Chapter 46 If you dare to touch her in the slightest

Xue Lanyi didn't believe it, and Zhou Yu didn't believe it either.

On the way to the imperial prison, he thought back to the past. Although Wei Zhang had become quite estranged from them after being adopted into the Prince Qi's mansion, they had not yet broken ties at that time.

In that year, the year before the Crown Prince Party's downfall, Wei Zhang still considered himself one of them, and even risked his life to fulfill the promise of friendship.

Xue Lanyi and Zhou Yu faced each other, their expressions complex.

"Have you figured out who the murderer of Prince Qi is?"

At that moment, cold, menacing footsteps echoed on the bluestone steps.

The dark red flying fish robe slowly approached, particularly eye-catching in the pitch-black night.

After a long while, Shen Jinglan walked up to them, leisurely sat on the grand chair in the aisle, and placed the glass hourglass upside down on the armrest. "When the sand runs out, if no one confesses, don't blame me..."

"I will make your three prefectures disappear completely from Dayong." Shen Jinglan narrowed his eyes slightly.

In the deep, silent corridor, the sound of quicksand slowly disappearing was so clear.

The women and children in the prison were terrified, sobbing softly and daring not to cry out loud.

Xue Lanyi and Zhou Yu were still in shock at the truth of the Qi Wang case, and remained silent.

Shen Jinglan had no time to argue with them. She beckoned to the people behind her and said, "Someone, help them recall how they killed people."

"Yes, sir!" The Imperial Guards forced a burly man to kneel at Shen Jinglan's feet.

The burly man, covered in blood from the whipping, kowtowed repeatedly, "Your Honor, I truly didn't see the murderer's face clearly back then. I only saw a small, immature boy from afar. I would never lie. Please, Your Honor, spare my life! Please, Your Honor, spare my life..."

Impatient, Shen Jinglan kicked the burly man over and towards the cage, saying, "Tell them what you saw back then?"

This person was the bodyguard of Princess Qi, whom Shen Jinglan found among the vast sea of ​​people.

Over a hundred people were poisoned in the Prince Qi's mansion back then, but some always managed to escape.

This guard escaped death by feigning illness.

The guard, still shaken by the memory of Prince Qi's tragic fate, swallowed hard and said, "Look! Look! Back then... back then, on Prince Qi's birthday, His Majesty came in person. Prince Qi said he had found a painting of red plum blossoms for His Majesty, so he went to the library to retrieve it, and then... he never returned."

Princess Qi then led us to the library to look for the person, only to find Prince Qi lying on the ground, convulsing and foaming at the mouth, with a half-grown little devil hiding in the corner of the bookshelf, trembling and staring at Prince Qi.

We rushed into the house, and the little rascal, clutching the scroll, jumped out the window and ran away in the rain.

We were ordered to pursue and kill him. That little devil must have been feeling guilty for killing someone. He limped along in the dark alley, his legs were weak, and he kept crashing into roadside stalls and walls as if he were blind. But he clung tightly to the painting and ran forward desperately, like a slippery eel that was impossible to catch.

So the boss ordered us to wrap the little devil's ankles with whips.

It did work. The little thing kept falling to the ground, getting bruised and battered. Later, it fell so hard that the scroll pierced its heart and came out through its side...

The guard still felt a chill run down his spine when he recalled the sound of bones cracking in the quiet, dark alley and the child's pig-like screams of pain.

The guard gasped. "That brat is a ruthless character. His lungs were pierced, yet he still clung to the scroll and wouldn't let go. Blood dripped all the way, and the whole alley reeked of blood. It was disgusting."

Shen Jinglan glanced at the varied expressions on the faces of the people in the prison, especially Xue Lanyi, whose face was deathly pale, whether from surprise or fear, she couldn't tell.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you'd risk your life for the late Crown Prince and your brothers? Among you, who is truly so loyal and righteous, so touching?"

