Chapter 207: Ambush from All Sides (Part 4)

Although the Prison Assistant wanted to please Wang Yang to prevent him from hating himself and Liu Zhao together, he was afraid that if he made such a big scene, Liu Zhao would pursue it, so he deliberately hesitated: "This subordinate really wants to serve Young Master, but I'm afraid that if the Commandant blames me, this subordinate is low in rank and position, this..." He looked at Zong Rui for help.

Zong Rui said: "It's okay, just say I let you."

The Prison Assistant was happy: "This subordinate will do it!"

The young legal official saw that no one stopped him, and the Prison Assistant was flattering, so he felt resentful. He thought that he had offended Wang Yang anyway, and it was too late to please him now, so he might as well stand firm and let the Commandant see who is the most loyal subordinate! He wanted to say "without the permission of the main official, outside food is not allowed to enter," but the words reached his lips, but he didn't dare to say it.

At this time, Zong Rui walked to Wang Yang, his brows furrowed, extremely worried: "Once the commandery troops arrive, this situation..."

Wang Yang smiled: "It's okay, I have strange soldiers."

"What strange soldiers?" Zong Rui asked hurriedly.

Wang Yang knew that if he didn't say it, Zong Rui wouldn't be at ease, so he whispered to Zong Rui.

The young legal official saw this scene and couldn't help it anymore, saying stiffly: "In the interrogation hall, why whisper privately?"

Everyone looked at the young legal official, their eyes complex.

Wang Yang and Zong Rui also stopped and looked at him, then... continued to whisper.

The young legal official felt ashamed, his face turned red and white, and he walked quickly to the clerk responsible for recording: "They are whispering in the interrogation hall, write it down!"

The clerk's pen paused on the paper, and he lowered his voice slightly but controlled the volume to the extent that Wang Yang and Zong Rui could hear: "This is not very appropriate, it is not an interrogation now..."

"If you don't write it, I will write it!"

The young legal official snatched the pen and wrote quickly on the booklet.

Wang Yang looked at the young legal official and smiled: "This person is quite stubborn..."

"Quite what?" Zong Rui didn't understand.

"Uh... it means stubborn."

"Oh." Zong Rui didn't show strong interest in Wang Yang's new words like Fatty Le, but soon returned to the strange soldiers: "The strange soldiers you invited are good, but I don't understand, why didn't you call the strange soldiers at the beginning?"

Wang Yang said mysteriously: "The Art of War says that regular soldiers are expensive to be first, and strange soldiers are expensive to be later."

Zong Rui looked at Wang Yang with a strange and scrutinizing look.

"What's wrong?" Wang Yang asked.

"I feel like you don't look like eighteen."

Wang Yang smiled: "Perhaps."

Wang Yang recalled when he was eighteen, he won the top prize in the big exam, his spirit was arrogant, dazzling like snow, like a sword, singing all the way, breaking the bamboo, breaking the cleverness with force, without needing schemes, and his actions could not be as comprehensive and steady as they are now, and his calculations were deep. It was also fortunate that he traveled through time now. If he were the young man who had to write a poem when climbing high and had to color when on stage, I am afraid he would not have reached today. Perhaps he would not even pass the level of Captain Xue, or he would have folded in Wang Tai's hands, or he might have stood hard in the courtyard behind the Ruyi Building, and then be killed directly by the mysterious woman...

No, at that time, his academic knowledge was not enough, and he could not use the *Minister* studies to open the situation in front of Mr. Liu. Perhaps he would have taken another path...

Wang Yang was thinking, Zong Rui suddenly said: "Bad! Liu Zhao suffered a setback here, and may go all out, forcing Director Liu Tan Tan to confess! There is no one sitting in town there! I'll go and see!"

Zong Rui said he was about to leave, Wang Yang pulled him, smiled: "Don't worry, Director Liu Tan Tan also has a path of strange soldiers."

In the prison corridor, a trusted jailer was reporting to Liu Zhao about the twelve classic masters and scholars asking to see him.

