Prince Liang laughed with extraordinary gusto, as if venting all the frustrations he had suppressed during this period.
Looking at the frenzied Prince Liang, the servants of the prince's manor couldn't help but wonder: could such a person truly become the heir apparent again? But on second thought, with the Crown Prince dead, the Emperor had only one son left. If Prince Liang didn't become the Crown Prince, who else could?
The servants perked up and advised him with sincere hearts, "Your Highness, the more things are like this, the more you must remain steady. Only when the Emperor knows you are heartbroken for the Crown Prince will he be gratified..."
Prince Liang blinked, taking the advice to heart. "You are right."
With hope right before his eyes, he could manage this bit of restraint.
"Fourth Brother—!" Prince Liang covered his face and began to wail loudly.
The subsequent routine of arranging the funeral for the Crown Prince need not be mentioned. After three days of searching every inch of the ground, the suspected killer of the Crown Prince was finally found.
Emperor Taian had given orders long ago: once this person was found, he was to be brought directly before him.
"Kneel!" Cheng Maoming kicked the man in the back of the knees.
The man fell with a thud, the heavy sound of impact against the ground making one's scalp tighten.
Emperor Taian stared down at the man, his face a mask of coldness.
"Was it you who impersonated Yang Zhe to murder the Crown Prince?" As he asked this, Emperor Taian strove to keep his voice steady.
"Murder the Crown Prince?" The man's expression jolted, and he cried out his innocence loudly, "This humble citizen is framed! Even if I were given the courage of heaven, I would not dare harm the Crown Prince—"
Cheng Maoming gave him a merciless kick. "Stop pretending! You slipped out of the Five Flavors Pavilion before the Crown Prince's accident; do you think no one saw you?"
The man's voice trembled, appearing extremely terrified. "The Five Flavors Pavilion is a famous restaurant in the capital. This humble citizen went there out of curiosity to taste the delicacies. How can it be said that I ha—harmed the Crown Prince?"
Cheng Maoming stared at him and suddenly sneered. "You may not know, but the Five Flavors Pavilion is mostly frequented by regulars. If there is a new face, the restaurant staff remember them more vividly. We have already asked; you were not among the guests drinking wine that day!"
Hearing this, the man's eyes shifted slightly, and his eyelids flickered.
Emperor Taian could bear it no longer and abruptly stood up. "Make him speak the truth. I shall wait."
Understanding the intent, Cheng Maoming took the man to the interrogation room and applied torture without a single wasted word.
Thanks to the rich array of torture methods accumulated by generations of predecessors, even for those who had been trained, those who could truly endure various forms of torture were one in a hundred.
Screams echoed incessantly in the airtight interrogation room. The whip lashed across the body strike after strike, and chili water seeped into the gruesome, curling wounds, bringing a pain that struck the very soul. Shortly after the third round of torture began, the man finally broke.
"I'll talk—"
Cheng Maoming raised his hand, and the torturers stopped.
With a sigh, Minister Shen involuntarily exhaled a breath of stale air.
Meeting Cheng Maoming's questioning gaze, Minister Shen gave an awkward smile.
He was an old bone; he couldn't quite handle such a bloody scene.
"It... it was Yang Zhe who instructed me to do it..." The man spoke with difficulty, his forehead drenched in sweat from the pain.
As soon as these words came out, both Cheng Maoming and Minister Shen were shocked.
"Compiler Yang?" Minister Shen stared intently at the man and asked again, fearing he had misheard.
The man curled his lip. "Yes..."
Cheng Maoming composed himself, his face returning to a state of calm. "You say Yang Zhe instructed you. Then tell me, who are you people, and why did you do this?"
The man looked conflicted for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "We are all people of Qi."
"What!" Minister Shen was so shocked he nearly choked, pointing his finger at the man. "You are a person of Qi?"
The man nodded.
"Compiler Yang is also a person of Qi?"
Thinking of something, the man actually let out a small laugh. "Otherwise, why would we kill the Crown Prince of Great Zhou?"
Minister Shen stared wide-eyed, his beard twitching as he clenched his teeth.
The top scholar Yang was actually a person of Qi? This... this was too bizarre!
But if he weren't from Qi, given how much the Crown Prince valued Yang Zhe, he would have no reason to murder him.
Minister Shen believed the man's words almost instantly. However, after the initial shock, a thought stirred in Cheng Maoming's heart.
Something was wrong!
Others might not know, but he knew clearly: this person's disguise technique and skill were identical to those of the Yuli maids; they were clearly the work of the same hand. And those people were clearly remnants of Emperor Pingle, not people of Qi.
Having suffered such severe torture, why would this man lie and say he and Yang Zhe were from Qi?
Suspicion grew in Cheng Maoming's heart, but to avoid alerting the enemy, he remained impassive. "So you and Yang Zhe are both spies trained by the State of Qi, and Yang Zhe was your superior?"
"Yes."
Cheng Maoming looked the man up and down. "You are one thing, but Yang Zhe was the top scholar. From the child examinations onward, proofs of identity such as parental guarantees, mutual bonds, and formal affidavits cannot be missing. Could it be that the State of Qi began plotting since his ancestors' generation?"
It is not difficult to impersonate an ordinary person, but once one enters the imperial examinations, the status of one's father and grandfather must be crystal clear, and there must be certifications from locals. A person of unknown origin could not even pass the child examination, let alone anything further.
The man's face was pale, but he did not evade Cheng Maoming's questioning. "That, I do not know. I am merely someone who follows orders. My only task was to cooperate with Yang Zhe to kill the Crown Prince of Great Zhou. The higher-ups did not tell me more information."
"Then where did you get your mask?"
"Yang Zhe gave it to me," the man replied without hesitation.
"To set up such a massive plot, there surely aren't just the two of you, right?"
The man lowered his eyes, looking exhausted and resigned. "I told you, I am just a small pawn following orders. The only people I know are Yang Zhe and the superior who arranged for me to contact Yang Zhe. As for how many of our own are in the capital or what the subsequent arrangements are, I am completely unaware."
"Where is your superior?"
The man shook his head, the movement pulling at his wounds and making his face even paler. "He contacted me through secret codes."
"You've scrubbed your tracks quite clean," Cheng Maoming clicked his tongue.
The man weakly lifted his eyelids. "I... I have said everything I know. If the大人 does not believe me, there is nothing more I can do..."
"You had best not be hiding anything, otherwise, those who attend to you will not be limited to these few." After the warning, Cheng Maoming walked out of the interrogation room with Minister Shen.
The Emperor had been waiting; the two dared not delay and went directly to see him.
"What did you find out?" Upon seeing them, Emperor Taian asked immediately.
Cheng Maoming and Minister Shen exchanged a glance.
"Minister Shen, you speak."
Minister Shen took a sharp breath and, with lowered eyes, recounted the situation the man had confessed.
Emperor Taian listened quietly until Minister Shen finished, then cast a gaze as deep as a dark pool toward Cheng Maoming. "Send someone to Yang Zhe's hometown and thoroughly investigate his origins."
"Yes."
After a moment of silence, Emperor Taian suddenly asked, "Regarding this man's confession, what do you two think?"
Minister Shen was stunned.
From the Emperor's tone, was there still doubt regarding the man's confession?
Under the Emperor's gaze, he weighed his words before speaking. "This minister believes that a confession given under severe torture should be credible."
(End of Chapter)