Mentioning "heartfelt feelings," Shen Jinglan sneered, "Oh, not touching heartfelt feelings, but heartfelt feelings that have been ripped apart."

Xue Lanyi felt her ribs ache just listening to it.

Shen Jinglan listened with great interest, "And then?"

"Then...then the little brat lost too much blood and couldn't run anymore, so...so he jumped into the dry well outside Qingshan Temple!"

The crowd erupted in uproar.

The dry well outside Qingshan Temple was originally just an ordinary well. Later, most of the beggars in the city who were seriously ill and about to die threw themselves into the well to seek the Buddha's blessing and be reborn into a better life.

Over time, this dry well became a dumping ground for corpses.

The servants who were beaten to death, the beggars who contracted the plague, and the prostitutes from brothels who were infected with syphilis were all thrown into this dry well.

This well is a veritable amalgamation of plague, tuberculosis, and methane, and it's poorly ventilated, making it even more filthy than a mass grave.

Ordinary people would have to detour here, but that little brat actually jumped down by himself in the middle of the night.

The guards dared not go down the well at night, "not knowing what kind of rare treasure that little devil stole that was more important than gold, silver, or even their lives."

"What a fool! Having suffered a piercing wound and then contracted a plague, even if he obtained some rare and precious treasure, would he even survive to enjoy it?"

The guard couldn't help but sneer at this point.

Snickers echoed down the corridor, layer upon layer, lingering for a long time.

None of the people in the cell could laugh; they looked at each other in bewilderment.

Everyone knew in their hearts that the person protecting the painting was protecting five lives that were more important than any rare treasure.

Xue Lanyi found it hard to believe that Wei Zhang would do such a thing.

"Then...then what happened?" Her voice trembled slightly as she asked instinctively.

"And then?" The guard waved his hand. "I waited at the wellhead and heard the little devil sobbing and crying down there until his voice was hoarse, calling for his brother and his mother."

We thought he would eventually give up and beg for mercy, so we trapped him in the well, intending to scare the little thing all night and then pull him up during the day.

Who knew that the little devil would be restless in the middle of the night, moving corpses from the dry well, piling them up, and running away.

You wouldn't believe it, when we looked down into the well during the day, we saw mountains of withered bones and rotting corpses, covered in the blood of that little devil!

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a jinx! I wonder where that little thing ran off to later." The guard sighed.

Shen Jinglan observed the expressions of everyone present. "Later, this bastard not only didn't escape, but went to Prince Qi's mansion to poison him, killing Princess Qi and everyone who had heard Prince Qi's last words, concealing the witnesses and evidence of treason, and then living a carefree and happy life in Shengjing City for so many years as if nothing had happened, right?"

Shen Jinglan's eyes swept over Xue Lanyi, Zhou Yu, and the others. "With witnesses and evidence right in front of you, why don't you tell us who killed Prince Qi?"

"It's Wei Zhang! It's Wei Zhang!" Xie Qingyun, who had been silent all along, suddenly exclaimed in a hoarse voice, coughing incessantly from excessive excitement.

Xie Qingyun passed down his family's historical writing skills. When the Xie family was implicated in the case of the former crown prince, the Xie family was in turmoil, and the "Records of Mountains and Rivers," which had been compiled by three generations of the Xie family, was burned overnight.

After Xie Qingyun was released and returned home, he secluded himself for five years, burning the midnight oil to rewrite the book, determined to make amends for his mistakes and comfort his ancestors in his lifetime.

When he wrote history, he inevitably had to deal with Wei Zhang, a powerful minister of the time.

He knew all the evil deeds Wei Zhang had committed over the past five years.

Therefore, things like jumping into wells, piling up corpses, poisoning, and wiping out entire families are absolutely things that Wei Zhang is capable of doing!

"Besides, Princess Zhaoyang has already presented the evidence of Wei Zhang's murder. What else do you want to investigate? Or are you trying to distort the facts and make us take the blame for Wei Zhang?"