For Liu Zhao, it is a good thing that scholars have arrived. Although he repeatedly emphasized that soldiers should not hurt people and only allow them to show their blades to threaten, if these students didn't retreat, but instead got hot-headed and resisted and conflicted, if there was a slight mistake, it might trigger a bigger accident. Now that these scholars and masters are present, they can naturally restrain the students and prevent them from doing excessive behavior.

But there is no need to meet.

He didn't want to see those people, so he asked the jailer to refuse. But after thinking about it, he called the jailer back:

"You tell them that Wang and Liu are fine, nothing happened. The Commandant is pushing and exploring the case evidence and re-examining it, so he cannot be disturbed, so you didn't see the Commandant. You are prepared to wait for a stick of incense time before reporting, let them be slightly impatient. As long as the Commandant clarifies the case, they may be released soon. Do you understand what this official means?"

"This subordinate understands... I'm afraid... these readers are not easy to deceive." The jailer was worried.

"You are wrong. Someone once told me that many readers have pure minds, are inclusive, and are willing to accept learning, so they are easy to deceive; as for the ignorant, there is no need to mention it. And those between the two can be divided into several categories, one of which is stubborn and extreme, listening to hearsay, knowing only a little, not counting as readers, nor illiterate, just trapped in the well, stubborn and unchangeable, because they have been deceived by others early, they 'follow one to the end,' and it is not easy to succeed if you deceive them again. But this kind of person is easy to deal with, and cannot accomplish anything, so there is no need to deceive them at all. The most difficult to deal with are two types of people, one is those who have no learning but have techniques, and the other... is those who have read through the books."

Liu Zhao narrowed his eyes when he said this.

"People who have read through the books?" The jailer wondered.

Liu Zhao looked at the torch on the wall, his gaze fixed, recalling the scene when the Prince told him this paragraph. At that time, he thought that academic knowledge was useless and didn't believe at all that there were any "people who have read through the books," but rather many people who read books until they were stupid. The Prince of Luling smiled contemptuously at that time and said that when he saw Wang Rong one day, he would understand.

He still hasn't seen Wang Rong, but he feels that he understands the meaning of this sentence a little bit today.

He didn't tell the jailer these things, but ordered: "You go, if you succeed in deceiving, I will record a merit for you."

The jailer took the order and left, still pondering what it meant to read through the books...

After the jailer left, Liu Zhao came to the outside of Director Liu Tan Tan's interrogation room and asked the jailer guarding the door to call out the prison official responsible for the interrogation.

"How is it?" Liu Zhao asked.

The prison official didn't dare to look at Liu Zhao, and said stutteringly: "He... dislikes the tea, and wants to drink Wuling tea."

Liu Zhao said coldly: "You interrogated for a long time, and only interrogated Wuling tea? Are you interrogating the case or serving him tea?"

The prison official was ashamed and sweating, bowed his head: "This subordinate is incompetent—"

"Indeed incompetent."

Liu Zhao ignored the prison official, but explained a few words to a guard behind him, then walked into the interrogation room, and all the officials stood up to salute.

After Liu Zhao sat down, he didn't speak, nor did he look at Director Liu Tan Tan, just flipped through the case files and read two lines and asked: "Who recorded this?"

A legal official said: "This was recorded by this subordinate."

"Why don't you start a new line under the word 'Feng'? How did you learn the prison words?"

The legal official was stunned first, then bowed: "It is this subordinate's negligence!"

"Negligence of duty, prison words are not neat, according to the law, it should be punished. Come here, drag him down, hit twenty sticks, and hit him in the corridor outside."

The legal official's face turned white, and he wanted to defend himself, but after thinking about it, he closed his mouth, and then was carried out of the interrogation room by two jailers.

All the officials were horrified, standing with their hands down, not daring to make a sound. For a time, the room was terribly quiet, and only the muffled sound of sticks hitting flesh from the corridor outside and the painful groans of the legal official who tried his best to endure clearly echoed in everyone's ears.

At this time, Director Liu Tan Tan's voice sounded: "Commandant Liu, if you have something to say, just say it, why vent your anger on the small official?"

Liu Zhao looked at Director Liu Tan Tan, his tone indifferent: "I investigate according to the law, what is venting anger? In front of the law, there is no distinction between big and small officials."

Director Liu Tan Tan looked at Liu Zhao: "Commandant uses the law as a rope, do you only know how to bind others, but not how to bind yourself?"

