Tang Ning stood outside the prison door for a long time, looking at the King of Cheng who was shivering in the corner as if he had gone crazy . However, she did not feel as happy as she had expected. No matter how much torture this man in front of her suffered, it could not be compared to the twenty years her aunt had been deceived. She withdrew her gaze and asked in a low voice: "Will he die?"
"Not for now." Xiao Yan lowered his head: "I still need to keep King Cheng to catch the big fish."
Tang Ning vaguely guessed what he wanted to do and asked, "What happens next?"
"It will be up to your majesty to reward or punish him from now on." Xiao Yan said, "He colluded with the Ministry of War and was suspected of treason. Logically, he should not be able to survive. However, since his treason was not carried out and his property was seized in advance, he became a disabled person after being punished. It is not impossible that your majesty will show some leniency."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Tang Ning and said, "Why, you don't want him to die?"
Tang Ning hummed softly: "It would be too easy for him to die like this."
"He lied to my aunt for many years, and caused my uncle to be wronged. He even kept my grandfather in the dark until his death. How can a person like him deserve to die so easily? I want him to live the second half of his life more miserably than anyone else. Let him watch his hopes for many years go down the drain, and watch the people he never cherished rise to the top while he is as worthless as dust and mud."
Xie Tianyu did not love his aunt, and he would not regret losing her for the rest of his life. But if he were allowed to live and see his years of planning ruined, and see his lifelong "love" just treating him as a pawn, and never thinking of saving him when he fell into the abyss of hell, even his self-righteous affection and dedication over the years would be a joke.
Then his life would be more painful than death.
Tang Ning whispered, "I would like to ask my brother to have someone take good care of his life, let him live for a long time, and let him see his own retribution with his own eyes."
Xiao Yan nodded: "Okay."
Tang Ning looked back at the dim cell and saw King Cheng huddled in a corner, trembling. She glanced at the things on the ground and whispered, "Brother, have someone bring the child back."
Xiao Yan said, "Why take it back? I see that King Chen likes him very much, so let them enjoy the happiness of family life in prison."
Seeing her stunned , he whispered:
"You come with me."
Tang Ning didn't know what Xiao Yan wanted to do , and followed him out of the prison with some confusion.
When she arrived at the outer room, she saw Jinyun coming over with a box. She recognized it at a glance as the mahogany brocade box, the one she had taken back from Imperial Doctor Sun.
"Brother, he..." Tang Ning opened his eyes wide.
Xiao Yan glanced at the box and said, "He is your aunt's child after all. Even if his biological father is hateful, this blood relationship cannot be severed. Your aunt may not care about him. If she knew what you did with the child, she would not be resentful, but she would inevitably blame you for acting on your own and become estranged from you."
"But the one inside just now?"
She clearly saw that the box contained...
"It's a little thing made by my men. I mixed some blood from pigs and sheep into it. It's enough to scare people."
That thing simply cannot withstand close scrutiny, especially for someone who has seen human life on their hands. One can tell the real thing from the fake just by smelling the blood. Moreover, how could a four-month-old dead fetus have such a clear face, with its eyes, ears, mouth and nose still intact?
It was a pity that King Cheng had already been tortured to the point of being unconscious, and there was almost no light in the death cell. When he first saw the "fetus" in the box, he was so frightened that he lost his mind and had no time to tell whether it was real or fake.
Seeing the girl's stunned look, Xiao Yan couldn't help but laugh: "Well, King Chen wouldn't dare to touch that thing in his condition, so let them enjoy the bliss of the world. As for this..."
He pointed at the box and said, "Wait for me for a moment. I'll go talk to them about what's going on. Then I'll go with you to find a place to bury him."
Xiao Yan habitually reached out and rubbed Tang Ning's hair: "You have never hurt him, and you should let him rest in peace. In the next life, he will be reborn into a good family, so there is no need to feel guilty."
Tang Ning covered his forehead in a daze, watching Xiao Yan turn around and go to the other side.
When talking to Canglang and the others, the man who had been speaking softly just now seemed to have restrained all his gentleness. His dark blue robe outlined his slender figure and his profile was stern .
As he spoke in a low voice, Tang Ning looked up at his back, and her hands could not help but tightly clench the sachet in her sleeve.
She should stay away...
Just like with the Fu family, if you have no interest in them, you should just reject them decisively and let your brother give up the idea as soon as possible. You can even do it like with Fu Laiqing, find a way to reject his fantasies , and slowly distance yourself from this inappropriate relationship.
But...
Tang Ning couldn't help but look at Xiao Yan who was standing at the intersection of light and shadow, picking at the crabapple flower pattern on the sachet with his fingertips and biting his lips lightly.
My brother is different from Fu Laiqing. Fu Laiqing is the eldest son of the Fu family and the beloved nephew of Cao Gong . He comes from a noble family and has an excellent background. Even if he is rejected by her, he can find a good marriage again. He can adjust quickly after the embarrassment for a while.
But Xiao Yan was different. He was disabled and had been despised by people over the years. Everyone called him a treacherous eunuch and was unwilling to associate with him. Everyone viewed him as a scourge and wanted to isolate him on the top of a mountain.
He had never expressed his feelings to her, nor had he offended her, and he even quickly swallowed back the words that had just come out of his mouth.
He was wary of her.
If she were to be distant and cold to him, what would my brother think? He would think that she despised his disability and hated his identity.
By then, his embarrassment will be hundreds or thousands of times worse than Fu Laiqing's.
Tang Ning couldn't bear it, nor did he want to.
…
Xiao Yan could feel that someone behind him seemed to be looking at him. He turned around and looked at Xiao Haitang who was standing quietly in the yard waiting for him. His eyebrows were so gentle that he couldn't help but curve them.
When he turned to Canglang, there was still annoyance in the corners of his eyes.
"Have someone watch over Prince Cheng and don't let him commit suicide. When we lead people to interrogate Hou Rui and Gong Jinghao later, we don't need to torture them. We just need to interrogate them briefly."
He paused before saying, "Remember to reveal to them what King Cheng confessed, and do it in a way that leaves no trace."
Canglang was stunned for a moment: "But didn't the governor deceive Prince Cheng ? If Hou Rui and the others colluded with Prince Cheng , wouldn't it be confirmed that the people in the Lu family were having an affair with Prince Cheng..."
What about Queen Lu?
Isn't their target the Queen?
Xiao Yan's expression was indifferent: "We need to make them confirm this matter, and then send their confessions to His Majesty and the Queen."
Previously, he sent people to test Queen Lu, but she did not move at all. She seemed not to care about Prince Chen 's life or death, and was not even afraid that he would reveal anything. After interrogating Prince Chen today , seeing that he still avoided the Lu family even under severe punishment, Xiao Yan knew that he might really have some concerns that were in the hands of the Queen.
He could certainly torture Prince Cheng and force him to speak, but regardless of whether what Prince Cheng said under torture was true or false, even if what he said was true, once the confession was delivered to Emperor An in the future, the Queen would certainly not admit to the affair with the Prince , and Emperor An would personally try him in a rage, and by then he would not be able to hide it from the royal family.
Prince Cheng is not a stupid man, but a vicious and treacherous person. If he goes back on his words in front of the emperor , and uses the injuries left by torture to accuse the emperor of forcing the queen to confess, and uses this to frame the Lu family, it will not only help the Lu family escape punishment , but will also put him in irreparable danger.
Instead of taking such a risk, it would be better to use the King of the Claws to catch a big fish.