"Tell me! Is there anything else you haven't explained?"
"Heh." "Continue the torture!"
The red-hot iron pressed against the man's chest again, his flesh sizzling and a faint smell of burning. He cried out in pain, sweat and blood mixing as he continued to utter no more words.
The executioner frowned and reported to the commander beside him: "Sir, almost all the punishments have been reviewed. I even had someone use ginseng soup to keep him alive. I guess the truth is written on it."
"Are you sure?"
"From what I can see, it's real. Otherwise, if the fight continues, they will die!"
The commander folded the pile of papers, turned around and walked out of the prison.
There is a tidy room at the end of the corridor. Compared with the harsh environment outside, it is obviously much cleaner and tidier.
The emperor was sitting on the couch waiting for a reply—
"How is it?"
"Your Majesty, those nine assassins are all subordinates of small, marginal nations, belonging to the Yanshi and Luoshan areas. After my Great Zhou subdued them, this group of people has been lurking in the capital, waiting for an opportunity to strike."
Xie Yanci unfolded the papers with bloody handprints on them. "Waiting for an opportunity? The year I ascended the throne, I issued a general amnesty. I celebrated with the people in the streets of the capital. Why didn't they take action?"
"They said they were still young and didn't have a clear understanding of the Emperor's surroundings, so they didn't dare to act rashly. During this tour outside the capital, someone recognized the Emperor, and they immediately decided to disguise themselves as civilians and assassinate him," the commander recalled. "One of them even said, 'I can't leave a successor to the Emperor,' so they fought hard and injured Lady Baolin."
They really know what's going on!
On the day of the sacrifice, there were so many people that how could they quickly recognize his face among the crowd? It was true that Xi Baolin was pregnant, but her loose clothes did not show her pregnancy, so how did they know?
No matter how I think about it, something doesn't seem right.
The commander carefully observed the emperor's expression and said, "Your Majesty, how about I torture him again..."
"No need, I'll go there myself."
"The torture chamber is filthy, and those people are speaking rudely. I'm afraid I've offended the Emperor! Please think twice!"
Xie Yanci didn't care and just pushed the door open and left.
He'd heard plenty of unpleasant words. During the princes' fight for the throne, many cursed him to death. What others said couldn't affect him in the slightest. Right now, finding the truth was paramount.
"The Dog... The Dog Emperor is coming?!"
Even though he was dying, the other party still showed a mocking smile.
He approached the man and observed him, but he did not feel unhappy about it.
"My Luoshan tribe has no grudges against the Great Zhou. Why would you... destroy my homeland?! If I die, there will be others... We, uh!"
He took advantage of the situation to pull out the long knife from the jailer's waist, stabbed it into the man's heart, then turned slightly sideways and pulled it out quickly.
In a flash, a corpse was born.
When the person being tortured nearby saw this, he could not hide the fear on his face.
The executioner swallowed hard and said, "The Emperor just killed him directly. Does that mean... he doesn't plan to put him to trial?"
"It's just the same few sentences repeated over and over again. It's meaningless."
Xie Yanci walked towards the next person and continued to observe his expression——
"What about you? Why don't you shout like him?"
"I'm already defeated. I want to save my energy." The man stiffened his neck and gestured for him to attack. "Come on, strike here and put an end to it!"
This person's hair was tied in a simple bun with a coarse cloth. After being tortured, several strands of hair fell to his ears. Only one strand of hair was still firmly in place, which was very suspicious.
Xie Yanci held the long knife and was about to cut off the long hair, but the man subconsciously dodged, which was in contrast to his previous fearless image.
"What are you hiding from?"
"The Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty wouldn't want to torture me to death again, would he? Only you could come up with the punishment of cutting off someone's scalp!"
"Your accent is closer to the Beijing accent, and it's more fluent than his." Xie Yanci easily peeled off the wig while speaking, "Oh... So you really are from Beijing."
The executioner's eyes widened!
This thief actually had a tattoo on his exposed scalp! The brightly etched Chinese character "Meng" was so eye-catching!
Among the famous families in the capital, the Prime Minister Meng’s family is the most prominent.
If this person is really connected to the Prime Minister's Mansion...
Xie Yanci gave a look and the imperial commander stuffed a rag into the thief's mouth.
"By the way, Your Majesty, over there is the murder weapon seized at the scene. Would you like to see it?"
They are all common swords, knives and copper hammers, nothing new.
The only thing that caught his attention was the gunpowder residue scattered into many pieces.
The commander went over and explained, "I searched for a long time near the place where the carriage exploded, and only found these items. The thieves had dug several pits underground in advance, waiting to ignite them when the emperor passed by. The person responsible was killed on the spot, so..."
Xie Yanci took out two broken pieces and pieced them together based on the cracks on the edges. He looked at them suspiciously and asked, "Do you recognize the local language of the Yanshi clan?"
"Let me take a look!" The commander came over, his face stiffening. "This, this..."
"Go ahead." "It's the word 'qu'." What a coincidence?
First, there was the assassin who was suspected to be related to the Prime Minister, and then there was the surname related to the imperial concubine's relatives!
Xie Yanci frowned and walked out of the prison. The heavy stones weighing on his heart seemed to have increased a few more.
He walked with heavy steps, and as he sat in the sedan chair, Eunuch Yang asked quietly beside him, "Your Majesty, do you plan to go directly back to the Hall of Eternal Life, or go to another palace?"
"Chengqian Palace."
During this time, he had focused all his attention on Sang Yuxuan, and Concubine Jin hadn't made any noise or trouble. Compared to before, she had indeed become much more "sensible".
He wanted to find an opportunity to make amends and tell her the difficult reasons behind his decision. However, when he saw those objects in the prison, his thoughts were completely crushed into dust and he disappeared.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects." Imperial Concubine Jin was enjoying the cool breeze in the courtyard. Upon seeing him, her complexion was noticeably better. "Is Xi Baolin feeling better now?"
"The imperial doctors have been diligently tending to his injuries, and they have fully recovered."
"Then I will feel relieved!"
Her sincere sighs and the subtle changes in her facial expression did not escape his eyes. There was no jealousy or regret.
It’s strange, is it because he is too into the role, or is he really unaware?
Xie Yanci stared at her silently, making her feel uncomfortable: "Your Majesty, why do you always stare at me? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, I was just thinking, she's just a little girl named Baolin, totally unattractive to the high-ranking concubines. How is her health recovering? Why does it affect your emotions?"
Imperial Concubine Jin was taken aback for a moment, then shyly explained, "So what if Baolin's rank is low? She's carrying the Emperor's child, so of course I care about her! Also...if Xi Baolin's injuries get better, the Emperor can spare some time to come to Chengqian Palace and spend time with me. Only then can I be completely at ease."
She still had her usual little girl demeanor, and there was no other unnecessary trace.
Xie Yanci collected his thoughts, put his arm around her waist and walked into the palace gate, reminding her gently as usual: "You will always have a high fever during the changing seasons. Don't stand in the draft for a long time just because you want to stay cool."
In the eyes of outsiders, he is still the emperor who favors his concubine.
The debut is so impressive that it draws people into the play.
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