Ah!
Aow~
Li Mingfeng cried out endlessly.
The torture instruments of the Great Ming were by no means inferior to those of any previous dynasty. Moreover, in recent years, the Yan family had frequently beaten their opponents and common folk, and forced confessions had become commonplace. Li Mingfeng, accustomed to a life of comfort and privilege for half his life, could not withstand the whipping of the barbed steel whip. After only three or four lashes, his flesh was torn and bleeding.
"I'll talk! I'll talk..."
Humph.
Shen Chun said indifferently,
"Are you willing to talk now?"
Li Mingfeng felt as if he were about to faint from the pain. His eyes were bloodshot, and he panted,
"Yes, yes, it was Huang Ying, the Chief Clerk of the Prince of Yi's mansion... he, he instructed me to burn them..."
Shen Chun and Shi Fu exchanged glances. Shen Chun then asked,
"And who instructed that Huang Ying?"
Li Mingfeng was in excruciating pain. He tried several times to clench his teeth and endure, but under the severe pain, he could not even hold back his urine and feces. Never in his life had he felt such humiliation and fear. He immediately shook his head and sighed,
"Fine, I'll tell you everything... It was the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince sent people to find the Prince of Yi, and the Prince of Yi then had Huang Ying find me... He said to burn a batch of five-clawed dragons, and when the Censor arrived, to say that it was the new households who burned them privately, in order to frame, to frame Zhu Mo..."
Heh heh.
Shen Chun and Shi Fu both thought: What is so strange about this? Do we not already know this?
Seeing that Li Mingfeng did not seem to understand the situation today, Shen Chun could not help but let out a light scoff and shake his head, sighing, "Li Mingfeng, why are you still lying? Do you truly want me to use all these furniture pieces... hmm?"
As he spoke,
He idly played with an iron skewer, filing it against his fingernail a few times.
Li Mingfeng's anus tightened, and he trembled, saying,
"Lord Shen, what I said is the truth! It's all the truth!"
He found it very strange: If the Yan family and the Crown Prince had already joined forces, why were they arresting him? The last time they fabricated a prophecy saying "The Prince of Bai's heir, the Prince of Yan will fly high," the Prince of Yi had said it was the Yan family's doing, which meant the Yan family knew the truth. Why were they now subjecting him to severe torture?
At this thought,
He gritted his teeth and said,
"Lord Shen, won't you at least give the Prince of Yi some face?"
Shi Fu shook his head and said loudly,
"Nonsense! You dare to slander a feudal prince! You even dare to implicate the Crown Prince? Li Mingfeng, have you eaten bear's gall? Are you not afraid of having your entire clan exterminated?"
Shen Chun also took a long breath and said to a yamen runner,
"The prisoner is making wild accusations. Apply the torture..."
"As you command!"
The yamen runner took the iron skewer and was about to insert it into Li Mingfeng's finger.
Ah!
No!
I am wronged~~
Li Mingfeng felt a warmth spread through his thigh as a stream of urine escaped. But at this very moment, a flash of insight struck his mind—
They want me to implicate Zhu Mo?
And thereby falsely accuse the Prince of Yi?
To also label the Prince of Yi as a rebel?
At this thought,
He cried out hoarsely,
"I confess! I confess!"
He closed his eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"It was Zhu Mo~~~ It was Zhu Mo who instructed me~~~~~~~~~"
Hum hum,
Shen Chun finally nodded and said,
"This makes sense... You are so cunning, only confessing now... Let me ask you again, who did Zhu Mo instruct first? Who instructed you?"
As the words fell,
The two yamen runners immediately looked stern—
This was clearly leading and forcing a confession... This Li Mingfeng was a trusted confidant of the Prince of Yi, and it was unexpected that he would be beaten to such an extent today. It showed that the Yan family truly held the reins of power in the Great Ming dynasty...
Shi Fu looked at him coldly and said,
"What? Not confessing anymore?"
Li Mingfeng immediately woke up and cried,
"Lord Shen, I confess, I confess everything... Zhu Mo sent people to find the Prince of Yi's mansion, and the Prince of Yi then sent Huang Ying to find me... Wuwuwu..."
Shen Chun then put down an iron whip he was holding and said leisurely,
"Old Li, you are an old acquaintance, why must you resist so much? See? Didn't you end up confessing... Let me ask you one last question: Did Zhu Mo send people to find the Prince of Yi, or did he find Huang Ying of the Prince of Yi's mansion? What is Zhu Mo's relationship with the Prince of Yi?"
Li Mingfeng was extremely pained and weak, but at this moment he knew that as long as he said what they wanted, the physical torment would cease, but his death was sealed. However, weighing the options, he could not withstand the severe torture. He immediately said,
"Zhu Mo told us that he is a fifth-generation descendant of Jianwen, and that half the feudal princes and honored officials across the empire were willing to follow him... The Prince of Yi has known Zhu Mo for a long time, and the person handling the intermediary matters was Huang Ying..."
