Having figured this out, Xue Shen's expression grew even colder: "Zhao Zhao is about to give birth, and I don't have time to deal with them right now. Let them live a few more days by sheer luck, but they can't wait to die."

Xue Shen suddenly changed his mind and stopped Wang Deshun: "Forget it, you don't need to investigate. I will go to the prison of Dali Temple myself."

When Wang Deshun saw his solemn expression and deep eyes, his heart skipped a beat.

Since the Empress married into the family, he had rarely seen his master show such an expression. In the past, whenever Xue Shen showed such an expression, it meant that someone had angered him and crossed his bottom line.

To quell the anger, one cannot rest until bloodshed ensues.

Wang Deshun took a deep breath, lowered his head, and led the way: "Yes."

Xue Shen rode his horse to the prison of the Dali Temple. When the jailers saw him coming in person, they were all startled and knelt down to pay their respects: "Greetings, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

Upon hearing the news, the leading official also rushed over and carefully attended to Xue Shen, asking, "Why has Your Majesty personally come to such a place?"

Xue Shen had no time for idle talk. He pointed to the other man's words and ordered, "Prepare a torture chamber and bring out the entire Zhou family. I have questions to ask them."

When the other party saw his expression, which suggested he was about to go on a killing spree, his smile faltered, and he didn't dare to say anything more. He quickly went to do it himself.

In a short while, the torture chamber was prepared, and the Zhou family members were brought in.

When Zhou Nian saw Xue Shen, his face twitched, and he said in a venomous tone, "How come His Majesty the new emperor has time to see us sinners?"

Xue Shen slowly sat down and lowered his head to select instruments of torture.

"The Zhou family has three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Zhou Qing, once served as the commander of the Palace Guard. The eldest daughter, Zhou Yuanchun, became the empress of the deposed emperor and was the most favored concubine in the harem."

At this point, Xue Shen raised his eyes to look at Zhou Nian, his gaze casually sweeping over the two sons who were cowering behind Zhou Nian: "As for the remaining second and third sons, they are mediocre in talent and cowardly in nature, unlike you."

When he mentioned his eldest son and daughter, Zhou Nian's face twitched repeatedly, and she asked through gritted teeth, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Xue Shen picked up a hexagonal awl and tapped it lightly against his palm: "Zhou Qing and Empress Zhou conspired to rebel and kidnap the deposed emperor, but unfortunately, I discovered it. Zhou Qing was executed on the spot, and Empress Zhou hanged herself in the palace. I imagine you must have felt heartbroken and filled with resentment after hearing the news?"

Anniversary clenched her teeth and stared at him, but remained silent.

Xue Shen snorted, not caring whether he spoke or not. He glanced at the two people hiding behind Zhou Nian and ordered, "Take them both inside."

Upon receiving the order, the jailers immediately took action, forcibly bringing Zhou Nian's second and third sons into the torture chamber, binding their hands and feet with chains as thick as a thumb, and suspending them in mid-air.

Although the two were mediocre and not as favored by their father as their elder brother, they lived a life of luxury in the Zhou family. They thought that the time they spent in the Dali Temple prison was the worst they had ever experienced, but they did not expect that even more cruel punishments awaited them.

Before Xue Shen even used any instruments of torture, the two men began to wail and scream like ghosts.

Seeing this, Zhou Nian couldn't bear it and closed her eyes briefly, glaring hatefully at Xue Shen: "The victor is king, the loser is villain. If you want to kill, then kill. Why torture him like this!"

Xue Shen glanced at him sideways, but without mercy, he plunged the grooved hexagonal cone in his hand into Zhou Nian's second son's thigh. He then chuckled and twirled it, as crimson blood trickled down the grooves of the cone, staining Xue Shen's hand.

The second son of the anniversary let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered, but because he was suspended by chains, he could only struggle helplessly and cry out, "Father, save me."

Xue Shen took the handkerchief handed to him by the jailer and wiped his hands: "I never like to torture prisoners. Your sentences are due in the autumn. I want to give you a quick death."

"But now it seems that I was being too sentimental."

Zhou Nian's eyelids twitched as she listened to his pointed words. However, she still held onto a sliver of hope and stubbornly argued, "What is Your Majesty talking about? I don't understand. We're all fish on the chopping block anyway. You can kill us as you please. Why bother with all these high-sounding words?"

"They won't shed a tear until they see the coffin."

Xue Shen chuckled and ordered the executioners waiting nearby, "Show us your best skills to the two young masters of the Zhou family."

After he finished speaking, he sat down on the chair that the jailer had brought over and poured himself a cup of hot tea from the teapot.

Seeing Zhou Nian staring intently at the torture chamber, his teeth practically grinding to powder, he even personally poured Zhou Nian a cup of tea and placed it beside him: "There's still plenty of time today, Lord Zhou, why don't you sit down and have a cup of tea, and wait with me slowly?"

As soon as he finished speaking, screams of agony echoed through the torture chamber.

The sound was heart-wrenching, and to Zhou Nian's ears it was nothing short of torture.

The door to the torture chamber was not closed, and from Zhou Nian's perspective, the scene of his two sons being tortured could be seen clearly.

But he kept his eyes closed, his body trembling, and dared not look.

If his hands hadn't been bound by chains, he wouldn't have been able to bear listening to those screams.

But Xue Shen came here today so that he too could taste the pain and anger of having his loved ones harmed.

The screams in the torture chamber went from loud to soft, from pleas for help and curses to humble pleas for mercy. Gradually, even the pleas for mercy weakened, and only occasionally could one or two hoarse screams be heard as a reflex.

Zhou Nian opened her eyes, bloodshot, staring intently at Xue Shen, wishing she could pounce on him and devour his flesh, but she had no choice but to lower her head and compromise, gritting her teeth as she said, word by word, "If you let them go, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

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