"My Lord, this man claims to be Master Feng of Phoenix Mountain. Let's spare their lives for now and then investigate Phoenix Mountain in Lingnan Prefecture to find out how many other bandits there are and where their lair is."
Killing these bandits would be easy, but as newcomers, they needed to understand the situation in this area first.
Ma Wu, his ears not stuffed with donkey fur, heard Shi He address the man as the Emperor. At that moment, he wished he could die.
That woman called the Emperor "My Lord," which meant she was the Empress?
The virtuous and benevolent Empress, praised by all the common people of the Yun Kingdom, the living Bodhisattva who saved people from suffering?
And she had also heard that the Emperor doted on his Empress immensely, had abolished the inner palace, and vowed never to take concubines or consorts in his life. He had even strictly forbidden the people of Yun from taking concubines, imposing heavy fines on anyone who did. He was a typical henpecked emperor.
Now, their dream was not to save themselves, but to be granted a swift death.
With that realization, Ma Wu fainted.
For the sake of a few bandits, one of the three carriages was occupied by them, bound and gagged. Whether awake or unconscious, they were all shoved into the carriage. Shi He drove, accompanied by Feng Xiao and Wang Xinchun.
The remaining injured and disabled bandits were not spared either. Shi He dealt with them on the spot. He hated people like them; they were a waste of air if they lived and a waste of land if they died. They were the most despicable kind of villains.
Zhao Jiaqi, who had been dreaming of roast chicken but ended up with neither roast chicken nor roast fish, sighed repeatedly while sitting in the carriage. She had no choice but to eat some fruit and pastries to appease her hunger.
The journey, which should have taken over an hour, was compressed to one.
Upon entering Nanling Prefecture, they immediately rented a residence.
Normally, people like them would stay at an inn. However, they had some dangerous and vicious bandits in their carriage.
To solve the bandit problem in this region, they had no other choice.
Zhao Jiaqi was quite satisfied with this ready-to-move-in residence. At least the food and accommodation were much better than an inn. In a burst of enthusiasm, she bought the two-courtyard house, planning to stay for a while before leaving, and to explore Phoenix Mountain on the way.
If she remembered correctly, a certain TV series had depicted Phoenix Mountain as a place inhabited by demons and ghosts. However, she hadn't seen any ghosts, but she had seen a den of bandits.
Song Fei went with the broker to the yamen to handle the land deed. The remaining people were each assigned their duties. Fang Mingjiang, in the meantime, was to interrogate these half-dead individuals with Fan Zehao.
Inside the house, the doors were tightly shut.
Fan Zehao kept them separated to prevent them from colluding.
He interrogated Ma Wu. Seeing this, Zhao Jiaqi proactively offered to help her husband: "I'll go interrogate that short, scrawny dog-boy. He bared his teeth at me. I'll go and pull out his teeth one by one!"
She said it so casually, as if she were joking. But to Ma Wu's ears, the Empress was truly a monstrous woman. Such vicious words came out of her mouth as if she were teasing a cat or dog.
Zhao Jiaqi walked out the door, flashed a grin at Fan Zehao, and blinked her eyes. If one didn't confess, there were others, right!
She could feign a few psychological tactics.
In the room where Goudan was held, Shi He stood guard. Zhao Jiaqi sat on a chair, sipping tea to quench her thirst. On the table sat a chilled watermelon, its crimson, juicy flesh emitting wisps of coolness, looking incredibly refreshing. A bite would relieve the summer heat.
Goudan lowered his head, but his shifty eyes couldn't help but dart around. Zhao Jiaqi glanced at him, put down her teacup, and gestured with her chin towards Shi He, saying lightly, "It seems this young brother is unwilling to confess. Please trouble Brother Shi to pull out his fingernails one by one. Remember, pull them slowly. This process of removing the nail bed must be clearly imprinted in this young brother's mind!"
She used the gentlest tone to utter the harshest words. Goudan trembled at once, but looking at her pure, innocent face, he felt she was joking and couldn't believe this woman was a ruthless character.
At this moment, Goudan's thoughts were completely overturned by Zhao Jiaqi's harmless smile.
The previous moment he thought she was just bluffing. The next moment, Wang Xinchun held his hand, and Shi He approached with pliers, not hesitating at all, swiftly, fiercely, and precisely pulling out his fingernail.
Not only that, but he was forced to watch the process of his fingernail detaching from his finger. The pain was piercing. His mouth was stuffed, so he couldn't scream, only shake his head frantically, tears streaming from his eyes.
Seeing this, Zhao Jiaqi raised her arm and said softly, "This young brother is shaking his head. Does he have something to say?"
Shi He heard this and pulled the cloth from Goudan's mouth, asking, "Confess?"
The pain from Goudan had just subsided. His bloodshot eyes glared at him, and he spat fiercely in Shi He's face: "Confess your mother-f... ugh ugh ugh..."
Not having cursed enough, Goudan was once again gagged by Shi He.
Zhao Jiaqi gave Goudan a thumbs-up, smiling even more innocently and devilishly: "Little brother, you are truly remarkable, amazing! But this torture has just begun. I hope you won't be all show and no substance!"
After praising Goudan, Zhao Jiaqi said to Shi He, "After pulling out all his fingernails and toenails, then pull out his teeth one by one. Remember, bleeding is acceptable, but no one should die. If he looks like he's about to die, call a doctor for treatment. I still have many other methods to use, so we can't let this little brother die!"
Unable to live, unable to die, suffering every moment. This was the ultimate torment.
Shi He received the Empress's orders and began the torture on the stubborn Goudan, making the other eight bandits watch. They couldn't bear to look away.
The brave Ma Wu could only watch his brother suffer. The timid ones confessed immediately, spilling everything they knew like a bamboo tube pouring out beans, without omitting a single detail, and even exaggerating.
Wang Xiaoliu was the first to confess. He kowtowed to Fan Zehao and Zhao Jiaqi, his body trembling as he said, "We are bandits from Phoenix Mountain. Our Great Leader is Ma Wu. Our Second Leader is Goudan, the one being tortured. Our Third Leader stays at the stronghold to manage the bandit affairs."
They had captured two, and one was still at large!
The last one was a disaster!
Zhao Jiaqi asked, "Where is the bandit lair on Phoenix Mountain? How many people do you have in total? Tell us everything about the stronghold, and we'll guarantee you won't die!"
"Our stronghold is in the mountains. We have over 150 brothers. We came out this time to hunt some prey to take back, but we ran into you, and then... I also know something important: the Prefect is the sworn elder brother of our Third Leader. And the wealthy families in the city have all been robbed by our stronghold. The silks, brocades, gold, silver, jade, and other valuables we plundered are countless, but most of them ended up in the Prefect of Lingnan City's pockets!"
"Furthermore... not only the wealthy families in Lingnan City suffered, but any wealthy household within the prefecture's jurisdiction, any that were ranked, have been looted. They would report to the Prefect, who would always make a show of sending troops to attack the stronghold, or bring out two death-row inmates from the prison, cut out their tongues, and pass them off as robbers, beheading them to give the wealthy families an explanation!"