Chapter 212

Jia He listened to Shen Qing's domineering words, swallowed his saliva, moved his lips a few times, but ultimately dared not speak again.

Considering Shen Qing's past deeds, if Shen Qing said he would behead him within three breaths, he absolutely would not survive five breaths.

The people around saw Jia He being subdued and all chose to shut their mouths.

Shen Qing looked at the commanding assistant in his hand, whose name was Wang Lian Shan.

"Speak up—why did you poison someone, and whose man are you?"

Wang Lian Shan's face showed abnormal pain, because Shen Qing, in the instant he grabbed him, used domineering true qi to control his entire meridian system.

He spoke with difficulty, still holding onto a faint hope in his heart, wanting to struggle a bit.

"Commander Shen, is there some misunderstanding...?"

Shen Qing laughed: "Just now, you Yunzhou commanding envoys coughed once; among you eight, the other seven had eyes filled with some delight, but why are you only fearful?"

Wang Lian Shan still wanted to explain: "That's because..."

Shen Qing snorted, and a vast true qi instantly sealed his dantian, then casually tossed him to Old Li behind.

"Too lazy to listen to your nonsense."

"Old Li, Ma Qing told him to sober up, straighten his tongue, then bring him out."

"Yes!"

Old Li and Ma Qing exchanged a glance, grabbed Wang Lian Shan's collar, and dragged him toward the back of the house.

Shen Qing looked at the remaining seven: "Next, let's chat."

The seven exchanged glances, then all knelt on one knee: "Greetings, Commander Shen!"

Shen Qing waved his hand: "Who can tell me why the Yunzhou Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander and the Chief Inspector of the Six Gates were injured?"

The chief constable of the Six Gates, Sun Chu, spoke up.

"Reporting to Commander Shen, I know a bit about this: it was roughly last night at zi hour, when Commander Lin came to the Six Gates seeking our Chief Inspector, then the two set off together, destination unmentioned to others, and later reappeared only when they collapsed unconscious outside the Directorate of Ceremonies last night."

This account was basically useless, so we could only wait for them to wake up or see if Wang Lian Shan could spit out something useful later.

"Then, what do you know about the Reincarnation Tower?"

Several people were surprised: "Commander Shen, you just arrived in Yunzhou and already know about the Reincarnation Tower?"

The scholar stepped forward and recounted everything that happened with the Song family in Ruide City.

After listening, several people exchanged glances, each seeing surprise and desolation in the other's eyes.

The surprise was that Shen Qing, upon arriving in Yunzhou, had already wiped out a clan and traced the Reincarnation Tower.

The desolation was also because Shen Qing had found the Reincarnation Tower—knowing that their Embroidered Uniform Guard and Six Gates had only discovered it nearly two months into the famine, while Shen Qing had found it immediately upon arrival.

Jia He spoke: "The mastermind behind this famine should be the Reincarnation Tower. From our investigation, the tower has few members, but all are masters, and the tower lord is especially mysterious."

"Their slogan is also insane—what was it..."

"Enter my Reincarnation, reset life and death!"

Zhou Ha snorted: "Damn big talk—reset life and death? I'll reset his mother!"

Jia He continued: "They've colluded with many clans and major powers, all fighting over grain, which is why this famine is so severe."

"And their goal is simply to let more people die—seems like they're conducting some kind of ritual."

Shen Qing nodded: "Continue."

But Jia He remained silent for a long time.

Shen Qing raised his head: "That's it?"

Jia He and Sun Chu and several others looked somewhat embarrassed.

However, Shen Qing also couldn't be bothered to blame them—this Reincarnation Tower could launch such a large-scale operation, so they must have planned thoroughly, and since the tower has few members, all elites, exposure is even less likely.

Shen Qing continued: "Then which clans hoarded grain? You must know that, right?"

Jia He nodded: "This has definitely been investigated."

Shen Qing's voice was flat.

"Then write to them: the letter will say 'Shen Qing orders them to open granaries and relieve famine within three days, or bear the consequences.'"

"Yes!"

Jia He had someone fetch paper and brush, quickly wrote dozens of letters, and had his subordinates send them out urgently.

At this moment, Old Li dragged Wang Lian Shan out—frankly, the time was short; Shen Qing had been speaking for less than half a cup of tea.

Shen Qing looked at Old Li: "This fast?"

Old Li scratched his head: "I thought you were in a hurry, Commander, so I went a bit harder—I just snipped his root and sprinkled some chili powder on it, and he confessed..."

Saying that, Old Li casually threw Wang Lian Shan to the ground.

Everyone then noticed Wang Lian Shan's pale face and the blood-red crotch of his pants.

All inside and outside the courtyard clenched their legs, grimaced, and felt a chill in their crotch.

Shen Qing looked at Wang Lian Shan and sneered: "So now you plan to talk? Why bother? You should have confessed when you started."

Wang Lian Shan now had no thought of quibbling, only fear filling his eyes.

"Commander Shen... I confess... I confess... don't let him come over..."

At this moment, seeing Old Li made Wang Lian Shan afraid.

Shen Qing laughed: "Look at your performance—if I'm dissatisfied, Old Li's punishment will be whatever you can't imagine, nothing he can't do."

"Speak up—why did you poison someone, and whose man are you?"

Wang Lian Shan didn't hesitate, hurriedly spoke, fearing Shen Qing would continue torturing him.

"I am a member of the Reincarnation Tower; I poisoned because Commander Lin discovered my identity."

Knowing Wang Lian Shan's identity yet taking no action means only one possibility: they didn't have time to act.

"Then can I understand that Commander Lin's injury yesterday was also because of you, and that he also learned your identity at this time?"

Wang Lianshan opened his mouth: "Yes, he's very formidable, he's been tracking us all the way and is almost at our tower master's head, so the Reincarnation Tower fears he'll cause trouble, so they had me spread false information, and we ambushed him."

"But he's very strong, he fought his way out alive, so that's why I set up a backup plan."

Still the same saying: in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, no one who can sit in the position of Commander is useless.

If it weren't for a little imp among my subordinates, we wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

"Where is the Reincarnation Tower located?"

Wang Lianshan shook his head: "We have no fixed base, we're just temporarily notified to gather, and even everyone wears masks, even their hands are covered, we don't even know who the other party is."

"Then what is the reason you launched this uprising?"

Wang Lianshan still shook his head: "I don't know, I'm just taking money to do the job, the tower master behind the Reincarnation Tower is very generous, in just three months he's given me two hundred thousand taels of silver."

Hearing this number, everyone was stunned, for you must know that when Shen Qing previously investigated the corruption case of Prince Wen in Lingyun City, those several imperial ministers had embezzled for forty or fifty years before accumulating five hundred thousand, yet this Reincarnation Tower master gave Wang Lianshan two hundred thousand taels in just three months.

Looking at it this way, the financial resources of the Reincarnation Tower master are absolutely not inferior to those of Prince Wen.

Although we don't know the name, this way the scope can be narrowed down considerably.