Who says the prince is weak and can't take care of himself?

"Snapped!"

Zong Sheng whipped Chi Yue down with his whip. Chi Yue's face was ferocious, his eyes were red, and he was full of murderous intent, as if he was about to turn into a ghost. He roared softly, "I didn't kill anyone!"

Pei Hao watched from the sidelines, his scalp tingling. He had been an official for twenty-five years, and in the Dali Temple for a full ten. He had seen all sorts of prisoners: the ruthless and murderous, those who held high positions and had wielded power. The Dali Temple was a living hell, incarcerated only for those afflicted with the five vices of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt. Pei Hao had no doubt these people would suffer endless torture in hell after death.

And now, Pei Hao was standing before him, a figure identical to every one he had seen before! Yet, this one had been a handsome young man just moments before. Even after witnessing the wonders of disguise, Pei Hao still believed Chi Yue to be the deceased bandit! He dared not disbelieve it! He also dared not believe it!

Chi Yue could even fool Pei Hao, so fooling the servants of the Luo Mansion would be a piece of cake.

The servant of the Luo family lay on the ground, watching the blood flowing out of Chi Yue's body gather together and crawl towards him in a winding manner, as if a poisonous snake was about to bite him and drag him into hell. The servant was shaking like a sieve.

Zong Sheng put the whip in his hand and glanced at Pei Hao, which startled him awake. He then regained his dignity as the Junior Official of the Dali Temple and turned to the Luo Mansion servant, pointing at Chi Yue and asking, "Have you seen this man?"

"I, I, I, I..." The Luo family servant didn't dare to look at Chi Yue. He was covered in blood, clearly an evil ghost. How could he still look like a human? He knew that he had wronged a good man, so he didn't dare to look at him. Every wrong has its perpetrator, and he had no choice!

Zong Sheng took two steps forward, picked up the Luo Mansion servant and dragged him in front of Chi Yue. He grabbed the servant by the scruff of the neck and forced him to look at Chi Yue: "My lord, look carefully before you answer when I ask you a question!"

"I, I, I, I..." The servant's legs were trembling and his whole body was weak. He couldn't even stand.

Zongsheng let go of the servant and whipped the ground beside him. The strong wind from the whip hit the servant's face and almost knocked him unconscious.

"I, I, I... I saw it! He was the one who killed my master!" The servant gritted his teeth, crying in fear. He didn't dare look at Chi Yue, secretly thinking, "Now that things have come to this, your life is doomed. I'm just an errand boy, so you can't blame me. Besides, the lives of my family can't be ignored! In the future, I'll set up a memorial tablet for you, kowtow to you three times every morning and evening, and burn incense and offer sacrifices on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month!"

"Bah! Nonsense!" Chi Yue spat a mouthful of blood in the servant's face and cursed fiercely, "Dirty bastard! It was you who gave my brother and me a thousand taels and let us break into the Luo Mansion at night to steal. We immediately fled after we succeeded and never even met Lord Luo. How could you kill someone? It's clearly you who framed me! You made my brother the scapegoat! I want you to pay with your life!"

"What...what! No! No!" The servant was stunned by Chi Yue's words. What theft? What one thousand taels? How could this person falsely accuse him?!

Pei Hao raised his hand, and Zong Sheng immediately pulled up the servant and hung him next to Chi Yue, as if he was going to torture him. The servant was so scared that he wet his pants.

"No, no, no! My Lord! I am innocent!"

Zong Sheng raised his hand and whipped him, but he still didn't hit him hard, just to scare him.

"I have evidence! The one thousand taels of silver and the things stolen from the Luo Mansion are all hidden on the beams of the courtyard."

Evidence?! The servant was nearly driven crazy by Chi Yue! He had never even seen this man, so where did the evidence come from?! Even his lies had to be a little more convincing! The servant cried out in injustice, but at the same time, he realized that this man knew he was going to die and had to take someone down with him!

Pei Hao nodded and immediately ordered people to find evidence.

The servant was in a panic and shouted, "Sir, sir! It's unfair! I don't even know him!" No matter where the silver found by the Dali Temple came from, it would become evidence of his guilt and he would be dead!

"You don't recognize him? You just identified the murderer, how come you suddenly don't recognize him?"

"Sir, please spare me! Sir, please spare me! It's unfair! I'm innocent!" The servant didn't dare to tell the truth and could only continue to cry and shout that he was innocent.

"You're not telling the truth?" Pei Hao took a step back. "Punish me."

Before he finished speaking, Zong Sheng whipped the servant. The burning pain quickly spread all over his body. It felt like his body was on fire and the pain became more and more severe. With just one whip, the servant fainted from the pain.

The servant was not really unconscious, he was just pretending, but the pain was real. He felt so much pain that he felt that the half of his body hit by Zongsheng was going to explode. Unable to bear the pain, he took the opportunity to pretend to be unconscious.

But this little trick was useless in the Dali Temple. Zong Sheng poured a basin of cold water on the servant to wake him up.

The servants of the Luo family were not stupid. If they changed their confession now, they would surely be put to death, and even their families would be in danger. They could only insist that they had never given any money to the robbers, and only caught the two men committing the crime that night. The rest of them could only cry out for injustice.

After a quarter of an hour of interrogation, he was beaten but it seemed that nothing could be learned from the questions.

"Sir, the Ninth Prince is here."

Qi Xiao returned to the Dali Temple, and Pei Hao wanted to go and meet him in person, so the servant was released and dragged back to the prison, seemingly having escaped a disaster. Chi Yue was also dragged into the prison, and the servant watched him being locked up in the cell next to his own.

Qi Xiao had just returned when he happened to see Pei Hao interrogating the servants of the Luo Mansion. He stood in the dark and watched from afar for a while, but his attention was not on the servants. Instead, he kept looking at Chi Yue. The methods of the Tiance Camp were indeed extraordinary. More importantly, Chi Yue was very smart. When Qi Xiao said to bait the fish, Chi Yue immediately understood what he was thinking and did it better than he could have imagined. With this superb disguise skill, the two dead bandits were not a problem at all without any witnesses.

"Your Majesty Ninth Prince."

"Thank you for your hard work, Master Pei."

"No, no, Your Highness is unparalleled in wisdom and strategy, and with such a remarkable person under your command, Lord Luo's case will surely be solved smoothly. I, Pei, should thank Your Highness."

Qi Xiao smiled and said, "Then let's follow the plan."

If the Luo family servant spoke the truth, it would naturally save Qi Xiao and Pei Hao a lot of trouble. If he refused to speak, that wouldn't matter. Chi Yue had impersonated a bandit, and the servant was terrified and would definitely ask his master for help. Furthermore, the news that the Jingji Protectorate had rescued a man and sent him to the Dali Temple for detention had spread throughout the Five Capitals, Jingji Protectorate, and the Dali Temple. The person behind the scenes couldn't just sit back and wait. They could only wait and see.

Now Cao Weishan's Jingji Protectorate is investigating the identities of the bandits. Although the Wudufu and Wuchengwei are still patrolling in the city, they have relaxed a lot, and it seems that they are about to close the case.

Qi Xiao's arrangements were loose on the outside but tight on the inside. Chi Yue was in prison, Zong Sheng was acting as a jailer to provide support, and Bai Xiqiao was hiding in the dark waiting for the servants to pass on the news. By then, they would follow the clues and everything would be arranged properly.