Chapter 47: The Great Net

Even though he was bound up tight, Zhou Yanru still thrashed desperately from the pain.

Xu Xianchun saw the pleading look in Zhou Yanru's eyes but paid it no heed. He simply picked up another small packet of coarse salt from the table and poured it directly onto Zhou Yanru's left hand, which no longer had a single patch of good skin left.

As Zhou Yanru's blue veins bulged on his forehead from the agony and his arms stiffened straight, his skinless left hand and intact right hand both clenching from the strain until they resembled chicken claws, Xu Xianchun revealed a hideously savage grin and said to him, "Grand Secretary Zhou, does it hurt?"

He then brought over some more water and poured it over Zhou Yanru's left hand, washing away some of the salt.

Seeing Zhou Yanru's expression ease slightly, though he kept panting heavily, Xu Xianchun asked again, "Grand Secretary Zhou, this is only the beginning. There are plenty more tricks waiting for you to enjoy later."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanru began struggling ceaselessly, single-mindedly wanting to flee this accursed place.

When his struggles proved futile, the venomous spite and resentment in his eyes as he looked at Xu Xianchun vanished entirely, leaving only pleading, like a small beast on the verge of death, as whimpering sounds kept escaping his mouth.

Seeing this, Xu Xianchun smiled and asked, "Is Grand Secretary Zhou willing to confess now?"

Zhou Yanru nodded frantically, like a mad dog, signaling that he was willing to cooperate.

Only then did Xu Xianchun yank out the handkerchief stuffed in Zhou Yanru's mouth and said with a laugh, "Wouldn't it have been better to cooperate from the start? Why did you have to play the tough guy? You suffered for nothing, didn't you?"

Zhou Yanru ignored Xu Xianchun's sarcasm, merely gulping down great breaths of the Imperial Prison's foul and filthy air. Once he had recovered a little, he said to Xu Xianchun, "Ask your questions. I will speak all I know, and ask only that you grant me a swift end."

Xu Xianchun sat back down at the table, picked up brush and ink, and asked, "The poisoning of the current Son of Heaven by Chen Renzhong — who was the mastermind? And how was the poison brought into the palace?"

Zhou Yanru, to his credit, was straightforward and confessed readily, "It was at my suggestion. Getting the poison into the palace was thanks to the Left Regional Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Luo Yangxing."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xianchun and the other two men cursed inwardly: What the hell! This damn thing just keeps dragging more people in!

Xu Xianchun continued his questioning: "Then the one who spied on the palace prohibitions and colluded between inside and outside — was that also Regional Commander Luo?"

Zhou Yanru said, "Correct. When the Emperor was messing around with that cement business in the rear palace, a trusted man of Regional Commander Luo reported it to him, and we others learned of the news soon after."

Though inwardly shocked, Xu Xianchun pressed on, "And what was the matter with that Imperial Academy student at the Imperial Academy?"

Zhou Yanru said, "I only know that the student was surnamed Wang. The rest was arranged by Vice Minister of the Ministry of War Hou Xun, Lord Hou. I know nothing of the details."

Xu Xianchun's brush did not pause as he faithfully recorded, word for word, every single thing Zhou Yanru said. Then he fired off the most critical question: "The poisoning of the late Tianqi Emperor — who exactly was behind it?"

Zhou Yanru panted for a while longer before saying, "On this matter, I know only a little. For the specifics, you had best go ask Lord Huo Weihua."

Xu Xianchun said, "Huo Weihua, naturally, will be interrogated. If there are any discrepancies between your confessions, both of you will suffer punishments even harsher than what you just endured. Grand Secretary Zhou, tell us everything you know."

Zhou Yanru gave a bleak smile and said, "So be it, so be it.

The one who carried out the poisoning of the late Emperor was Lord Huo Weihua.

The late Emperor favored the eunuch faction and often suppressed the Donglin Faction — that in itself was tolerable.

But the one thing he absolutely should not have done was attempt to levy commercial taxes. Those great merchants in the south and in Xuan-Da put profit above all else, yet the late Tianqi Emperor wanted to impose commercial taxes on them. It is hardly surprising that he lost his life because of it."

