Chapter 303 Do you have a daughter?
Geng Anfu followed behind Qin Jinzhi, and then Chairman Zhou called him.
She kept giving him meaningful glances.
Chairman Zhou then followed his gaze and looked at Qin Jinzhi.
"Young Master Zhao the Third?"
Upon hearing this, Geng Anfu quickly said, "Don't talk nonsense! This is the Princess Zhenguo, personally appointed by His Majesty!"
Chairman Zhou was completely bewildered. This was clearly Zhao Yuanying's younger brother, so how could he have become the Princess Zhenguo?
These businessmen are the most well-informed.
They also always had business dealings with the capital.
Although I have never met Qin Jinzhi, her name is very well-known.
In the capital, anyone who dares to provoke her is truly facing certain death!
Qin Jinzhi was led to the seat of honor in the courtroom.
Geng Anfu stood to one side, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
He may have heard of this person.
He is capricious and treats human life as worthless.
I heard they even dared to hit princes!
The emperor and empress were in excruciating pain, as if their eyes were popping out of their sockets. What if they were beaten to death if something went wrong?
Qin Jinzhi crossed one leg and looked at the dozen or so people kneeling on the ground with a smile.
"When did you start colluding with Bliss?"
The people on the ground looked at each other in bewilderment. In Paradise, they only remembered smelling a fragrance and then nothing else. When they woke up, they were already here.
Chairman Zhou tentatively asked, "Your Highness, I don't understand what you mean. We were invited by the leader of the Paradise Sect to be guests, and we don't usually have any interaction with each other."
Qin Jinzhi nodded, and immediately a dozen or so Zhenbei Army soldiers appeared behind Chairman Zhou and the others.
"ah!!!"
As soon as the clamps were applied, screams of agony filled the room.
Qin Jinzhi asked with a smile, "Thinking back now, is it really true that we had no connection at all?"
Geng Anfu was sweating profusely.
Chairman Zhou shouted, "Even if you are a princess, you cannot force a confession. We really have no connection with Paradise."
"ah!!!"
Chairman Zhou had just finished speaking.
The second clamping began.
Chairman Zhou shouted, "Prefect Geng, are you just going to watch the princess be tortured into confessing? Have you forgotten how much we helped with the Yangzhou floods? Otherwise, how could Yangzhou be living in peace today! Is this how you treat your meritorious officials!"
Geng Anfu was reluctant to speak, but these dozen or so people were the most famous wealthy merchants in Jiangnan, and many things in Jiangnan depended on their financial support.
Geng Anfu wiped his sweat and whispered to Qin Jinzhi, "Princess, what Chairman Zhou said is true. Chairman Zhou and others contributed a lot to the Yangzhou flood relief efforts and donated a large amount of money. May I ask if there is any misunderstanding?"
Qin Jinzhi turned to look at Geng Anfu and asked, "Prefect Geng, how long have you been an official?"
Just as Geng Anfu was wondering what was going on, Qin Jinzhi spoke up: "Prefect Geng, have you ever experienced the feeling of being tortured with a clamp?"
He immediately stepped forward, pointed at the crowd, and said, "The princess is asking you a question, so answer quickly! Confess and you will be treated leniently, or I will punish you severely!"
Chairman Zhou's heart sank as he watched Geng Anfu's expression change; he knew he couldn't escape this situation today.
"Five years ago, the leader of the Paradise Sect extended an invitation to us. He often held banquets to invite wealthy merchants from Jiangnan."
Qin Jinzhi looked up at him and asked, "What are the conditions for being invited?"
Chairman Zhou's face was full of pain. He then said, "We must pay 100,000 taels of silver to the Heavenly Palace as church fees every year."
"Besides you, is there anyone else?"
Chairman Zhou then named more than a dozen more names.
Qin Jinzhi looked at him and asked, "Does Chairman Zhou have a daughter?"
Chairman Zhou looked at Qin Jinzhi with a grim expression, not knowing what she meant.
Qin Jinzhi scoffed, losing interest in the interrogation.
