Chapter 31 Interrogation
Wang Liu was the first guest received since the opening of the Yiluansi Prison.
He is a killer hired by the Li family. The life contracts of all his family members are in Li Mian's hands. He usually does dirty work that cannot be seen in public.
He knew very well that if he betrayed Li Xiang, his family would die and he himself would not have a good ending.
Therefore, even though he had been beaten countless times in the past few days, he gritted his teeth and refused to reveal his origins and identity.
As long as he didn't confess, he would be just an innocent passerby, and no matter how much they wanted to punish him, they couldn't do anything to him.
He was well-informed and knew that these female guards were the Queen Mother's personal guards, one of the Twelve Imperial Guards - the Golden Crow Guards.
It is said that the former chief guard Zhu Chengqin had his hands crippled by the Empress Dowager because he opposed women joining the imperial guards. Now, let alone holding a knife, he can't even lift a pair of chopsticks.
It's such a pity that a hero with a bright future was ruined like this.
When Wang Liu thought about the young master of an official family who was more noble than him and was now living a worse life than him, he felt gloating but also a little pity.
But today, it was obviously his turn to be pitied.
The prison door opened, and two guards, one tall and one short, walked in and escorted him to a dim room.
Just like the previous few days, he was dragged to a bench about one meter wide and his hands and feet were tied tightly with ropes.
Is he going to get beaten again? He raised his head, looked at the two guards, and grinned. "Please be gentle, ladies. I really don't know anything. You've got the wrong guy."
Of the two guards, the shorter one is Lingqiong, and the taller one is Sun Jianqiu, who lost the duel yesterday just like Lingqiong.
Interrogation is not an easy job. It requires patience, composure, and ruthlessness, as you have to work hard with the prisoner over and over again.
Ling Qiong knew very well that she was able to join the Jinwu Guard because of her contribution in dealing with the prince. After all, her martial arts skills were not that strong in the Jinwu Guard.
However, when it comes to patience and ruthlessness, she feels that no one can surpass her, so she volunteers to be in charge of Wang Liu's interrogation.
These days, apart from her daily training, she has been interrogating Wang Liu - except last night.
Last night, she, Zhao Mingyue, and the Jinwu Guards went to Zuifanglou for dinner and drinks.
But the interrogation had to continue. For several days, Wang Liu hadn't said anything useful, which was really annoying.
Ling Qiong looked at Wang Liu's playful smile and clenched her fists hanging at her side, wishing she could go up and tear his mouth apart.
But she quickly restrained herself and loosened her fists. If she was really provoked by him, she would be at a disadvantage from the very beginning!
Therefore, no matter how anxious he was, he remained calm on his face and even smiled cheerfully, "We'll have to interrogate him to find out if we've arrested the wrong person. However, since you begged me, I can spare you the beating today—"
Wang Liu was delighted when he heard this, because he knew that women are soft-hearted.
Just as she was about to say something nice, Ling Qiong said, "—You look disheveled, why don't you let me clean you up?"
Wang Liu's voice trembled. "W-What do you mean by grooming?"
He wasn't so foolish as to think they were going to give him a proper grooming.
Ling Qiong looked at Sun Jianqiu and frowned slightly. "Oh, Sister Jianqiu, what exactly is going on with this grooming? My memory is not good. I have forgotten everything you told me yesterday. Can you tell me again?"
Sun Jianqiu knew that she wanted to intimidate Wang Liu, so he slowed down his voice and said slowly: "Then I will tell you again."
"I'm from Pu County, Jiangzhou. When I was eight years old, a jerk named Song came to Pu County to serve as the county magistrate. He was called a jerk because he married into a powerful family in order to climb the social ladder. He could only endure his wife's affair with a man outside his family."
"Because of this, this dog official particularly hates women who are not chaste. Any woman found to have committed adultery or eloped will be severely punished and sentenced to the punishment of combing her hair."
"I was young and had never seen an executioner perform an execution. But just hearing about it scared me enough to give me nightmares for several nights. It's said that the grooming involved tying the person to a wooden bed, stripping them naked, pouring scalding water over them until their skin turned red and soft, and then using an iron comb to repeatedly brush the flesh off their backs until the bones were visible!"
When Sun Jianqiu mentioned stripping off the clothes, Ling Qiong tore Wang Liu's clothes off with a ripping sound.
