Chapter 36: Not loving someone and marrying someone may not be contradictory...
The Ministry of Justice Prison.
The red-hot tongs suddenly pressed against the man's chest. A harsh sound and a smelly white smoke instantly rose up. The man made a beast-like howling sound in his throat and his body twitched violently.
"Thirteen years ago, the first group of monks arrived in Beijing, received by the Crown Prince's retainer, the Minister of Rites. Since then, a group of monks has arrived every year during the Lantern Festival. It was also after that that tribute began to disappear every year. And the Red Mansion was built precisely thirteen years ago. You're saying that the Red Mansion's shady auction items are identical to the lost tribute, yet they have nothing to do with each other?"
The man was hung on a cross with iron chains, his eyes were vacant and he did not respond.
Jiang Cichen stood expressionlessly beside the crucible. The red charcoal fire illuminated half of his face, and cold flames flickered in his deep eye sockets.
He slowly retracted the tongs, the hot metal tip still emitting smoke.
Instead of sitting back in the shadows as usual, he personally picked up a new pair of tongs and slowly inserted them into the burning coals.
The tongs soon became bright red and emitted a scorching heat.
Extremely slowly, with a cruel grace, she moved close to the man's fragile neck skin, close to the throbbing veins.
The man's body instinctively tensed up, and just when his skin was about to be burned, Jiang Cichen exerted force with his wrist, and a red mark was imprinted on the side of the man's neck.
“Ahhhh——!!!” The shrill howl that didn’t sound like a human voice instantly shattered the deathly silence of the dungeon.
Chen Beizhe stood aside. He had seen Jiang Cichen interrogating people, but this was the first time he saw him do it himself. He exuded a calm and almost cruel brutality.
"Three years ago, Gu Zhuohan took over the Red Mansion. It was no longer limited to privately auctioning tributes. Opening a casino was just a minor matter not worth mentioning." Jiang Cichen's eyes were sinister. "What he really did was smuggle weapons and firearms, privately raise soldiers, and collude with grain inspectors to withhold food and fodder for the front lines."
The man's dry, peeling lips moved, and he replied lamely, "Mr. Gu is kind and benevolent. My son was terminally ill, and he saved him. A man like him would never do such a thing!"
"Kind? Then why did he let you three stay in a brothel for ten years? For the sake of your false favor, he sent his wife into prostitution and worked tirelessly for ten years to gather intelligence for the Gu family. You already knew what Gu Zhuohan was up to, and yet you are still deceiving yourself."
The man roared with all his strength: "I didn't!" "Stubborn." Jiang Cichen spat out four words coldly, and threw the cooled tongs back into the charcoal fire.
Several ferocious jailers immediately stepped forward, roughly untied the man from the cross, and dragged him to the blood-soaked open space in the center of the torture chamber.
A bench covered with dark brown stains was thrown to the ground with a clang. The man was pinned to the bench, with his hands and feet tied backwards with rough hemp ropes.
A jailer pried open his jaw and shoved a piece of red-hot wood into his screaming mouth.
At this moment, Chen Nanyuan walked in quickly and reported in a low voice: "Sir, Master Shen is here."
A snow-white figure suddenly pierced through the filth and darkness of the dungeon like moonlight.
Shen Zhiyan's spotless white clothes formed a sharp contrast with the surrounding environment.
When his eyes swept over the man on the bench who was twisting and twitching in pain, with branded wood stuffed in his mouth and only able to whimper, there was not even a ripple in his cold eyes.
"How?" Shen Zhiyan's voice was clear and calm, as if asking about an insignificant matter.
Chen Beizhe replied, "The magistrate of Kantang County has confessed everything, signed and sealed. He admitted to having assisted in the smuggling operation at the behest of the Gu family for years, and confessed that the strange methods of crafting the golden statues were learned during his smuggling dealings with monks from the east. The secret ledgers and lists seized from the brothel corroborate the magistrate's confession. The complete chain of evidence, both witnesses and physical evidence, linking the smuggling of weapons and the withholding of rations to the Red Mansion is now complete."
At this point, the huge web of evil that has shrouded the capital for many years has been completely torn apart.
The confession of the man on the bench who was still struggling in vain was no longer important.
Shen Zhiyan nodded slightly and turned his gaze to Jiang Cichen: "When will the net be closed?"
Jiang Cichen said: “Of course we have to wait until Master Shen is married.”
Shen Zhiyan's eyes moved slightly, and he immediately heard the sarcasm in the other party's tone.
He calmly accepted the cup of tea offered by the jailer, took a sip, and then said slowly, "What does this have to do with whether I can get married or not?"
Jiang Cichen casually tossed the handkerchief he'd been using to wipe his hands into the burning crucible, watching it instantly consumed by the flames. His voice was icy, "If you send these things to the emperor now, the capital will be in turmoil, with bloodshed and gore everywhere. You and I will be caught in the middle of this vortex. By then, will your wedding still be able to take place as planned?"
"If you are forced to marry a woman you don't love, you won't care whether the marriage goes on as planned, including..." Shen Zhiyan paused, his face calm, his tone calm: "Whether it will take place."
Jiang Cichen said thoughtfully: "If you don't love Liu Shuyi, why did you marry her?"
Shen Zhiyan said calmly, "Not loving someone and marrying them are not necessarily contradictory. How many of the children of the aristocratic families in the capital can marry as they wish? Young Master Jiang should understand that people like us are destined from birth to have no say in our own marriage. Since His Majesty has granted me a marriage, then I will marry."