Curious, Xu Xianchun asked, "Even if these merchants had money, how did they manage to reach into the Forbidden Palace?"

Zhou Yanru burst into loud laughter, laughing until he could barely catch his breath, before saying, "Money won't do it? Money can make the devil turn the millstone, Lord Xu.

Those great merchants first roped in Zhou here, Vice Minister of War Lord Hou, and the imperial physician Chen Renzhong of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, and then they also dragged the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Luo Yangxing into the mire.

As for the eunuchs in the palace — a pack of ball-less wretches who take whoever feeds them as their mother — with enticements and threats, they had no choice but to cooperate and secretly tamper with things, causing the late Emperor to fall into the water.

As for what happened after that, I imagine you, Lord Xu, are well aware."

Without waiting for Xu Xianchun to speak, Zhou Yanru carried on by himself: "After the late Emperor fell into the water, Huo Weihua, under the guise of being part of the eunuch faction, presented the Spirit Dew Drink. Before long, the Emperor passed away.

Afterward, both because of the late Emperor's testamentary edict and because the current Sacred One, while still in his princely residence, had treated us Donglin men with generous solicitude and showed great promise as a wise sovereign, the entire court united to enthrone His Current Majesty as emperor."

As he spoke, Zhou Yanru actually burst into tears and cried out in bitter hatred, "But that vile brat Chongzhen deceived us so cruelly! The moment he ascended the throne, he favored the eunuch faction and distanced himself from us upright gentlemen.

Playing at that fool-the-people edict of 'never increase taxes,' and then using the prestige of his great victory over the Jianzhou barbarians to try and levy commercial taxes, snatching profit from the people — is that the conduct of a wise sovereign?

We can only hate that we were blind back then and failed to see the true face of this fatuous tyrant!"

Hearing Zhou Yanru spew such filth, Cao Huachun did not wait for Xu Xianchun to act.

He strode over first, snatched up the leather whip from the torture-instrument table, and lashed it down upon Zhou Yanru's head and face, roaring in fury, "You still dare slander His Imperial Majesty!

I'll beat you to death, you dog of a traitor who has no regard for sovereign or father!"

Seeing Zhou Yanru being lashed into shrieking misery, Tian Ergeng stepped forward and pulled Cao Huachun back, saying, "Eunuch Cao, calm your anger for now."

Xu Xianchun, however, added, "Lord Zhou, you had best save your strength and say less of what you shouldn't. Otherwise, we won't be able to control Superintendent Cao."

He then asked further, "Even if it is as you say, that those great merchants acted with reckless audacity — mere merchants, however great, could hardly have reached you, Grand Secretary Zhou, or Regional Commander Luo, could they?"

Zhou Yanru laughed, "Mere merchants, of course not. But what if you add Lord Qian Qianyi to the mix?

Do not forget, though Lord Qian is a leader of our Donglin, he is idling at home without office. Without these great merchants, how many times could his lordship afford to visit the money-squandering pleasure dens along the Qinhuai River?

What's more, even if Lord Qian's weight was not enough, then what if you add Grand Secretary Ye?

Why Grand Secretary Ye opposed commercial taxes, why he opposed opening the seas — do you people truly not know? Or are you just pretending not to know?

It's not that you don't know, it's that you dare not poke that hornet's nest in Jiangnan, is it not? Now, with the Jianzhou barbarians outside and the guard-battalion system rotted to ruin, if Jiangnan were to rebel on top of that, would this Great Ming still be Great Ming?"

Hearing Zhou Yanru suddenly spill so many inside details, Xu Xianchun, Tian Ergeng, and Cao Huachun were so frightened they stared at one another speechlessly. Though it was already near the depths of winter, all three men broke out in a cold sweat from sheer terror.

In the end, after some discussion, the three decided to enter the palace together and deliver Zhou Yanru's confession, word for word and unaltered, to the Chongzhen Emperor.

Recommending a supernatural novel, "The Supernatural Awakens." It's by some struggling author in the same writers' group who begged and rolled around asking for a recommendation. According to him, even he himself gets scared reading it.

This is the second update; still owe six chapters. I'll slowly write them out and publish them later.

(End of chapter)