He felt a chill on his bare back, and after hearing Sun Jianqiu's detailed account, he shivered and turned pale. "No, I'm just an ordinary citizen. I don't know anything. You can't force me to confess like this!"
Ling Qiong lowered her eyes and looked at him, her dark pupils eerie and terrifying, but a smile played on her lips. "What a lovely story, isn't it? You men have invented so many ways to torture women, but you should have thought that one day it would be your turn to experience the same pleasure, right?"
Wang Liu wanted to struggle, and shouted, "I didn't invent this hairdressing technique!"
"I know, it wasn't invented by me. If you want to blame someone, blame that dog official Song." Ling Qiong smiled and clapped her hands.
Sun Jianqiu turned around and went out. After a while, he brought in a bucket of boiling water and placed it in front of Wang Liu with a thud. It was obvious that he had prepared it long ago.
Wang Liu felt the scorching heat hitting the door above him, and his face turned even paler. He was very hesitant, thinking that he might as well confess.
Her lips were trembling, her teeth were chattering, and suddenly, an iron comb appeared in front of her eyes, and Lingqiong's strange and cold voice sounded in her ears again.
"I made this comb especially for you. I'll use it to comb your back. Are you satisfied?"
Wang Liu took a closer look and found that the so-called iron comb was just a palm-sized wooden board, which was neatly nailed with nails, with the tips of the nails facing upwards, emitting a cold light.
He was almost frightened to death and shouted, "No! No! I, I said, it was Prime Minister Li who sent me to monitor Wu Wenxiu!"
Ling Qiong bent down, reached out and grabbed his hair, forcing him to look at her.
The smile on her face disappeared and her expression darkened. "I spent so much time talking to you, and this is all you tell me?"
Without waiting for him to explain, he let go of his hand, took the ladle from the bucket, scooped up hot water, and poured it on Wang Liu's back with a splash.
“Ahhhhhhhhh——” Wang Liu immediately let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
Ling Qiong looked at the red and blistered skin on his back caused by the hot water, and excitement gleamed in her eyes.
Sure enough, I must have been abnormal to be able to stay alive after being tortured so cruelly by Zhao Chun.
How could it be enough to just take revenge on Zhao Chun? I needed more blood and flesh to fill it up before I could calm down!
She picked up the iron comb and brushed Wang Liu's back hard without hesitation, and the flesh fell off like mud.
Wang Liu was trembling with pain, his vision blackening, tears and snot streaming down his face. "My lord, my lord, please forgive me. I confess, I confess everything. It wasn't someone I was watching, it was Prime Minister Li who asked me to go and see if Wu Shishu was really dying from the beating in court. He also said that if she wasn't dead, he would send her on her way..."
Ling Qiong and Song Jianqiu looked at each other and finally got something out of the question.
Ling Qiong grabbed his hair again, pulled his head up, looked him in the eyes and asked, "Are you saying that Li Mian ordered you to kill Wu Shishu?"
"Yes, yes." Wang Liu nodded with difficulty.
Prime Minister Li intended to murder the Queen Mother's close ministers. This should be the news they want. He has said it all, so they should let him go now, right?
Ling Qiong could see what he was planning, and she snorted coldly, "I guess this isn't the first time Li Mian has ordered you to kill someone. Who else has Li Mian ordered you to kill before?"
Wang Liu hurriedly shook his head, "No, no, this is my first time, I've never killed anyone!"
Lingqiong picked up the ladle and stirred it in the bucket, causing the hot water to splash everywhere, making a gurgling sound.
Wang Liuzhi's scalp went numb when he heard this, and he cried out, "No, no, no—I really don't know! But I know that Prime Minister Li has a close confidant named Qian Ming. He's very skilled, and Prime Minister Li leaves everything to him. If you catch him and ask him, he'll definitely know everything!"
Ling Qiong observed his expression and was sure that he was not lying, but he must be hiding something.
She was about to re-examine the case when footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by the voice of an officer, "Master Lingqiong, Master Sun, the Queen Mother is here."
Ling Qiong hurriedly dropped the water scoop, straightened her clothes, walked over and opened the door, and saw Chi Luo and Dan Ying striding towards her from the other side of the passage.
She immediately became excited. After all, in her heart, Chi Lun was the one who saved her from danger and was worthy of her following until death.
But since she joined the Jinwu Guard, she has never seen Chi Luo again.
Ling Qiong knelt on one knee and saluted, "Your Majesty."