"This morning, the palace reported that His Majesty had vomited blood again. How much longer do you think the dragon body can hold out? The marriage between Shen Liu and His Majesty was merely a ploy to control the Crown Prince before His Majesty finally died."
Jiang Cichen said, "Checking and balancing the Crown Prince shows that His Majesty's view of the Crown Prince has changed."
Shen Zhiyan said, "Crown Prince Beiyeji is stubborn, self-righteous, mean and ungrateful. He is absolutely not a candidate for the emperor."
After listening to his words, Jiang Cichen did not comment on his thoughts, but only asked: "Master Shen seems to have a grudge against Bei Yeji."
"Just telling the truth."
The rumor of the change of ownership of the Eastern Palace was spreading among powerful officials. How could Beiye Ji, the owner of the Eastern Palace, not have heard of it?
Since he dared to join forces with the Gu family to privately raise troops, it meant that he had already prepared to fight to the death.
Jiang Cichen nodded calmly: "Then which prince did Master Shen choose?"
"My 'choice' has never been about choosing a suitable prince or a suitable heir. It's about how to find a glimmer of hope for the people of the world amidst the inevitable tsunami! In His Majesty's dying moments, only the crown prince he personally designated has a legitimate chance of standing up against the Gu family and the Crown Prince." Shen Zhiyan stared at Jiang Cichen and spoke clearly, "Anything else would be considered treason."
Jiang Cichen said, "The Crown Prince has a deep-rooted foundation, with loyal allies throughout the court. Coupled with the Gu family's unwavering support, changing the crown prince is no easy task. If Your Majesty truly wanted to change the crown prince, you wouldn't have waited until he was vomiting blood before revealing your intention to impose checks and balances. Perhaps even Your Majesty himself can't comprehend the struggles within himself."
Shen Zhiyan said, "Your Majesty needs a change, a change that can make the Crown Prince wary, distract the Gu family, and stir up a glimmer of life in this stagnant water."
Jiang Cichen raised his eyebrows: "Fortunately, there are you and me in the North."
Shen Zhiyan smiled and said, "Mr. Jiang's words are particularly stubborn and self-righteous."
Jiang Cichen borrowed his words and said, "I'm just telling the truth."
*
The Prime Minister's legitimate son, Shen Zhiyan, married the Grand Tutor's legitimate daughter, Liu Shuyi. On that day, the entire capital was ablaze with red wedding ceremonies.
As the auspicious time approaches, the streets are filled with the roar of gongs and drums and the deafening blast of firecrackers, and the wedding procession is like a dragon covered in red and decorated with colorful streamers.
The sedan chair landed and the curtain was lightly lifted.
Liu Shuyi walked out slowly with the help of the bridesmaid, with her veil lowered.
Shen Zhiyan turned over and got off the horse, taking Liu Shuyi's hand.
The hand was cold and trembling slightly.
Shen Zhiyan had a gentle smile on his lips, but when Luo Wan looked closely, she noticed that his eyes were cold.
The long corridor from the main gate to the main hall of the Shen Mansion was covered with a long scarlet felt carpet, with countless glazed lanterns hanging on both sides.
In the main hall, the emcee chanted in a high and long voice: "Bow to Heaven and Earth!"
Shen Zhiyan and Liu Shuyi slowly turned around, faced the blue sky outside the door, and bowed at the same time.
"Wanwan, look, look!" Pei Shaochuan couldn't hide his excitement and said to Luo Wan beside him in a low voice.
The news that both the Gu and Pei families proposed marriage to the Chi family at the same time spread like wildfire in the capital. In addition, Gu Sihan challenged Pei Shaochuan in public at the poetry and martial arts competition and was defeated, which created a story of "two young masters competing for their beloved".
Someone jokingly asked, "When do Master Pei and Miss Chi plan to get married?"
Pei Shaochuan was stunned and didn't know how to answer. After all, his original plan was to wait until Luo Wan made up her mind before proposing marriage. He never expected Gu Sihan to suddenly appear and disrupt his plan.
He subconsciously looked at Luo Wan, however, Luo Wan's gaze penetrated the noisy room and was firmly fixed on the crowd outside the hall.
She didn't hear what others said, including Pei Shaochuan calling her later.
She saw it!
Just at the edge of the shadowy crowd, there was a blue-purple figure.
It was still that handsome face, yet with a sense of alienation and weariness, and an inextricable melancholy locked between those deep, exotic brows.
He seemed to notice that she was looking at him. Through the crowd, the clamor, and the dazzling red, their eyes met briefly and silently in the void.
There was no surprise, only a heavy understanding.
Immediately, as if he was burned by that gaze, or perhaps he was planning to leave anyway, he quietly took a step back, turned around, and walked out of the gate of the Shen Mansion silently.
"Bow to your parents twice!" The master of ceremonies' high-pitched voice rang out again.
The sound of the music was still lingering, and everyone's eyes were focused on the newlyweds.
In a corner where no one cared, Luo Wan was suddenly pulled by an invisible thread and chased towards the door desperately.
The long street was still crowded with people, and the tail-end sound of the gongs still vibrated in the air.
Relying on her intuition and the fleeting memory she had just glimpsed, Luo Wan followed the direction where the man had disappeared. She followed for a few steps, stopped at a fork in the alley, and then walked back without looking back.
In front of the Shen Mansion, two stone lions had red silk as thick as their wrists wrapped around their necks.
Jiang Cichen was leaning leisurely against the stone lion when he noticed a slight noise and looked up: "Who were you looking for, Miss Chi?"
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Author's words: ●Preview of the next chapter wall-dong!!!!!!!!!
●More updates tomorrow*^O^*
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