“Tu Feng, since these people are so wealthy and the national treasury is empty, we should naturally do our utmost to help them.”
Geng Anfu's eyes widened immediately; this ancestor meant to confiscate their property!
Qin Jinzhi stood up and declared, “All those who have any dealings with the Paradise of Bliss shall be imprisoned, castrated, their property confiscated, their men enslaved, and their women forced into prostitution!”
Chairman Zhou and others immediately shouted, "We have done a great service to the people of Yangzhou, you can't treat us like this! Does being a princess give you the right to disregard human life and act tyrannically? Prefect Geng, you are unworthy of being an official of the imperial court!"
Geng Anfu asked cautiously, "Princess, isn't this punishment too harsh?"
Qin Jinzhi sneered, "Heavy?"
Their initial refusal to admit any connection with Paradise suggests that they knew all along what Paradise was up to.
In addition to the women they abused, they also purchased large numbers of women through Paradise.
It was used to give to them or to satisfy one's own lust.
These people knew perfectly well that these women were victims of human trafficking, yet they felt perfectly at ease with themselves.
They colluded with each other.
Women already have it tough in this world, yet they are treated like objects and abused at will by these people.
Upon seeing Qin Jinzhi's gaze, Geng Anfu immediately knelt on the ground.
The intense sense of oppression caused his legs to tremble.
Tu Feng gave a signal, and a dozen people were dragged away.
"Princess, including the name mentioned by the man surnamed Zhou, there are more than a dozen people who are not merchants from Yangzhou. I will immediately send an order to the brothers stationed in the Sixteen Prefectures to arrest them!"
Qin Jinzhi nodded, then turned to look at Geng Anfu, "Lord Geng, would it be alright if you supervised the execution?"
Geng Anfu immediately replied, "Your humble servant obeys!"
Qin Jinzhi lifted her foot and left the government office.
Back at her residence, Yuecheng was watching her from Sisha's room.
Seeing Qin Jinzhi return, he got up and went to greet her.
"How about it?"
Qin Jinzhi seemed rather uninterested. "It's the same as what we found in the investigation."
Yuecheng poured her some tea. "I told you, just let your men do the interrogation. Those filthy bastards, interrogating them would only dirty your mouth."
Qin Jinzhi took a sip of tea. "I just want to see how many people are human and how many are ghosts."
Yuecheng glanced at Sisha and asked, "Who exactly is that masked man? How could he have set things up for you so early on?"
Qin Jinzhi shook her head; she had indeed never seen that man before.
But it's also very familiar.
She frowned, then went to her desk, ground ink, and wrote a letter.
After writing it, he handed it to Yuecheng and said, "Send it back to the palace."
Yuecheng took the letter and turned to go to the post station.
Qin Jinzhi was lost in thought when there was a knock on the door.
She got up and opened the door, only to see the Mo family aunt standing at the door.
Qin Jinzhi raised an eyebrow, "You've already finished renewing your old friendship?"
Aunt Mo walked in and glanced at Si Sha, who was still unconscious on the bed.
"What's the point of continuing the old ways? I just want an answer."
Qin Jinzhi poured her some tea. "So, should I call you aunt now, or my aunt?"
Aunt Mo smiled and said, "My real name is Mo Ziyuan. You can call me Aunt Ziyuan. Don't worry, I won't go back on my promise to you."
Qin Jinzhi smiled and said, "Aunt Ziyuan is now very influential in the Mo family, so she naturally keeps her promises."
Mo Ziyuan looked at Qin Jinzhi, then took out an iron block from her sleeve.
"Before I met you, I had a deep prejudice against you. Gongshu Zhi has a past relationship with the Prince of Zhenbei, and I have had the privilege of meeting him a few times."
Qin Jinzhi smiled. "So you think a spoiled brat like me isn't worthy of being his daughter?"
Mo Ziyuan smiled and said, "This is an apology. I will set off back to the Mo family tomorrow. If you need me to do something, send someone to the Mo family to find me."
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