"This humble official failed in his duties, and that woman managed to escape. I beg the Left Chancellor to punish me!" Liao, the Councilor, knelt nervously at the lower end, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
Mu Chengye was pruning a black pine tree, looking quite displeased: "A bunch of useless good-for-nothings, they can't even handle a little girl."
We raise an army for a thousand days, only to have no chance to use it!
Liao, the councilor, suddenly turned grim. He gritted his teeth and said, "It was...it was my carelessness. A Cheng Yaojin appeared out of nowhere, disrupting all our plans. This...this was truly unexpected. If I find out who that person is, I will absolutely not let him leave the capital alive!"
Mu Chengye threw the scissors on the table. The pure gold blade struck the jade tabletop with a heavy thud, startling Liao Canzheng so much that his shoulders trembled and he didn't dare to breathe.
"What's the use of being wise after the event! Saying this now is pointless. If we alert the enemy, we'll lose the initiative, which is a pity."
It will be difficult to catch Shangguan Tianyun going out alone again.
The sinister glint in his eyes made even the seasoned Liao, a seasoned political advisor, gasp. He lowered his body further, pleading anxiously, "Could you please give me another chance to atone for my crimes? Perhaps... we could interrogate that one in jail?"
He wasn't really sure about what he was saying.
This plan is truly a very poor strategy. Although the prison is tightly controlled by their people, such things become less effective once they are made public. We must be extra vigilant to avoid giving them any leverage.
The Left Chancellor was an extremely cautious person, and would only act as a last resort...
In the end, it was his carelessness that led him to send only four men, thinking that dealing with a defenseless girl was a sure thing. Who knew that a rascal would suddenly appear on the way!
Mu Chengye played with the two walnuts carved from pigeon blood rubies in his hand, pondered for a moment, and then said, "This is the only way for now. You should quickly send a capable person to handle this, lest things get complicated."
"Your humble servant obeys the decree!"
——
Qin Yuwei was undecided, hesitating whether she should go in and visit Shangguan Tianlin. After all, she had spent a lot of time on him, and if she gave up now, all her efforts would be in vain.
But how could Madam Liu possibly agree?
They originally looked down on him, only going to him because his hand warmer business was doing quite well. Now that business has fallen through, and Shangguan Ming's family is in the eye of the storm. Getting involved with them now will only cause trouble for them.
So she strictly forbade her daughter from having any further contact with Shangguan Tianlin, and she was thinking that she had to find a good new husband for her daughter as soon as possible!
Shangguan Tianlin's situation in prison was not good. Although he was not tortured, his living conditions were very simple. The thick clothes that Qin had sent him through her connections were intercepted halfway. Her purpose was to make him suffer more so that even the most stubborn person would have to give in!
In just a few days, he became emaciated and haggard.
Inside the prison, Shangguan Tianlin huddled in a ball, wrapped in straw, squatting in a corner. His eyes had lost their former sparkle, becoming somewhat hazy and dull.
Two constables unlocked his chains and brought him out.
Shangguan Tianlin's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "Are you two going to let me out? I've really had enough of living like this, barely clothed!"
The constable, however, had a hostile expression and rebuked him, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"
The two men led him to an even smaller cell, to a wooden cross post, and roughly tied his hands to the sides of the post. At this point, even the slow-witted Shangguan Tianlin could tell something was wrong. "You're trying to torture me to extract a confession?!"
He struggled to get up, but it was all in vain.
He was a pampered young master, with delicate skin and tender flesh; he had never suffered such torment before. The rough hemp rope was tightly bound around his wrists, and with the slightest struggle, traces of blood seeped out.
The place was gloomy and dark, filled with bizarre instruments of torture. The heavy, pungent smell of blood filled the air and made people want to vomit. From next door, screams of agony echoed in the air, clearly indicating inhuman torture, which sent chills down one's spine!
The yamen runner brought a chair and placed it in front of him. He looked up and saw a short man dressed in black sit down on the chair. The man looked him up and down with his murky, sinister eyes.
The short man spoke, his rough voice unpleasant to hear: "Can you see the mercury over there? If you unscrew the top of your head and pour it in, do you know what will happen?" As he spoke, he pointed to the side, where two sealed jars contained cinnabar, and the bottom of the jars was being heated by a low flame.
"Let me tell you what will happen." The short man chuckled twice, his voice filled with malice, "Once the mercury flows from under your skin all over your body, and once the skin and flesh are completely peeled off, corroding your body completely, you will become nothing more than a dead man's skin."
"..."
The sound was like fingernails scraping against rough plasterboard, making Shangguan Tianlin feel uncomfortable all over. He shuddered and fell silent for a moment.
——
Noon, Qianqing Palace.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Observatory has been waiting outside for a long time. Shall we summon them?" Chief Eunuch Wang Yu swept his whisk, opened his eyelids halfway, and stole a glance at the Emperor's expression.
The emperor beckoned, and Wang Yu bowed even lower before stepping out to announce, "Lord Yang, His Majesty summons you in."
"Long live the Emperor!" The Imperial Astronomical Bureau official knelt and paid his respects. "Your subject has important matters to report!"
"Speak," the emperor said, holding his vermilion edict without even raising his head.
“Last night, I observed the celestial phenomena and saw that the Mingtang star was dim and without light, its faint glow obscured, a sign of great misfortune. Correspondingly, the Tianxin star, which marks the southern prince's sleeping quarters, is moving westward, indicating that his fate has already changed. Furthermore, the Venerable Hongyi of Wanfo Temple recently said that the eternal lamp enshrining the second prince in the temple went out without reason, which is also an ominous sign!”
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