Chapter 74 Criminal Investigation: Xiao Yinshi met Feng Tan's hateful eyes.
Sixteen bright palace lanterns pierced the heavy night as they emerged from the palace. Guards lined both sides of the imperial road, and the emperor's carriage was surrounded by a cloud of attendants. A long and imposing procession of ceremonial guards came to a stop in front of the imperial prison. Emperor Chongming alighted from his sedan chair, his face cold and sinister, and strode into the interrogation room of the imperial prison.
Feng Tan was tightly bound to the rack with chains. The wounds on her arms and legs were being pulled painfully. Cold sweat covered her forehead, and her whole body had lost its color.
Several candles illuminated the interrogation room, which was filled with various torture instruments. Some instruments were still wet with blood, while others were stained with old blood. They hung arrogantly on the wall, a psychological deterrent to the prisoners in the imperial prison.
Hearing footsteps, Feng Tan raised his drowsy head and met Emperor Chongming's gaze. He then saw Wei Shengxian leading eight Imperial Guards, each carrying a square wooden box, placing them one by one in front of Feng Tan.
Emperor Chongming's sharp eyes scrutinized the young official bound to the rack. The more he looked, the more his anger grew. His voice carried the usual imperial authority: "Feng Tan, tonight you burned down the Red Sleeve Pavilion, released hundreds of courtesans from the Red Sleeve Pavilion, and then, together with the instigator of the Linzhang sea area case, sneaked into the imperial prison in an attempt to rescue the criminal Feng Youming... What are the reasons for all this?"
Wei Shengxian knew that Feng Tan was good at fabricating lies, so he opened the lids of eight square wooden boxes one by one in front of her. The heads of Ren Pingsheng, Yao Niang, Jian Niang, Zhang Niang, Jian Niang, Zhan Niang, Fan Niang, and Fu Niang were...
The eight women had calm faces and closed eyes, indicating that they had not struggled violently before their deaths. Blood slowly seeped from under their heads into the box, and eight streams of blood flowed along the patterns on the ground to Feng Tan's feet. Feng Tan looked at them like a trapped little beast, his forehead veins bulging, tears blurring his eyes, and he could only let out a mournful cry from the bottom of his throat.
Wei Shengxian walked up to Feng Tan with a long whip, provocatively lifted her chin, and said, "Lord Feng, think carefully before you reply. Who knows, the next head to be cut off might be this one."
Feng Tan looked at Wei Shengxian and smelled the heavy bloody scent on him. So the strong bloody scent on Wei Shengxian that she smelled on the fourth floor earlier came from Ren Pingsheng and the others.
Feng Tan's lips were bleeding from being bitten, and she stared at Wei Shengxian with wide, furious eyes, saying, "They...you killed them?"
Wei Shengxian subconsciously rubbed the embroidered spring knife at his waist and smiled slightly, saying, "It's me."
The chains binding Feng Tan rattled as she thrashed about. She wanted to kill the man before her, but couldn't move an inch. Humiliated beyond measure, she cried out, "Wei Shengxian, you...you will all die a horrible death..."
To save herself in front of the eight ladies, Feng Tan would never tell Emperor Chongming that she was Princess Yongle when she was about to die. She wanted to save them. If anyone should die, it should be Feng Tan.
Feng Tan said, "There is no reason."
Emperor Chongming then said, "Feng Tan, if you reveal the whereabouts of the hundreds of courtesans of the Red Sleeve Pavilion, the location of the Imperial Dragon Camp, and your relationship with that silver-masked man, I may spare your life."
A person consumed by grief doesn't care whether someone is a honeyed dagger or a double-dealer; Feng Tan simply said, "No comment."
Looking at the stubborn prisoner in front of him, Wei Shengxian thought to himself that Feng Tan was not like this before. But after seeing the eight heads, he became fearless. It seems that this person is only responsive to gentleness and not to force. He should not have let him see the heads of these old friends first.
Emperor Chongming gave Wei Shengxian a cold look. He had come to interrogate her personally, but Feng Tan still refused to confess anything.
