Tong Cheng'er thought it was too much trouble and refused, saying, "Forget it, I'm not that hungry to begin with, don't bother."
Yinzhen disagreed. He believed that the most important thing in the world was to eat with his concubine, and he couldn't go without eating.
"They were having a meal at the palace banquet when the assassination attempt was carried out. I haven't eaten yet. Why don't you eat some more with me?"
Now Tong Cheng'er had no reason to refuse.
The food was prepared quickly, and within fifteen minutes, quite a few dishes were served. Because of the cold weather, most of them were hot pot dishes, so the food was hot.
As Yinzhen ate, Tong Cheng'er also felt hungry and ate quite a bit as well.
After dinner, Yinzhen had no intention of staying up all night to welcome the New Year, and went straight to sleep with his young wife in his arms.
The two slept soundly through the night, as if the assassination attempt in the palace had never happened.
The next day, the first day of the Lunar New Year, was different from the usual year when Yinzhen stayed at home. Kangxi summoned him to the Qianqing Palace.
When Yinzhen arrived, the Crown Prince was already in the Imperial Study.
When Kangxi saw him coming, he said directly, "The matter of last night's assassination attempt will be investigated by the Ministry of Justice, and the Crown Prince will also be involved in the investigation."
Since Emperor Kangxi had spoken, Yinzhen naturally had no objections.
The crown prince had no objections.
The two accepted the decree and then left the imperial study together.
After they came out, the Crown Prince said, "Fourth Brother, where do you think we should start the investigation?"
Yinzhen: "Let's start by investigating the identities of those dancers. What do you think, Second Brother Crown Prince?"
The Crown Prince nodded: "Then I'll listen to my fourth brother."
The two spoke very politely to each other.
Then Yinzhen left; he was going to the Ministry of Justice to personally see the people who had attempted the assassination the day before.
The crown prince was particularly uncomfortable with his decisiveness, not knowing why.
When Yinzhen arrived at the Ministry of Justice, someone immediately came over and said with a fawning expression, "Greetings, Prince Yong."
Yinzhen said calmly, "Get up. How did the interrogation of the people sent over yesterday go?"
The man replied, "He was tortured, but he's very stubborn and hasn't said anything."
Yinzhen was not surprised. It was unlikely that someone who dared to assassinate the emperor could be forced to confess through torture.
"Take me to see it."
He wanted to interrogate them himself.
The torture chamber reeked of blood. The furnishings inside were simple: a few crucifixes, various instruments of torture, a table, and a chair.
After entering, Yinzhen frowned slightly upon smelling the odor in the torture chamber, but quickly regained his composure.
He looked up at the women bound to the crosses. Their faces were gaunt, their hair disheveled, and their bodies bore the marks of torture. It was clear that they had not had an easy night.
When Yinzhen arrived, he moved a chair and sat down in front of the group. Without mentioning torture, he said, "It's quite remarkable that you managed to endure all of this."
As soon as Yinzhen said this, one of the women said, "Pah, you dog, if you have the guts, then kill me."
Yinzhen looked at the person who spoke: "If you want to die, it's easy. Just tell me who's behind you. If you do, I'll make you feel good."
"You're dreaming."
Yinzhen didn't expect to get the answer right away.
However, the question still needs to be asked.
"I've inquired. You've only been in the palace for a little over a year. According to your seniority, you shouldn't have had the opportunity to dance at the New Year's banquet. It's said that you danced at a dance hall before entering the palace, and you were able to enter because of your good dancing. But I had someone investigate, and you only went to that dance hall not long before entering the palace. Let me guess your identities. Being able to do this kind of thing means you have no worries about the future. The person behind you must be the one who raised you from childhood. Am I right?"
The dancers were taken aback by what they heard.
Looking at their expressions, Yinzhen knew he was right.
In fact, Yinzhen had some thoughts in his mind.
"I once encountered a wealthy young lady who had been abducted by human traffickers while on a business trip. What do you traffickers do with these wealthy young ladies?"
Yinzhen asked and answered himself: "The daughters of wealthy families are quite good-looking. Kidnappers kidnap them when they are young, then carefully teach them, telling them right from wrong every day, and then teach them music, chess, calligraphy and painting. When they grow up, they send them to powerful families as concubines and profit from it."
"These abducted rich girls are instilled with the wrong ideas from a young age and are grateful to their kidnappers. You should know that these girls should have grown up in luxury and carefree life, and when they grew up, they would have married a man of equal social standing and become the mistress of the house, instead of being someone's concubine and having to be subservient to others."
Upon hearing Yinzhen's words, several people's expressions turned grim, clearly indicating that he had hit the nail on the head.
Yinzhen's guess was correct. Some of these people were indeed abducted by kidnappers. The kidnappers brought them here, provided them with good food and drink, and had people to serve them. Over time, they forgot about their origins.
Seeing this, Yinzhen continued, "You might as well think it over carefully. If you reveal who is behind this now, you can still die a quick death. If you don't, although your origins are difficult to trace, they can still be found out. In that case, I'm afraid you won't be able to die a quick death."
After saying this, Yinzhen left.
Upon exiting the torture chamber, Yinzhen instructed, "Have someone keep a close watch on them; do not use torture for now."
"yes."
After leaving the Ministry of Justice, Yinzhen smelled a faint scent of blood on himself, which made him very uncomfortable.
He wanted to go back and change his clothes, but at that moment Su Peisheng came over: "Master, the Crown Prince requests your presence."
Yinzhen: "Second Brother Crown Prince? He's left the palace?"
Su Peisheng nodded: "Yes, the Crown Prince said he would like to invite you to a restaurant for a chat."
Yinzhen nodded: "Then let's go!"
As for clothes, naturally, they can't be changed; let the bloodshed be bloody then.
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