Chapter 211 Xie Yin is the bloodline of the Lu family
"Don't worry, Lord Governor. I will be careful to help the prince hold on for a while longer."
Canglang put down the branding iron with a smile, then walked to the torture rack to select tools for torture. The rack was so densely packed with all kinds of things that it made people shudder at the sight of it.
Xiao Yan turned around and walked out. Seeing that he didn't even look back and had no intention of continuing to question, King Cheng was completely panicked. He could no longer maintain his belief that Xiao Yan was just trying to scare him.
Seeing Canglang holding a strange-looking hammer and waving it at his legs, he whispered, "Let's start from here..."
When the sharp weapon was raised high and smashed down towards his knee, King Cheng screamed with a pale face.
“Don’t use torture, I say!!”
…
Xiao Yan came back and sat back in his previous place.
Canglang took the paper and pen and placed them on the table beside him. Next to him was the sharp weapon that almost broke King Cheng's leg bone.
The previously open collar of Prince Cheng's clothes was pulled up, covering the mottled wounds on his chest left by the torture, but the bright red blood seeped through the clothes, and he was tied to the rack with a pale face.
"The Thunder Crossbow was orchestrated by Hou Rui, the Assistant Minister of War. Gong Jinghao, the Supervisor of the Armament Department, secretly built it for me. I gave them both a guarantee of 30,000 taels of silver each."
"In addition to this, each crossbow costs ten taels of gold as 'work', which is divided equally between the two of them, the craftsmen from the Armoury Department, and those who helped cover up the counterfeit amount."
Canglang wrote on the paper quickly.
Prince Cheng lowered his eyes and whispered, "That ladder originally belonged to the four battalions outside the capital. Hou Rui obtained it from a captain named Wang through connections. I hid it in my mansion not out of rebellion, but simply to be prepared for any eventuality."
"In case of what?" Xiao Yan asked calmly.
"Lord Xiao is so smart, can't he see the situation in the capital?"
Prince Cheng gave a bitter laugh and said, "Your Majesty is old, and the princes are fighting fiercely for the throne. Although I am a prince, Your Majesty is always on guard against me, so I have never had any real power in all these years."
"I also want to find someone to lean on ahead of time, so that I can use my merits as a follower of the emperor to secure a stable position after the new emperor ascends the throne. Moreover, I have experienced the succession struggle back then and witnessed the brutality of it firsthand. If I don't prepare some trump cards for myself in advance, how will I be able to protect myself if chaos breaks out in the capital in the future?"
What he said was reasonable, and the bitterness on his face was not false at all.
"I once had private contact with the Second Prince and felt he had the potential to be a wise ruler. I secretly introduced him to the Cui and Feng families, hoping to wait until he gained the support of the noble families before surrendering to him and thus gaining a better future. But who could have imagined that the Second Prince would choose you instead?"
"Do Cui Lin and the others know that you are the one who orchestrated this?"
"I don't know. The Second Prince himself doesn't know either..."
Xiao Yan listened to Prince Cheng's words and gently stroked the ring on his finger. He asked coldly, "I remember that Hou Rui was promoted to the position of Vice Minister within four years of joining the Ministry of War. Minister Xi Weifang is already old and will surely retire within three years. The position of Minister will most likely fall to Hou Rui once it becomes vacant. For a mere thirty thousand taels of silver, he's risking his future for you?"
Prince Cheng paused and said, "But it was indeed he who acted as a matchmaker between me and the Arms Department..."
“Bang—”
Xiao Yan's fingers landed on the back of the chair, making a soft sound. "Your Highness, you should know what I want to ask. You are a prince without any real power, and you don't have the ability to make Hou Rui work for you. If you don't tell the truth, then there is no need for me to talk to you."
Prince Cheng's face turned pale.
Xiao Yan continued, "The mineral deposits you hold came through the hands of the Lu family. Their ships, previously used in the Jiangnan Canal, also carried goods several times for a merchant in Beijing called Fucheng Cloth Shop."
"The iron used to make the Thunder Crossbow is a controlled substance by the imperial court. Every trace of it must be forged. Yet, the Armaments Department is able to produce so many crossbows for you. Where does the ore for refining the iron come from?"
"If I remember correctly, Prince Cheng's Mansion has a lot of assets. Although the owner of the Fucheng Cloth Shop is surnamed Yu, he is a relative of your housekeeper. That cloth shop is also your property."
"The Lu family is helping you transport the goods. You're not going to tell me that the ship is only carrying cloth, are you?"
Prince Cheng suddenly looked up, his eyes instantly flustered.
He didn't expect that Xiao Yan had investigated so deeply. Even Rong Yue didn't know about the cloth shop, and only the housekeeper was in charge of it over the years. It should never be known to others. Moreover, he even uncovered the fact that the Lu family was in charge of mineral resources.
King Cheng looked at Xiao Yan's cold eyes and said hoarsely, "That cloth shop is indeed mine, but my business dealings with the Lu family are just ordinary. I just used them to acquire the minerals..."
"Really? But Hou Rui was promoted by the Lu family to join the Ministry of War."
King Cheng's face changed drastically.
Xiao Yan leaned back and spoke coldly, "I'm very curious. Why would an official who the Lu family had so hard to place in a key position in one of the six ministries help you for no reason?"
"Furthermore, you even revealed your attempt to support the Second Prince in seizing the throne and your bribery of court officials. You didn't even try to hide it from the Cui and Feng families, but you didn't mention the Lu family at all. What exactly is going on between you and the Lu family?"
Prince Cheng's heart was instantly in turmoil, and he felt that Xiao Yan's eyes were so sharp that they seemed to be able to see through people. He suppressed his panic and said, "What could this prince and the Lu family be hiding? Lord Governor Xiao is overthinking it."
"Hou Rui did indeed accept the money and agreed to help me make connections. The mineral issue was simply my bribe to a Lu family steward."
"Lord Xiao has been fighting the Lu family for so long, it's impossible that he doesn't know about their clan's wealth. It's just two abandoned mines that are almost empty. The Lu family doesn't care about them at all. That's why I have the opportunity to get them."
"Besides, Governor Xiao is in charge of the Privy Council and the Black Armor Guards. You have eyes everywhere in the capital. You should know that I have never had any contact with the Lu family in all these years..."
Seeing Xiao Yan didn't say anything, he felt a little flustered, even uneasy and unable to maintain his expression, but he also knew that he must not reveal any flaws in front of him.
It’s a pity that he forgot who the person in front of him was.
The more Prince Cheng tried to distance himself from the Lu family, the more guilty he seemed. Even his face, which was forced to remain calm, seemed to be filled with an unconcealable panic.
Xiao Yan said indifferently, "Did you bring Xie Yin from the Lu family?"
King Cheng stared in horror.
"You tricked Princess Cheng into marrying you, but the people you really care about are in the Lu family?"
Prince Cheng's heartbeat almost stopped, and he couldn't hide his panic. Xiao Yan looked at him for a long while, and suddenly sneered.
"So Xie Yin isn't a random bastard you picked up, but your bloodline with the Lu family?"
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