Chapter 752: A Shocking Revelation
Early in the morning, word came that a group of fierce Jinyiwei officers had arrived, followed shortly by a bunch of prisoners brought to the municipal office. Xiong Hao was already swamped with work trying to handle everything, and by the time all the people arrived, he was drenched in sweat. You see, ever since the role of inquisitor had been demoted from the fourth rank to the sixth rank since the early Ming dynasty, the inquisition office east of the Bureau of Administration had never seen so many high-ranking officials gathered there. Watching the clerks in the three main halls busy arranging seats and serving tea, he wiped his sweat with his sleeve, feeling extremely hot.
“Xiong, the inquisitor.”
Xiong Hao turned and saw Zhang Yue had appeared beside him somehow. He quickly smiled and said, “What orders do you have, sir?”
“Leave just four clerks behind; hand over the rest to the Jinyiwei from the Northern Pacification Commission. Since you’re unaware of what’s being questioned today, it’s best you stay out of it. Just step back.”
Seeing Xiong Hao look relieved as if pardoned, Zhang Yue nodded at him. Once Xiong Hao disappeared in a flash, Zhang Yue glanced at Yu Qian, who had changed into new clothes and was now looking tired as he went through the case files. He admired how a civil official could manage to sleep only two hours a day and still travel over seven thousand miles, arriving just slightly later than Fangling. Soon, everything was arranged in the main hall, and after everyone took their seats, Fangling ordered that witnesses and evidence be brought in one by one.
In addition to the previous testimony related to suppressing the rebellious Yao, Gu Xingzu also brought two timid Yao people and two clerks from Sien County as evidence. After rushing back from Guangzhou, he had made thorough preparations, so no matter what questions were asked, the four of them answered fluently. The two Yao people described in vivid detail how they were sent to Qiongzhou Prefecture, how they contacted the tribal leaders in the surrounding areas, and how they coordinated the timing of the uprising… At first listen, their account seemed flawless. The two clerks also confirmed that Gu Xingzu had killed over a thousand rebels because some Yao people had rebelled again. To serve as a warning, he acted without hesitation. Later, while clearing out the remaining rebels, he captured those two Yao people, providing further evidence.
Seeing Gu Xingzu sneer at him in a threatening manner, Zhang Yue remained calm as a rock. If such devious tricks could deceive others, how could they fool the Jinyiwei, who dealt with investigations day in and day out? Sure enough, once the hall fell silent again, Fangling spoke up, “Censor Yu, since the Lord Zhenyuan has all his witnesses and evidence, let Lord Zhang bring in his as well. A confrontation between the two sides should clarify everything.”
After sitting in the hall for a while, Yu Qian had already drunk three cups of scalding strong tea. Now sweating all over, he felt much more energetic and nodded. However, unlike Gu Xingzu’s four neat-looking witnesses, the people brought this time came in various appearances: there were Li people in long jackets with front closures, eunuchs in blue silk shirts with crossed collars, and three men tied up tightly like dead dogs, lying on the ground with their faces obscured. Seeing this scene, he was stunned instantly.
“I am Cao Jixiang. I pay my respects to Commander Fang and Censor Yu.”
It had taken four days and nights to reach Qiongzhou Prefecture to put everything under control, and another four days to return. Cao Jixiang had endured a grueling half month, losing a significant amount of weight from his originally plump figure. After several days of rest, he had finally regained his strength. Now, after bowing respectfully to the two imperial envoys, he didn’t wait for anyone to ask questions before recounting in detail what had happened at the Chaishan Charity Temple. He was naturally an excellent speaker, and since he had witnessed everything firsthand, everyone listened intently as he described the dangerous moments, with not a single other sound in the hall.
Yet while others could focus on listening, Gu Xingzu’s expression grew increasingly dark the more he listened. By the end, he stared fiercely at the three bodyguards lying on the ground, wishing he could kick those useless men to death. So when he heard Cao Jixiang say that the men dispatched were Qiu family retainers, he immediately stood up and demanded angrily, “The Qiu family are criminals exiled to Lingnan. How can they still keep these armed retainers? This is clearly a plot…”
“Marquis Zhenyuan!”
Zhang Yue could no longer stand watching such reckless accusations being made. Finally, he lost his patience and said, “We’re discussing the Li people of Hainan now. If Marquis wants to ask about the Qiu family, he can do so later. But there’s no need to change the subject! These three men are the ones who committed the crimes at the Charity Temple. There are also the bodies of over a dozen others. More than one or two people saw them at the time, and even the people from Chengmai County yamen can testify. If things hadn’t been handled properly back then, the county yamen would have been set on fire!”