"If Zhu Mo and the Prince of Yi were acquainted, who told you?"
"Huang Ying told me, and some of the leaders of the new households, uh, that Xu Chuan, he, he also mentioned it..."
Hum hum,
Shen Chun nodded.
At this moment,
The clerk had finished recording the confession. Shen Chun and Shi Fu read it, and seeing that the narration was very proper, skillfully linking Zhu Mo and the Prince of Yi, directly pointing out that their connection stemmed from their relationship with Emperor Jianwen.
"Old Shi, I think it's all in order. I'll send it over now... Here, you handle the aftermath... Well, this Old Li is sensible, let him rest for a few days..."
...
The next morning,
The office of the Imperial Supervisor of Ceramics.
Fan Yingqi had returned and, upon arrival, ordered everyone to be summoned.
In the past few days, he had rushed to Hangzhou and had a lengthy secret talk with Tan Lun. When Tan Lun heard him speak of the Yan family's intention to incite bloodshed, he was immediately astonished and deeply felt that Xu Jie's instructions were particularly wise. Just a few days prior, he had received a secret letter from Tan Lun advising him to guard against the Yan family escalating the situation indefinitely.
The two immediately formulated a strategy. Tan Lun personally wrote a directive prohibiting the deployment of troops throughout Jiangxi province, stipulating that all investigations be handled by the Provincial Surveillance Commission in accordance with imperial law, and simultaneously allocated a contingent of two thousand guards for Fan Yingqi to lead to Jingdezhen.
At this moment,
Feeling emboldened, and believing the case would be settled today, he stated that the potters accused by Li Mingfeng were instigated by the leaders of the new households, Xu Chuan and Wang Shengcai, and had already carved the seal of "Grand Marshal of all the Armies." Furthermore, they were implicated in prophecies to support Zhu Mo as the King of Wu...
In his view, as long as the situation could be contained, this matter was easily resolved. The yamen runners could handle it in two or three days. Once the case files were submitted, Zhu Mo would be discredited and his ambition to contend for the throne would be impossible. Moreover, the Crown Prince and Yan Song had reached a peace agreement, and with Xu Jie and Tan Lun intervening, Yan Song would likely abandon his ambitions.
Before long,
Ma Sen, Lu Wen, Pan Sheng, Shen Chun, Lin Run, and others had all arrived.
Fan Yingqi scanned the crowd and took a few more steps. After a moment of thought, he said,
"Gentlemen, Governor Tan has stated that the Japanese pirates are now active, and coastal defenses are strained. Jiangxi is a vital region, and it absolutely cannot experience any trouble... Therefore, Governor Tan has issued me a directive and allocated two thousand elite troops to be stationed in Jingdezhen, all for the purpose of preventing unforeseen events..."
He looked at Ma Sen and Lu Wen and suddenly sneered,
"The Imperial Inspector has only been away for a few days, and I hear that trouble has occurred in Jingdezhen? How were the troops mobilized? General Lu, have you forgotten the imperial regulations? By doing this, are you not making things difficult for me, Fan? Should I report this to the court or not? Humph!"
He thought that since he had victory within his grasp, he must use this excuse to suppress these two, and then he could lead the investigation to achieve the Crown Prince's objective.
Unexpectedly,
Before his words had even finished,
Ma Sen not only showed no fear but instead chuckled and said,
"Lord Shen, please present the confession to Lord Fan."
You!
Fan Yingqi was furious and grabbed it. After a glance, he suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. A surge of resentment welled up from the depths of his heart. He stared into Ma Sen's eyes, his gaze almost spitting fire.
Ma Sen, however, said calmly,
"Lord Fan, the situation has taken a drastic turn... Someone has accused Li Mingfeng as the principal culprit! When we went to apprehend him, the new households threatened to wash Jingdezhen in blood. I, along with General Lu, am responsible for safeguarding our territory, and naturally, we must suppress it! Is there anything improper about this? If it weren't for General Lu's decisive bravery, the situation in Jingdezhen would have spiraled out of control! Humph!"
As he spoke, his tone grew increasingly impassioned, completely disregarding Fan Yingqi. Pan Sheng was greatly astonished and quietly stepped forward a few paces. He took the confession and read it, and could not help but gasp—
It's over,
The Yan family is too ruthless!
They actually made such a counter-accusation!
The plaintiff has suddenly become the defendant...
Fan Yingqi's voice was stern, but in his heart, he had already deflated—
He had lost this gamble too miserably!
According to this confession, the Prince of Yi would also be implicated as an associate of Zhu Mo. The plaintiff had become the defendant, and moreover, the mastermind... This meant that the forces of the Prince of Yu had now become entangled in a major case of rebellion...
Although this confession was only from Li Mingfeng, since Li Mingfeng's confession existed, what about Huang Ying of the Prince of Yi's mansion? And then, wouldn't they have to arrest Censor Lin Run? And what about himself? Wouldn't he also be labeled as a traitor to Zhu Mo by them?