Xie Qingyun's bloodshot, weathered eyes stared at Shen Jinglan.

Shen Jinglan laughed: "When you gathered people to plot a rebellion in the Eastern Palace, Lord Wei was not involved. Why would he risk his life to help you rebels hide evidence?"

Xie Qingyun choked.

yes.

No one would have imagined that Wei Zhang poisoned the Qi Prince's family for the sake of an old friend.

No wonder Wei Zhang wasn't afraid of the murder being exposed, because once the cause of Prince Qi's death was revealed, the irrefutable evidence of the former Crown Prince's faction's "rebellion" would also surface.

When Xue Lanyi accused Wei Zhang, wasn't she also pushing her old friend to the executioner's blade?

As Shen Jinglan said, Wei Zhang was not a party involved and is not a suspect.

Therefore, the irrefutable evidence of the murderer in the Prince Qi case and the treason will ultimately point to Xue Lanyi and her three other companions.

Wei Zhang was not afraid of her reporting him, precisely because he had long anticipated that Xue Lanyi would end up shooting herself in the foot.

At this moment, Xue Lanyi's feelings were complicated.

They were moved by Wei Zhang's selfless protection of them when they were young, shocked by the truth of the Qi Prince case, and terrified by Wei Zhang's uncanny ability to foresee things.

More than anything, there is concern about what will happen next...

As for Shen Jinglan, Prince Qi had nothing to do with him, and it didn't matter who killed Prince Qi.

His purpose was only twofold: first, to hand over a murderer and resolve the emperor's inner conflict.

Secondly, by killing these former rebels, the emperor could rest easy.

Five years ago, it was precisely because of the lack of irrefutable evidence of treason that these treacherous officials were not completely exterminated.

Now that both crimes are being combined, it's a perfect opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop!

Shen Jinglan drew his Embroidered Spring Blade, the sharp silver blade reflecting his ruthless eyes. "The hourglass has run out. Tell me, which of you four is the murderer?"

The sound of the fine sand flowing away came to an abrupt halt.

"It's Wei Zhang! The facts cannot be distorted!" Xie Qingyun shouted.

Whoosh!

A flash of silver light appeared.

An overwhelmingly sharp sword aura sliced ​​through the darkness, flashing past Xie Qingyun's eyes.

A bloodstain appeared between the eyebrows of the child who had fainted from crying in Xie Qingyun's arms.

The wound split open, revealing the white bone.

Crimson blood trickled out.

The child's breathing stopped abruptly in his sleep.

"Brother!" The little girl from the Xie family rushed towards the boy and burst into tears.

Xie Qingyun stood there, his face splattered with blood.

One drop of blood splattered onto Xue Lanyi's fingertip.

Scalding hot.

But it cooled down quickly.

Xue Lanyi stared at the bead of blood on her fingertip, momentarily forgetting to breathe.

"Tell me again who the murderer is?" Shen Jinglan stood up, knife in hand, and walked past the prisoners.

The embroidered spring knife, dripping with blood, gleamed with silver light, its coldness like a wandering ghost.

The light shone directly into Xue Lanyi's eyes, while the spotlight from behind fell on Xie Qingyun, who was grieving the loss of his son.

His son was gone just like that.

Because he said nothing.

Xie Qingyun mechanically and blankly wiped the blood flowing from the child's body with her sleeve again and again.

His face was visibly sunken, and there were deep bruises under his eyes.

"Xie Qingyun, why don't you confess your guilt?"

The shadow of Shen Jinglan loomed over him, adding another dark cloud to his trembling shoulders.

"I heard you got tuberculosis while repairing books. You're going to die sooner or later, so why are you still being so stubborn?"

Xie Qingyun was in a daze and did not answer.

"Are you worried about your three hundred volumes of documents? It's alright, I'll help you." Shen Jinglan beckoned.

The Imperial Guards placed a newly compiled copy of the "Records of Mountains and Rivers" and a stove at Shen Jinglan's feet.