“You are the governor of Guangdong, the highest official in this province. It should be easy for you to find such people to slander me!” Gu Xingzu had already recognized Gu Ping’an and was filled with terror. He knew absolutely must not let anyone believe that these three were his men. Immediately, he stood up abruptly. “Just pick any three random people and fabricate confessions—can’t that be used as proof that they’re my personal guards? If they say I gave them orders, then it’s that I did! Under torture, anything can be forced out. If you try to slander me with their testimony to incite rebellion, even if the case goes to the emperor, I will never admit it!”
Gu Ping’an, tied up tightly, struggled to lift his head. When he saw Gu Xingzu glance at him casually with a murderous look in his eyes, he couldn’t help but shiver. He wanted to say that people removed the cloth covering his mouth every day and fed him rice soup and ginseng soup to keep him alive, but he hadn’t confessed to anything. Unfortunately, his mouth was stuffed with torn cloth, so no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t utter a word, leaving him in extreme distress and sweating profusely.
Yet to others, his desperate struggles seemed like he disagreed with Gu Xingzu’s words. Commander Li Long, realizing he had completely severed ties with Gu Xingzu, suddenly coughed and said, “Marquis Gu, if Lord Zhang’s witnesses are just random people, then how can we be sure your four witnesses aren’t the same?”
As an experienced official who always sought personal gain and avoided responsibility, let alone taking reckless actions, Li Long usually avoided such situations. But thinking about how he had almost fallen into a bottomless trap, he ignored Gu Xingzu’s sinister gaze and added another burden to an already overloaded situation: “Besides these witnesses, when we searched the Xu family’s house earlier, we found many letters exchanged between them, along with several other witnesses. Why not bring them here as well?”
“You…”
Before Gu Xingzu could scold him, Zhang Qian calmly said, “I must also remind Marquis Gu—when did Jixiang say that these three admitted the marquis was their master? In fact, these are all strong men. After being captured, they were deprived of food and water. If it weren’t for being fed rice soup and ginseng soup daily, they would likely have died long ago. I admire such brave men, so I didn’t even have them interrogated. As a result, they haven’t said a word.”
Under everyone’s gaze, Gu Xingzu’s expression changed abruptly. His face, which had been red, suddenly turned bluish-purple, and his shoulders began to tremble. He opened his mouth several times but didn’t know what to say. After all, he was a second-generation noble. Though he had followed his grandfather to suppress the tribes in Guizhou as a young man, he had always stayed away from the imperial court’s core. Faced with true isolation, he found it hard to cope. Although Zhang Qian’s words should have been reassuring, the series of shocks he had endured earlier made it impossible for him to calm down.
Sure enough, as soon as Zhang Qian finished speaking, Zhang Yue interjected, “These are all loyal and desperate warriors. If we interrogate them rashly, we won’t get anything out of them—it will only inspire their desire to die. When Cao Jixiang captured them, some tried to bite their own tongues to end their lives. Fortunately, we acted quickly; only one managed to bite off their tongue, but they still didn’t die. It’s simple enough to prove whether they belong to Marquis Zhenyuan. With the Jinyiwei’s capabilities, it’s easy to uncover their backgrounds.”
At this point, Gu Xingzu could only resolve to deny everything and said with a grim face, “Even if they were once my men, it’s possible they acted recklessly on someone else’s orders!”
“Enough!”
Yu Qian, who had been listening coldly, finally lost his patience. He suddenly raised the gavel and slammed it down hard. Once the loud noise silenced the room, he turned to Fang Ling and said, “Let Commander Fang handle verifying these people’s identities. I think there’s no need for further interrogation today. Commander Fang, I’ll go back this afternoon to review the physical and documentary evidence—it’s better than wasting time here!”
Before leaving the capital, he had already spent a long time pondering matters related to Guangdong. After reviewing those documents and uncovering many clues from the veiled statements, he decided to focus on what he was good at. As for interrogations, no matter how skilled he was, he couldn’t compare to the Jinyiwei. At that moment, he stood up, bowed, ordered the young scribe beside him to pack everything up, and left right away. With his departure, Fang Ling cleared his throat lightly.
