"The Prefect of Tanzhou, Pan Li."
As Yi Yuan answered, he fished Ye Xi back up, carefully protecting her to avoid hurting her hands.
"Pan Li?"
Above, Wu Xianrui and Su Zhongjie exchanged a glance and both frowned tightly.
"How did a prefect of Tanzhou get in touch with a jailer from the Supreme Court of Justice like you? And why did he send you to kill court officials?"
The guards beside them had already helped the limping Xie Huaiyue back to the redwood chair. Then Huang Liu shuffled forward on his knees and kowtowed to the people above.
"I'm originally from Tanzhou. A few years ago, when the Supreme Court of Justice recruited jailers, I was selected and then settled in the capital. Since my younger sister was a maid in the prefect's wife's chamber, the Prefect Pan even gave me a red envelope when I was selected as a jailer. That's why the Prefect Pan approached me this time."
"I was just muddled - headed for a moment and was blinded by silver. That's why I dared to do such a thing. But I really don't know why the Prefect Pan wanted to harm the two lords."
There was some credibility to his words. After all, Huang Liu was just a small fry. Such reasons wouldn't be told to him.
"Lord Wu,"
Su Zhongjie said.
"For the convenience of the trial, Pan Li was also brought here yesterday. Why not summon him and we'll know after asking."
"En."
Wu Xianrui nodded.
"That's exactly what I had in mind. Someone, summon Pan Li."
Two constables answered in unison. Soon, they brought up a portly, bearded man in his forties.
At first, Pan Li was smiling, but when he saw Huang Liu kneeling below, his face instantly changed.
Wu Xianrui was so shrewd that he immediately sensed something was wrong. Without saying a word, he picked up the gavel and slammed it down hard.
With a loud "crack", Pan Li's legs went weak and he knelt down. Before the questioning even began, he started to defend himself.
"My lords, please make a fair judgment. I'm just from the same hometown as this jailer and we have no contact on a daily basis. My lords, please don't..."
"Smack!"
Wu Xianrui slammed the gavel again and sneered.
"I haven't even asked yet. How do you know you're related to Huang Liu? Isn't this a self - incrimination?"
"I, I..."
Cold sweat broke out on Pan Li's forehead. His turbid eyes darted around guiltily.
Wu Xianrui's voice grew colder and his eyes were piercing.
"Things have come to this point. Do you still want me to use torture before you'll talk!?"
"No, no..."
Crawling on the ground, Pan Li kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, but he still stubbornly said,
"I don't know what crime I've committed. Please enlighten me, my lord."
"Lord Wu,"
Just as Wu Xianrui was about to scold with a scowl, Yi Yuan suddenly spoke up.
"Why waste all these words? It would be faster to just use torture directly."
"Your Highness! You... No, no. Torture may lead to false confessions..."
Pan Li suddenly looked up at Yi Yuan. The panic and fear in his eyes were clearly visible. But it was too late. After this long day of wrangling, Wu Xianrui was also annoyed. He took out two or three warrants and threw them. The constables swarmed forward and dragged Pan Li away for torture.
The dull sound of the heavy boards hitting the flesh rang out one after another, making the few witnesses still kneeling in the hall tremble with fear.
Just when it was the most difficult moment, the officials who had gone to check the accounts outside came back and reported that all the accounts were indeed true.
The already restless Yan Zhongyi's face instantly turned completely pale.
"Well, Young Master Yan,"
Mian Xiao gloated.
"Do you also want to experience torture before confessing?"
"No! My lord,"
Yan Zhongyi crawled forward on his knees in a hurry and said in a panic,
"The ledger was found and presented by my younger brother. I really don't know whether the ledger is true or false. My lord, please make a fair judgment. My father served as an official all his life, but I, his son, have no fame and no official position. I really don't know what my father did secretly. My lord, you must believe me."
Just as he finished speaking, Pan Li couldn't bear the torture anymore and cried out miserably.
"I confess! I confess! Stop hitting, stop hitting..."
Ye Xi and Yi Yuan exchanged a glance. They both saw suspicion in each other's eyes.
The constables dragged Pan Li back into the hall. Ye Xi subconsciously wanted to find an excuse to go over and read his true feelings. But Yi Yuan grabbed her arm.
Shaking his head, Yi Yuan leaned close to her ear and whispered,
"Don't go. Your injury isn't healed yet. In front of everyone, there's no need to rush."
Ye Xi looked up at Yi Yuan. Seeing the undisguised worry in his eyes, she smiled faintly. "Okay."
Then Pan Li rattled off a long confession.
"Lord Shen did instruct us to build shelters for the refugees. It was I who was blinded by money and lost my head. On the surface, I said it was for the refugees, but in fact, I was building a mansion for myself. But when real gold and silver are in front of you, who can guarantee they won't be tempted?"
"The more money I got, the bolder I became. To cover my tracks, I found a few refugees to live in the outermost servant rooms and sent them some grain and oil from time to time. Lord Shen was busy with official duties and couldn't come to check, so he sent Lord Yan Yifan to supervise. I was afraid of being exposed, so I had to levy a little silver from the common people. I made up the excuse that the people were grateful for Lord Shen's selfless dedication and spontaneously raised the money and sent it to Lord Yan and Lord Shen."
"Over time, Lord Shen was well - appeased by Lord Yan, but Lord Yan's appetite grew bigger and bigger. Helplessly, I persuaded Lord Yan to set his sights on the military pay. I also rounded up some beautiful women and presented them as 'tax silver' and sent them all to Lord Yan."
"Spit! Scoundrel!"
Xie Huaiyue couldn't help spitting.
Pan Li trembled in fear but had to continue confessing.
"Later, I heard that things had been exposed and both Lord Yan and Lord Shen had been imprisoned. I couldn't eat or sleep in peace. My advisor came up with this idea for me. He said that as long as both Lord Yan and Lord Shen were dead and I pretended to protect Huang Liu and then kill him to silence him, no one would know what I had done. I was just muddled - headed for a moment..."
While Pan Li was pleading for forgiveness, Huang Liu's veins were bulging with anger. He struggled and wanted to ram into Pan Li and kill him.
"What!? So those killers were sent by you! You damned Pan Li, I..."
"Silence!"
Wu Xianrui frowned and shouted, slamming the gavel loudly.
"All the statements correspond to the accounts in the ledger. Then sign and seal. The witnesses and suspects will all be put into prison first. His Highness the Prince of Yu'an and Young Master Shen and others may return to their mansions first. I'll report to the Emperor and then make further arrangements!"
"Lord Su, Lord Xie, what do you think?"
Naturally, both of them nodded in agreement.
The constables stepped forward one after another and were about to take the relevant people away.
"Lord Wu,"
Yi Yuan loosely put his arm around Ye Xi and stepped forward two steps.
"Since the matter is almost clear, there should be no problem for me to ask a few questions, right?"
"Of course there's no problem. It's not convenient here. Let's go to the back to ask."
Xie Huaiyue answered on behalf of Wu Xianrui first, which made the latter roll his eyes at him. But he really wouldn't refuse. After all, it was clear that Yi Yuan was not involved. As the one who first exposed the matter, it was certainly okay for him to ask a few questions.
"Your Highness the Prince of Yu'an, please feel free."
Wu Xianrui made a gesture of invitation.
"I and Lord Su will go to the palace first."
Nodding, Yi Yuan protected Ye Xi and followed Xie Huaiyue, who walked ahead due to his inconvenience, and turned into the back hall.
However, just around the corner, they heard two shouts, "Go to hell!" and "Ah!"
Then there was a panicked outcry.