On New Year's Eve, Zhao Yiming, who was far away in Meixian County, was still interrogating the people he had captured from Yingchun Tower in the county jail.
One of the madam's arms was chopped off by Ji Feng. Zhao Yiming only asked the imperial doctors to stop the bleeding and bandage her arm. The broken arm was wrapped in gauze, and the slightest movement would cause her excruciating pain.
At this time, her hair was disheveled, wet with sweat and blood, and strands of it stuck to her face. The snow-white powder she had applied on her face had mostly fallen off, and the remaining clumps were stuck to her face, revealing her originally spotted dark yellow skin underneath. The gaudy perfume on her body was replaced by the damp and fishy smell of the prison.
If they didn't know that this person was locked up by them personally, who would have been able to tell that this dirty woman in front of them was the once glorious madam of Yingchunlou.
"Aren't you going to tell me yet? If you don't tell me now, when you arrive at the Ministry of Justice and fall into the hands of those professional torturers, they won't be as easy to talk to as I am." Zhao Yiming said coldly, looking at the madam who lowered her head and said nothing.
These days, they have released many unrelated people after searching everywhere.
Brother Hu and others were caught on the spot for drugging the brothel owner, and the madam escaped in public. Their guilt has been confirmed, and they are not innocent no matter what.
Zhao Yiming had already made up his mind. He would only interrogate the woman for one more day at most. Regardless of whether the madam confessed or not, he would set off back to Beijing.
Now the people of Meixian have recovered. Zhao Yiming asked the county magistrate to open the city gates, and the matter here has come to an end.
His mission would be completed as long as he handed the person over to the Ministry of Justice.
Seeing that the madam still didn't say anything, Zhao Yiming stood up and left without saying a word, "Jingyu, get ready. We'll leave for Beijing tomorrow."
Seeing that Zhao Yiming had really left, the madam became anxious, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything."
Zhao Yiming paused for a moment, asked Jingyu to record the charges for her personally, asked her to sign and seal it, and then left.
Coming out of the interrogation room and passing the prison where the prisoners were being held, a charming and seductive voice, speaking in a pretentious and winding manner, stopped him and said, "Sir, I have done nothing wrong. How long will I be imprisoned in this prison?"
Zhao Yiming stopped and turned around to see a woman with a little dust on her face and messy hair. She was holding the iron bars of the cell with her hands and looking at him pitifully.
Those eyes were moist and when they looked at people, they were naturally pitiful and made people want to protect her. If it were an ordinary man, he would probably hug her in his arms immediately to comfort and cherish her.
Unfortunately, Zhao Yiming remained indifferent and cold from beginning to end. "Whether you have committed a crime or not is not up to you to decide. The government will investigate and release you."
"But I'm really cold here! There are so many rats and bugs. My body is covered in red bites. If you don't believe me, just look at me."
As she spoke, she raised her hand slightly, and the outer garment that was hanging loosely on her body fell down. She was left with only a small bellyband and panties. A large area of snow-white skin was exposed in front of everyone, which was full of seduction and temptation.
Zhao Yiming turned around and looked away quickly as if he had seen something dirty.
The secret guards following behind him also quickly turned their faces away, "How shameless."
Zhao Yiming was so angry that he was about to leave, but he stopped after a few steps. Just when Hong Mudan, the courtesan in Yingchun Tower, thought she had succeeded, she heard Zhao Yiming's cold voice coming from the front.
"Since this girl finds the cell too hot, she doesn't need to put the clothes back on.
"Where are the yamen runners? Take her clothes and let her cool down and clear her head."
Red Mudan was filled with regret. How could she survive without her fox fur coat in this cold winter? She was afraid it would kill her overnight.
However, she did not spend a whole night in jail wearing her bellyband, because the brothel owner soon gave her away.
"All the news in Yingchun Tower is passed on through Hong Mudan. The orders and poisons given by the higher-ups are all given to her by informants, and she then notifies us.
On the surface, I'm the madam, but in reality, she's the one who calls the shots in Chunxianglou."
Jingyu was also a little surprised after hearing this. "Hong Mudan is not that old, how can she have such a high say in Chunxianglou? Don't make random accusations just to get away with it!"
Seeing Jingyu didn't believe it, the madam hurriedly said, "It's true. Although Hong Mudan is young, she has a lot of experience!
I heard that she was trained by her superiors since she was young, and started working for her master when she was fifteen or sixteen years old.
Later, after she came to our Yingchun Tower, she was ordered to build up her momentum, and she became the top performer in Yingchun Tower overnight.
The guests she received were all selected by her and had to agree to enter her room. Although I was the madam, I could not control her. Moreover, she never allowed any servants to serve her when she received guests, so no one ever knew what she did or said with the guests in the room.
Her requirements for guests have always been high and low. As long as they can respond to the poems she wrote, no matter what their status is, they can become her guest.
Some of these people were wealthy businessmen, some were poor scholars, some were local officials, and there were even farmers and street urchins who came from nowhere. It could be said that people from all walks of life were gathered together.
Because of this, several girls in the building were still talking about her behind her back, just like those rich people collecting specimens, and they were afraid that they would not even let beggars go in the future.
Later, Hong Mudan found out about this and had the girls slapped in public. As a result, she actually brought a beggar back the next day. However, with the previous lesson, no one dared to say anything behind her back this time.
As the madam spoke more, Jingyu's original belief, which was only three-quarters, now reached six-quarters.
What if those guests from all walks of life were informants disguised as various identities? And the so-called poetry was actually just their code words, and they relied on this method to confirm whether the other party was their own and thus pass on information to each other.
After all, the more mixed a place like a brothel is, the more opportunities there are to fish in troubled waters. Using poetry as a code can better conceal the identities of these people, making it less likely to attract attention when doing these things.
Jingyu asked the recorder to prepare new paper and said to the madam, "What poems has Hong Mudan ever written? Don't miss a single one. Write them all down."
The madam was stunned, immediately holding the broken arm and shaking her head, "Sir, you are making things difficult for me. Although I know a few words, I know nothing about poetry. How can I remember it?"
However, before Jingyu could question her, she turned around and sold out another girl in Yingchun Tower, "Dujuan, you can go find Dujuan. She claims to be a talented woman and loves to write poetry. She must have remembered those poems."
Jingyu waved his hand, and immediately a secret guard came with pen and paper to interrogate Dujuan.
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