Rats and ants scurried across the ground, leaving a trail of filthy marks on the pristine white scrolls.

Shen Jinglan picked up one of the books and casually tore it page by page. "Can you rest easy now that your book is with you to the underworld?"

"My book!"

Xie Qingyun suddenly came to her senses, threw herself at Shen Jinglan's feet, and shook the bars of the cell.

He tried to press down on Shen Jinglan's hand to protect the book, but his outstretched hand could only reach the air.

The pristine white paper crumbled into dust, scattering into the stove where it was consumed by the flames.

Xie Qingyun coughed up a mouthful of black blood and collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

He coughed so hard he couldn't move, his eyes pressed against the ground as he watched helplessly as the three hundred scrolls fell one by one into the furnace.

The fire suddenly escalated, and the hard work of three generations, five years of tireless effort, was reduced to smoke in an instant.

Only a few scattered fragments drifted out of the stove, curled up by the flames, and gradually turned into ash.

Blood trickled from the corner of Xie Qingyun's mouth as he laboriously reached for the scraps of paper outside the bars.

Xue Lanyi felt a lump in her throat and turned her head away.

The Xie family offended many powerful figures by writing historical records, resulting in the deaths of over a hundred members of the family, before they were able to complete half of the "Records of Mountains and Rivers".

Therefore, Xie Qingyun always carried books with him wherever he went since he was a child.

Five years ago, the burning of the "Gazetteer of Mountains and Rivers" was more painful for him than losing his life.

The reason I'm holding on is simply to finish the manuscript as soon as possible.

Given his current physical condition, he probably can't afford to have it done a second time.

The Xie family is finished...

At this moment, Xue Lanyi suddenly doubted herself: Had she done something wrong by reporting Wei Zhang?

If she doesn't act tough, will they be safe and sound?

Xue Lanyi dared not face Xie Qingyun, yet she had no choice but to force herself to turn around and face him.

Shen Jinglan's official boots stepped over Xie Qingyun's hand, which had finally managed to extend out of the prison bars.

He walked up to Lu Lin and said, "Lord Lu, why don't you plead guilty?"

"Oh, I forgot, your tongue is broken, so you can't confess, right?" Shen Jinglan said to himself, suddenly grabbing the delicate and slender girl next to Lu Lin and dragging her to the prison bars.

"I've heard that your two daughters have grown up and inherited the talents of the Lu family's remonstrance officials; they are quite eloquent."

He pried open the little girl's mouth and looked down at her nimble tongue. "What a pity. The Lu family is forbidden from holding official positions for life. It's such a waste to waste such a flexible tongue. Why not use it for something else?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Lanyi felt a chill run down her spine.

Five years ago, she seemed to have heard the same words.

She instinctively collapsed to the ground, curling her shoulders up.

Shen Jinglan indeed looked at Xue Lanyi, a playful expression on his face, "Besides speaking, what else can this tongue do? Princess Zhaoyang is knowledgeable and should know quite a bit, right?"

"Shen Jinglan!" Xue Lanyi's pupils dilated suddenly as she looked at the two little girls huddled together. "They haven't even reached the age of marriage yet!"

"Not yet of marriageable age? And twins at that, they'll be even more popular. The two sisters serving their patrons together will keep them company."

"Aba aba!" Lu Lin on the other side also grabbed Shen Jinglan's clothes like a madman, unable to speak, his throat, burned by the branding iron, made desperate and faint "Aba aba" sounds.

The two daughters of the Lu family had already been dragged away by several Imperial Guards.

In the distance, the sound of a little girl crying out "No, no!" could be heard.

"Shen Jinglan, you will die a horrible death!" Xue Lanyi lunged at the prison bars.

Shen Jinglan seemed not to hear, and pulled open the hem of her clothes that Lu Lin was holding. While smoothing out the wrinkles, she said casually, "But Princess Zhaoyang was secretly protected back then, so she didn't suffer too much. I'm afraid these two girls will be... tsk tsk tsk tonight."

