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That night, Xiao Heng told Gu Jiao about the Heavenly Music House, mentioning Mo Qianxue"s purpose and the orders of the Heavenly Music House"s Young Owner.
She pretended to drink the cup of tea Mo Qianxue handed her on the surface but did not actually swallow it.
She wanted to see what Mo Qianxue would do next.
Mo Qianxue first put her on the bed, then dragged another person from under the bed, who turned out to be Hua Xiyao.
Mo Qianxue changed Hua Xiyao into her clothes and put on a veil for her.
At this point, Gu Jiao almost guessed what Mo Qianxue planned to do.
The reason she didn"t immediately intervene was that Mo Qianxue"s drug was indeed too potent. Even though she didn"t swallow it, she had kept it in her mouth for a long time, absorbing a bit.
She still ended up sleeping for half an hour.
Fortunately, Mo Qianxue did not walk too fast all the way, or tragedy would have occurred by the time she arrived. Killing that man would have been of no help.
Mo Qianxue didn"t ask when Gu Jiao started to suspect her. She was too ashamed to ask, and there was no need to ask.
She had ulterior motives for getting close to her. Now that the truth was out, she still rushed to save her...
"Next time if such a situation arises, take me with you." Gu Jiao said. "Don"t do foolish things alone."
Mo Qianxue looked at her fixedly.
After a while, she lowered her head and softly replied, "Mm."
Gu Jiao took Mo Qianxue back to the medical hall.
On the other side, Xiao Heng and the Ministry of Justice"s constables took the "survivor" back to the Ministry of Justice. They also brought back Hua Xiyao who had fainted nearby.
Hua Xiyao fell victim to the Seven-Days Drunken and wouldn"t wake up for seven days and nights. Xiao Heng temporarily confined her in a separate cell.
The gray-clad man was taken to the torture chamber.
He had a poison sac in his mouth, which was discovered by Xiao Heng, who had it removed. After that, he attempted to bite his tongue and end his life several times, so Xiao Heng simply administered some soft bone powder to him.
Xiao Heng, as the Chief of Records of the Ministry of Justice, had no authority to interrogate prisoners. However, when he personally applied to Minister Xing to conduct the interrogation, Minister Xing readily agreed.
The gray-clad man sat weakly in the center of the torture chamber on an iron chair. Behind him was a platform for holding prisoners, and on the walls on both sides hung various torture instruments.
The room was dimly lit, with not a single candle, only a half-height stove burning on the right side as you entered, holding a red-hot branding iron.
Xiao Heng sat across from the gray-clad man. The stove was only a few steps away from him, and the firelight reflected on the handsome half of his face, giving him a half-shadowed, half-illuminated appearance, which added an eerie and chilly feeling for no apparent reason.
"You can leave." Xiao Heng ordered the two constables in the torture chamber.
"Yes, my Lord."
The constables had received orders from Minister Xing; all actions were to be carried out according to the instructions of Chief of Records Xiao.
Xiao Heng abandoned his previous friendly demeanor and now appeared indifferent, even with a touch of ruthlessness. He looked at the gray-clad man and asked, "Who ordered you?"
The gray-clad man, experienced in the ways of the world, remained calm. He lay limp in the chair, his head tilted, and his whole body unable to move. After hearing Xiao Heng"s words, he coldly laughed, "In your yamen"s investigations, don"t you usually start by asking about the ident.i.ty of the prisoner? Why doesn"t my Lord ask who I am?"
Xiao Heng looked at him indifferently, "Your name is Bai Kun, a native of Fucheng, twenty-five years old. Both parents died three years ago, no siblings, and no family. In your youth, you studied for two years at Sir Liu"s private school in Fucheng. Due to your unruly nature, you were expelled from the private school. After that, your parents sent you to an iron workshop as an apprentice. However, you were expelled from the iron workshop by the boss after less than two years for theft. You traveled to many places, and in the end, you were noticed by a master at a martial arts school. You had decent talent, and in just a few years, you developed good martial skills. In the year when you were twenty-two, both of your parents pa.s.sed away, and after burying them, you left Fucheng and disappeared without a trace."
The gray-clad man looked at Xiao Heng in great astonishment.
Xiao Heng stepped closer to him step by step. His excessively beautiful face adorned by a pair of sinister eyes, "How about that? Did I get it right?"
"No... no, I"m not Bai Kun!" The gray-clad man desperately shook his head, but the effect of the soft bone powder rendered him almost immobile.
Xiao Heng bent down slightly, getting closer to him, and said lightly, "Does it matter whether you are Bai Kun or not?"
The gray-clad man was shocked again!
Xiao Heng took out a confession letter and a box of cinnabar ink from the wide sleeves of his official robe.
A sense of ominous foreboding suddenly surged in the gray-clad man"s heart, "What... what are you going to do?"
Xiao Heng dusted off the confession letter, opened the box of cinnabar ink with his jade-like fingers, and then grabbed the gray-clad man"s hand.
The gray-clad man tried to struggle, but with the soft bone powder taking effect, where could he find any strength?
His eyes widened like bronze bells, and he roared, "You’re a court official! What you"re doing is worthy of beheading!"
Xiao Heng: "Oh, is that so?"
The gray-clad man: "You"re insane! I want to see your superior! I want to see the Minister of Justice! You can"t force me to confess!"
Xiao Heng: "I haven"t forced you."
"I don"t admit guilt! I haven"t confessed! It"s not me who confessed... Not me... You! You..." The gray-clad man panicked and spoke incoherently.
Xiao Heng ignored his struggles and complaints. He wasn"t the kind of person who appeared cold on the surface but had a soft heart. His heart was really dark.
And in places Gu Jiao couldn’t see, he didn’t need to pretend.
Xiao Heng expressionlessly grabbed his hand, pressed it into the cinnabar ink, and then imprinted a bright red handprint on the confession letter.
The torture chamber was a place for severe punishment of significant criminals. Ordinary criminals would not be sent here, and those who were sent here were mostly going to be skinned alive.
In order to isolate the screams of the prisoners, the torture chamber"s door was soundproof.
The constables in the corridor did not hear any noise from inside.
After about half an hour, Xiao Heng came out of the torture chamber looking tired.
His forehead and neck were covered in sticky sweat, and his chest was slightly heaving with short, rapid breaths.
He appeared artificially calm but seemed to have a trace of reluctance in his eyes.
Seeing this, the constables hurriedly reported to Minister Xing.
Minister Xing hurriedly came over, "Liulang, what happened to you?"
Xiao Heng looked at Minister Xing with a complex expression, "I"m fine, but the prisoner... chose to commit suicide out of fear."
Minister Xing was stunned, surprised that the prisoner would choose to commit suicide out of fear.
"Did he confess then?" Minister Xing asked.
Xiao Heng, as if relieved of a heavy burden, handed over the doc.u.ment in his hand, "Luckily, he fulfilled his duty. Bai Kun confessed, and this is Bai Kun"s confession letter."
Minister Xing quickly took the confession letter and carefully read it from top to bottom and from right to left.
The more he read, the more solemn his expression became.
Indeed, this prisoner was related to the Heavenly Music House, and the confession letter mentioned the Young Owner of the Heavenly Music House.
At the top, written in black ink on white paper, were the words—— Young Owner of the Heavenly Music House, an imperial princess of the State of Zhao, calls the current Emperor elder brother.
Minister Xing felt like he had been struck by lightning!Raz P."s Thoughts
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