Chapter 46: Interrogation by Torture

The more Xu Xianchun listened, the more afraid he became — Huo Weihua's standing within the eunuch faction was hardly low; after all, he carried the title of Minister of War. Cui Chengxiu also carried the title of Minister of War, but could a Donglin man and a eunuch-faction man be the same?

Moreover, every time the Donglin Faction was targeted, this Huo Weihua had charged at the very front, winning great merit for the eunuch faction — and now he had turned into a traitor who murdered the Tianqi Emperor?

Xu Xianchun very much wanted to arrest Huo Weihua right now and interrogate him thoroughly, to ask why he had poisoned the Emperor. After all, the Tianqi Emperor had treated Huo Weihua generously.

Fortunately, Xu Xianchun had not yet lost his reason. He clearly understood that this matter's complexity had already exceeded his imagination.

After asking for details such as the appearance of the person who had delivered gifts to Chen Renzhong and the timing, he merely ordered men to keep Chen Renzhong's family under strict watch, and forbade abuse or torture.

Then he snatched up the confession he himself had recorded from the table, had Chen Renzhong sign and mark it, and hurried off toward the palace.

When Xu Xianchun reached the palace gate, he found the gate already sealed off by men from the Directorate of the Imperial Horses. Only after sending word to Wang Cheng'en and a great deal of fuss did Xu Xianchun finally gain an audience with the Chongzhen Emperor.

At that moment the Chongzhen Emperor was sitting in the imperial study, staring blankly. He felt this world was filled with deep malice toward him.

Yet Chongzhen did not feel he had done anything wrong. He simply did not want to hang from that old crooked-necked tree, and even less did he want the noble descendants of Yan and Huang to drag a pigtail around the world making fools of themselves — was that wrong?

Seeing Xu Xianchun enter, he asked, "Has he confessed?"

Xu Xianchun dropped to his knees with a thud, pressed his head to the floor, and said in a trembling voice, "In reply to Your Majesty, the Imperial Academy student Wang has not yet confessed. But Chen Renzhong has already confessed."

As he spoke, he took the confession from inside his robes, raised it above his head with both hands, and waited for Wang Cheng'en to take it and present it to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen accepted the confession, but saw that Xu Xianchun still knelt without rising, not even daring to lift his head. Presumably this confession revealed something deadly — that was what made Xu Xianchun so afraid.

Curious, Chongzhen began reading this confession of the imperial physician Chen Renzhong, recorded in Xu Xianchun's own hand. Before he had even finished, Chongzhen was beside himself with rage, and burst out, "Good!

Good! Good!

Truly, each and every one of them loyal to the core — what fine ministers they all are, damn it!"

Seeing Xu Xianchun still kneeling on the floor, Chongzhen, with nowhere to vent his fury, snatched up the teacup from the desk and hurled it at him. Watching Xu Xianchun struck bloody about the head yet still not daring to move, he roared, "Stand up!

Is kneeling on the floor so amusing? We are no tyrant like Jie or Zhou — what are you afraid of?

Go, seize Zhou Yanru and Huo Weihua, their entire households, old and young, and interrogate them thoroughly for Us! Not one is to be let off!"

Xu Xianchun hastily accepted the order and departed. After returning to the Imperial Prison, he mustered his men and, together with Tian Ergeng, split up to make the arrests. But this time, it did not go as smoothly as seizing Imperial Physician Chen.

When Tian Ergeng arrested Zhou Yanru's household, there was no surprise. Zhou Yanru accepted his fate with remarkable composure, letting the Embroidered Uniform Guard take him away.

Watching his entire family, high and low, being seized together, he said nothing — neither begging for mercy nor cursing aloud.

But Xu Xianchun, who had gone the other way to arrest Huo Weihua, was disappointed. In Huo Weihua's house only Huo Weihua himself remained; his family was nowhere to be seen. Even the household servants had all been given manumission papers and dismissed.

Seeing Xu Xianchun arrive in person, Huo Weihua, seated in the place of honor in the main hall of the Huo residence, smiled bleakly and said to Xu Xianchun, "Lord Xu, I beg Lord Xu to reply to His Majesty and the Nine Thousand Lord on my behalf.

