Chapter 24: Beauty Trap 2 "Poisoned? I didn't poison him. ...
The heavy rain that had been falling for many days finally stopped today. The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, revealing some sunshine. The cheers of the people in the city passed through the high courtyard walls and reached the governor's office, which was on the verge of a tense situation.
Zhu Song opened the door from the inside. His red eyes showed that he had not slept all night, and his clothes were wrinkled as if he had been treated as a toy for ten years. If you looked closely, you could even find that his steps were a little unsteady.
Zhu Lingye was very worried when he saw that he was in such a bad state. He asked repeatedly, "Brother, how are you?"
Yi Kangning laughed heartily, "I wish you a happy marriage! It's truly a cause for celebration, but also a pity!"
Zhu Lingye turned his head and looked at Yi Kangning, "You're talking nonsense. Don't blame me for being rude."
Yi Kangning remained calm, "We'll know if I'm talking nonsense once we get in."
Zhu Lingye saw that Yi Kangning was so confident, and Zhu Song's condition was indeed very strange. He even saw the scratches hidden under Zhu Song's collar, which was definitely not something he could have made.
Zhu Song looked at Yi Kangning coldly and gave an expressionless order, "Jizhou Governor Yi Kangning has committed the unforgivable crime of attempting to murder the imperial envoy. He must be thrown into prison and placed under strict guard. No one is allowed to contact him."
The smile on Yi Kangning's face instantly disappeared. He frowned and stared at Zhu Song fiercely, "Master Zhu, are you sure you want to arrest me?"
Zhu Song glanced at Zhu Lingye. "What are you still standing there for? Didn't you hear what I said?"
Zhu Lingye stepped forward and grabbed Yi Kangning. Yi Kangning kept struggling and said to Zhu Song with a sullen face, "Master Zhu, the people in your room haven't given an explanation yet. Could it be that Master Zhu dared to kill people to silence them?"
Zhu Song said, "I will give you the explanation you want. Now stay in jail."
Yi Kangning was unwilling to go, and shouted towards the house: "Feng Li, come out, Feng Li, come out."
"Shut up!" Zhu Lingye rudely stuffed the handkerchief into Yi Kangning's mouth, and took him to the jail while Yi Kangning was mumbling and cursing.
Zhu Song scowled at the officers present and said sternly, "I have been personally appointed by the Emperor and bestowed with the Imperial Sword. I have been ordered to come to Jizhou to investigate important cases and take overall charge of Jizhou. If anyone opposes me, I will show no mercy. Do you understand?"
The officers' hearts were pounding like thunder, fear flashed in their eyes, and they shouted back, "I heard it clearly."
Zhu Song asked again: "What did you hear last night?"
The officers paused for a moment, then asked in unison, "Your Excellency, we didn't hear anything last night."
Zhu Song's brows furrowed even tighter, his expression becoming more serious. "This is ridiculous! If anyone doesn't tell the truth again, I will punish him and purge the Jizhou bureaucracy."
The officers were so frightened that they broke out in cold sweats and didn't even dare to look at anyone else. For a moment, no one dared to speak. Zhu Song didn't have time to waste with them. "Speak. If you don't speak, you will be punished."
The officers then stammered, "Yes... we heard some strange noises, like..." "Like someone crying..." "Like begging for mercy..." "The noises were intermittent and not very clear."
Zhu Song was furious. Yi Kangning, that idiot, had torn his face off and stomped on it. If he didn't explain this matter clearly today, he and Wen Fengxuan would have no chance of staying in the officialdom. "Did Yi Kangning ask you to come?"
This time the officers answered readily, "Yes."
Zhu Song asked again: "What else did he say to you?"
The officers all shook their heads. "They just told us to come and guard it. They didn't say anything else."
Zhu Song said coldly, "They're guarding me because they're afraid I'll run away. I'm an upright official, but that doesn't mean I'm a pushover. No one is allowed to retreat. Keep guarding me. I want to see how he plans to manipulate me."
The officers originally thought that Zhu Song was cheating, but now seeing him being so frank, they began to doubt their own judgment.
Zhu Lingye came back soon, "Brother, I have put Yi Kangning in jail."
Zhu Song said, "The rain has stopped. Let Ling Wang go find Lord Zhang and ask if it will rain again. If it doesn't, start arranging for the disaster victims to return home."
Zhu Lingye nodded, but he had one thing in mind: "How can I arrange to go back home without money?"
The victims' houses were washed away and their fields were flooded. Letting them go empty-handed was like pointing at a cliff and asking them to jump off.
Zhu Song said, "Then we have to make Yi Kangning spit out all the disaster relief funds he swallowed."
Zhu Song did not lower his voice nor did he speak from behind. The officers present heard it clearly and could not hide the shock on their faces.
"I'm going to interrogate him. His Highness performed a play with me last night and is currently resting. Please have the kitchen prepare food."
Zhu Lingye was very confused, "Your Highness? Which Highness is coming?"
Zhu Song rolled his eyes at him, and Zhu Lingye understood his intention and asked a different question, "Why would His Highness act with you?"
Zhu Song didn't answer but asked, "Why else?"
Zhu Lingye pretended to understand something and said loudly, "Disaster relief funds."
"Keep your voice down," Zhu Song pretended to stop him. "Be careful, there are ears on the other side of the wall. I'm going to interrogate Yi Kangning."
