The reborn girl always wants to escape, but the abstinent marquis hugs her and coaxes her!

Chapter 111 Exposed

In the capital, the atmosphere in the court had become extremely low since the news of the urgent journey of 800 miles from Jiangnan Road reached the capital four days ago.

Today is a closed day.

In the upper study of the palace, Chang Jing, the Jiangnan Dao promotion and demotion envoy, knelt before the emperor's throne.

The prince was accompanying him.

The emperor looked at the memorial submitted by Chang Jing and his hands trembled with anger.

He never imagined that under the appearance of peace and prosperity in the Zhou Dynasty, some people would extend their dirty hands to innocent people in order to fight for power and profit.

The floods in the four provinces south of the Yangtze River have killed and injured thousands of people and destroyed tens of thousands of acres of fertile farmland. If it weren't for the abundant food reserves, the land would have been completely devastated by starvation!

The emperor snapped the letter shut and said, "Bring the man up here."

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, four fully armed imperial guards came in carrying a man.

The man had obviously been severely tortured, with not a single piece of intact skin on his body.

Because he was going to meet the emperor, he was hurriedly rinsed with water several times and changed into new prison clothes.

His legs were disabled and he was carried in on a stretcher.

Chang Jing came to Beijing four days ago with the Jiangnan Road Express. After arriving in Beijing, he went straight to the home of Duan Chuanchao, a private wine shop owner, dragged him out at night, and detained him in the forbidden garden of the Eastern Palace.

These days, Chang Jing personally supervised the execution.

The daily roars and wails from the Forbidden Garden frightened even the servants away. Duan Chuanchao, tortured, his eyes reddened, "My Lord, if you have evidence, take my life! It's absolutely unacceptable to let me accuse you of something."

Chang Jing was furious: "You really are a loyal dog! For the sake of the master behind you, you don't even want your own life?"

Duan Chuanchao said coldly, "I am just a commoner who makes a living by my craft. I don't know who the master you are talking about is."

Seeing that he was not moved by any persuasion, Chang Jing used his trump card.

He asked his men to bring Duan Chuanchao's mother in.

Duan Chuanchao, who was tied to the rack, seemed to be crazy and struggled desperately: "You are shameless! Don't touch my mother!"

Chang Jing waved his hand, and his men dragged Duan's mother to the next room.

The sound of iron chains rang out, and it was obvious that Duan's mother was also tied to the rack.

Duan Chuanchao's eyes widened in anger: "You dog official! You bastard! If you have anything to say, just come to me. You are targeting an old lady, who do you think you are!" Chang Jing sneered: "You still know that she is your mother? Have you ever thought about the mothers of those you killed? You can be cruel to others, so what can't I do? You are tough, can you bear it? Then I will see if your mother can bear it!"

After saying this, he ordered his men, “Call the East Palace doctor and don’t let the old lady die.”

"Ah...ah..." Duan Chuanchao kept roaring.

A whip sounded from next door, and Duan's mother screamed.

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you! I'll tell you!!!" Duan Chuanchao roared, tears streaming down his face.

Next, everything will come naturally.

The Chief Secretary of the Eastern Palace recorded Duan Chuanchao's confession, and the prince indeed saw the name of the second prince Wu Tianchi.

He smashed the two inkstones in the study.

Chang Jing asked, "Should we report this to His Majesty as soon as possible?" The Crown Prince said nothing and turned to Cao Yang, the Junior Secretary of the Eastern Palace, who had just returned from investigating a case in the south.

Cao Yang understood what was happening. He stepped forward and said, "The flood in Jiangnan Province has been confirmed to be caused by six officials who tampered with the dike reinforcement at the beginning of the year. These six officials have been silenced by Duan Chuanchao. Therefore, the only person who can explain this matter clearly is Duan Chuanchao."

"Now that Duan Chuanchao has been arrested, I believe this matter should be dealt with as soon as possible. If the Second Prince learns of this, he will surely destroy the remaining evidence. By then, it will be difficult to explain the situation clearly before Your Majesty arrives."

Cao Yang's words strengthened the confidence of the hesitant prince.

The second brother is here to take his life, so why should he be merciful?

So he asked for permission to enter the palace and brought Duan Chuanchao in.

At this time, Duan Chuanchao knelt on the ground and told the whole story of how he was ordered by the second prince to silence someone.

The emperor frowned. "You are so arrogant that you can slander the prince with empty words? How can a commoner like you easily come into contact with a prince?"

Duan Chuanchao endured the severe pain all over his body and said, "Every time the Second Prince sent someone to deliver a message, he would hold a token in his hand. One time, it fell into my house, and I hid it on the roof. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can send someone to get it."

The emperor nodded, and one of the imperial guards withdrew.

Duan Chuanchao continued:

"My winemaking skills are well known to all the major restaurants in the capital. The Second Prince knew that the officials from the four Jiangnan prefectures were heavy drinkers, so he asked me to do something for him, saying that after the task was completed, he would fund me to open a tavern in the capital, so that I wouldn't have to run around like I do now."

"Then how did you kill those six people?" asked the emperor.

He tried his best to endure it, but people who were close to him could still see the blue veins bulging on his forehead.

Duan Chuanchao recounted in detail how he had infiltrated the Yuji Tavern in Yingzhou and how he had lured the groom with fine wine into drugging the six men's horse feed. "When they came to meet at the Yuji Tavern, I found an excuse to lure away the owner's two nephews who served the horses. Then I had the groom I found poison the horses while they were serving them. After the deed was accomplished, I took the groom to the suburbs, poisoned him, and buried him. I returned to the capital and waited for some time until the Second Prince sent a letter informing me that no one suspected I was involved in the six men's deaths."

"You really have a good way! If you insist on investigating, I'm afraid that I and the whole world will be fooled by you!"

Soon, the imperial guards who went to investigate Duan Chuanchao's house returned.

But when he came back, what he was holding in his hand was the identity jade token of the second prince Wu Tianchi.

According to royal rules, the Eastern Palace has four jade tokens, the other princes have two each, and the rest of the royal family members have one jade token each, to show their identities to the outside world.

The emperor fumbled with shaking hands for his second son's jade identity token.

Suddenly, tears streamed down my face.

The Crown Prince wiped his eyes and said, "Father...why has the Second Brother become like this? Is he willing to disregard the lives of the people just to suppress Lord Chang Jing?"

The emperor sighed: "He is not trying to suppress Chang Jing...his target is you!"

After saying this, he slammed the jade tokens onto the table and shouted, "Go, bring the Second Prince to me!"

Eunuch Yao, who had been standing aside and didn't dare to utter a word, now quickly agreed and prepared to go out to summon someone.

"It's not you who should go!" The emperor interrupted him and pointed at the imperial guards, "You go!"

The imperial guards were dispatched, and there was little room for maneuver.

……

For Wu Tianchi, he has been feeling uneasy since the man who tried to assassinate Mu Rong never returned.

Chang Jing's return to the capital to report on his work made him even more uneasy. He always felt that something had gone wrong in the Jiangnan Road. And today, when he saw a column of imperial guards rushing directly into his prince's mansion,

His face turned pale in an instant.