Chapter 403 Fool
These people have no evidence, and whatever they say is just speculation. As long as he stubbornly denies it, there's nothing we can do about it.
Meng Xixian was determined to fight to the death. What torture or severe punishment could be more terrifying than death?
Confessing will undoubtedly lead to death.
He can keep arguing until the very end; as long as he can withstand the torture, there might be a glimmer of hope for his survival.
At worst, he'll drag some unlucky souls down with him.
Wen Zhiming sat back down, his gaze falling on Meng Xixian.
"Use torture."
Although Meng Xixian had made up his mind to endure it, he still couldn't help but feel afraid when he looked at the red-hot branding iron.
"Why are you only torturing me? This is unfair! We are all suspects. We should all be punished and beaten together! You can't just punish me. This isn't interrogation; this is forced confession and torture to extract a confession!"
Wen Zhiming was too lazy to waste any more words with him. Meng Xingyuan turned his back, and the jailer's eyes were cold and deep as he fiercely burned Meng Xixian's chest with the branding iron in his hand.
As Meng Xixian screamed, everyone heard a sizzling sound of roasting meat, and soon smelled a delicious aroma.
The skin on the chest is thin and close to the bones and internal organs, so the pain caused by being burned is particularly intense and can cause irreversible damage to the internal organs. The pain was beyond Meng Xixian's expectations.
He was in excruciating pain, and the firm belief in his inability to confess wavered. The immense pain made him incoherent and unable to distinguish friend from foe.
"It can't just be me who gets punished, there's Lord Meng too, and my brother too, all these suspects have to be punished, that's not fair, that's not fair..."
Meng Xingyuan, Meng Xicheng, and the other suspects were terrified by his words and all wished they could go up and gag him.
Meng Xicheng was filled with remorse. Of all the people in the interrogation room, he was the only one protecting his good-for-nothing brother. In the end, this guy didn't even think of him when it came to good things, but he was afraid that his brother wouldn't get to enjoy the beatings and punishments.
What terrified him even more was that the Emperor seemed to agree with Meng Xixian's words, and his murderous eyes fell on his face.
“Since the prisoner has a request, let’s grant it a little. As his elder brother, you’re willing to bring him to a banquet and speak out for him, so you must be very happy to share his hardships.”
As soon as Wen Zhiming finished speaking, jailers came over and dragged Meng Xicheng toward the rack.
Before him was a red-hot branding iron, beside him were his brothers wailing and delirious, and the air was filled with the strong smell of burnt meat.
Meng Xicheng had never seen anything like this before, and he wet his pants even before the chains were put on the rack.
"I confess, I confess everything. Don't burn me, don't burn me..."
Wen Zhiming waved his hand, and the jailer put Meng Xicheng down, leaving him limp like a lump of mud beside the rack.
Meng Xicheng, tears streaming down his face, pointed at Meng Xixian and said...
“Yesterday, my third brother and I were all dressed and ready to attend the banquet at the Meng residence. He suddenly called my third brother away, saying he had something to discuss. A moment later, my third brother accidentally fell from the second floor and broke his left leg. I knew then that he was behind it, but since it was already done, I assumed his only goal was to attend the banquet with me, so I simply gave in to his wishes. I truly had no idea he harbored such wolfish ambitions, daring to plot against the Empress. If I had known this beforehand, I would never have brought him out with me, even if you beat me to death…”
Meng Xicheng's confession undoubtedly made Meng Xixian even more suspicious.
But all of this only shows that he had a motive; it doesn't necessarily convict him.
Fortunately, Meng Xixian, who had been burned three times, was already at his limit. When he saw his brother also stand up to accuse him, his last line of defense collapsed instantly.
The branding iron torture was inhumane. Meng Xixian felt as if his internal organs were being scalded. Even if he could withstand this torture, he certainly wouldn't live long.
Since there's no hope of survival, it's better to end it all quickly.
Meng Xixian looked at Meng Xicheng with a pitiful smile and said, "I let my third brother fall and get injured, that was to save him. Otherwise, if he had gone to the banquet with me, he would have been the one protecting and helping the criminal. Eldest brother, you were honest and upright all your life, but in the end, you were implicated by me and didn't have a good end either. It's really tragic. Who knows, maybe in the underworld, we can still be brothers in misfortune..."
Meng Xicheng clutched his chest, pointed at his younger brother, and was speechless.
Upon hearing Meng Xixian's words, Meng Xingyuan realized that Meng Xixian had already confessed his guilt, and he was immediately furious.
"You worthless wretch! Everyone says you're vengeful, but I see you as nothing more than a selfish fool! When you came to me to borrow money, I shouldn't have just driven you away; I should have broken your legs."
Realizing that it was indeed his fault that such a despicable person had come to the rescue, causing his daughter to lose her child, Meng Xingyuan hated Meng Xixian to the core.
He simply couldn't understand how there could be such a fool in the world to do something so harmful to others and not to himself.
Meng Lingge and he have the emperor's favor, and the Meng Xixian brothers are related to a noble family. They are all better off than ordinary people. This fool, for a little dissatisfaction, personally cut off his path to wealth and even brought disaster to his whole family.
That's incredibly foolish.
Meng Xingyuan couldn't understand Meng Xixian, and Meng Xixian just as disliked Meng Xingyuan.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and then smiled at Meng Xingyuan.
“If you break my leg, I will only hate you more. Then I will not just let the Empress fall down, I will kill her and her unborn child. Only if you kill me back then can this problem be completely eliminated.”
"But I know you won't. You, Meng Xingyuan, love to play the good guy. You're the person I hate the most. Every time you give us a little something, you launch into a long lecture, making us brothers feel grateful to you. Either go all the way with your good deeds, or stop pretending to be kind. You only ever give us tiny, hypocritical favors. It's disgusting. I've already told you that if I can't pay you back, the casino will chop off my hand, but you still won't lend me the money. You hypocritical good guy, you deserve to be punished."
Meng Xingyuan never expected that his past help to his cousin's family would lead to such a deep-seated grudge.
Watching Meng Xixian's mouth open and close with a mocking smile, he felt chilled and disappointed, and lost all interest in arguing.
Meng Xixian left the two speechless, feeling even more convinced that he was right and could prevail in the world. He turned his gaze to Wen Zhiming and gave him a sly look.
He quickly cleared his throat.
Since I'm going to die anyway, if I can still curse the emperor a few times, my life will have been worthwhile, and I'll have something to brag about even in the afterlife.
Before he could continue speaking, Wen Zhiming said expressionlessly.
"Continue the torture."
The fact that this person is still so energetic is clearly because the hot iron wasn't hot enough and the time spent on it was too short.
When Meng Xixian saw the jailer approaching him with the branding iron again, he forgot all the words he was about to use to curse Wen Zhiming and looked completely puzzled.
"Wait... I've already confessed and admitted my guilt, why torture me? If you're going to kill me, just kill me, why torture a prisoner?"
Wen Zhiming's gaze was cold and devoid of any warmth as he kindly answered his questions.
"Because you haven't revealed the mastermind behind this, and also because I want you to suffer a fate worse than death."
This statement puzzled everyone.
Meng Xixian harmed the Empress, and the Emperor wanted to make the murderer suffer a fate worse than death, which everyone could understand.
But the preceding sentence is somewhat strange. Isn't Meng Xixian the real culprit? What other mastermind is behind him?
Everyone looked at Meng Xixian with suspicion, only to find that his eyes were filled with fear.
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