Chapter 253: All is fair in war
Cheng Maoming raised his eyebrows, looking furious: "You bastard, are you kidding us?"
The man raised his eyelids but said nothing.
Cheng Maoming grabbed his collar, pulling at his wound. The pain made his face wrinkle instantly. "The emperor gave Yang Zhe poisoned wine and asked him to prove his innocence. Yang Zhe drank it without hesitation. I think he is innocent. Did you, a bastard, frame him?"
The angry questioning made Minister Shen move his ears. He thought to himself that General Cheng was quite good at acting. He never expected that.
"Yang Zhe was given poisoned wine?" The man confirmed with a flicker in his eyes.
Cheng Maoming responded with a cold snort.
"Hahahaha——" After a brief silence, laughter suddenly rang out.
The laughter grew louder and louder, echoing in the dim and eerie interrogation room, as if a ghost had torn off its disguise.
"What are you laughing at?" Cheng Maoming looked surprised.
The man's eyes widened slightly, filled with an unbridled smile: "I killed your prince and even dragged your Wenquxing along on the road to the underworld. This is not a loss."
Cheng Maoming's expression suddenly changed: "What do you mean?"
"Hehehe." The man smiled and did not answer.
Cheng Maoming seemed to react: "Are you really slandering Yang Xiuzhuan?"
The man said in a contemptuous tone: "So what?"
Cheng Maoming took a step forward and stared at him closely: "You are not from Qi!"
The man's lips curled slightly, which was considered as his agreement.
"Then who are you?" Cheng Maoming said in a tense tone, "Yu Liu? No, if Yu Liu could do this, then there wouldn't be so much effort in reporting the death of Princess Yu Liu—"
He paused, his eyes hooked: "You are a remnant of the previous dynasty!"
Upon hearing this, the man broke his silence and became excited. "Remnants of the previous dynasty? Aren't you officials of the previous dynasty? You all know exactly how Emperor Tai'an inherited the throne. Don't you feel guilty calling me a remnant of the previous dynasty?"
Minister Shen looked a little embarrassed.
Of course, considering his age, he had experienced Emperor Pingle, and even the relationship between the emperor and his subjects was not bad.
Cheng Maoming sneered, "Guilty? How funny! If that person were still in power, the Great Zhou wouldn't even exist, and we'd all have to change our surnames to Qi. So why should I feel guilty about that?"
"You're talking nonsense!"
Cheng Maoming reached out and grasped the man's chin, his expression fierce: "Since Yang Xiuzhuan was slandered, how did you seize the opportunity so well?"
It seemed as if he was extremely pleased to have Yang Zhe take the blame for him. The man looked smug, "Seizing the opportunity? No, no, that's called waiting for it. For people like us, all opportunities are waiting for, and we can afford to wait."
The man's goal was achieved, and he felt like confiding, "Yang Zhe is the one your Crown Prince values the most. If you keep a close eye on him, it's only a matter of time before someone else gets close to the Crown Prince. As long as I can drink at the same table with the Crown Prince, the rest will be easy."
"But how can you be sure that Yang Zhe will go to the toilet?" Minister Shen couldn't help asking.
This is also the point that they are most suspicious of Yang Zhe.
If Yang Zhe had not gone to the purification room that day and given this man the opportunity to take advantage of, nothing would have happened to the prince.
"I'm not sure." The man curled his lips. "Like I said, I just have to wait. Even if Yang Zhe doesn't go to the ablution room this time, there will be another time. Just like the many times I waited in vain before, there will always be a time when his brief absence will provide me with an opportunity to get close to the Crown Prince. All I have to do is seize this opportunity decisively and succeed in one fell swoop."
At this point, the man's smug look turned to regret. "It's a pity that it was still a little short. I thought I could pin the blame on Yang Zhe and leave him speechless, but I didn't expect he still noticed my presence..."
"Since you're not Yang Zhe, where did you get the mask?"
The man pursed his lips and said nothing.
"You won't tell me?" Cheng Maoming's eyes were filled with anger, and his voice rose. "Continue to torture him. This time, let him try something new!"
Soon, heart-wrenching screams were heard, which lasted for a long time.
Minister Shen looked coldly at the man who had turned into a bloody corpse and was almost lifeless. He pulled Cheng Maoming aside and said, "General Cheng, I think if you continue to torture him, he will not be able to bear it."
"If you can't bear it, then don't bear it. It will save you from wasting food." Cheng Maoming said this with a look of annoyance.
He just couldn't believe that these remnants of the previous dynasty were so stubborn.
"If he dies from the torture, won't we be able to find out who is behind him, the disguise master, and the remnants who are hiding their identities and waiting for an opportunity to strike?"
Cheng Maoming gritted his teeth and said, "Don't be afraid. If one of them dies, there's always a replacement."
This refers to Chen Mu who was imprisoned in the Jinlinwei prison.
Perhaps it was these words that drifted into the man's ears, making him realize that he had no chance of resisting. When the branding iron fell on his body again, tearing off a piece of flesh, he finally couldn't hold on any longer: "I... I said..."
The torturer immediately stopped and waited for Cheng Maoming's instructions.
Cheng Maoming approached the man and sighed, "Why suffer so much if you had known better earlier? I know you think it's no use confessing anyway. But why would it be no use? Isn't a comfortable death a hundred times better than a tormented one?"
The man moved the corners of his mouth, and he almost had no strength to speak.
When he was subjected to torture that he could not endure to the end, he realized that he was not as determined as he thought.
It hurts so much, it really hurts so much.
Just as this person said, even if it was just a direct knife attack, it would be an immense happiness for him at that moment.
"That guy... everyone calls him Mr. Fox... No one knows what he really looks like. The last time I met him, he was a man in his thirties..."
After hearing this, Cheng Maoming and Minister Shen looked at each other in surprise.
It sounds very specific, but I still don’t know what it looks like!
What's the point of talking about height, weight, square or round faces? There are so many people who fit this description.
In fact, in the past, many images of criminals posted on wanted notices were drawn based on what people heard. As for whether the person could be found based on the portrait, only God knows.
But after receiving help from Prince Jing several times, Cheng Maoming knew too well the convenience of knowing the suspect's exact appearance.
By the way, Prince Jing!
Cheng Maoming slapped his forehead and quickly went to invite some people in person, including Lin Hao.
Facing Minister Shen's surprised eyes, Cheng Maoming could only respond with a faint smile.
When he went to invite people, Prince Jing was hanging out with Miss Lin Er. What else could he do? He could only invite them back together.
Minister Shen still looked at him with puzzled eyes.
Cheng Maoming put his hand to his lips and coughed, then said in a very low voice, "You'll get used to it."
Minister Shen was even more confused.
What are you used to? I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but General Cheng always seems a little abnormal when he meets Prince Jing.
"Thank you for your hard work, Prince." After the man described Mr. Fox's appearance again, Cheng Maoming bowed to Qi Shuo.
Most of the long time he spent at home pretending to be sick was spent practicing martial arts, reading and painting. The pen in the young man's hand was like a flower, and he quickly sketched out a man.
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