Wei Shengxian's heart skipped a beat, and he bowed to apologize, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm down! This man is unruly and tricked me with a feint. But please rest assured, Your Majesty, there are thousands of punishments in the imperial prison. I will make him tell the truth!"
Looking at the arrogant demeanor of the young man before him, Emperor Chongming said coldly, "No need. You can't interrogate someone as tough as him! His rebellious nature can't be completely eradicated. Let the most ruthless Iron Yama of Dahuang come and immediately issue an edict to Xiao Yinshi!"
Wei Shengxian gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!"
After Emperor Chongming finished speaking, he turned and left. After her intense hatred subsided, Feng Tan looked at Emperor Chongming with a desolate gaze. Just as he stepped out the door, her voice came faintly.
"From then on, sandalwood was naturally nurtured by nature."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongming paused, turned to look at the lone young official on the rack, frowned in confusion, and then turned and left.
......
The night grew deeper. The stars and moon shone brightly in the first half of the night, but a sudden downpour came in the second half. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a thunderclap. Xiao Yinshi pushed open the door to the interrogation room of the Imperial Prison.
Having killed most of the people in the night, Wei Shengxian was somewhat exhausted. He closed his eyes and pretended to doze off in his chair. When Xiao Yinshi entered, he gave an official salute and said, "The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict should have told you everything that happened tonight. The criminal Feng Tan is stubborn and unyielding. To get him to talk, we need to use some of the most common tortures in the imperial prison. However, he is injured and may have some inflammation... and he has a fever... so it's not good to use severe torture. It might kill him."
Wei Shengxian was a capable subordinate personally trained by Xiao Yinshi. It was Xiao Yinshi's kindness in recognizing his talent that allowed him to become the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He always held Xiao Yinshi in high esteem.
Xiao Yinshi glanced at Feng Tan, who was lying unconscious with his head drooping, and said in a low voice, "Someone, splash him with ice water to wake him up."
After saying that, he said to Wei Shengxian, "Since you've been busy apprehending the criminal all night, you go back first. I'll handle the interrogation here."
Wei Shengxian was reluctant to leave. The skills he learned from Xiao Yinshi were clearly not enough in Emperor Chongming's eyes. So, even though he was the current commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Emperor Chongming still assigned the task to the former commander whom he trusted. Therefore, he wanted to learn some more skills from Xiao Yinshi, so he said, "Sir, I'm not tired. You do the interrogation, and I'll assist you."
Looking at the blood all over the ground, Xiao Yinshi said, "There are some things he might not say even if you were here."
Wei Shengxian was a sensible man. Without Xiao Yinshi needing to spell things out, he bowed and took his leave. As he left, his eyes met those of the Imperial Guard who had come with a basin of ice water. After a brief exchange of greetings, he walked out of the interrogation room.
The Imperial Guard walked up to Feng Tan with a basin of ice water and glanced at Xiao Yinshi.
Xiao Yinshi said calmly, "Splash."
A basin of icy water splashed onto Feng Tan's cheek, jolting her awake from her daze. She slowly opened her eyes amidst the water droplets and saw Xiao Yinshi staring at her with a pair of dark eyes devoid of emotion.
Hatred surged from her chest, and Feng Tan looked at him, her eyes blazing with eerie fire.
Xiao Yinshi met Feng Tan's hateful eyes, his flat voice revealing no emotion, and spoke to the Imperial Guards waiting beside him, "Whip."
The Imperial Guard bowed and agreed. He had carried out whippings many times and knew how to make prisoners cry out for mercy. The seven-section whip, stained with the blood of countless people, had a pure cowhide handle and an iron ring around the whip, which increased its flexibility and caused serious injuries to the victim without penetrating to the bone.
The Imperial Guard held the seven-section whip in his hand, stood in front of Feng Tan, and swung it fiercely. The long whip left a trail in the air and fell mercilessly onto Feng Tan.
He was a master whipper, and the force of his whip was considerable. In an instant, Feng Tan's outer robe was torn to shreds, exposing most of her fair skin.
