bookrandom Chapter 1656: Start from the Palace!
Chapter 1656: Start from the Palace!
The morning light had not yet dispelled the frost on the palace walls, but Ling Haoran had already passed through the Xuan Palace Gate with twenty runners from the Ministry of Justice.
The gold medal hanging around his waist shone coldly in the morning light. It was a token of "As if I were here in person" bestowed by the emperor himself.
In front of Yongxiang Palace where the eunuchs lived, several young eunuchs were sweeping the snow. When they saw them coming aggressively, they were so scared that they dropped their brooms and ran inside.
"Surround them! Don't let any of them escape!"
At Ling Haoran's command, the yamen runners immediately dispersed and surrounded Yongxiang Palace tightly.
As soon as he stepped into the palace gate, he ran into Gao Dequan, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, who had rushed over after hearing the news.
Although the old eunuch was over sixty years old, he still stood straight in front of Ling Haoran and said, "Sir Ling, this is the inner courtyard of the imperial palace. I'm afraid it's against the rules for you to bring so many yamen runners in."
Ling Haoran sneered and pulled out the imperial edict from his pocket: "Chief Steward Gao, I, following His Majesty's order, must thoroughly investigate the assassination of Divine Doctor Sun."
His gaze was like a knife, sweeping across the group of trembling eunuchs behind Gao De: "All the eunuchs and maids who served Your Majesty last night will be taken away for questioning!"
"presumptuous!"
A young eunuch suddenly rushed out, pointed at Ling Haoran's nose and cursed: "This is the imperial palace. Who do you think you are, the Ministry of Justice? How dare you arrest people here!"
Ling Haoran didn't even blink, and waved his right hand: "Catch him!"
The two yamen runners pounced on the eunuch like wolves and tigers and pinned him to the ground.
The other eunuchs were furious when they saw this:
"You are so audacious! Aren't you afraid of His Majesty's punishment?"
"We serve the Emperor, what right do you have to arrest us?"
"Ling Haoran, if you dare to touch us today, you will be in big trouble tomorrow!"
Ling Haoran turned a deaf ear and pulled out a list from his sleeve: "From 3:30 PM to 11:00 PM last night, the six eunuchs and four palace maids on duty in the Yangxin Palace are all taken away!"
He swept his cold gaze over the crowd and said, "I suspect that the news of the assassination of Divine Doctor Sun was leaked from among you."
Gao Dequan's face turned pale, and he trembled as he said, "Lord Ling, this... there must be a misunderstanding..."
"Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, we'll know after the trial." Ling Haoran stopped talking nonsense and signaled the bailiff to take action.
For a moment, cries and shouts were heard everywhere in Yongxiang Palace.
The eunuchs and palace maids who were named were dragged out roughly. Some of them collapsed on the ground, some struggled desperately, and some even fainted from fright.
A palace maid clung to the corridor pillar tightly and refused to let go. The bailiff forcibly pried her fingers apart, leaving several bloody marks.
When Ling Haoran led the fifteen suspects through the palace corridor, the palace maids and eunuchs along the way all avoided them as if they were carrying a plague.
In the morning light, this silent team cast a long shadow, like a winding black snake, swimming towards the gloomy prison of the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice Prison is located in the southwest corner of the imperial city and never sees sunlight all year round.
As soon as Ling Haoran stepped into the dungeon, he was hit in the face by a foul stench mixed with blood, rotten meat and feces.
The torches on the wall flickered, distorting the figures.
"Sir, the torture instruments are ready." The jailer bowed and reported, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
Ling Haoran nodded and walked straight to the innermost interrogation room.
Fifteen suspects were tied to wooden frames, their wrists and ankles bound with wet leather ropes that tightened the more they struggled.
Seeing Ling Haoran come in, everyone immediately cried out:
"Master Ling, this is unfair! I know nothing!"
"I was with Xiao Cui the entire night and never left the palace!"
"Your Excellency, I only went in with a basin of hot water and came out immediately. I didn't even hear what Your Majesty said!"
Ling Haoran sat down on the armchair and drank his tea slowly.
The tea was the best Longjing tea, which stood out in this filthy dungeon.
"I'll give you one last chance."
He put down his teacup and said in a terrifyingly calm voice, "Who leaked the information? Who are the accomplices?"
The fifteen people looked at each other, and then burst into even more intense cries of injustice.
Ling Haoran sighed and winked at the jailer.
The jailer understood and clapped his hands, and four burly executioners came in pushing a wooden cart.
The car was filled with various torture instruments: bamboo sticks, branding irons, whips, pliers... they glowed coldly in the firelight.
"Since none of you want to talk, then come one by one."
Ling Haoran stood up and walked to the first eunuch.
This was a young man in his early twenties, still with a childish face, who was so scared that he wet his pants.
"Start with you." Ling Haoran said softly: "Finger pinching."
The executioner immediately stepped forward and put the eunuch's ten fingers into the pliers.
This is a torture device made of hardwood with ropes tied at both ends. When tightened, it can break finger bones.
"what--!"
As the rope tightened little by little, shrill screams echoed in the dungeon.
When the rope was tightened for the third time, the eunuch rolled his eyes in pain, but he still insisted on not knowing anything.
"Change to the next one." Ling Haoran ordered expressionlessly.
This time it was a palace maid who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old.
The executioner tied her to the "beauty bench" - a special bench that can bend the human body to the extreme.
"I'll tell you! I'll tell you!" The maid screamed before the torture even began. "I saw Xiao Shunzi sneak out of Yongxiang Palace last night!"
The eunuch who was accused immediately turned pale: "You are slandering me! I was clearly sleeping in the room the whole time!"
Ling Haoran narrowed his eyes: "Really? How do you explain this?"
He suddenly pulled out a jade pendant from his sleeve: "I found this at the back door of Yongxiang Palace. Your name is engraved on it."
When the eunuch saw the jade pendant, he collapsed like mud.
Ling Haoran sneered and said to the executioner, "Bring on the branding iron."
The sizzling sound of the red-hot iron touching the skin, mixed with the heart-wrenching screams, almost made the other prisoners collapse.
Some people began to talk nonsense, some kowtowed and begged for mercy, and some were simply scared to death and laughed foolishly.
Two hours later, all fifteen people were tortured.
The dungeon was filled with the smell of burnt flesh and blood, and the walls and floor were splattered with blood.
However, surprisingly, although everyone was tortured beyond recognition, no one confessed.
Ling Haoran frowned, this was not reasonable.
At this moment, a yamen runner hurried in and whispered in his ear: "Sir, we have searched their residence. It is spotless and no evidence was found."
"What?" Ling Haoran stood up suddenly, and the teacup fell to the ground.
He paced back and forth, then suddenly stopped: "No... it's too clean, which makes it suspicious."
A gleam flashed in his eyes. "Expand the search area! No one who appeared near the Yangxin Palace last night should be spared!"
The bailiff took the order and left.
Ling Haoran walked to the window and looked at the sky which was gradually getting darker.
In the twilight, the outline of the imperial city was like a dormant beast, and the person he was looking for was hiding in the shadow of this beast.
"Sir, what should we do with these people?" the jailer asked.
Ling Haoran said without even turning his head: "Keep them locked up, don't let them die."
He stroked the jade pendant in his hand, a sneer on his face: "I want to see how many evil spirits are hiding in this palace."