"Since the law is a rope, there must be someone holding the rope. Now the one holding the rope is me, not you. Now I ask, you answer, you and Wang Yang communicated with the barbarian department, preparing to redeem your brother Liu Cheng with crimson jackets and brocade robes, do you admit it?"

"No such thing."

"Good, you are a member of the gentry and have an official status, so I cannot torture you for the time being. But if new case evidence arrives, don't blame me."

Director Liu Tan Tan's voice was gentle, bowing slightly: "Then I will wait and see."

"Commandant!" A guard rushed over, holding case files, with a look of joy on his face.

Liu Zhao asked: "How is it?"

"Confessed!"

The guard presented the case files as if asking for credit.

Hearing this, all the officials were excited! All stared at the case files.

Liu Zhao asked while flipping: "How is the person?"

"Still breathing."

"Let the prison doctor see him, after all, it is the Langya Wang Clan, don't let him die in prison."

"Yes."

After the guard left, Liu Zhao said slowly: "Come, tie the criminal to the torture case."

"Yes!"

All the jailers stepped forward, Director Liu Tan Tan raised his eyes: "Forging case evidence, privately torturing the gentry, the crime should be beheaded."

The jailers paused.

Liu Zhao slapped the case files: "Wang Yang has already confessed, pointing to you as the mastermind! You don't even know it in your dreams, and you still say forging case evidence! Tie him up quickly!"

Director Liu Tan Tan stretched his sleeves, slowly opened his arms, his behavior was polite, as if accompanied by a silent rhythm:

"Since you have case evidence, then come on, but this case evidence is best to be true, otherwise—"

Director Liu Tan Tan scanned all the jailers and smiled gently: "Your end will be very miserable."

All the jailers felt their hearts tremble and looked back at Liu Zhao.

Liu Zhao waved his hand: "All go out."

All the officials exited, leaving only Director Liu Tan Tan and Liu Zhao in the room.

"I respect Duke Liu, but I must handle this case! I will give you two choices now. Either you attribute all the crimes to Wang Yang, and I guarantee that you will be safe and sound, and you will be released from prison within three days. Or I will find someone to ask you in another way. Believe it or not, half an hour later you will beg to confess, and you won't even break a piece of oil skin on your whole body."

Liu Zhao looked at Director Liu Tan Tan with a chilling gaze, as if he were meat on a chopping block, and the butcher was weighing where to cut.

Director Liu Tan Tan was calm and said slowly: "I am actually a person who likes to experience, and I am curious about the half an hour you mentioned, but after thinking about it, I still respectfully decline."

"Stop talking nonsense, how do you choose!"

A voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Let them go, I have important matters to report to the Commandant!"

Liu Zhao frowned: "Enter."

The jailer walked in quickly: "Reporting to the Commandant, fifteen riders came outside the prison, claiming to be scouts of the Linju Army, ordered by General Liu Sengxian of the Linju Army, asking the villain to immediately hand over this letter to the Commandant! Saying it involves the Commandant's life, and it cannot be delayed!"

Liu Zhao took the letter and opened it, his face changed drastically!

On the letter paper, there was not a single word, only a shocking blood handprint.

At this time, a burst of hurried and chaotic footsteps came from far to near, and another jailer flew over, panting, words spitting out like a string of beads:

"Commandant! The students cannot be dispersed! The Xinye Yu family brought the Jiangling gentry, hundreds of carriages, blocking the commandery troops! The generals all dismounted, and the soldiers dared not move! I heard that Yu Yi himself also arrived! He is in the carriage!"

Director Liu Tan Tan looked straight at Liu Zhao and said: "Commandant Liu, now, it's your turn to make a choice."

Liu Zhao's knuckles were white, squeezing the letter paper rustling.

In another interrogation room, Wang Yang was feasting with Zong Rui and other commandery officials. Wang Yang held a wine glass, facing the direction of the prison door, smiled slightly, and whispered: "Break the army!"

——————

Note: *Beitang Shuchao* cites *Jingzhou Land Records*: "Seven counties in Wuling produce tea, which is the best." ===== CHAPTER 208 =====