Wang Huaizhi was so frightened that he turned pale. When the officers carried him out of the oil tank, he struggled desperately and kept making humming sounds. He thought that killing someone was not enough, and burning him like a candle was too horrifying. He was hung upside down and tied to a wooden pole. When he saw Lu Jin bringing a candle over, Wang Huaizhi was so frightened that his lower body got wet and he wanted to faint, but he was extremely conscious.
Lu Jin smelled the urine smell and sneered. He took off a lampshade, held the burning candlestick and walked to Wang Huaizhi, squatted down, and reached out to pull the sackcloth out of Wang Huaizhi's mouth. "Is that all your courage?"
As soon as the sackcloth left his mouth, Wang Huaizhi hurriedly said, "I confess. I confess everything."
Lu Jin waved the candle in front of his eyes. Feeling the burning temperature, Wang Huaizhi was so frightened that he said in a panic, "I have the account book in my hand. I have been the one who has been making false accounts for the Imperial Household Department all these years! I also know that Zhou Li and Ji Wudao have been secretly colluding to secretly sell war horses to Tatar!"
Lu Jin's face changed slightly. Zhou Li actually colluded with Ji Wudao to sell war horses to the Tatars? This was a capital crime of treason. Realizing that the matter was of great importance, Lu Jin hurriedly called an officer and whispered in his ear, "Go and ask Lord Yu to come over."
The people in the Dali Temple now follow Yu Qizhe's lead. After hearing Lu Jin's instructions, they hurried to invite Yu Qizhe.
"Tell me everything you know without missing a word." Lu Jin shook the candlestick in his hand and said to Wang Huaizhi sternly, "If you dare to miss a single word, I will let you have a taste of the sky lantern!"
Wang Huaizhi was disheartened. He was still hung upside down and tied to a wooden pole. His head was swollen and his face was red. He honestly poured out all the secrets of the Taipu Temple over the years.
When Yu Qizhe came over, Wang Huaizhi had already confessed everything he knew, except for the whereabouts of the account book he secretly kept. This was his life-saving device, and he wanted to use it to negotiate with Yu Qizhe and let him spare his life. After all, he was not the mastermind, but just an individual who helped Zhou Li to cook the books. The money he embezzled was just a drop in the bucket compared to Zhou Li and others.
Yu Qizhe read the charges and asked Wang Huaizhi to sign on them. He did not mention a word about the so-called account book. He only ordered someone to take Wang Huaizhi back to the cell for guarding, and then asked Lu Jin to take the Jinyiwei to Zhou's house to arrest him.
The gate of Zhou's house was closed. A quarter of an hour ago, a carriage left from the back door of Zhou's house and hurried towards the city gate.
Yang Jiyan was sleeping soundly when she suddenly heard a noise coming from outside. She opened her eyes and saw the yard was brightly lit. She frowned, thinking that Zhou Yun had just come back from drinking outside and was making trouble for the servants. She called the maid in in annoyance.
The room was dark, and Yang Jiyan did not see the panic on the maid's face. She ordered unhappily, "Tell the young master to go to another courtyard to make trouble, and stop disturbing people's sweet dreams here!"
The maidservant was a dowry maid from the Yang family. She said anxiously, "Madam, it's not the young master. Many officials have come outside and surrounded our house. I heard vaguely that they are here to arrest the master. Could something big have happened?"
When Yang Jiyan heard this, her face suddenly changed. The scene of the Zhou family being confiscated in her previous life appeared in her mind. She threw back the quilt and got out of bed, and hurriedly said to the maid, "Hurry up and change my clothes."
The maid quickly lit the candles and went to the closet to get clothes for Yang Jiyan.
Yang Jiyan disliked the maid's clumsiness, so she grabbed her clothes and put them on hastily. She said to the maid, "Go to the front yard and ask around to see what happened."
The maid didn't think about it. Although she was afraid, she still ran out of the yard obediently to inquire outside after hearing Yang Jiyan's instructions.
As soon as the maid left, Yang Jiyan took out the money box and put all the silver bills and deeds inside into her purse. Taking advantage of the cover of night, she hurried to the side door next to the back room, hoping to slip away before the Zhou family became chaotic.
She had an inexplicable intuition that Zhou Li's corruption had been exposed, otherwise the officials would not have surrounded Zhou's mansion in such a big way in the middle of the night. Yang Jiyan came to the side door and prayed secretly that there were no officials guarding the door.
As soon as he pushed the door open, the Jinyiwei outside shouted coldly, drew his sword and said, "Want to run? Get in and stay here!"
The snow-white blade flashed with a cold light, and the scene of Zhou Yun's head falling to the ground suddenly flooded into her mind. Yang Jiyan's face turned pale, and she slammed the side door shut. Her heart was pounding, and she was at a loss for a moment. She walked a few steps towards the back room, stomped her feet heavily, and went back to the wall to look for the dog hole.
Although she had only met the officer outside the door just now, she recognized that the man was not an ordinary officer at all. He was clearly dressed as an imperial guard. In his previous life, Yu Qizhe led the imperial guards to execute all the male members of the Zhou family, and blood splattered everywhere.
After searching around the backyard wall, Yang Jiyan still couldn't find a dog hole to get out. She was very disappointed. Before she could think of a solution, she was captured by the Jinyiwei who rushed into the backyard and taken to the front yard.
The front yard was full of people at this moment. The women of the Zhou family stood together, all of them looking panicked. Zhou Yunna's concubines huddled together, sobbing and wiping their tears.
Zhou Yun and the men from the Zhou family's side branches stood together. The Jinyiwei men had unsheathed their knives and placed them on Zhou Yun's neck, as if interrogating him about something.
After Yang Jiyan was brought here, she subconsciously hid behind the women of the Zhou family, trying to hide herself. She looked around but did not see Yu Qizhe.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
