Sang Hong was furious: "Do you know that falsely accusing a prince is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family!"
Tao Hong sighed: "Look, you're so scared just from hearing the name, so why bother asking me to confess?"
Sang Hong's face turned pale and then flushed, as if he was deep in thought.
Pei You and Zu An exchanged a glance, and then their anger vanished, leaving the room in an eerie silence.
Only Zu An remained calm and asked in a deep voice, "Did the King of Qi send you personally, or were you sent by one of his men?"
Tao Hong replied, "King Qi is such a person, how could he personally handle such a matter? It must have been arranged by his subordinates."
"Then how do you know it's not someone impersonating the King of Qi?" Zu An said in a deep voice.
Tao Hong snorted: "How could we spies not know who we are loyal to?"
"If that's the case, why did you betray us so quickly?" Zuan said calmly. Although the Embroidered-Robed Envoy was skilled in interrogation, as a secret agent, she confessed far too quickly.
Tao Hong said resentfully, "Do you know why I was captured by Yun Jian Yue?"
Without waiting for Zu An's reply, she continued, "Because after I completed my mission here, I was silenced by assassins under King Qi's command. Fortunately, I was prepared in advance and managed to escape, but by sheer coincidence, I ran into Yun Jianyue and was captured by him."
The group exchanged glances, all secretly admiring the woman's intelligence.
At this moment, Pei You spoke up: "When I saw you at Biyufang last time, was the deep affection you showed for Chenzhou real or fake?"
Tao Hong sneered, "Now that things have come to this, what difference does it make whether it's true or false?"
Pei You's voice was deep: "Of course there's a difference."
Seeing the intense gaze in the other person's eyes, Tao Hong fell silent for a long time before finally saying, "I was trained as a spy from a young age, and everything I experienced was cruel and cold. Even my superiors' occasional attempts to be friendly were just a means of controlling their subordinates. Only Chen Zhou gave me sincerity and warmth. Although he is clumsy and dull, I have indeed fallen in love with him."
Zuan said calmly, "It's a pity you still killed him."
Tao Hong smiled sadly: "That's right, I did kill him. When I reported his discovery to my superiors, I knew what fate awaited him. Unfortunately, I didn't understand my own heart at that time, and I was also afraid of betraying the organization and being retaliated against, so I didn't think too much about it."
"It wasn't until I learned of his death that I realized I was wrong, and it was too late for regrets."
"But afterwards you continued to work for King Qi as if nothing had happened, and even used the sinking of the boat to mislead our investigation," Zu An said in a deep voice.
Tao Hong lowered her head and said, "What can I do? My life and death are in the hands of others. Can I say no? How could you high and mighty people know the sorrow of us little people?"
Zuan remained silent, knowing that what the other party said was true.
This woman likely had feelings for Chen Zhou, but unfortunately lacked the courage to rebel against King Qi, which is why she lived in a state of inner turmoil and pain.
"Did you alter the Zhenyuan Chamber of Commerce's ledgers?" Sang Hong asked. He was old and had seen it all; his heart was hardened by experience. He didn't care about the love affairs of these young people; he only cared about the most crucial issue.
Tao Hong nodded and said, "I wasn't involved. Someone disguised themselves and took out the real ledger, then replaced it with a new one. I don't know what exactly was changed."
"Who is the person you contacted? How can I find him?" Sang Hong asked.
"Manager Ma of Ping'an Pharmacy in the west of the city. Because many girls in Biyufang often need to see a doctor, he can come and go frequently without arousing suspicion," Tao Hong replied.
Sang Hong quickly gave Xiao Jianren a wink, and Xiao Jianren understood and hurriedly left with his men to arrest the person.
"Do you have any other evidence?" Sang Hong continued to press.
Tao Hong shook her head: "Those of us in this line of work are all wary of each other, so how could we possibly leave any evidence behind?"
Sang Hong frowned and continued the interrogation, but unfortunately, he didn't get any more useful clues.
So he left Pei You to continue the interrogation, while he moved Zu An to a secret room to discuss the matter.
"Are we going to suppress it this time too?" Zuan asked curiously.
Sang Hong shook his head: "Prince Yan was not the Emperor's target before. If we had forced them to rebel, the Emperor would have blamed us. But Prince Qi is the one the Emperor wants to deal with, so we don't have those concerns."
"It's a pity there are only witnesses, not physical evidence," Zu'an said worriedly. After all, King Qi is second only to the emperor, and it would be too difficult to deal with him based solely on Tao Hong's testimony.
Sang Hong also sighed: "That's right, now it depends on whether Lord Xiao can make any progress, but I'm not optimistic."
Zuan agreed with this assessment. A cunning old fox like King Qi would not leave such an obvious flaw after Tao Hong escaped.
At the same time, he was also somewhat hesitant. He had previously communicated with Prince Qi in the capital and they had even made a "covenant." Although both sides knew that this thing was unreliable, Zu'an did need Prince Qi's help to deal with the emperor. Ideally, both sides would be severely injured. If Prince Qi was directly killed, it would not be in his interest.
Not long after, Xiao Jianren returned. The reason he returned so quickly was that Ping An Pharmacy had long been deserted, with only a few completely unaware employees remaining.
"Just as I thought." Sang Hong smiled wryly, then hesitated whether or not to hand over Tao Hong.
Although he had no vested interests with the Prince of Qi, he was considering something else entirely. This charge was no ordinary crime, and once it was brought to light, there was no solid evidence, which led to the Prince of Qi escaping unscathed. Given the Emperor's cold-hearted nature, he might very well push the Sang family out as scapegoats.
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