Zhu Lingye said, "I'll go with you."
Zhu Song rejected him, "No need, go and do your thing."
"yes."
Zhu Song and Zhu Lingye went their separate ways. Before going to the prison, Zhu Song went to the kitchen and ate ten buns and drank two large bowls of porridge. He took a long time to relax before going to the prison.
Yi Kangning is the only one in the prison of the governor's office now. It's not that there are no criminals in Jizhou, but that disaster relief urgently needs manpower, so Yi Kangning had arranged all the prisoners in the prison to go to disaster relief.
Zhu Song got the key from the officer and walked in alone. Zhu Lingye locked Yi Kangning in the last cell. Zhu Song walked over slowly step by step, but his footsteps were very loud.
Yi Kangning stuck his head out to see what was happening when he heard the voice. Seeing Zhu Song's calmness, he felt a little uneasy. He should not have let Feng Li go. Feng Li was not someone he knew well after all, so he was careless.
Yi Kangning decided to strike first. "Master Zhu, what do you mean by this? You don't have the right to detain a high-ranking official for no reason, even if you have the Imperial Sword."
Zhu Song's most urgent task now was to obtain the antidote, so he didn't act too harshly, and even softened his expression, "Lord Yi didn't even check the situation before he was trying to trip me up."
Hearing him say this, Yi Kangning was certain that Feng Li had betrayed him, so he also changed his smile and said, "Master Zhu, you have misunderstood. I just saw that you were working day and night, so I wanted to find some fun to relieve your boredom. I really don't have any bad intentions."
Zhu Song looked at him and gave him a typical smile. "I originally thought so too. Logically speaking, I am a Beijing official, and Lord Yi is a local official. If it weren't for this disaster, we wouldn't have had anything to do with each other."
"That's right." Although Yi Kangning wasn't sure what Zhu Song meant, he still liked what he heard, so he nodded hurriedly. "I don't need to embarrass Lord Zhu. I'm old now. Even if His Majesty really transfers me to the capital, I can't compete with Lord Zhu for a position."
Zhu Song's smile deepened. "That's right. The sky has cleared up, and I can't stay in Jizhou for a few more days. I originally planned to tie up the mess with Master Yi and put an end to this matter, but Master Yi doesn't seem to think so."
Yi Kangning quickly said, "That's what I think, Master Zhu, I'm definitely willing to cooperate with you."
Zhu Song said, "Since Lord Yi is so cooperative, I will tell you the truth. Although I didn't touch the person Lord Yi sent last night, I strongly disagree with Lord Yi poisoning him. Lord Yi, give me the antidote, and we will be over this matter and continue to be colleagues in the future."
Yi Kangning was confused. "Poisoned? I didn't poison him."
The smile on Zhu Song's face disappeared, and he stared at him straightly, "It seems that Master Yi is still not cooperating."
"No, I will definitely cooperate, but I really didn't poison him. I really didn't poison him." Yi Kangning was so anxious that his face turned red, and he kept making excuses.
Zhu Song's expression turned icy, "If you didn't poison him, would he be at your mercy?"
Yi Kangning was so anxious that his nose and eyes were squeezed together. "I said that after the success, I would guarantee him a luxurious life. He agreed very readily. I didn't even need to poison him."
Zhu Song snorted coldly, "Master Yi, you can only fool children with these words. You really treat me as a fool."
Yi Kangning looked so anxious that he almost collapsed, and he kept saying, "I really didn't poison him, Master Zhu. The situation was so urgent last night, where could I find poison for him?"
Zhu Song stepped forward. He was taller than Yi Kangning, with sharp eyebrows and eyes, and sharp features. He looked very majestic when he was not smiling. His voice was particularly gloomy because of his anger. "Are you really unwilling to take out the antidote?"
Yi Kangning said the same thing again, "I didn't poison him, so where can I find the antidote? Master Zhu, who told you that I poisoned him?"
Zhu Song narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Do you think His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would lie?"
Yi Kangning had a gloomy face, but his eyes widened instantly when he heard Zhu Song's words, "Your Highness the Crown Prince?"
As soon as he said this, he realized what he had always felt was wrong. With such a face, if he were just an ordinary person, he would have been tortured to pieces long ago.
Zhu Song said coldly, "Has Lord Yi never investigated his background in all this time?"
Yi Kangning took a few steps back, bewildered. "This... I saw him hanging out with the disaster victims and thought he was some poor young man from a poor family. How could he be the Crown Prince?"
Zhu Song said, "Master Yi, there's no need to be so frightened. I have a little friendship with His Highness, and He is a kind and low-key person. As long as you give me the antidote, we can put this matter behind us."
Yi Kangning fell into the chair, raised his head and looked at him helplessly, shaking his head: "No, I really don't."
Zhu Song looked at him with colder eyes. "Since Lord Yi won't take any soft words, I'll have to resort to force. Lord Yi may not have heard of the Dali Temple's abilities. Our torture instruments are most likely new, because the prisoners will become weak just by looking at them and confess everything. Lord Yi is still in his prime, but I wonder how many more tortures he can endure."
Yi Kangning stared at him with a pale face, and the only thing he kept saying was, "I really didn't poison you."
Zhu Song was so angry that he stormed out.
"Punishment."
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