Zhang Zilin's face turned deathly pale instantly, his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Qian Ning gently tossed the iron ruler in her hand into the air and caught it steadily. The soft clanging of the metal against the metal sounded particularly eerie in the deathly silent torture chamber.
He approached step by step, his gaze like the forked tongue of a viper, licking at Zhang Zilin's last line of psychological defense:
"Or, do you want to tell me that after Cao Zu confessed that Prince Ning and Zhang Heling were colluding and plotting something wicked, he suddenly became utterly despondent and felt that life was meaningless?"
"So, this old man, severely injured and barely able to walk, managed to secretly tear off his belt under the 'strict' guard of your Ministry of Justice, and just happened to avoid all the patrolling eyes, and successfully hanged himself in his cell?"
His voice suddenly turned stern, like a thunderclap:
"Do you think His Majesty is a fool? Or do you think I'm blind?!"
"Tell me, who ordered you to do this?"
With Qian Ning's final shout, several ghostly executioners from the shadows surrounding the interrogation room slowly emerged, their cold iron weapons gleaming with deathly light in the firelight.
The soldering iron was inserted into the red-hot coals, making a sizzling sound and sending up a plume of smoke.
Zhang Zilin's psychological defenses crumbled instantly under the terrifying pressure and Qian Ning's piercing interrogations, like glass struck by a heavy hammer.
He stared at the red-hot branding iron, listened to the rattling of the chains, and felt the pervasive aura of death all around him. Overwhelming fear, like a cold tide, completely engulfed him.
His legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, tears streaming down his face, screaming in despair:
"It wasn't me! Lord Qian, spare me! I'll talk! Someone told me that Cao Zu mustn't speak again, I...I just...I just..."
Zhang Zilin lay sprawled on the cold, damp ground, his face streaked with tears and snot, his last shred of dignity completely gone.
Qian Ning's every word was like a blunt knife, precisely cutting into his already crumbling defenses.
He shook his head in vain, his lips trembling: "No...no...it's me..."
"Not what?"
Qian Ning suddenly leaned down, her hawk-like gaze piercing Zhang Zilin's eyes.
"Didn't you tacitly allow the guards to be lax in their duties?"
"Wasn't it your concubine's distant nephew who happened to be on duty last night? Did Grand Secretary Fei Hong receive a full 30,000 taels of silver from the Prince of Ning's mansion through his younger brother Fei Cai, who is a salt merchant in Jiangxi?"
"And what about Duke Zhang Mao of Yingguo! Did those two jade discs with the 'Flying Swallow Stepping on Lotus' design, which were lost from the previous dynasty, fall from the sky?"
"The Prince of Ning's ambition is truly remarkable!"
Zhang Zilin trembled violently, as if his spine had been removed, and he collapsed completely.
He closed his eyes in despair, a hoarse sound coming from his throat, and finally broke down and screamed:
"It's...it's Elder Fei!"
"He said Cao Zu is the root of all trouble, and we must never speak of him again! Prince Ning is pressing us hard... Zhang Mao... the old Duke Zhang Mao... also... also accepted gifts... I... I just... just dared not disobey... My lord... spare my life! Spare my life!"
Qian Ning's secret report, like an icicle, pierced the warmth of Xiaoyuan's study.
Lu Xingjian stood in front of the huge map, his fingertip tracing across Nanchang Prefecture in Jiangxi Province before striking heavily on the location of the capital region.
Fei Hong, Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.
Zhang Mao was the head of the nobility.
The pillars of the nation have been hollowed out by insects!
"Good, very good."
Lu Xingjian's voice was devoid of emotion, only a chilling coldness like a deep pool.
"Didn't Prince Ning want a bodyguard? I'll give him one!"
A few days later, at the court assembly, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.
The burnt smell of the Qianqing Palace still seems to linger in my nostrils.
Lu Xingjian's gaze swept over the civil and military officials who stood with their heads bowed, lingering especially on Fei Hong and Zhang Mao for a moment longer.
"The disaster at the Qianqing Palace was a warning from the heavens."
