Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Reporting to Amber, the Northern Palace has arrived."

On the other side, as the carriage stopped, Amber got off.

Pan Shijun, who was following closely behind, also lifted the carriage curtain to look.

"Southern Garrison Command?"

Upon seeing those four words, his eyelids twitched involuntarily, and he instinctively felt that great danger awaited him ahead.

"Young Master Pan, please."

Amber gestured for him to get off the carriage. Pan Shijun suppressed his unease, took a deep breath, and then got off.

"Miss Amber, didn't His Majesty send me to the Northern Palace? May I ask about the Southern Garrison Command..."

"That's just what the palace says. Why are you asking so many questions? Hurry up and come inside. Change your clothes before you come with me to see His Majesty."

"Yes……"

Pan Shijun responded and followed behind Amber toward the Southern Garrison.

The moment the door was pushed open, a Jingwei official dressed in a flying fish robe immediately blocked their way.

Pan Shijun looked up and felt that the person in front of him was so familiar, very similar to the guard named Erha from before.

"Kid, we meet again. Stop looking. I'm the guard outside Shuixuan Residence, but being a guard is just a side job."

My real job is guarding the gate of the Southern Garrison. I knew you'd come here, so I skipped work and came here to eat melon seeds.

"Heh heh, once you step through this door, you'll be lucky to escape with your life, if not dead."

The husky raised its head, looking arrogant and domineering.

Amber stepped forward and bowed, then took out a gold medal from her waist: "His Majesty instructed me to bring this young master Pan here. Please treat him well."

The husky took the gold medal, then tossed it to a centurion behind him before turning and disappearing from everyone's sight, as if it had never existed.

The centurion glanced at the gold medal and immediately bowed respectfully: "Miss Amber, what are His Majesty's orders?"

Amber leaned closer and whispered a few words in Baihu's ear.

"I accept my order from my humble position!"

The centurion, with a solemn expression, respectfully bowed and then gestured, immediately two guards grabbed Pan Shijun's arms from either side.

"What are you doing?"

Pan Shijun finally realized that things seemed to be very different from what he had expected, and he immediately became very nervous.

Amber, however, gave him a forced smile and said, "Young Master Pan, there's no need to worry. These are the rules of the Northern Palace. You just need to comply and do as they say."

Before Pan Shijun could ask any more questions, he was led towards the inner hall...

"Ah~ Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me!"

"This servant truly knows she was wrong."

Inside a small, dark room in the Southern Garrison Command, Xiangling was being tortured by branding, her cries of agony were truly heart-wrenching.

Sparks flew before her eyes, like a falling meteor shower.

A female warrior who looked somewhat like a shrew stared with eyes the size of copper bells as she fiercely pressed a red-hot branding iron onto her lower abdomen.

"Ah~~"

A heart-wrenching cry rang out.

"Let me tell you, when I was wandering the martial world, I saw plenty of shameless bitches like you, thinking you can seduce men just because you have a few pretty faces."

Now you dare to even dream of behaving like this, targeting the Regent? Even someone as beautiful as me wouldn't dare to dream of such a thing, how dare you?

"Speak! Who sent you here! Talk or not, you're going to talk!"

Xiangling was in so much pain that her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

Without a word, the shrew rolled up her sleeves, revealing arms as thick as large bowls, and sternly ordered the two squad leaders, "Playing dead, huh? Wake her up! Keep asking!"

In the next room, Shen Lang was chewing on a dried persimmon, staring intently at the night view outside the skylight.

Sitting at the main table, scooping ice cream, Mu Qingqiu looked annoyed: "Kid, you can handle this with just a Taixu Wind Cleave."

Why send someone to the Southern Garrison Command? It's preventing me from leaving work on time.

Shen Lang swallowed the persimmon cake: "You have a base salary of over three thousand taels a year plus an annual bonus, totaling five thousand taels. Will you die if you work overtime occasionally?"

Besides, this concerns your junior colleague, so working overtime is only right.

"But I've already worked overtime for three days in a row, and I haven't received a single penny of extra pay!"

"Hold on, let me make this clear first: don't expect me to pay you for making up for lost time. My status as the Regent is far too noble."

"He's still receiving the title and salary of a Duke and hasn't said anything. You should learn from me and stop thinking about money all the time."

Mu Qingqiu placed her legs directly on the table, looking indignant: "It feels like I've already been sold to you."

But then again, with such a delicate and charming woman practically offering herself up on your doorstep, aren't you even a little bit tempted?

Shen Lang chuckled lightly: "The most important thing between husband and wife is mutual trust. She trusts me, so how could I betray her? Besides, someone like her..."

Do you think I'd even look at someone with my standards? Give me a break. I wouldn't even glance at the Joyful Union Sect who knows the Heavenly Demon Dance, let alone such low-class methods.

Don't always think of men as so despicable. If a woman stood naked in front of a group of men, nine out of ten would have absolute self-control.

Unfortunately, I was the tenth one, the one who brought her here for torture.

"Uh hahaha..."

Upon hearing this, Mu Qingqiu couldn't stop smiling.