“Aba aba…” Lu Lin roared in despair.

Shen Jinglan had long since ignored him, and turned her gaze to Zhou Yu, who was sitting silently in the corner.

With just one glance, Zhou Yu's eyes darted away, then shifted away from the matter at hand.

Want to remain unaffected?

Shen Jinglan brandished her embroidered spring knife and held it to Zhou Yu's neck. "Coward, why don't you confess? The lamp oil in my prison is almost gone. You can refill it. I'm quite happy with the Zhou family's lamps."

"you……"

Zhou Yu's pupils contracted slightly, and her voice was timid as she asked, "W-what do you mean?"

Shen Jinglan twisted her neck: "Don't you find the smell of lamp oil here familiar?"

Across from her, Xue Lanyi had not yet recovered from the shock of the Lu family and was plunged into even deeper fear.

Yesterday, she discovered that the oil lamps in the prison were particularly attractive to rats.

She had her doubts and asked the kind-hearted Imperial Guard.

The Imperial Guards told him that after Zhou Yu confessed, he claimed that he was the only one who had committed all the crimes.

He wanted to take the blame for Xue Lanyi, Xie Qingyun, and Lu Lin, but Shen Jinglan wanted them all dead.

This move undoubtedly went against Shen Jinglan and touched a raw nerve.

Therefore, after the entire Zhou family was beheaded, Shen Jinglan set these innocent people on fire.

The lamp oil used in the imperial prison to this day all comes from the Zhou family.

How could Zhou Yu accept this?

Xue Lanyi gripped the bars tightly, her pupils constricted, wishing only that Shen Jinglan would not speak.

But Zhou Yu isn't stupid.

He understood and remained stunned for a long time.

"What did you say? What nonsense are you talking about? You're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense."

Zhou Yu muttered to herself in disbelief.

Shen Jinglan loved their broken-down, lifeless appearance. He slowly bent down and spoke each word clearly on Zhou Yu's head, "It's your own fault for being spineless. You didn't even dare to ask for the Zhou family's corpses back. Shouldn't you thank me for helping you deal with these bodies?"

After his clansmen were massacred and Zhou Yu was released to go home, he was indeed afraid to look at or think about it, and he remained silent and depressed for a period of time.

When he later returned to the imperial prison to retrieve the bodies, the Embroidered Uniform Guard returned his family's remains to him.

Zhou Yu shook her head in confusion.

"What I'm giving you is the executioner who slaughtered your entire family, and a few corpses of condemned prisoners who died of illness." Shen Jinglan suddenly let out a cold laugh: "Didn't expect that, did you? The graves you've been kneeling and worshipping for years, the ancestral graves of your Zhou family, actually contain the executioners who killed your entire family!"

"Shen Jinglan!" Zhou Yu's eyes were bloodshot as she lunged at him like a madwoman.

Shen Jinglan took a half step back unhurriedly, scanning the mournful, half-dead people in front of her.

"Alright, what's the point of you traitors living? You might as well confess your crimes."

In the distance, the two little girls from the Lu family were still crying and begging for mercy, while the body of the Xie family's son had already stiffened.

This large family, which was wiped out by the previous generation, is about to be completely destroyed by Shen Jinglan in the next generation as well.

Shen Jinglan did it.

He wanted these three families to disappear from Dayong, their ancestral graves destroyed, and their livelihoods cut off.

Such a vicious mind.

Such a vicious mind.

Xue Lanyi gripped the railing, staring blankly at everything before her, which had burned to ashes.

“Shen Jinglan…” Xue Lanyi gasped for breath, a mixture of fear, hatred, and bitterness overwhelming her.

Finally, he said, "I plead guilty!"

At least, she was the only one left in her family.

At the same time, Xie Qingyun said the same thing.

Lu Lin's "Aba aba" clearly also meant he was admitting his guilt.

Only Zhou Yu curled up, covering her head, and kept muttering, "No, no."