Chi Qi didn't look at her, but walked straight past her and entered the room where Wang Liu was being interrogated.
Ling Qiong suddenly felt lost. She stood up and turned back to the room. Chi Lan was already sitting on the only chair in the room.
She propped her cheek up with her palm and looked at her and Sun Jianqiu with a smile, "They're interrogating the prisoner. Have you found out anything?"
They then repeated what Wang Liu had just said.
Ling Qiong added at the end, "He must be hiding something." But it is unknown what he is hiding.
After listening to them, Chi Li nodded and praised them with a smile, "You two have done a great job. Once the Yiluansi team is established, I will be relying on you to manage this imperial prison."
Ling Qiong was startled for a moment, then became delighted, "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty."
Sun Jianqiu also followed suit to express his gratitude.
Unfortunately, they didn’t know that Chi Qi was just saying it casually, and what she was going to say next was the key point.
"Lingqiong, go ask this Wang Liu, Li Jiying's mother, if he knows about Liu Ruiyun's death."
Ling Qiong agreed and was about to go up and pour a few more buckets of hot water on Wang Liu when Chi Yan suddenly called her, "Wait, come here first——"
Ling Qiong had no choice but to turn around and walk to Chi Lu. She bowed slightly and asked doubtfully, "Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions?"
Chi Li reached out and tucked the loose hair behind her ear, chuckling, "It's nothing, I just saw that your hair is messy."
Ling Qiong thought there was some detail he wanted to remind her of: Huh?
After being stunned for a moment, he realized what had happened and his face turned slightly red. "Thank you, thank you, Your Majesty." He turned around and walked towards Wang Liu.
Chi Qi looked at her back and felt that she seemed to have gained some weight.
He retracted his gaze and looked at the fingers that had just touched Lingqiong's ear. There was a faint white light at the fingertips that was dissipating.
This is the mind-reading skill she exchanged for points and used it on Lingqiong.
However, this spell has great limitations. Only by staring into the other person's eyes can you hear her inner voice, and the time limit is 72 hours.
After all, we need to save points. Just for this, he still asked her for 300 points.
Fortunately, she had just made some money from Zhao Mingyue last night.
The little brat came back from outside the palace drunk in the middle of the night and was caught red-handed by her.
But she didn't scold her, but said gently: "Next time you go out, you must tell me. Don't you know that your mother is worried about you?"
Zhao Mingyue was so moved that she burst into tears. She held her hands and talked to her drunkenly for half the night, and all her words were about the Jinwuwei gang.
Oh, what a bunch of daring fellows.
Ling Qiong, who was completely unaware of this, was still interrogating Wang Liu. This time, he told her everything before she even used the iron comb.
"I helped Master deal with Concubine Liu's body... I remember when Master called me into the yard, Concubine Liu was already lying on the ground, the back of her head covered in blood... I quickly wrapped her in a straw mat, loaded her onto a carriage, and drove to the barren hills outside the city. I dug a hole and buried her..."
Ling Qiong heard his tone, as if he was talking about something perfectly normal. Her face immediately turned cold, "You are an accomplice!"
Wang Liu hurriedly said, "Sir, this is not my fault. He is the master and I am the servant. What else can I do except obey his orders? I was also forced to do it!"
Ling Qiong knew that this was not the time to be angry. The most important thing was to get to the bottom of the matter.
So he suppressed the anger in his heart and said in a deep voice: "When did this happen?"
"Yes, it happened at the end of July. At that time, the late emperor hadn't returned to court yet. Oh, and there's one more thing. After Aunt Liu died, Master invited the abbot of the Baiyun Temple on Qingling Mountain outside the city to come to the mansion to perform a ritual, saying it was to exorcise evil spirits... My Lord, I'm really going to tell you everything I know. Can you, can you spare my life?"
When Wang Liu finished speaking, his breath became weak, his expression was twisted, and he looked very painful.
Anyone who saw it would believe that he had confessed the whole truth.
However, when Lingqiong stared into his eyes, trying to tell whether he was lying, a voice suddenly rang out.
"This woman certainly couldn't have imagined that Aunt Liu was still alive when I buried her!"
"But the master thought she was dead and asked me to bury the body. I brought her back alive. Isn't that asking for trouble? It's better to just bury her."
Alive, buried.
Lingqiong felt a chill down her spine, and her anger instantly burned out her rationality.
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