“Since Yu Shiyu has spoken thus, let’s disperse now. Although there are Jinyiwei stations in Guangzhou, I shouldn’t trouble the Provincial Administration Office. But if someone is sent back and forth and suffers injury or any other mishap, it would be inconvenient. Please, Lord Zhang, lend me the premises of the interrogation room. As for the rest of you, there are plenty of vacant rooms in the Provincial Administration Office—please stay here for the night.” He paused, seeing some shocked, some puzzled, and even a few who wanted to object, so he added, “This isn’t a discussion. I’m investigating on behalf of the emperor—this is the rule!”
After saying that, he turned to Yu Liang, the inspector general: “This matter isn’t closely related to you, Lord Yu. Since you are the chief inspector in charge of criminal affairs and prosecutions across the province, please act as a witness as I interrogate those people one by one.”
Yu Liang had initially planned to remain silent, but he never expected that this fearsome Jinyiwei official would somehow drag him into this mess. Though he wanted to refuse, under that calm yet unyielding gaze, all his excuses were swallowed, leaving him with no choice but to agree reluctantly.
Seeing Yu Liang leave the interrogation room with Fang Ling and several Jinyiwei officers, Gu Xingzu had no desire to stay and face those detestable enemies. With a cold snort, he swept away. But once outside, hit by the cold wind, he couldn’t help shivering. He had never seen the Jinyiwei’s methods firsthand, but he had heard of them. Could Gu Ping’an and his two companions really endure repeated torture? Thinking of Fang Ling’s ability to silently seal off both ends of Fan Si Street earlier, he grew restless and felt a hint of regret for the first time.
Li Long, due to his previous encounter, had become quite close to Zhang Yue and Zhang Qian. Naturally, he had already heard about the arrival of these people from the capital and expected to stay at the Provincial Administration Office. He was actually relieved. When he returned to the front office of the Provincial Administration Office, Xiang Shaoyuan, the right vice governor, offered him several vacant rooms in his own office, which he accepted after thanking him. As for Zhang Qian, he simply said he would stay at Zhang Yue’s place for the night, leaving Xu Tao, the left vice governor, to reluctantly arrange accommodation for the most difficult-to-please Gu Xingzu.
Zhang Qian was also an old acquaintance of the Zhang family. That day, after Zhang Yue had dinner with him, Zhang Qian joked that he wanted to meet Zhang Yue’s two children. Hearing this, Zhang Yue quickly sent someone to call his two kids. Soon, Du Wan personally led the two little ones over. Jing Guan on the left wore a slightly worn dark-patterned brocade shirt with a mandarin collar and right-side opening, along with tiger-head shoes, staring curiously at the guests; San San on the right wore a light white crinkled silk shirt with two butterflies embroidered at the hem, ready to fly, and hid behind Du Wan when she saw outsiders. When they got closer, Du Wan stopped and pushed Jing Guan forward, who skillfully stepped aside to hold his sister’s hand and politely called out, “Grandpa Zhang.” As soon as he spoke, San San imitated him.
“Good kids!”
Zhang Qian’s face lit up with a smile at the address “Grandpa Zhang.” He couldn’t help but hug the two adorable children, looking at them closely and growing happier with each glance. Finally, he took out two identical red gold fan pendants from a silk pouch at his waist, giving one to each child, before turning to Zhang Yue and Du Wan and saying, “To have such lovely little ones, you both must be blessed. These gold pendants were given to me by Emperor Taizong as a toy in his leisure time. Now I’m giving them to them as a plaything. It’s nothing special, so don’t refuse. Since I’ve suddenly gained a pair of grandchildren, I must do my best!”
All of Zhang Yue’s attempts to decline were shut down by the astute Zhang Qian. He had no choice but to nod at his son and daughter. Only then did Jing Guan pull his sister along to bow, politely accepting the gifts. But first, he put both gold fan pendants into San San’s pocket, then blinked at Zhang Qian and said in a clear voice, “Grandpa said that we shouldn’t refuse gifts from elders, but we can’t just say ‘thank you.’ I just learned a poem today. Shall I recite it for Grandpa Zhang?”
Zhang Yue was surprised by his son’s sudden move. Seeing Du Wan’s equally surprised expression, he knew it wasn’t his wife who had taught him. Seeing Zhang Qian nod happily, Jing Guan cleared his throat and recited the famous poem “Spring River Flower Moon Night.” Zhang Yue leaned forward, thoughtfully observing the serious-looking child.
In a daze, he almost seemed to see himself in his youth.
Halfway through the poem, there was a gentle knock at the door. Soon after, Mother Cui’s lowered voice came through, “Young master, someone from outside says Minister Yu wants to see you!”