"Now I understand why my junior sister was so devoted to you."

He's capable and devoted in relationships; any woman would be grateful to have such a good husband.

At this moment, a member of the Jingwei Guard came to report: "Your Highness, Commander, Miss Amber has sent over another ungrateful wretch. His Majesty personally ordered her interrogation."

Shen Lang was taken aback upon hearing this: "Where is he? Take me to see him."

……

At this moment, Pan Shijun was taken to a changing room, where he was forced to take off his clothes in front of everyone.

It wasn't until his thin body was exposed to the air, and he saw that he was only wearing his underwear, that Pan Shijun blushed.

"Gentlemen, is this acceptable?"

Being constantly watched like this is really uncomfortable, especially since it's by several men.

Seeing Pan Shijun covering his underwear, the Jingwei officers exchanged glances for a while.

Then, one of the centurions stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, come in and talk with us."

"Huh? What are we talking about? Didn't we say we were going to change clothes?"

"Don't worry, we'll provide the clothes. Come with us now."

"But……"

"There are no 'buts,' let's go."

As he spoke, Baihu gave Pan Shijun a push and led him directly to the next room.

After he sat down in an iron chair, his hands and feet were immediately bound with ropes.

Finally, Pan Shijun realized something was wrong: "What are you trying to do? Why are you tying me up?"

pop~

A slap landed hard on his face.

"Shut up~ No one dares to shout in the Jingwei Division."

"The Jingwei Division?!"

Upon hearing the infamous Jingwei Division, Pan Shijun's eyes widened in shock.

"Is this the Jingwei Division?"

pop~

Baihu slapped him again on the left cheek.

"Are you deaf if I tell you to shut up?"

"I advise you to tell the truth, or you'll suffer the consequences!"

After two slaps, Pan Shijun was dizzy and felt everything go black.

"Name!"

“Pan… Pan Shijun…”

"Place of origin, age!"

“A native of Xiangyang, Jingzhou, and twenty-six years old this year.”

While he was answering questions, two members of the Jingwei Division were wrapping two copper wires covered with rubber around the bottom of an iron chair.

Not far away, a Jingwei official was holding a crank on a box and using a screwdriver to connect wires.

The centurion continued, "Tell me, who sent you into the palace to seduce His Majesty?"

Upon hearing this, Pan Shijun quickly denied it: "Gentlemen, you have misunderstood. I did not seduce His Majesty. I only came here to deliver evidence of the crimes of the powerful clans in Guanzhong."

Baihu narrowed his eyes, revealing a sinister smile: "Very well, you're stubborn, aren't you? The Jingwei Division hasn't encountered a tough opponent in a long time."

"Come, let this young master Pan experience my Jingwei Division's brand-new electrotherapy resuscitation technique."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Jingwei Si, who was sitting in front of the box, immediately closed the brake and began to slowly turn the crank.

The instantaneous current, as he turned the crank in his hand, was slowly conducted to the iron chair through the wire.

"Ugh... I'm so sickeningly sweet!"

Pan Shijun immediately began to convulse, his eyes rolled back, and he started making electronic noises.

The veins on his forehead and arms bulged constantly, as if they were about to burst at any moment.

"stop."

The electric torture only stopped when the commander gave the order.

Pan Shijun then gasped for breath.

"To say or not to say?"

Faced with Baihu's question, Pan Shijun, still dazed from being tortured by electric shocks, didn't hear a word clearly.

Baihu didn't waste any time: "Continue."

Soon the current was conducted to Pan Shijun again.

"Ugh...uh...uh..."

As the electronic music started again, after another wave of refreshing and high-energy fun, Pan Shijun's hair began to stand up.

After the second round of electric shocks ended, Baihu asked again, "To talk or not to talk?"

"I'll talk, I'll talk!"

"It was Princess Xiang who made me do this. She told me to get close to His Majesty, ruin His Majesty's reputation, and preferably cause her to miscarry."

Upon hearing this, the centurion's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Why did she do this?"

"Because, because Princess Xiang still harbors resentment over His Majesty's taking away the Regent back then, and wants to separate His Majesty and the Regent."

"Heh, you've got some nerve, daring to lay a finger on His Majesty. Do you even know what death means?"

"Sir, please spare my life! I was forced into this situation."

Pan Shijun really didn't expect things to end before they even began, and he still hadn't even seen the Empress.

"Heh, let you off the hook? You're dreaming!"

Baihu sneered and grabbed the jade tablet with the photographic record on the table.

"Alright, now I'll take you somewhere."

"Go, where?"

"The castration room, we'll castrate you first..."

"No~"

Pan Shijun was so frightened that he fainted.

Upon seeing this, the centurion's expression immediately turned cold. He put away the transcript, turned around, and left the interrogation room.

As it turned out, they ran into Shen Lang head-on.

"See you at the photo studio... Commander Shen... This is Pan Shijun's confession, please take a look."

"Okay, I'll leave this to you."

Shen Lang took the statement and the photographic record, glanced at Pan Shijun who was stunned like an Indian, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.