Anqing County, inside a torture chamber.
The torch on the wall cast a flickering light.
Zhang Feng and the Eldest Prince sat upright at the top.
In the small open space ahead were various torture devices and the Chief Constable and County Captain tied to torture chairs.
On the ground beneath them lay several weapons and gold and silver treasures found in the well of their home.
"Speak! Did you cover up the forbidden books case?"
At this moment, a constable took over the petty officer’s role, whipping a wet lash onto the Chief Constable, eliciting a miserable scream from him.
With his scream, the interrogation officially began.
However, the Chief Constable was a man of steel; despite his howls, he wouldn’t say a word about the forbidden books case.
On the contrary, he glared at everyone, fiercely saying, "Have the guts to kill me!"
The constable didn’t kill him, instead continued the flogging.
After a few lashes, he was left with only screams, no more defiance.
When two other constables whipped the County Captain, he fiercely clenched his teeth, proving to be a tough man as well.
Not just these three constables did the torturing, there were many other fierce-eyed constables around, weighing various torture devices in their hands.
Two among them were also heating iron on a furnace.
’Damn it! Almost got me killed!’
Initially, they were in high spirits today, but after the assassination attempt on the Chief Constable and County Captain, their mood turned to anger and unease.
Because they knew the law well and understood the consequences of attempting to assassinate two princes.
At the least, these two would surely be beheaded.
Even if these constables narrowly escape death, they’d suffer greatly as well.
At worst, their family and relatives wouldn’t be spared, including close neighbors and friends.
If the crime is severe, it could turn the county upside down.
’Luckily, the two princes weren’t implicated...’ The constables now felt fortunate the princes didn’t blame them, otherwise, they would’ve been wronged to death.
They truly never expected that the usually fair and strict Chief Constable and County Captain would turn out to be assassins?
’Don’t blame me for lacking loyalty...’
Yet precisely because the constables lived on, they grew more furious and fearful the more they thought,
Taking turns to flog, they exerted all their strength.
Given this momentum, they must get something out of the County Captain tonight.
"Speak!" The County Magistrate, with bloodshot eyes, stared at the County Captain, using a pair of iron pincers to pinch his skin, "Quick! Any accomplices?"
The County Magistrate gripped the pincers tightly, his tone vicious.
The County Captain endured the pain, biting his lip in silence.
The County Magistrate saw that the skin was pulled off, yet he still didn’t speak, so he waved his hand,
"Continue the torture!"
The County Magistrate still wanted to continue the torture himself, but his hand cramped from gripping the pincers too tightly.
"Eldest Prince, Seventh Prince..."
At this moment, the County Magistrate was nodding and serving tea to Zhang Feng and the Eldest Prince obsequiously.
Zhang Feng was seated on a large bench draped with tiger skin, comfortably leaning back, watching the torture being carried out.
The Eldest Prince, having seen plenty of bloodshed at the Ministry of Justice, was not perturbed by such scenes, instead, he looked at Zhang Feng with concern and said:
"Xiaoqi, if these two still don’t speak, I’ll have someone use the fish scale torture; you might want to step out."
The Eldest Prince thought that although his younger brother seemed unmoved by the scene now, the upcoming torture and rat-eating scenes would be completely different.
The Eldest Prince feared Zhang Feng might have nightmares.
As for why Zhang Feng could capture the assassins and lift them,
This physique spoke for itself.
However, it couldn’t be denied that there’s martial prowess involved.
The Eldest Prince understood, but surrounded by outsiders, he dared not ask.
The others didn’t dare bring it up either.
At this moment, when the Eldest Prince mentioned ’fish scale torture’,
Simultaneously, nearby officials from the Lin City Ministry of Justice also produced a finely woven fishing net.
Familiar with the lingering torture, the Chief Constable’s mind went blank, leaving only terror as he shouted, "I’ll speak! I’ll speak!"
"Junior brother!" The County Captain suddenly turned to him, his brows full of fury, "Don’t be cowardly and treacherous!"
"I don’t want to be tortured..." Once the Chief Constable’s psychological defenses collapsed, he spilled everything completely,
"My master is a man of the Jianghu; he intends to assassinate the Emperor. The two of us were appointed by him..."
"Junior brother!" The County Captain shouted again, trying to stop the Chief Constable from revealing more.
"Shut up!" Before anyone else could speak, a constable whipped the County Captain across the face, leaving a deep gash.
"The forbidden book case several years ago..." The Chief Constable wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t look, and continued uninterrupted, "That was also done by us... but I don’t know where my master is now... I know about the forbidden books! They’re right in my home’s yard! Dig one zhang down to find them!"
"Why did you try to assassinate my father?" The Eldest Prince instructed his trusted people in the Ministry of Justice to retrieve the books while asking the crucial question.
"Why not kill him?" At this moment, seeing everything exposed, the County Captain laughed a few times, looking at Zhang Feng and the Eldest Prince,
"My master despises the Emperor suppressing the Jianghu, so he wants him dead!
You two are offspring of that Emperor, as my master said: kill them all!"
"But we have no grievances." The Eldest Prince shook his head, wishing to know how his benevolent father had offended them?
Because the Eldest Prince thought, this ’dislike’ is a rather flimsy reason.
"Did my father wrong your master?" The Eldest Prince sincerely wanted to know, "My father repaired canals, fortified the Great Wall, loved the people. How exactly did he offend your master?