sister is like the female Zhuge Liang of the modern era. Why don't you ask me what I discovered?"

Jiang Qingning glanced at the object blocking her from view and chuckled, "I think it's a token. It's pitch black and feels cold to the touch."

Jiang Yuerou paused, a look of understanding flashed in her eyes, she turned around, squatted down, picked up the token, walked to Jiang Qingning and presented it with both hands:

"Big sister is so smart that she even took me into account."

Jiang Qingning curled his lips into a faint smile, his eyes full of determination to win.

Jiang Yuerou chuckled softly, stepped forward and placed the token in Jiang Qingning's hand, saying gently, "Big sister, you know, I have always believed in you. It's just that in the past, I was at the mercy of others, so I had to think more about myself."

Jiang Qingning took it, lowered his eyes and examined it carefully for a moment, then handed it to Zi Su and said, "Take down the rubbing and give it to Qin Xiu."

"Yes, I'll do it right away." Zi Su responded obediently and retreated.

Jiang Yuerou didn't understand: "Big sister, don't you want to get married? Why do you still trust him so much? He is the powerful person who harmed our Jiang family and brought us to this point."

Jiang Yuerou always felt that if her uncle had not been demoted and had taken care of her second uncle and father, the Jiang family would never have reached its current situation.

“There is a difference between the powerful and the wealthy.”

Jiang Qingning shook his head slightly, his eyes gleaming, "Besides, he's willing to go through so much trouble just to kill one person for me."

"Who is it?" Jiang Yuerou couldn't help but ask.

"The powerful." Jiang Qingning said firmly.

Jiang Yuerou was completely stunned. The powerful and influential had always protected each other. Ordinary civil and military officials either had to choose to integrate or be exiled.

There is another type, such as my second uncle and father, who cannot retire in this lifetime and can only rely on the kindness of their ancestors to buy a small official position.

"It seems that it won't be long before we have a brother-in-law."

Jiang Yuerou smiled helplessly and said sincerely, "If Big Sister has anything you want to talk about, please speak frankly. Yuerou will never have any other intentions from now on."

Deep in the sky prison, in the gloomy and damp water dungeon.

Xun Chen walked into the dim corridor until he stood in front of the enemy assassin, watching her being submerged in the cold sewage up to her chest.

The biting cold felt like countless steel needles piercing her bones, making her tremble uncontrollably.

Wen Ziyi was hung on the stone wall by heavy chains, and her arms had long lost sensation.

Her body was covered with whip marks, branding marks, and hideous wounds from torture instruments, and blood mixed with dirty water kept dripping from her.

The once handsome face was now swollen and covered in blood, only the eyes still burned with flames of resentment.

"Tell me! Who are your other accomplices? Where are they hiding in the capital? How have they been communicating?"

The torturer's voice echoed through the dungeon, resounding with cruel shouts.

Wen Ziyi raised her head with difficulty and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. Her voice was hoarse and broken, but it was filled with bitter sarcasm:

"Companions? Ha, don't you Central Plains people love to kill each other the most?"

"That idiot Lin Heng is one of your own. He gave me the best opportunity, right? Hahaha..."

She laughed crazily, which hurt the wound and caused her to cough violently, with blood foam oozing from the corners of her mouth.

The torturer's face turned ashen. He raised the red-hot iron and approached again, threatening: "If you don't tell me, be careful of the hot iron in my hand!"

At this moment, the heavy iron door of the dungeon was pushed open, and a cold wind rushed in.

Qin Xiu appeared at the door, dressed in a crimson official uniform. In the dim light, he looked like the devil demanding death. Behind him followed the Minister of Justice Hu Hua, whose face was a little pale.

Xun Chen looked at him with complicated eyes. Although Qin Xiu ignored him, he was still his superior during the time of handling the case.

"Your humble servant greets Lord Hu and Lord Qin." Xun Chen bowed with difficulty and spoke.

Qin Xiu's gaze swept over him indifferently, and then looked at Wen Ziyi, who was in a disfigured state in the water dungeon. There was no fluctuation in his eyes, as if he was looking at a prisoner who was about to die.

"how?"

He spoke, his voice flat.

The Minister of Justice quickly bowed and said, "Reporting to Lord Qin, this evil woman is extremely stubborn. Despite all the tortures, she still only admits that she is from the Northern Di people and sneaked into the capital to steal the border defense map. She denies all her accomplices and strongholds, and only repeatedly curses Lin Heng and... and..."

He secretly glanced at Qin Xiu's face and didn't dare to say anything else.