Lu Xingjian's voice echoed in the empty hall.
"I have reflected on my own conduct and considered my responsibility to protect the imperial clan. Prince Ning's loyalty and diligence are commendable. I intend to reinstate his original duties of guarding and cultivating land, in order to demonstrate the kinship among the imperial clan."
"What do you all think? Let's discuss it."
These words shocked the entire court.
Guards of the Prince of Funing's Mansion?
Publicly bestowing favors upon Prince Ning is a litmus test.
Fei Hong's face turned deathly pale instantly, and Zhang Mao's body swayed slightly.
The emperor's move was a calculated, overt strategy.
They roasted them over a fire.
By seconding the motion, it was clear that they were supporting Prince Ning.
However, if one opposes it, one will offend Prince Ning, and even if Prince Ning's heir gets the opportunity to serve as the incense master in the future, one will be disliked by Prince Ning's mansion.
In the following days, the imperial court was like a boiling pot of porridge.
Memorials to the throne poured in like snowflakes, and discussions were in full swing.
The vast majority of officials cited classical texts to vehemently argue that Prince Ning harbored rebellious intentions, that the repeated failures to eradicate the bandits in Jiangxi were likely related to him, and that restoring the protection of military farms was absolutely unacceptable.
Some even used strong language to accuse Prince Ning of harboring rebellious intentions.
Fei Hong felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. Every time someone seconded "it cannot be repeated," it felt like a slap in the face.
The silver he had received had now become a red-hot branding iron.
Zhang Mao felt like each day was an eternity, as the Duke of England's mansion was constantly crowded with people looking on with curiosity.
Under immense pressure, Zhang Mao was the first to break down. Trembling, he submitted a memorial, pleading to resign from his position as Commander of the Beijing Garrison due to old age and declining health.
Immediately afterwards, Fei Hong also submitted a memorial requesting to retire due to illness.
Lu Xingjian looked at the two memorials, a cold smile curving his lips.
"allow."
Zhang Mao's former subordinates in the Beijing army and Fei Hong's close associates among the civil officials were all demoted or dismissed from their posts and reduced to commoners.
The dust seems to have settled.
The court debate was intense, but the conclusion was clear: the protection of Prince Ning was irrevocable.
However, just when everyone thought the emperor would heed the "will of the people" and reject the proposal, an unexpected imperial edict was issued from the Directorate of Ceremonial, spreading throughout the land:
"Prince Ning has inherited the previous legacy of loyalty and diligence. Now, considering the importance of the imperial clan as a bulwark, we hereby reinstate his original guards, troops, and land reclamation duties..."
The imperial edict caused an uproar throughout the land.
Inside the Prince Ning's Mansion in Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, after a brief period of ecstasy, came a bone-chilling cold.
Prince Ning held the imperial edict, his hands trembling.
The emperor gave him the title of guard, but in doing so, he put him in opposition to all the vassal kings and the people of the world.
Everyone would assume that, given the Emperor's favor, he would most likely choose the Prince of Ning's heir to succeed him and inherit the throne.
We are all of royal blood, so why should your Prince Ning's Mansion be the first to win?
Nothing is set in stone yet; anything is possible!
Sure enough, before the ink on the imperial edict was even dry, memorials impeaching Prince Ning swarmed in from all directions like sharks smelling blood.
The impeachers came from various backgrounds, but their backgrounds surprisingly pointed to several other powerful princes—the Prince of Chu, the Prince of Huai, the Prince of Zhou, and so on. The censors they instructed exposed the various illegal activities of the Prince of Ning's mansion in Jiangxi in great detail.
“The reason why bandits in Jiangxi are rampant is that the officials and clerks of the Prince of Ning’s mansion are in cahoots with notorious bandits, acting as their thieves to sell stolen goods and share the spoils.”
"The guards of Prince Ning's mansion, under the guise of suppressing bandits, actually engaged in looting, burning down houses, and seizing farmland, causing immense suffering to the people."
"The prince's henchmen plundered merchants and extorted money from the people, behaving like bandits."
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