The voice, laced with a smile, was like a demon’s low hum, more despair-inducing than the pain of torture was the curse of never entering the cycle of reincarnation.
If there truly was a hell in this world, if that hell truly had malevolent spirits, they would still be a far cry from this person before him.
“I truly don’t know!”
The man’s gaze was unfocused, the surrounding candlelight seemed to envelop everything in a bizarre halo. The face of the person squatting beside him was so blurry he couldn’t discern the features. In a daze, he only saw the massive black shadow stretching from beneath her feet to the wall behind her.
That massive black shadow, with bared fangs and extended claws!
The person was laughing, their voice seeming to pierce through distant glaciers, entering his ears with a bone-chilling cold: “Heh, then… let’s do it again!”
“No, no, I truly don’t know…” The man forced his eyes open wide, his hoarse voice rolling with notes of fear. “I, I just once saw someone in the Zhuyu Gang, and I heard some, heard some things.”
Zou Chengyi’s eyes widened abruptly. He had initially thought Feng Luan’s perverse methods of interrogation were merely for torture, never expecting to actually glean anything.
This second-in-command of the Zhuyu Gang was considered tough. When Feng Quan had interrogated him, he’d held out, nearly beaten to death. Now, after experiencing Feng Luan, he was this terrified. It was hard to say whether to praise her extraordinary talent or invite her to serve in the Ministry of Justice.
“Who did you see, and what did you hear?” Nan Shiying asked, toying with a silver needle.
“Zhao Yu, a confidant of the Capital Commander Zhao Wuyan.”
“He, he…” The man’s voice trembled slightly. He took several deep breaths, the movement pulling at his wounds and causing him to gasp in pain. However, more than the physical pain, the words he held in his mouth, reluctant to speak, seemed to fill him with greater panic and fear.
“Speak!”
“A month ago, I…”
At the end of the month before last, it was the day for settling accounts, and he had returned to the Zhuyu Gang.
“Second Master!”
Only a bunch of lazybones remained in the gang. Upon seeing him return, they greeted him with fawning smiles.
“Where is the gang leader?” he asked.
“After dinner, the gang leader has remained in his room and hasn’t come out.”
He nodded and walked towards the gang leader’s room with the ledger. As he approached, he heard voices from inside. He hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but he’d vaguely heard words like ‘treasures’ and ‘gold,’ which piqued his curiosity intensely, making him want to hear it all.
He tiptoed closer, stretching his ears, but the content of the conversation drifting through the window cracks caused his face to change drastically.
The people inside were saying: “On the twenty-fifth, the winter hunt, hunting dragons!”
Although he hadn’t studied much, he understood the meaning of the words. He was immediately so terrified he wished he had never been there, never heard these words. In his haste, he stepped on the dead leaves at his feet.
“Who?”
A roar came from inside the room. He couldn’t escape and was caught red-handed. Only then did he see the person colluding with the gang leader in the room to assassinate the emperor—the Deputy General of the Capital Commander, Zhao Yu!
What the heck?
Nan Shiying blinked, completely surprised to hear such a confession. How did interrogating a member of the Zhuyu Gang lead to a murder case at the hunting grounds?
“What did you say? You said the mastermind behind the assassination at the hunting grounds is suspected to be Zhao Wuyan?” A chill shot straight up Zou Chengyi’s spine. His chest heaved rapidly, dizzy and disoriented by the news. He took a step forward, grabbed the man’s collar, and questioned him.
The man nodded blankly.
Recovering from his initial shock, Nan Shiying stroked his chin. Setting aside other matters, one point was highly suspicious: “You said you were discovered? And they didn’t kill you to silence you?”
The man replied, “It was… the gang leader who pleaded for me.”
Nan Shiying nodded. Her next question was directed at Zou Chengyi: “Lord Zou, have you discovered any suspicious individuals around the Ministry of Justice recently?”
“No!”
Zou Chengyi couldn’t figure out the connection.
Nan Shiying fell silent, pondering. Then, she said, “Let’s go and question the others.”
Zou Chengyi quickly responded, “Don’t be in such a hurry to leave. First, treat him. We can’t let him die!”
Nan Shiying said, “Oh,” and agreed. It was true, if Zou Chengyi reported this matter to Ji Hong, they couldn't let the witness die. She took out some wound powder and sighed, “Fine, another bottle wasted!”
After ensuring the man wouldn’t die, Zou Chengyi, not at ease, reinforced the prison guards. Once completely assured, he accompanied Nan Shiying to the prison where the other individuals were held.
Previously, to prevent them from colluding, they hadn’t been placed together.
These individuals weren’t stubborn, but they truly knew nothing. Zou Chengyi lost interest in staying longer and left in a hurry, seemingly intending to go directly to the palace to see the emperor.
Nan Shiying still couldn’t understand how it had escalated to an assassination case!
…
“Madam, it’s late, you should rest!”
The Capital Commander Zhao Wuyan looked at his wife helplessly. His wife was embroidering a sachet by candlelight, saying she wanted to prepare a welcoming gift for their future daughter-in-law.
Why would such a gift require her to personally embroider it, ruining her eyesight for nothing?
“I know, I know!”
The Madam, though agreeing verbally, didn’t stop her hands. Only after finishing the last stitch on the petals did she place the item in the bamboo basket and blow out the candle.
Undressing, on the bed, she snuggled into Zhao Wuyan’s embrace.
Not long after, snoring began. The sound of birds flapping their wings came from outside the window. The Madam, nestled in Zhao Wuyan’s arms, suddenly opened her eyes.
“Master, Master?” She nudged Zhao Wuyan. After a long while, certain that Zhao Wuyan was fast asleep, she quietly got up, put on an outer robe, walked to the window, and opened a crack. A bird, looking like a sparrow, flew in and landed on her hand.
She dug out something from the flowerpot by the window and placed it in her palm.
The bird ate a few bites, then flapped its wings and flew out again.
The moonlight cast her shadow long, stretching from the window to the bed. At the end of the shadow, beneath the darkness, a scrutinizing gaze appeared.
Zhao Wuyan watched his wife standing by the window, then slowly closed his eyes again.
From beginning to end, the snoring never stopped.
…
The Imperial Palace, the Imperial Study.
Zou Chengyi knelt on the ground, recounting in detail how he obtained the information and how. Finally, he said, “As for whether Zhao Wuyan or someone else is the mastermind, there is no definitive conclusion. Your humble servant dares not speculate!”
“What did you say?”
Upon hearing the news brought by Zou Chengyi, Ji Hong shot to his feet, his piercing eyes flashing with cold light. The emperor’s might, the emperor’s fury, instantly spread to every corner of the Imperial Study. Zou Chengyi seemed like a wisp of duckweed floating under a fierce gale, struggling for survival amidst the monstrous waves.