It hurt so much, it really hurt so much. The cold sweat that Feng Tan had just stopped broke out again. She bit her lower lip tightly to keep herself from crying out in a sorry state. Her hands were clenched into fists, and tears welled up in her eyes. Her usually sharp and alert senses were blurred by the burning pain, and she didn't even notice that her clothes were tearing.
Thunderclaps echoed across the sky, and the interrogation room was briefly illuminated by lightning. The Imperial Guard stared at the half-draped breast wrap around the young official's fair skin. The next whip stopped in his hand. He opened his mouth in surprise, and after a long while, he turned to look at Xiao Yin, his pupils shrinking in shock.
The executioner, a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had served as an executioner in the Northern Garrison for over ten years. During the years Xiao Yinshi served as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had never seen this cold-faced Yama smile. But at this moment, Xiao Yinshi's dark eyes were fixed on the young man... no, the girl's chest. The curve of his lips was ambiguous, not like a normal smile, but rather like a forced laugh born of anger, shrouded in a dark and eerie mist... somewhat unsettling.
The Imperial Guard looked at Xiao Yinshi, his heart filled with horror. A cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his forehead. Gripping his whip, he heard his own nervous heart pounding, and stammered tentatively, "Lord Xiao, should we first report to His Majesty... that Feng Tan is indeed... a criminal?"
Xiao Yinshi forced his gaze away from Feng Tan, turned to meet the eyes of the Imperial Guard, and asked in a low, hoarse voice, like the calm before a storm, "You want to inform Emperor Chongming?"
That won't do. Wouldn't that mean Emperor Chongming would know that Feng Tan is his daughter?
If she is female, her identity is not hard to guess at all.
The Imperial Guard swallowed nervously. Wei Shengxian had asked him to tell him the details of Xiao Yinshi's interrogation process. He had only just begun to get started when he was already somewhat flustered by the menacing aura emanating from Xiao Yinshi. People always have a kind of inexplicable intuition.
Xiao Yinshi smiled at him, a smile that was gentler than the angry smile he had given the boy earlier. But the next moment, lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky, and he was pierced through the throat by a dagger that shot towards him.
The fingers gripping the seven-section whip slowly loosened. The ninth-rank martial artist did not deliberately hold back when killing; the dagger pierced through the Jinyiwei's neck and embedded itself in the iron wall behind him, leaving not even the hilt exposed.
Before dying, the Imperial Guard did not understand what had happened. He fell straight down, his blood splattering from the force of his ruptured throat. Feng Tan's cheeks were stained red with the Imperial Guard's blood. The warm blood made her dizzy head, which had been tormented by a high fever, clear up slightly. She struggled to lift her head and stared intently at the Imperial Guard who died with his eyes wide open.
Such a method of murder shows absolutely no regard for past relationships. Feng Tan had experienced too many deaths tonight, and her heart was still shaken. Her chin was grabbed and lifted by the man, and Feng Tan was forced to meet Xiao Yinshi's dark eyes, which were as fierce as a demon.
"Is it pretty?" Xiao Yinshi's voice still held a hint of laughter, but the dark fire burning in his eyes proved that his mind was not at peace. Recalling how the women of Hongxiu Pavilion addressed Feng Tan, he pressed his fingers hard against her chin and said sarcastically, "Young Master Feng? You should be called Miss Feng."
He looked at the half-hanging breast wrap on Feng Tan's chest, his slender fingers wrapped around it, and his hand that was gripping Feng Tan's chin moved down to her neck, forcefully pinning her to the rack. Feng Tan was in so much pain that she frowned and couldn't utter a word.
The invisible aura materialized, compressing the air until it was thin. Xiao Yinshi's fingers, wrapped in a breast wrap, moved downwards, touching the masculine essence that Feng Tan had so confidently promised him. He looked at the girl's flushed face, slowly slipped his fingers inside her clothes, took them out, and examined them closely.
It's so realistic! The texture, size, and even the feel are all just like a real person... The expression on the man's handsome face grew increasingly startled, and he laughed angrily again, saying, "You're playing me?"
Author's note: Ugh, I uploaded it right away! I'm exhausted.jpg
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