Xue Lanyi exchanged a glance with the other two people.

Having weathered many storms, there still seemed to be a certain unspoken understanding in their eyes, which were numb with death.

Ultimately, there's still that unspoken understanding from our youthful days.

This is the result Shen Jinglan wanted.

If everyone is willing to take all the blame, then let them all die!

Shen Jinglan raised her chin triumphantly, looking down at them, and gestured for the Imperial Guards to hand over the prepared confessions to each of them.

The words "treason" and "murder of a prince" were prominently displayed before my eyes.

Xue Lanyi stared intently, feeling herself sinking into an even deeper vortex.

Does the fact that all four of them have signed the agreement mean the matter is completely over?

It seems unlikely.

The current emperor is deeply wary of the former crown prince's faction; the fear is ingrained in his very bones.

Their deaths will not be the end result; they will only further open the door of fear in the Emperor's heart.

The more people die, the more rampant the emperor's inner demons will become, and he may even more frantically erase everything about the former crown prince's faction.

The graves of their four families, their descendants, their ancestors, and Xue Lanyi's parents and relatives will likely all be destroyed to cover up the crime.

If she dies, there will be no way to help.

And what about Ah Xuan? If he wakes up in the future and finds that his friends and lovers have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace, how will he face it?

Xue Lanyi's hand, which was pressed with cinnabar, trembled. Looking at her old friends, who had lost their color in the opposite cage, she hesitated.

"Press it now!" Shen Jinglan's gaze was sharp as a knife.

"I want to see Wei Zhang!"

Xue Lanyi came to the imperial prison with the intention of facing death alone.

It was only then that I realized that the intricate relationships between people in this world cannot be severed by death.

If I die, everything I love will truly be at the mercy of others, with no chance to fight back anymore.

Therefore, she cannot die.

She suddenly stood up.

The Imperial Guards behind her immediately pressed down on her shoulders and forced her back to the ground.

Her hand was forcibly pulled and pressed towards the petition by the Imperial Guards.

Shen Jinglan stood outside the prison bars, coldly watching Xue Lanyi's hand getting closer and closer to the petition.

How could he let Xue Lanyi grasp at Wei Zhang as her lifeline?

Today, he will make these treacherous officials write their petitions and announce it to the world.

At that time, everyone confessed their crimes, and even Wei Zhang was powerless to reverse the situation.

Shen Jinglan's sinister gaze fell on the back of Xue Lanyi's hand.

Xue Lanyi struggled against the Jinyiwei's strength but couldn't break free. She opened her mouth to cry for help, but the Jinyiwei immediately covered her mouth and muffled her sobs, preventing her from making any sound.

Everything in the dungeon was happening in complete silence; there was absolutely no sound from the interrogation room upstairs.

I watched as my fingertips touched the petition.

A member of the Imperial Guard stepped forward quickly, cupped his hands, and reported, "Lord Shen, Lord Wei wishes to see Consort Xue."

Shen Jinglan frowned.

He had instructed the Embroidered Uniform Guard not to reveal anything about what happened in prison to Wei Zhang.

How did Wei Zhang manage to obtain it so skillfully?

The guard beside him replied, "Lord Qingyang has been waiting outside the door for a quarter of an hour."

Shen Jinglan looked back.

On the distant bluestone steps, at the entrance to the barbed wire fence, Qingyang stood against the sunlight.

Clearly, Wei Zhang had anticipated what Shen Jinglan was going to do.

He was just waiting for Xue Lanyi to give in so he could play the hero and save the damsel in distress.

Wei Zhang clearly wanted to use him to discipline the woman!

"Let him wait!"

Shen Jinglan flicked her sleeve in displeasure, while giving everyone a look to hurry up.

"Lord Shen!"

From his high position, Qingyang bowed to Shen Jinglan and said, "I will pass on a message to you, Your Highness: If Lord Shen harms his woman in the slightest, I will not let her have an easy time."