Say that Huo took one wrong step, and then every step after was wrong. Now that I wish to turn back, it is too late.

For the sake of Huo Weihua's many years of service to the nation, may His Majesty and the Nine Thousand Lord spare the old and young of my household."

The words had barely left his mouth when a thread of blood began to seep from the corner of Huo Weihua's lips — he had clearly taken poison long before.

Xu Xianchun did not dare delay, and demanded at once, "Who put you up to this? Speak!"

Huo Weihua only smiled bitterly, but could make no sound. The drug taking effect in his belly made his liver and bowels feel as though they were being twisted by knives.

Enduring the agony in his gut, Huo Weihua wiped the cold sweat of pain from his forehead and said, "The Emperor and the Tianqi Emperor both wanted to amass wealth." The words had just fallen when a mouthful of blood burst from him, and with that he died.

Xu Xianchun cursed his bad luck under his breath. Looking at Huo Weihua's wide-open eyes, which would never again hold their old spirit, he sighed and called to the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers, "Carry him. We're going back."

When they returned to the Imperial Prison at Zhengyang Gate, Xu Xianchun discussed matters with Tian Ergeng: "Now that it has come to Zhou Yanru, this is no longer something we can interrogate on our own. We had best invite Factory Master Cao to join the interrogation."

And so Cao Huachun, who had not yet returned to the palace since leaving to arrest Chen Renzhong, was also summoned, and the three of them interrogated Zhou Yanru together.

Xu Xianchun first repeated the speech that had earlier persuaded Chen Renzhong, but Zhou Yanru simply would not open his mouth. No matter how Xu Xianchun urged him, he said nothing.

Xu Xianchun was at a loss, but then smiled, and walked toward Zhou Yanru, who was bound to the torture rack.

Tian Ergeng, seeing this, said to Cao Huachun beside him, "This dog has probably been driven mad with anger by Zhou Yanru. At this rate, Zhou Yanru would be better off biting off his own tongue and getting it over with."

Cao Huachun, however, stared and said, "Since I took charge of the Eastern Depot, I have spent most of my time attending within the palace, so I have never yet seen torture carried out. Today I shall have a proper look."

Hearing the two men talking behind him, Xu Xianchun was minded to show off a little. He simply picked up a small pair of pincers from the torture-instrument table and walked toward Zhou Yanru.

Seeing that Zhou Yanru still looked like a dead dog, Xu Xianchun paid it no mind. He seized Zhou Yanru's left thumb and slowly squeezed the pincers down. There was a crack, and the thumb bone was crushed. Zhou Yanru immediately screamed in pain, though he deliberately kept the sound low.

Xu Xianchun ignored this. He reached into his robes, pulled out a handkerchief, and stuffed it into Zhou Yanru's mouth.

Then he smiled and said, "Grand Secretary Zhou, don't cry out. If you don't cry out, I, Xu, will admire you as a real man."

So saying, he brought the pincers down on the index finger.

Only after all five fingers had been crushed did Xu Xianchun say slowly, "Do you know why I no longer want to ask for your confession?

Because before you, Imperial Physician Chen Renzhong already confessed. I asked you earlier because I wanted to do this job properly. Since you refuse to speak, then don't speak. I shall simply fabricate the evidence at my leisure."

Seeing Zhou Yanru in such pain that he could only moan, his mouth stopped up, Xu Xianchun laughed. "You, Grand Secretary Zhou, are a mere civil official. What are you playing at, acting the hardened soldier?"

So saying, he picked up an iron brush and scraped the flesh from the five crushed fingers of Zhou Yanru's hand, saying, "I am magnanimous, so I won't wash you down with boiling water. We'll just keep it to a simple brushing."

You've won. I already owe six chapters... Once the daily two updates are done, I'll pay off the debt.

This is today's first update; there'll be another later. After the double update is done, I'll still owe...

Also, if any writer claiming to be in the same group as the author comes around, or if book reviews say the author has a hundred thousand words in reserve — don't fall for it! The author has zero in reserve. They're just jealous.

(End of Chapter)